Remy Tumin
The Aquinnah selectmen approved the start of the commercial bay scallop season, appointed members to the new Gay Head Lighthouse committee and set next year’s tax rate at their meeting Tuesday.
Commercial scalloping begins in Menemsha Pond in Aquinnah Dec. 10; the daily limit is two level bushels.
Shellfish constable Brian (Chip) Vanderhoop said there are “lots of scallops, so eat up.”
Beneath a billowing American flag and light breeze off the harbor, Buddy sat in salute at the U.S. Coast Guard Station Menemsha early Monday morning, chest proudly puffed, ready for his next treat.
The three-year-old golden retriever was sworn in as a seaman recruit by Senior Chief Jason Olsen at a special enlistment ceremony. With the duty crew standing behind him, Buddy became a rank and file member of the Menemsha team.
The Inn at Blueberry Hill had been closed for three years, and like for a child standing outside of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, buzz began to swirl across the Island in the days leading up to last Saturday’s estate sale. This would be the first time in three years the up-Island landmark known for its country charm opened its doors to the public. Only this time guests were not checking in. They were checking all of its contents out. After years of speculation, the property sold to a private buyer in September for $2.4 million. The new owners are Adam and Tamara Sloan of New York city.
Following Hurricane Sandy’s blow to the south-facing coastline of the Vineyard last month, the Chilmark conservation commission is now facing a slew of plans for beach protection, including a request to move two homes and a shed now perilously perched atop the cliff at Stonewall Beach.
In the very beginning, when nobody knew anything, everyone was afraid. It was 1986 and Kevin had just been diagnosed as HIV-positive. Many of his friends were dying from AIDS.
“I went to visit my friend Larry in a hospital, who had pneumocystis [a form of pneumonia],” Kevin recalled. “He was at the very end of the corridor and the rooms on either side of him and across the hall were all empty. When I went to visit him I had to put on a mask, a gown, gloves and booties. And then I went into the room and he was in an oxygen tent.”
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the first federally recognized American Indian tribe in the commonwealth, is going through a period of significant change as it pursues plans to build a casino in an uncertain economic and regulatory climate.
The hope of building a casino in southeastern Massachusetts has been thwarted by state officials, and a previously announced plan to convert the tribal community center to a bingo hall appears to be stalled.
No application has been filed with the town and the still-unfinished building has no certificate of occupancy permit.