Three Stories, Balconies, a Roof Deck: A Garage Project Stirs the North Bluff

By CHRIS BURRELL

When he applied for a building permit last fall, Joseph G. Moujabber told the Oak Bluffs building inspector he was replacing an old one-car garage in his backyard. It would cost just $22,000 to build and would be used for storage space only, the application states.

But almost five months later, the building under construction - three stories tall with balconies and a roof deck - looks more like a Florida condo than a garage.

Debate Continues on Fair Share in Up-Island School Finances

By CHRIS BURRELL

Voters in West Tisbury will need more than a calculator to sort out the dispute raging up-Island over school costs.

Less than one week after Vineyard schools leaders unveiled financial scenarios showing that it would cost West Tisbury more than $600,000 in one year if it withdrew from the school region, the finance committee is busily crunching numbers and reaching an entirely different conclusion.

A proposed hike in landing fees at Logan International Airport in Boston could end up putting the Vineyard's main airline carrier, CapeAir, out of business, its chief executive said.

School District Weighs Choices

Meetings in West Tisbury, Chilmark Explore Future of Up-Island Public Education; Costs in Chilmark Are Central

By CHRIS BURRELL

Last night, more than 80 people - parents, teachers, alumni, selectmen and community members - rallied around the Chilmark School. Despite declining enrollment and pressure to cut costs in the Up-Island Regional School District, they vowed they would not close their school down.

It was built for skateboarders after a grassroots effort that lasted years, but less than three months after the Martha's Vineyard Skatepark opened in Oak Bluffs, the skaters are dealing with some uninvited guests - bicyclists.

Oak Bluffs Is Set to Accept Bid for Vineyard's Largest Library

By CHRIS BURRELL

The backyard of Oak Bluffs town hall doesn't look like much now, but sometime this spring on a patch of dirt and grass that was once a school playground, the Island's largest public library will begin to rise up.

Bids for the new library were opened last week, and six of the seven came within the $3.5 million budget.