James Kinsella

Steamship Authority Weathers Changes Through Long Year

James Kinsella |

Steamship Authority Weathers Changes Through Long Year

By JAMES KINSELLA

As 2004 got under way at the Steamship Authority, there was some question about whether there would be a Steamship Authority in the future.

In mid-January Nantucket governor Grace Grossman confirmed that she had been exploring since the previous summer whether that island should secede from the boat line, an entity created by the state in 1960 to ensure reliable, affordable ferry travel between Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and the mainland.

 

 

 

Commission Peppers Architect with New Hospital Questions

James Kinsella

Commission Peppers Architect with New Hospital Questions

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

Members of the Martha's Vineyard Commission last week raised serious doubts about the wisdom of expanding the Martha's Vineyard Hospital at its current Oak Bluffs site.

Hospital architects came before the commission Thursday night to give an informal presentation on proposed building plans, and were rocked by a series of questions and comments challenging assumptions underlying the $42 million building project.

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Merchants Report August Spike in Island Tale of Two Summers

James Kinsella

Merchants Report August Spike in Island Tale of Two Summers

By JAMES KINSELLA

Oak Bluffs harbor reports a record July, while fewer boats appear in Edgartown. Steamship Authority passenger traffic is up a bit, while commercial airline traffic is down a little. July generally lags the same month last summer, while August seems to be running ahead.

A classic mixed economic bag appears to have landed on the Vineyard's doorstep this summer.

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County Commission Postpones Discussion on the Airport Case

James Kinsella

The sword of Damocles apparently will dangle a while longer over the finances of Dukes County government.

The county commission tentatively had slated a meeting for tomorrow with the finance advisory board to discuss strategy in what could be a major legal judgment against the county. But county manager E. Winn Davis said yesterday the meeting had been canceled.

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Boat Line Will Purchase Replacement

James Kinsella

Boat Line Will Purchase Replacement Fast Ferry to Ply Nantucket Route

By James Kinsella
Gazette Senior Writer

NANTUCKET - If at first you don't get it right, spend almost $10 million to do it again. That is the approach taken by the Steamship Authority, whose board of governors yesterday approved spending $9.5 million to buy a high-speed passenger ferry to replace the the problem-plagued Flying Cloud. The vessel is planned for the Hyannis-Nantucket route.

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An August David McCullough Carries Audience Back in Time

James Kinsella

An August David McCullough Carries Audience Back in Time

By James Kinsella
Gazette Senior Writer

Millions of American minds carry the image: George Washington, resplendent in uniform, resolute in countenance, gazing steadfastly ahead, the Stars and Stripes partly unfurled behind him, the boatmen pushing ice cakes away from the rowboat in which he is standing.

Save the ice cakes, it is an image that is almost totally inaccurate, historian David McCullough said.

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