The developers of the Down Island Golf Club turned up the heat on
the Martha's Vineyard Commission last night, hammering home the
threat of a large low-income housing project if the golf club plan is
not approved.
Controversial County Deal with Hospital for $50,000 Fee Raises Legal
Questions
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
An unusual county contract set up to funnel taxpayer money into the
Martha's Vineyard Hospital continued to cause shock waves this
week as local officials tried to sort out the origin of a deal to pay
the county a $50,000 fee to administer the contract.
Yesterday, West Tisbury town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport questioned
whether the county has the right to charge the fee.
A small circle of senior managers at the Steamship Authority last
week quietly filed an application for some $2 million in federal grant
money to help launch an $8 million high-speed passenger ferry operation
between the Vineyard and New Bedford, the Gazette has learned.
The Cape and Islands senate district - in place since the
founding of the Massachusetts legislature - will remain largely
intact thanks to the redistricting plan adopted by the state Senate
yesterday afternoon.
Boat Line Governors Hear Cold Truth About Money Squeeze in Years Ahead
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
NANTUCKET — After seven months of chasing a futuristic service model amid visions of multi-million-dollar high-speed ferries, Steamship Authority governors learned the cold truth yesterday: If replacing the ferry Islander is a top priority, there will be no more money for large capital projects in the next six years.
Site problems, traffic impacts, resentment from two rival business owners and an exceptional program that has sparked a love of tennis in hundreds of Island children - all these were subjects for discussion at a second public hearing last week on the new building proposal by Vineyard Youth Tennis Inc.
A federal judge ruled last week that a lawsuit between the city of
New Bedford and the Steamship Authority can go to trial, although the
judge imposed a set of strict limits that will block any plan by the
Whaling City to turn the case into a giant legal fishing expedition.
Rebecca Gilbert and Randy Ben David have roots - both the
human and botanical variety.
On their farm off North Road in Chilmark they grow root
vegetables such as beets, carrots and onions, and they have wild
root herbs including sweet grass and ginseng.
Rebecca and Randy also have family roots that run as deep as
the rich, sweet soil they cultivate without chemical fertilizers
or pesticides.
Acting on a joint request from attorneys for the Martha's
Vineyard Commission and the Down Island Golf Club, a superior court
judge sent the golf club plan back to the commission this week for fresh
review.
"This matter is remanded to the Martha's Vineyard
Commission for further proceedings, including a public hearing to
consider plaintiff's amended application," declared the Hon.
Richard C. Connan, an associate justice of the superior court who sits
in Barnstable.
