Charitable Giving Declines on Island

Vineyard Institutions Worry the Squeeze Will Eliminate Services in Competitive Market for Needed Contributions

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

It's known as the giving season, but as holiday lights glow along darkened main streets and the clock winds down on 2002, an array of vital Vineyard institutions report a troubling trend: Charitable contributions are down this year.

MVC Votes No on Gas Station

Martha's Vineyard Commission Rejects Plan for New Station on State Road Corridor, Eight Votes to Three

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

After a discussion that went well beyond the subject of gasoline prices on the Vineyard, the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted 8-3 last night to reject a plan for a new gas station off State Road in Vineyard Haven.

Early Retirement Program Attracts 26 County Officials

By JULIA WELLS

A highway superintendent, an executive secretary, a librarian and a jail administrator are among a long list of Vineyarders who will take early retirement this year under a program made possible by an act of the state legislature.

Approved last spring as a cost-cutting measure and signed into law by acting Gov. Jane Swift, the law cleared the way for towns and counties to offer early retirement to employees.

Using new lawyers but spelling out the same themes, the developers of the Down Island Golf Club filed a lawsuit against the Martha's Vineyard Commission late last week, attacking everything from the recent vote to reject a luxury golf course project in the southern woodlands to the enabling legislation that created the commission.

Gasoline is considered a necessity of life, but is one more gas station a necessity for the Vineyard? The Martha's Vineyard Commission was expected to take up the question again last night as a public hearing reopened on a proposal for a new gas station on State Road in Vineyard Haven.

Health Survey Seeks Broad Profile of Medical Needs to Strengthen Delivery of Care to All Islanders

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Marking the first-ever study of its kind on the Island, a wide-ranging scientific health survey will be launched this winter that is aimed at developing a comprehensive health report for the Vineyard.