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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
June 30 - July 6, 2005 Edition
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in Brief June 30, 2005 Early holiday deadlines The Marthašs Vineyard Times office will be closed on Monday, July Fourth. As a result, early deadlines will apply. Calendar event listing deadline: Friday, noon by fax (508-693-6000) or e-mail (calendar@mvtimes.com). Bargain box deadline and classified ad deadline: Friday, 5 pm. Display ad deadline: Friday, 5 pm.
Traffic on Barnes Road came to a halt late yesterday morning when a truck carrying a section of a house sprung a leak in its power steering fluid line. It took mechanics about an hour to fix the problem, but even after the house-move got back underway, traffic flowed at only a walking pace down Barnes Road, heading out of Oak Bluffs. The large section of house took up both lanes of traffic, and vehicles heading into Oak Bluffs were forced to find an alternate route, or pull over and wait for the slow-moving caravan to pass. The truck that broke down was carrying the largest of three sections of a house that will be put back together just past the blinker light at the intersection of Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road and Barnes Road. The home is one of two houses that will be moved to the site as part of a three-house affordable housing project headed by the Island Housing Trust. The existing house on the site, which was once the Twin Oaks restaurant, and the two houses that were saved from demolition and moved to the lot, will be ground-leased as affordable housing units for qualified Islanders.
At 10:51 pm Tuesday, State Police responded to an incident involving two automobiles, a deer, and 24 mailboxes at the entrance to Waldron’s Bottom Road, also known as Long Point Summer Entrance. According to West Tisbury police chief Beth Toomey, a driver heading toward West Tisbury swerved into the oncoming lane to avoid a deer, causing the approaching driver to plow into the long line of mailboxes to her right, sending them flying and littering the ground with mail. West Tisbury police officer Garrison Vieira reportedly spent the next hour picking it all up. Chief Toomey said Wednesday that she’s been getting calls from concerned postal customers. Neither of the two drivers involved was hurt in the accident. The deer apparently escaped unscathed as well. No new red tide closures The largest red tide bloom in more than 30 years. which closed shellfishing along the south coast of Martha’s Vineyard earlier this month, may finally be fading, state officials said this week. However, the closures on the Island remained in effect as of yesterday afternoon. State officials said that tests off the coast of the Island, Cape Cod and Nantucket showed signs that the concentration of the Alexandrium cells that cause red tide have diminished in many places. According to the state Division of Marine Fisheries web site (www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf), shellfishing is still prohibited from coastal Edgartown all along the south shore to the western tip of Aquinnah. The Island’s coastal ponds, including Tisbury Great Pond, have remained free from red tide and are open to shellfishing. Red tide is a toxic algae that produces saxotoxin, a poison that becomes concentrated in shellfish that feed on the cells. Eating shellfish with the poison can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, which can result in numbness, paralysis, and even death. Non-filter-feeders, such as lobsters, crabs, shrimp, and finfish are not affected by red tide. While the massive red tide bloom has closed shellfish beds throughout New England, experts have stressed that consumers should not be afraid to eat shellfish. All shellfish on the market has been harvested from clean beds that have been carefully monitored and tested. Norton Point Beach closed On the eve of the July Fourth long holiday weekend, county-owned Norton Point Beach, the three-mile-long sand link between Chappaquiddick and Katama, has been closed to off-road vehicle traffic to protect three pairs of nesting piping plovers sitting on approximately 8 to 12 eggs, said E. Winn Davis, Dukes County manager. Mr. Davis said exclosures, wire mesh cages designed to protect the nests from predators, and other protective measures are being taken by Nathan Durawa, the sole county beach employee, with help from Mass Audubon volunteers. The county is also receiving assistance in cleaning and patrolling the beach from the Dukes County Sheriff’s Department. Pedestrians may still access the beach, but not vehicles. The beach will not reopen until all the birds are capable of flying, in approximately 30 to 35 days. In the past, natural predation by gulls, crows, and skunks, and storm wave washover have accounted for poor breeding results. On Chappaquiddick, The Trustees of Reservations also closed a portion of East Beach to vehicle traffic, from about 200 yards just south of Dike Bridge to the beginning of Norton Point Beach. Wasque Rip, a popular fishing spot, is still accessible from the fisherman’s parking lot, said trustees superintendent David Belcher. Mr. Belcher added that the other end of the property, extending along Cape Poge, is open. Aquinnah will try again for quorum Poor voter turnout at Aquinnah’s special town meeting Tuesday has left $76,000 in “free cash” in limbo. Only a few voters arrived by the meeting’s start at 7 pm in town hall. Twenty minutes later, moderator Walter Delaney announced postponement of the meeting due to lack of a quorum, with only 28 of the 40 voters required in attendance. Mr. Delaney urged voters to come back and bring others with them to assure a quorum to act on the 15 warrant articles tonight, at 7:30 pm. Several of the articles concern appropriations of money left over from the last fiscal year. Mr. Delaney warned the voters that, “The free cash will be gone if no warrant is passed. The money will get rolled over into the next fiscal year’s budget.” The warrant now under consideration this Thursday includes a request to transfer $54,800 from free cash to the stabilization fund to replace money used in the last fiscal year out of the fund. Several of the other articles relate to expenditures towards improvements in the town hall building, including a new kitchen. In addition to the possible lost opportunity to appropriate the free cash, one warrant article is of critical concern to local inn owners. At the May town meeting, a local room occupancy excise fee was approved with an effective date of July 1. Two local inn owners raised objections at that time, citing financial hardship imposed by the July date. They requested postponing the date to give them some time to comply. Article 2 would change the date to January 1, 2006. Also on the agenda for the postponed meeting is a presentation by Jamie Weisman, an architect from Terrain Associates, on his proposed plans for the town hall addition and renovations.
