The Steamship Authority will spend about $200,000 this summer to
boost security on ferries and at boat line terminals on the Cape and
Islands.
Senior managers at the SSA said this week that they are trying to
incorporate a new awareness about safety and security into operations at
the public boat line, although it is still unclear how much can be done
that is meaningful - and also legal.
Joint Committee on Transportation Releases Revised Version of Bill
with Changes to Makeup of Boatline Board
By JULIA WELLS
A legislative bill to reorganize the Steamship Authority board of
governors emerged from the Joint Committee on Transportation this week,
markedly changed and reshaped to put more distance between New Bedford
and the public boat line that is the lifeline to the two Islands.
Martha's Vineyard Commission Rejects Plan for New Station on
State Road Corridor, Eight Votes to Three
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
After a discussion that went well beyond the subject of gasoline
prices on the Vineyard, the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted 8-3
last night to reject a plan for a new gas station off State Road in
Vineyard Haven.
Shellfish May Survive Edgartown Oil Spill; Emergency Seen as Serious
Wake-up Call
By JULIA WELLS
The director of the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group said
there may be good news for a crop of about a million baby oysters that
were threatened by an oil spill in the Edgartown harbor early this week.
"I don't want to say that we are out of the woods
entirely, but the oysters may survive," said shellfish group
director Rick Karney on Wednesday this week.
Developers Sketch Outline of Proposals for Woodlands Area
By JULIA WELLS
Anxious to regain the upper hand following a defeat in the
Massachusetts Land Court last week, the developers who want to convert
the southern woodlands in Oak Bluffs to a private luxury golf course
- and now also luxury housing - scrambled to put out the
word that they have a new deal on the table.
Steamship Authority Board Interviews Strong Field of Finalists for
CEO Position
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
The key to success for the Steamship Authority, a Coast Guard
admiral said yesterday, is to be clear in its own vision.
"I would set the vision for the organization," said Rear
Adm. George Naccara. "But I also need to know what the board
expects from me - what is your long-term vision?"
The purple and white bumper stickers are somewhat primitive,
produced on a home computer with no stickum, so they have to be fixed to
bumpers with Scotch tape. But if bumper stickers that fall off in the
rain carry a message about the group that made them, then in this case
the message is grass roots and underfunded.
Final Debate Opens in Senate on Bill to Restructure Boatline
By JULIA WELLS
State Senate action on a hostile bill to restructure the Steamship
Authority was delayed in eleventh-hour maneuvering by Cape and Islands
Sen. Robert O'Leary yesterday, and with just two days left in
formal session at the state legislature, the bill will be taken up again
by the Senate today.
Glenn Hearn Is Elected to West Tisbury Board in Startling Upset Win
By JULIA WELLS
In a stunning upset that rocked the old guard political network on
the Vineyard, Glenn Hearn ousted four-term West Tisbury selectman
Cynthia Mitchell in the annual town election yesterday, beating her by
just 20 votes in a tight race that drew a huge crowd of voters.
Torn down the middle for the third time in three years, the expressions eloquent and heartfelt on both sides of the street, a strained and weary Martha's Vineyard Commission voted 9-8 to reject the Down Island Golf Club plan for the southern woodlands late on Wednesday night.
"The applicant has come back with changes to the plan and the word is that he has addressed all of our concerns. But he hasn't ever addressed my main concern and that's my concern about the character and identity of Martha's Vineyard," declared commission member James Athearn.
