Land Bank Aid for Woodlands

Land Bank Initiative Offers to Pay 80 Per Cent of Conservation Cost for Southern Woodlands if Oak Bluffs Takes Land

By MANDY LOCKE

The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank gave a promise in the form of dollar signs to the town of Oak Bluffs Wednesday morning - agreeing to contribute 80 per cent of the cost if the town takes by eminent domain some 276 acres of the southern woodlands.

Barbara Flynn Leaves; Office Closes

Caseworker Retires; State May Close Welfare Office

By MANDY LOCKE

Barbara Flynn leans closer - peering over her calico-framed glasses - and gives cat, Two-Face, another stroke before whispering, "I don't know what they're going to do."

Only the large desk cluttered with stacks of papers, a computer and a ringing telephone reminds the listener that this slight lady is anything other than a lifelong friend, that this office is anything other than a comfy living room.

Island Community Raises Concerns Over Hospital; Board Listens in Silence

By MANDY LOCKE

Members of the Martha's Vineyard Hospital board of trustees listened, for the most part in silence, to an outpouring of public concern and demands for change at a forum held Tuesday night.

Nearly 300 Vineyard residents, doctors and hospital officials gathered in the regional high school Performing Arts Center to discuss the current state of the hospital - spurred by the recent resignation of hospital surgeon Dr. Richard Koehler.

Community Services Agency Scrambles to Blunt Effects of State Budget Cutbacks

By MANDY LOCKE

As the reality of state budget cuts trickles down to communities across the commonwealth, Martha's Vineyard Community Services is taking its share of hits.

"This is devastating across the board to this Island. It shakes the foundation of the support network we've created," said Ned Robinson-Lynch, executive director of Martha's Vineyard Community Services, in a conversation with the Gazette this week.

State Agency Shuts Office on Vineyard; Future Is Uncertain

By MANDY LOCKE

It's much quieter these days at 1 Douglas Way in Oak Bluffs. Barbara's not around. Neither are many of the 112 Islanders who rely on the Department of Transitional Assistance for emergency shelter, food stamps, health care and job placement assistance.

NAACP Gathering Honors King Legacy

Judge Ann Williams Asks Equal Justice for All Citizens

By MANDY LOCKE

The only thing missing from Tuesday night's NAACP dinner was the guest of honor: the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It was just the sort of gathering the civil rights pioneer would have loved, according to the keynote speaker, federal judge Ann Claire Williams.