A bitterly divided Dukes County Commission voted to join the
collective voice of other Vineyard officials this week - and ask
the Vineyard representative to the Steamship Authority to throttle down
a plan to develop high-speed ferry service between New Bedford and the
Vineyard.
The vote was 4-3 to endorse the letter sent by the All-Island
Selectmen's Association to Vineyard SSA governor J.B. Riggs Parker
last week.
NANTUCKET - - The people of Nantucket had their crack at the
podium this week, turning out more than 150 strong to urge a special
governor's ferry task force to protect the Steamship Authority and
their lifeline.
"The rate-payers of the Islands are not responsible for
reviving the economy of New Bedford. Folks, the Steamship Authority is
not an entitlement program," declared Steve Tornovish, a member of
the SSA financial advisory board from Nantucket.
Threat of Housing Plan Overshadows Hearing on Oak Bluffs Golf Course
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Reports on wildlife habitat, turf management and fiscal impact were
the scheduled fare at a public hearing last night on a proposal to build
a luxury golf club in the southern woodlands section of Oak Bluffs
- but in the end, discussion about the golf course plan was
overshadowed by a discussion about housing.
His own story is told through the stories of others: A World War II aviator whose face and hands were burned beyond recognition; a young boy who was abandoned by his mother and locked away in an institution for 20 years because of a facial deformity; identical twins who were the first successful kidney transplant patients in history.
Eleven years ago, Dr. Joseph E. Murray won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his pioneering kidney transplant work in the 1950s.
Calling a virtual mandate from some 800 people on Nantucket
uninformed, Vineyard Steamship Authority governor and board chairman
J.B. Riggs Parker said last week that he will press ahead with the
ambitious new service model for the public boat line.
"I believe I am not informed enough to make a statement on
these issues, and if I am not informed, it would be unusual to conclude
that communities as a whole are informed," declared Mr. Parker.
The popular low-cost excursion fares for Vineyard residents on
Steamship Authority ferries are now slated for major change, if a
proposal by boat line managers is approved next month.
Against a backdrop of growing concern about the direction of
the Steamship Authority and also about a new alliance between
the Vineyard SSA governor and the mainland port communities, an
emerging grass roots citizens group on the Island has issued a
call to reunite Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket on boat line
issues.
"We want to make sure that the focus is on the two Islands
and that they are staying together.
Trying to Follow the Steamship Authority Is Harder Than Chasing the
Poor Red Sox
By JULIA WELLS
It's hard to follow the players without a scorecard, as the
old saying goes, and when it comes to Steamship Authority affairs
it's getting tough to decipher the box scores these days.
There is now a swirl of public confusion around the boat line, and
this week the list of public meetings on SSA business suddenly grew long
and tangled.
Vineyard Officials Clash in Fight Over Boat Line Appointment; Political Dialogue Grows Ugly
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Political chaos broke out across the Vineyard this week in the
aftermath of the surprise vote by the Dukes County Commission last week
to replace J.B. Riggs Parker, the Island Steamship Authority governor
who has presided over the most divisive period at the public boat line
in recent memory.