The pilot and two passengers of a single-engine Cessna airplane sustained serious injuries when their aircraft crashed at the end of runway six at Katama Airfield in Edgartown, shortly after 1 pm on June 23. All three victims were pulled from the mangled wreckage and taken by ambulance to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, and later airlifted to the mainland for further treatment. The pilot, Alec Naiman, 51, from Long Island, N.Y., was listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston yesterday afternoon. The two passengers, Jeffrey Willoughby, 40, of O’fallon, Mo., and his teenage daughter Jessica were listed in good condition at Boston hospitals. The pilot and both passengers are deaf. The three are part of a group from the Deaf Pilots Association who took off from Plymouth Municipal Airport last Thursday as part of a weeklong convention. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues licenses to deaf pilots, but restricts them to flying only into “non-towered” airports, or airports that do not require radio communication with air traffic controllers for takeoffs and landings. The Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash. Eyewitnesses said that Mr. Naiman was making his approach to land the Cessna Skyhawk on the grassy airfield, but a biplane taxiing down one of the two runways caused him to pull up. As he aborted the landing, the plane climbed steeply, stalled, and fell about 50 feet to the ground, witnesses said. “From what I saw when I got there, and from what other witnesses said, it looks like it was a matter of pilot error,” said Michael Creato, Katama Airfield manager. “It’s tough to say exactly what happened, but it looks like he waited until fairly late in the landing approach and then attempted a go-around at the last second. If the flaps are out for landing and you add full power for a go-around, the nose will pitch up, just the way it did in this case, which can stall the plane.” The emergency response following the crash was swift. The first people on the scene were lifeguards at South Beach who saw the plane drop from the sky. Emergency responders from the Edgartown and Oak Bluffs fire and ambulance departments quickly joined them. Islanders who could interpret sign language also responded to help the emergency workers communicate with the victims. Corrections officers promoted to rank of sergeant Two Dukes County deputy sheriffs, Nancy Brown and Mick Vukota, were recently promoted to the rank of sergeant. Michael McCormack, Dukes County sheriff, promoted the two corrections officers to the new rank following a competitive testing process with other employees within the sheriff’s department. Deputies Vukota and Brown passed the exams with the two highest scores in both written and verbal tests. Sheriff McCormack presided over the promotion ceremony on June 15 at his office in Edgartown. Edgartown appointee joins Dukes County Regional Housing Authority The state Department of Housing and Community Development this week announced the appointment of Anthony Bongiorno of Edgartown to the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority. Mr. Bongiorno’s responsibilities will include helping to maintain good community relations and supporting tenant participation in the administration of public housing. A semi-retired senior executive, he has a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Tufts University and a Master of Science in building engineering and construction from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Rotary Club funds two groups The Rotary Club of Martha’s Vineyard has awarded $9,000 to two Vineyard organizations. The club contributed $5,000 to the Boys and Girls Club for much needed building repairs, and the group also contributed $4,000 to the Vineyard Health Care Access Program to benefit its prescription drug access program, which provides funding for prescription drug medications for Island residents who meet eligibility requirements. A press release from the Rotary Club of Martha’s Vineyard reports that the club has contributed approximately $50,000 to local organizations, including the Island Affordable Housing Fund; Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center; the Cape Cod Ballet; Martha’s Vineyard Youth Hockey; Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Martha’s Vineyard; community soup suppers; literacy programs; and others. The group recently celebrated its centennial by refurbishing Niantic Park in Oak Bluffs. Corrections The Chilmark town news column last week included incorrect Chilmark landfill hours. The landfill is open Wednesday from 8 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm. A winner by any other name is still a winner, but last week The Times identified a photo of Mark Smith as Mike Smith. In fact, Mark was the glum-faced fellow, smiling inside no doubt, holding a check from the state lottery after winning $1 million. In a News Brief in last week’s Times, we wrote that Melissa Breese “…has worked at both the Chilmark and West Tisbury schools.” Not true: Ms. Breese has never worked at the Chilmark School. |
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