News
An Edgartown man was arrested at gunpoint last Thursday afternoon after he tried to pull a handgun from his backpack at a construction site on Fisher Road. Emery E. Johnson, 38, of 40 Pine street, was apprehended by police following a brief chase through a wooded area and charged with possession of a firearm without a license.
He is currently being held on $5,000 bail at the Dukes County Jail.
Three days of stormy weather last weekend took a toll on the Island’s vulnerable beaches. Gale force winds from the north and northeast kicked up seas all around the Island.
Wave action along the Joseph Sylvia State Beach filled the channel at the Little Bridge. Sea spray often showered on Seaview avenue in Oak Bluffs.
High tides and large seas rode into the sand dunes and cliffs at Squibnocket and Lucy Vincent Beaches, to surfers’ delight.
The board of selectmen and several Aquinnah library employees were left scratching their heads about whether or not full-time employees should receive holiday pay for days they were not scheduled to work, after a long discussion at the selectmen’s meeting Tuesday night.
Well Done, Olivia
Tisbury School sixth graders Olivia Jacobs won the Islandwide spelling bee yesterday when she correctly spelled iguana. Runners-up, in order of finish, were Matthew Luce from the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School, Connor Downing from West Tisbury, Mary McCarthy from Chilmark, Charlotte Potter from Oak Bluffs and Anna Keenan of Edgartown.
Miss Jacobs will represent the Vineyard at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in June.
Happy 100th, Evelyn
Happy birthday to Evelyn O’Brien, who turns 100 on March 24. Mrs. O’Brien has been a summer visitor to the Island. Her daughter, Mary Jo (Jody) Reston, and son in law, Richard Reston, of Edgartown and Sarasota, are owners and publisher of the Vineyard Gazette. Four generations of family, relatives and friends from all over the country are gathering in Sarasota to celebrate.
Tisbury Great Pond was closed to shellfishing as of yesterday, while Squibnocket Pond will be open for harvesting on Monday, the Chilmark selectmen announced at their meeting Tuesday.
But the new location presents access problems: a road and parking lot repair project has left boulders blocking fisherman from accessing Squibnocket Pond with boats or trailers. And because the boulders are located in a wetland, the board has to get a permit from the town conservation commission before moving them.