Finances Improve at Windemere, Hospital

Finances Improve at Windemere, Hospital

By JULIA WELLS

The Windemere Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center ended the year
in the red once again, but senior managers said this week that the
$200,000 operating deficit is a big improvement over last year and a
step in a better direction for the Island's only nursing home.

Martha's Vineyard Hospital chief executive officer Tim Walsh
said yesterday that some hard-won rate relief from Medicaid played a big
role in cutting the numbers at Windemere this year.

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Planning Vision: MVC Counts Three Decades of Unique Act

The early framers were the Thomas Jeffersons of the Vineyard - visionaries and idealists ahead of their time. They looked down the road, saw trouble and took action, with an eye toward a regional solution.

The result was the Martha's Vineyard Commission, a regulatory commission considered unique in American government, both then and now.

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Interim Manager at Woods Hole Started Out at the Ticket Window

Interim Manager at Woods Hole Started Out at the Ticket Window

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

His first summer job was in a hardware store where he learned how to
fix screen doors.

Today at age 53, Wayne Lamson has been called on to fix something
bigger than a screen door - way bigger - but those who know
the soft-spoken, highly capable Steamship Authority treasurer think he
is more than up to the job.

For the fifth time in three decades, this week Mr. Lamson stepped in
as interim general manager of the SSA.

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State Ruling Backs DCPCs

State Ruling Backs DCPCs

Barnstable Process Is Upheld; a Town-Wide District There Parallels
Those on Vineyard; Vote for Planning Homework

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

In a key environmental protection decision for both the Vineyard and
Cape Cod, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) this week threw
out a lower court ruling and upheld a townwide district of critical
planning concern (DCPC) for the town of Barnstable.

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Night at the Cliffs: Homestead Is Ready to Shine for Aquinnah

The ghosts are quiet these days - if you believe in such things - but at the Vanderhoop homestead the screen door still bangs and the old wood sash windows rattle with the specter of a new future.

Purchased last year by the town of Aquinnah and the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank in a joint acquisition, the historic homestead is now set for its first fund-raising event.

The event will kick off a $300,000 restoration project aimed at converting the homestead to a museum and cultural center.

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Land Bank Bids for a Woodland Preserve

Land Bank Bids for a Woodlands Preserve

Deal Would Protect 190 Acres; Developer to Build 26 Houses

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

A long, bruising battle over the fate of the southern woodlands in
Oak Bluffs took a stunning turn this week when the Martha's
Vineyard Land Bank announced that it has signed an agreement to buy 190
acres from developer Corey Kupersmith, including the old Webb's
Camping Area.

The purchase price is $18.6 million.

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Aquinnah Leaders Make Painful Budget Choices After Failure of Override

Aquinnah Leaders Make Painful Budget Choices After Failure of
Override

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Swinging the proverbial budget ax, selectmen and town department
heads in Aquinnah took their first whacks yesterday at trying to cut
$260,000 from a $2.4 million town budget.

"We're here tonight to try and come up with some cost
savings," declared Aquinnah selectman and board chairman Carl
Widdiss.

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Chilmark and Commission Will File Briefs in Sovereignty Case

Chilmark and Commission Will File Briefs in Sovereignty Case

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

The town of Chilmark and the Martha's Vineyard Commission will
add their voices to the Aquinnah court appeal over sovereign immunity,
which is now expected to come before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court this year.

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Dr. Kriner Cash Resigns Superintendent Position After Nine Years on Job

Dr. Kriner Cash Resigns Superintendent Position After Nine Years on
Job

By JULIA WELLS

Vineyard Schools superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash announced
unexpectedly this week that he will leave his post after more than nine
years to take a job in Dade County, Fla.

Mr. Cash will leave the Vineyard in two weeks; Oct. 15 will be his
last day on the job.

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Changes Underway in SSA Priorities

Changes Underway in SSA Priorities

An Olive Branch Toward Nantucket; Islander Meeting Will Be August
12; Can Rates Be Held Down?

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Change is the watchword these days at the Steamship Authority,
palpable and overnight change.

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