Developer Vows Total Clearing of Woodlands; MVC Votes for Review

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.

Read More

Deck Collapse Injures Ten in Chilmark; Island Rescue Units in Quick Response

Deck Collapse Injures Ten in Chilmark; Island Rescue Units in Quick
Response

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

A festive summer cocktail party in Chilmark ended abruptly in chaos,
fright and injuries last night when a second story deck collapsed on a
home overlooking Clam Cove in Nashaquitsa Pond.

Read More

Economic Forecast: Sunshine, After All

Economic Forecast: Sunshine, After All

Rental Market Season Begins Slowly, but Bookings Even with Last
Year; Ferry Reservations Filling Up

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

The war in Iraq, four straight months of vicious winter weather
followed by something that only vaguely resembled spring - perhaps
it's little wonder that the economy on the Vineyard this year is
like the lilacs: late to bloom.

Read More

State Finance Crisis Places New Strains on Budget of MVC

State Finance Crisis Places New Strains on Budget of MVC

By JULIA WELLS

State budget cuts are expected to hit the Martha's Vineyard
Commission hard in the coming fiscal year, and town assessments will go
up as grant money goes down - way down.

MVC executive director Mark London said this week that state and
federal grant money is expected to drop by some $200,000.

"We have tightened up every expense we can, but as we take on
new planning responsibilities it is important that we keep our staffing
intact," Mr. London said.

Read More

Two Island Ports Vote on State's Ferry Fee

Tisbury, Oak Bluffs at Polls Tuesday

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

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.

Read More

Alan Dershowitz Reflects on Issues of Sovereignty and Future of Vineyard

Sovereignty is in the news these days.

It's in Rhode Island, where tempers are running hot in an
ongoing skirmish between the Narragansett Indian Tribe and state
attorney general over whether the tribe can sell tax-free tobacco.

It's in the Hamptons, where the Shinnecock Indian Nation has
begun to clear land for a casino, contravening local zoning and state
gaming laws.

Read More

Community Services Hit with Complaint

Community Services Hit with Complaint

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.

Read More

Hit and Run Crash Puts Two in Hospital

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.

Read More

SSA Traffic and Revenue Numbers Drop; Governors Consider Financial Remedies

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.

Read More

MVC Election Wins approval

MVC Election Wins Approval

State House Compromise Clears Path for Special Vote in May on a
Petition in Oak Bluffs to Secede from Commission

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

After a week of back-room politics on Beacon Hill that left one Cape
and Islands legislator openly fuming at what he called "outside
muscle," a petition by the town of Oak Bluffs to withdraw from the
Martha's Vineyard Commission is now set to come before voters at a
special election in the middle of May.

The election will be held on May 13.

Read More

Pages