Remy Tumin
The contentious and sometimes emotional debate over the possible euthanization of two Akitas came to a conclusion this week when the West Tisbury selectmen ordered the animals into the ownership of an off-Island rescue group rather than destroy the dogs. Per the agreement between the town and the dogs’ owners, the dogs are never to return to the Island.
With voters set to decide this spring whether to allow the sale of beer and wine at West Tisbury restaurants, the town selectmen began work this week on potential new rules and regulations for issuing licenses.
Selectman and board chairman Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter 3rd said at the weekly board meeting Wednesday that the goal was to have a set of draft regulations and present them at a public forum, which has not been scheduled yet.
It is a place for parents to trade concerns about child-rearing while the children play, and a place for high school students who may want to study education down the road to gain valuable early childhood teaching experience.
But with the phasing out of the early childhood education vocational program at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, the Martha’s Vineyard Family Center, with its comfy blue couches and pleasing play spaces for children, will now need to relocate.
The double-crested cormorant may be legally protected, but if the town of Chilmark and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) get their way, the Island will soon see fewer of the pesky birds, whose voracious appetites threaten fish restoration projects.
The tribe is seeking a special permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to harass and kill the birds in order to protect the historic herring run. Chilmark is applying for the same permit to protect the new flounder restoration project. This is the first time the town has applied for the permit.
The West Tisbury selectmen are now considering reversing an order to destroy two Akitas on condition that the owners agree to turn over the dogs to new owners.
A year and a half after the Menemsha fire, insurance claims for fishermen and recreational boat owners who suffered property losses remain unsettled.
About 40 people have filed claims through the town and the U.S. Coast Guard, which owned the historic boat house that was lost in the massive fire on July 12, 2010. About half have received no reimbursement.