Reading the Fine Print

As big as the ocean itself, the Massachusetts Oceans Act adopted six months ago by the state legislature is an ambitious but largely hollow piece of legislation that remains to be filled out in the months ahead, partly through the development of an accompanying ocean management plan. The plan, which will be written over the next twelve months with the assistance of a broad-based advisory commission, is a crucial first step in regulating development in ocean waters within three miles of the state coastline.

Fish Tales

From the Gazette editions of October, 1908:

Economies of Scale

The clock that ticks off the United States’ national debt ran out of digits yesterday. It could not register ten trillion dollars without dropping the dollar sign. Far as we are from Times Square, Vineyarders are well aware of our share of the burden (officially estimated to be about thirty-four thousand dollars for every American citizen).

Happy Birthday

One hundred and fifty years is a long time, but like a beautiful woman who ages gracefully, Alley’s General Store is hardly showing her age. She’s still the same venerable institution in the heart of West Tisbury, the one that deals in almost everything, from sheetrock screws to plastic sand pails, from fresh apples to The New York Times, from videos to hot coffee. And the front porch at Alley’s is still the best place to sit and watch the world go by — or perhaps meet a friend on the way up-Island or down-Island