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.
Vineyard Democrats broke ranks with the rest of the commonwealth
this week, throwing their support to former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert
Reich over state treasurer Shannon P. O'Brien in the primary race
for governor.
Blockbuster First Novel Surprises Modest Author Stephen Carter
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
He is a law professor first and a novelist second, but he is also a
lot of other things, in no particular order: a loving husband and
father, a deeply religious African-American, a constitutional scholar, a
conservative among liberals, a writer, a writer, a writer.
Martha's Vineyard Commission Responds to Technical Problems
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Amid a ripple of allegations about possible open meeting law
violations on two separate fronts, leaders at the Martha's
Vineyard Commission this week turned to their attorney for help.
Eric Wodlinger, a partner at Choate Hall & Stewart in Boston,
recommended that the commission follow the advice of the Cape and
Islands district attorney and take a second vote on the written decision
for the Down Island Golf club plan.
Superior Court Judge Will Not Revisit Ruling on Sovereignty of Tribe
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
A Dukes County superior court judge yesterday stood fast by a
decision he made five months ago that the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
(Aquinnah) cannot be sued because of sovereign immunity.
"This court declines the … invitation to revisit [the]
issues, leaving the propriety of its decision for resolution by a higher
court," wrote the Hon. Richard F. Connon, an associate justice of
the superior court.
The director of the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group said yesterday that nearly four million healthy juvenile shellfish under culture at his Lagoon Pond hatchery have died in the last three weeks because of extremely poor water quality in the pond.
The deteriorating water quality has not affected mature shellfish and there is no danger to humans who eat shellfish from the pond.
Challenger Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter Is Winner by Large Margin Over
Incumbent John S. Alley
By JULIA WELLS
Nine-term selectman John S. Alley lost his seat to Jeffrey (Skipper)
Manter in a surprise trouncing in the West Tisbury annual town election
yesterday.
Boat Line Management Develops Plans for Advertising Displays on
Water and in Terminals; Considers New Magazine
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Slick advertising contracts with retailers like J. Crew and the
Black Dog. Display advertising on ferries and inside boat line
terminals. A four-color glossy "in-float" magazine on board
ferries.
