Sam Bungey
School bullies are moving out of the schoolyard and into cyberspace, making the job of monitoring and curbing abuse more difficult for educators such as Neal Weaver, assistant principal at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.
“You can’t just see a fight in the playground and break it up anymore,” said Mr. Weaver, who handles discipline for the 770 students of the school with the help of fellow assistant principal Carlin Hart.
The results are ready from a national centers for disease control (CDC) study of tick-borne diseases in the Island Wampanoag population, but the outbreak of swine flu may delay their release, the tribe’s environmental health coordinator Cynthia Robinson said this week.
The study is a key feature of a wide-ranging environmental health exposition this Saturday, put on by the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Harbor View hotel in Edgartown.
Though it contains some important housekeeping matters, next Tuesday’s Aquinnah special town meeting warrant is noteworthy more for what has been removed than for what remains.
Aquinnah ended the Island political season on a big yes this week, approving all warrant articles at Tuesday’s annual town meeting, then voting to approve a $100,000 override and backing all candidates in the town election Wednesday.
Voters approved a $3 million budget, increased education costs and made their way through 16 articles in less than two hours at the last Vineyard annual town meeting of the year.
Finance committee member Isaac Taylor presented the budget and appealed to voters to back the ballot override question.
Following a last-minute public campaign of staunch opposition, Aquinnah selectmen at a special meeting Monday shelved a proposal to build an outdoor performing arts stage at the Circle, leaving its architects frustrated and the board polarized on the issue.
The proposal is from Ted Cammann, a longtime music producer, and Jim Glavin of Deca Construction, who conceived the plan after organizing last August’s Aquinnah Music festival held at the Circle. The two men are now partners in Circle Productions LLC.
Aquinnah voters will be asked to approve a $3 million budget at their annual town meeting Tuesday and will then face a $100,000 general override on the election ballot the following day, to help pay for it.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the old town hall. Moderator Walter Delaney will preside.
Despite sustained efforts from town leaders to slash the budget over the past several months, fixed costs, including $940,000 in funding for schools, pushed up the bottom line up by more than $100,000 over last year.