American Tower Corporation, the company that wants to build a distributed antenna system (DAS) to improve cell phone coverage in the three up-Island towns, has dramatically changed its proposal following an emotional public hearing earlier this month during which residents raised concerns about aesthetics, finances and health, a company spokesman said yesterday.

Money to rebuild stone walls and jump-start building design for the Middle Line housing project, shared spending on health care access and rodent control, and a $6.6 million annual town budget are the central items that will come before Chilmark voters at their annual town meeting Monday night.

The 32-article warrant reads much like a profile of Chilmark itself: spare and threaded with Yankee thrift. The annual operating budget is a slight decrease from last year, making Chilmark the only town on the Island to see its budget go down instead of up this year.

A project to convert the old Oak Bluffs library on lower Circuit avenue into a mixed-used building with affordable housing and a new pharmacy has become increasingly mired in confusion, as questions surface over management of the project and whether it should have been referred to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission for review as a development of regional impact (DRI).

The library project has received more than $800,000 in funding from a large state grant and a series of allotments from the town Community Preservation Act fund.

Imagine a future in which you join a farm share program and receive, along with your in-season fruit, vegetables and flowers, cheap electricity.

A future where you receive a wider range of produce over a longer season, maybe even year-round, as greenhouses proliferate on those farms, taking advantage of that cheaper, price-stable, renewable energy.

Passenger traffic to the Vineyard on Steamship Authority ferries fell to its lowest level in more than a decade in March, more than 11 per cent below that for the same month last year.

Not since 1997, said SSA general manager Wayne Lamson, had fewer people visited for the month. And it was not only passenger numbers which plunged. The number of trucks coming and going — another key indicator of economic activity — was down almost eight per cent on the previous March.

Trap Champion

On Sunday, April 19, in blustery wind conditions that caused the targets to soar upwards like frisbees, Bob De Lisle of Edgartown picked up his third club trap championship since 2005 at the Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club’s trap facilities.

Things are looking bright for many Vineyard high school athletic teams early in this spring sports season. There were fewer games and matches this week due to April vacation.

Girls’ Lacrosse

The team led by coach Betsy Dripps continued its dominance last Thursday with a 13-3 drubbing of Fairhaven on the road. With the win, the Vineyarders remained undefeated and moved to 6-0 on the season.

The boys’ under-13 team lost to Falmouth this past Sunday 8-2. In their second game of the season, Greg McCarron and Spencer Schofield each had goals in the loss.

All three youth lacrosse teams will be at home on Sunday; game times are noon for the under-11 team, 1:30 p.m. for the under-13 team and 3 p.m. for the under-15 team. All are invited to attend.

Miss Crumpet died a virgin. It was her wish, respected by her family and certified by a veterinarian’s scalpel. The act was done in her third year of life, when she was most desirable to gentleman callers. But by then, Miss Crumpet had adopted us. She had no need for traditional motherhood. It was not coldness or aloofness that caused her to squat and emit a fierce warning growl that sent suitors packing. It was merely that she had pledged her troth elsewhere.

The Island Plan wraps up its look at specific aspects of the Vineyard’s future by focusing on the human side, the social environment. A forum on April 30 will look at some challenges facing the people of the Island and how we can best adjust to changing circumstances. The focus is not on specific services or facilities, but more on how community character, health and human services, education, and arts and culture affect the Vineyard as a whole, and how we should plan for them in the future.