Report Details County Trouble

Dukes County Leaders Conclude Their Internal Probe Into Facts
Surrounding Payments Made to Former County Manager

By JONATHAN BURKE

The Dukes County commissioners this week heard their two freshman
members report that new personnel bylaws, stronger supervision and
better record-keeping will be required if the county is to avoid another
mess like the one surrounding the departure of county manager Carol
Borer.

Proponents of Wind Farm Trim Proposal for Horseshoe Shoal

By MANDY LOCKE

Cape Wind Associates erased 40 turbines from its wind farm site
plans this week - freeing four square miles of Horseshoe Shoals
previously staked by the private energy developer.

The announcement came Tuesday as Cape Wind officials sealed a deal
with GE Wind Energy to manufacture the 130 turbines the developer now
hopes to erect on 24 square miles of shallow water in Nantucket Sound.

The coldest weather in years has the Vineyard in a deep freeze.
Night temperatures have dropped into single digits and afternoon highs
have stayed below freezing every day this week but one. Edgartown and
Oak Bluffs harbors are locked up in ice.

Sewer Project Set in Tisbury

Leaders Release Four-Phase Plan for $10.2 Million Sewering, but
Frigid Weather Puts Start Date in Question

By CHRIS BURRELL

The construction crew hired to build Tisbury's $10.2 million
sewer system was supposed to break ground next Monday, but now
there's one more problem and another likely delay: The ground
might well break their shovels if they tried.

Islanders Brave Cold to Share Concern at Prospect of U.S. War in
Middle East

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

On one of the coldest days of the year, more than 170 people
gathered at Five Corners for a peaceful noontime rally expressing their
concern at the prospect of an American war with Iraq.

High School Girls' Team Is Family Affair

By BRETT FERRY

"The amazing thing about Mary MacDonald is how she's
adopted basketball as her family," says Rory Moreis, assistant
boys' basketball coach. "It's amazing. She lives it.
She eats it."

With both of Coach MacDonald's daughters on her varsity squad
of eight girls, it seems more like basketball adopted her family.

Dukes County Leaders Face Deepening Crisis, Admit Lack of Oversight

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Admitting that their own house is now in chaos, county leaders
scrambled to assay the damage this week amid a flurry of charges and
counter-charges following the abrupt departure of county manager Carol
Borer last month. Mrs. Borer cleaned out her office on New Year's
Eve and left, taking with her a check for some $22,000 in vacation pay
and sick time that she had approved for herself.

Calvin Zaiko's Fitness Gambit Is Hypothermic

By CHRIS BURRELL

Innkeeper, guitar player and come mid-January, Calvin Zaiko would
also have to be considered something of a daredevil.

vspace="8" border="1" align="right">

His feat? Swimming seven days a week in the ocean waters just across
the street from his home on Seaview avenue, Oak Bluffs.

Island selectmen who traveled to Boston last weekend may have
learned firsthand how bad the state budget crisis has become, but they
still have no idea just how deep the cuts in state aid to their towns
will be.

Trash District Audit Issues Bleak Report

Auditor Cites Regional Refuse District for Sloppy Bookkeeping,
Points to Opportunities for Abuse

By MANDY LOCKE

The long-awaited draft audit for the Martha's Vineyard
Regional Refuse and Resource Recovery district delivered stern warnings
for the trash district's leadership to clean house.

In a five-page management letter, auditor John J. O'Brien
detailed sloppy and incomplete bookkeeping and pointed to the potential
mishandling of cash at local drop-off centers.