Citizen Health Care Role Called Critical
By ALEXIS TONTI
If the Island wants better health care, its citizens must demand it.
This simple but straightforward directive was one of the chief messages of the second annual public symposium, Changing Our Health Care: Options for the Vineyard, held Sunday night at the Performing Arts Center.
Best ever Possible Dreams moment? That's a tough one.
In 1994, Carly Simon sang a few bars of Anticipation to the crowd. They went wild, and a dream night of songs with Ms. Simon was auctioned for $81,000. Twice.
In 1998, a similar situation arose, and Washington Post owner Katharine Graham agreed to host three separate lunches. Each bidder (Merv Griffin among them) paid $25,000, and Mrs. Graham made a donation of her own as well. In minutes, $100,000 was raised.
It's auction season here on the Island. Benefits are by now part of the summer routine - held, it seems, on a weekly basis - raising money for causes that range from youth sailing programs to conservation and affordable housing. But the predecessor of them all still has yet to make its annual appeal. That will come Monday, August 5, with the 24th annual Possible Dreams Auction, held in the garden of the Harborside Inn in Edgartown.
Beautiful Road Returns Star to Home on Stage
By ALEXIS TONTI
Friday night at the Hot Tin Roof, Kate Taylor came home. She took to the stage with confidence and launched the set with a clear voice, her petite frame radiating enormous energy and vitality. And, as with any proper homecoming, she was greeted by friends and family, all who had come to celebrate the release of her new album, Beautiful Road.
Harbor Festival Sets Stage for Summer
By ALEXIS TONTI
There is no single event that signals the start of summer on the Island. Something different moves each person to say the season is finally here: the ripening of strawberries and sweet peas, the first farmers' market or maybe the first true beach day. That something could also be the Oak Bluffs Harbor Festival. Falling the day after the official start of summer, the festival's timing qualifies it as another sign of the season.
House Backs New Bedford Vote on SSA Board
Whaling City Wins Most Issues; Two Islands Get Little in Return
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
BOSTON - Ending a four-year hostile crusade by the city of New Bedford to restructure the Steamship Authority, state legislators finally surrendered this week, approving a bill that meets nearly all the demands of the Whaling City, including an immediate voting seat on the boat line board of governors.