Vineyard Braces for Holiday
By MANDY LOCKE

With Fourth of July falling in the middle of this coming week, predictions about when the great surge of holiday visitors will reach the Island are as uncertain as forecasting Vineyard weather.

The idea is not new. Dr.

Rebecca Gilbert and Randy Ben David have roots - both the human and botanical variety.

On their farm off North Road in Chilmark they grow root vegetables such as beets, carrots and onions, and they have wild root herbs including sweet grass and ginseng.

Rebecca and Randy also have family roots that run as deep as the rich, sweet soil they cultivate without chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

A new team of scientists, including one from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has begun arriving on the Island to investigate what could be another outbreak of pneumonic tularemia, and they are calling on landscapers to help.

State Forest Gets Help
By JOSHUA SABATINI

The Department of Environmental Management's Division of Forests and Parks has begun to implement a new management plan for the 5,000-acre Manuel F. Correllus State Forest.

Concerned about the risk of forest fires, DEM, the state agency responsible for managing the forest, has focused its energies on clearing firebreaks or "safe zones" on the land's perimeter and interior, a plan discussed for several years.

SSA Hears from Public
By JULIA WELLS

Invite more public participation. That was the message to the Steamship Authority board of governors last week from a small gathering of Vineyard residents.

"I would like to encourage you to reconsider your policy of only permitting public comment at the end of your meetings.