Up-Island Parents and Educators Ponder District's Shaky Prospects

CHRIS BURRELL

Spencer Booker lives in Aquinnah, and when it came time to decide
where to send his three children for grade school, the choice was
obvious. Proximity was key, so they chose the Chilmark School.

"It was geographical, the closest school to my house," he said. "And
it's a great little school, very intimate, very supportive. All the
teachers know all the students, first name and last. That's the kind of
environment I want to put my kids into for their education."

School District Shows Strains

West Tisbury Finance Committee Pushes for Drastic Measures,
Proposing the Dissolution of Up-Island District

By CHRIS BURRELL

Concerned at the prospect of spiraling educational costs, dwindling
state aid and declining enrollment, the West Tisbury finance committee
is pressing school officials up-Island to consider drastic measures
- among them, shutting down the Chilmark School.

A Soldier's Scrapbook: Kevin Devine Returns from Iraq with
Vivid Combat Memories

By CHRIS BURRELL

Kevin Devine is not sugarcoating anything about his last 11 months
as a soldier in Iraq. The photographs stored on his laptop computer are
proof of that.

"You couldn't use these," the U.S. Army Ranger
tells a reporter Wednesday morning after breakfast at Linda Jean's
in Oak Bluffs as he clicks through some pictures that depict the horror
of war.

Leaders Take Stock with Full Inventory of County Services

By ALEXIS TONTI

Following a year that saw Dukes County officials embroiled in
controversy on several fronts, the county manager and commissioners now
are setting policy to strengthen their ranks internally and to educate
Islanders about county services.

As part of the plan to improve communication, the county
commissioners last week invited four department heads to their regular
meeting to talk about their programs and goals; the remaining eight will
give presentations in the coming months.

Chappy Land Gets Management Plan

By JULIA WELLS

It's not so much about the land anymore, it's about the
people - especially the neighbors.

This is the central theme that runs through a new management plan
released this week for two key properties owned by The Trustees of
Reservations on Chappaquiddick.

Little changed from a draft that was released last spring, the new
plan sketches the outlines for a future Cape Pogue Wildlife Refuge and
Wasque Reservation that could include:

A new boat-building enterprise with a strong educational component
has been launched in the concrete building at Five Corners in Vineyard
Haven.

On Tuesday, Myles Thurlow of West Tisbury was inside lofting the
first of two new 32-foot rowing boats. With volunteer labor and
contributions from the community, they'll be in the water by the
end of the summer.

Boatline Meets Amid Turmoil

SSA Board Meets for First Time Since Nantucket's Decision to
Explore Secession from Authority

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Steamship Authority news has been dominated by power and politics in
recent weeks, but when the boat line board of governors convenes for its
monthly meeting this Thursday morning, much of the discussion is
expected to center on rules - new rules for dogs, old rules for
excursion travel and some rules that are top secret in the name of
national security.

MassHighway officials say they will put plans for a temporary
replacement for the Lagoon Pond drawbridge on hold until Island
residents decide whether to nurse the existing bridge along until a new
permanent structure is built.

The state agency also says it will involve the Island in the design
of a new permanent bridge at the outset of the planning process -
a departure from previous department policy of consulting residents only
after plans have been drafted.

Nantucket Launches Study

By JULIA WELLS

Marking a painful new chapter in the checkered history of the
Steamship Authority, the people of Nantucket voted, without dissent, at
a public meeting this week to launch a formal study of whether to secede
from the boat line which has been their lifeline for over four decades.

The study will be privately funded and led by a private group that
was spearheaded by Nantucket SSA governor Grace Grossman and port
council member Flint Ranney.