Opinion
The West Tisbury selectmen have been put in a difficult spot as they try to navigate the ongoing conflict over two Akitas that have killed chickens and geese at a neighboring farm. The selectmen’s responsibility is to the town as a whole, and — as cruel as it may sound to some — they must do what is necessary to ensure that the dogs don’t continue to prey on local livestock.
Islanders love to talk about the weather, and this winter has been no exception — except that the conversation is strikingly different. No snow save a couple of dustings and a late January dump of eight or nine inches of wet white stuff that melted away in the sunshine and mild temperatures over the next two days. No ice save a thin layer on freshwater ponds on a few winter mornings after temperatures fell into the single digits.
LOVE BOATS
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
Your Feb. 10 editorial is right in its main point, that the Steamship Authority is essential to the Islands, and any experiments with mainland ports must not jeopardize its economical operation. However, when you say that Vineyarders have always loved their “ferries,” “boats” would be historically more accurate.
A few days ago, I was checking the tides on the Internet for West Falmouth. I visit there frequently in my Whaler and my mom lives there. The site also gives the time of sunset, moonrise, and full moon. I noticed that on Tuesday the time of full moon coincided with the time of sunset and moonrise. All these events were to happen within minutes of each other! This is unusual and I thought it would be fun to share it with friends. I checked the weather and it looked like it might be clear enough to see both moonrise and sunset at the same time.
Imagine your dream job. Now imagine you could spend the afternoon with someone who has it. That’s exactly what members of the Martha’s Vineyard Youth Leadership Initiative did last week for the second annual job shadow day. They aspire to become green architects, economists, green engineers, doctors, nurses, physical therapists, environmental scientists, farmers and even a small farm lobbyist.
The death of Whitney Houston, whatever the final cause, is a tragedy, but one that can also serve as an opportunity to talk about addiction; the horrible effects, the road to recovery, and, most importantly, prevention.