News
With a hearing scheduled in U.S. district court Monday in a complicated lawsuit over casino rights, the town of Aquinnah Tuesday filed a motion to intervene in the case to protect the town’s position that the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) does not have the right to build a gaming facility on the Island.
Town dredging needs, including the possibility of a lease or purchase of a dredge, and needed repairs to the dock at Owen Park topped the discussion at the Tisbury selectmen’s meeting Tuesday.
Selectmen heard a presentation from Steve Miller of Ellicott Dredge in Baltimore, Md. Mr. Miller gave estimates for purchasing or leasing a dredge, including operation, maintenance and fuel costs. To buy would cost about $500,000, and to lease would cost $30,000 a month.
Cong. William Keating appealed directly to the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard this week to expedite the transfer of ownership of the Gay Head Light, which must be moved soon due to rapid erosion at the Gay Head Cliffs.
In a letter to Adml. Robert J. Papp Jr. yesterday, Mr. Keating urged the Coast Guard to declare the lighthouse as excess property.
Early Saturday morning and all is quiet at Donaroma’s Nursery. A misty rain has settled on the piles of garlands, wreaths and greenery. No one would know that less than 12 hours earlier, more than 1,500 people were here to celebrate the holiday season with wine, cheese, 3-D glasses, glitter and a treasure hunt. Suddenly, infectious laughter spills out of the large glass greenhouse.
“We are grateful, we give thanks,” West Tisbury poet laureate Justen Ahren read during Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the West Tisbury Free Public Library’s expansion and renovation project. After nearly five years of planning, grant applications, and fundraising, construction on the new building will begin next month. A large crowd gathered in the courtyard of the library to celebrate the big day.
Mr. Ahren was one of a lineup of speakers that featured state rep.
The Martha’s Vineyard airport commission has the authority to establish salaries for its employees independently of other county employees salaries, an attorney for the Dukes County commission said. In a letter sent by email to county manager Martina Thornton on Dec. 11, Darren Klein, an attorney with Kopelman and Paige wrote: “In my opinion, as long as the airport commission has sufficient funds appropriated through the enterprise fund or otherwise, the airport commission has the authority . . . to fix salaries as it sees fit.”