Federal Labor Board Charges Agency with Poor Treatment of Employees
During Union Organizing Effort
By JULIA WELLS
A dormant labor dispute at Martha's Vineyard Community
Services bubbled to life again yesterday when a newly formed union
announced that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a
complaint against the umbrella social service agency.
Waiting List for English Classes Is Long; Indicator of Intent to
Stay
By CHRIS BURRELL
They are, said Jeanne Burke, the people who sustain the Island, the
ones who ring up the groceries, paint the houses and tend the gardens.
They are also the ones knocking on Ms. Burke's door in
staggering numbers, looking for a place in one of the six English
classes taught through the Martha's Vineyard Adult Learning
Partnership, where Ms. Burke is the director.
Traffic is down, revenues are down, there's an economic downturn going on and the weather has been awful.
As a result of all this, the Steamship Authority will begin to sell advertising space on the ferries and in the boat line terminals to pick up some extra cash.
Boat line managers also said yesterday that they will continue to pursue a plan to change the winter ferry schedule on the Vineyard run as a way to save some money.
Oak Bluffs Home Rule Petition Inspires Hot Debate in Hearing Hastily
Convened by Legislature
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
BOSTON - Small in number but passionate in expression, a
compact assembly of Vineyard residents traveled to Beacon Hill this week
to testify at a hastily called legislative hearing on a petition by the
town of Oak Bluffs to withdraw from the Martha's Vineyard
Commission.
"I'm here because the integrity of the Martha's
Vineyard Commission is now being threatened," said West Tisbury
resident Barbara Day.
Developer Vows Total Clearing of Woodlands; MVC Votes for Review
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
The developer of the Down Island Golf Club went toe to toe with the
Martha's Vineyard Commission one more time last night, publicly
declaring his intention to clear-cut 270 acres in the southern woodlands
and openly challenging the commission to try and stop him.
An abrupt announcement by Steamship Authority managers early this
week that they will convert the passenger ferry Schamonchi to a private
operation led to another abrupt announcement yesterday: A license
agreement with a private operator who wants to run high-speed ferry
service between New Bedford and the Vineyard is now set for a vote next
week.
The boat line governors will take a final vote on the license
agreement at the monthly SSA meeting on Nantucket next Thursday morning.
In Oak Bluffs, ‘a Lot of Work' Lies Ahead as Town Tries
to Heal Rifts from Election
Stay in Commission, Says Record Vote
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Marking history and closing one of the most divisive chapters in the
annals of the town, a record number of Oak Bluffs voters went to the
polls this week and said no to pulling out of the Martha's
Vineyard Commission.
Transportation Forum Grapples with Growth; Vineyard Future Requires
Thoughtful Planning
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
The subject was transportation planning, but in the end it was a
night for thinking out loud about growth and all of its attendant
contradictions on an Island seven miles off the coast of Massachusetts.
Voters in Tisbury and Oak Bluffs go to the polls Tuesday to decide
whether to adopt a ferry passenger surcharge that was approved by the
state legislature earlier this year.
1987 Report on Water Quality Found Problems ‘Particularly
During the Summer Months'; Recommended Dredging
A comprehensive study documented water quality problems in the
Lagoon Pond 16 years ago, but the recommendations from the study -
including a dredging program - were never carried out because of a
lack of funding.
