Candidates for SSA Governor Make Case for Appointment

By JAMES KINSELLA

Four candidates vying to become the next Vineyard Steamship Authority governor made their respective cases Wednesday before the Dukes County Commission.

Kenneth DeBettencourt, Marc Hanover, Robert Sawyer and Mark Snider made opening and closing statements, and responded to the same set of questions which they had been given in advance.

The commission will hold a special meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday to vote on the three-year appointment, which is unsalaried.

In a much-awaited decision that has far-reaching implications for the Vineyard and the commonwealth, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled

Two of the three Catholic churches on the Island have closed down for the winter season, leaving just one - Our Lady Star of the Sea in Oak Bluffs - to serve the Vineyard's Roman Catholics.

The seasonal closures aren't for lack of interest. Church leaders blame a critical shortage of area priests and a financial deficit tied to rising heating oil costs and building repairs.

Corps Hearings Begin Monday on Nantucket Sound Wind Farm

By IAN FEIN

Vineyard residents who want to weigh in on the controversial wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound will have their best chance when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its entourage arrive on-Island Monday for the first of four regional public hearings.

The Vineyard hearing will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Performing Arts Center. Registration for those who want to speak begins at 5 p.m.

Revised plans to replace the storied Big and Little Bridges along Beach Road in Edgartown and Oak Bluffs were unveiled this week, and Massachusetts highway officials say they are confident the design will fit the character of the Vineyard. County engineer Steve Berlucchi presented the plans to Edgartown selectmen at their regular meeting Tuesday afternoon. "I think we have a much better design that Island residents will appreciate," Mr. Berlucchi said. "Everybody who has seen it so far is on board."

Landowners React to Blind Trust Deals

By JAMES KINSELLA

Two parties who learned that they unknowingly sold property to the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank have expressed concern about how the land bank cloaked its identity in the transactions.

Mia Lewis, one of the former owners of 1.9 acres of barrier beach on Tisbury Great Pond, and Judith Lane, who owned six acres off Ice House Pond, this week questioned the strategy used by the land bank, a state-chartered agency funded by property transfer taxes.