News
in Brief
December
30, 2004
Flu vaccine
will be more widely available
More people will qualify to receive flu vaccine under updated guidelines
recently provided by the state Department of Public Health (DPH).
In response, the Vineyard Nursing Association, Martha’s Vineyard
Hospital, and Visiting Nurse Service will jointly sponsor an adult
flu clinic on Monday, Jan. 10, from 3 to 5:30 pm at the West Tisbury
Public Safety Building on State Road.
According to a DPH press release, the newest guidelines are based
upon recent information on the current supply of vaccine. DPH has
determined that the influenza vaccine should be made more widely
available. Currently there have been over 300 reported cases of
the flu in Massachusetts. Anyone wishing to obtain a free vaccine
must meet one of the following criteria:
• Adults aged 50 years and older
• Persons aged 2-49 years with underlying chronic medical conditions
• All women who will be pregnant during flu season
• Residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities
• Health-care workers involved in direct patient care and emergency
first responders
• Out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of anyone at
high risk of complications of influenza, including children aged
under six months.
Additionally, DPH announced that the live influenza vaccine called
FluMist® may now be used for all healthy individuals 5-49 years
of age. Children between the ages of 2-18 should be vaccinated by
their physician.
Department of Public Health Commissioner Christine C. Ferguson commented:
“The cooperation of the Massachusetts health care community
to match those of greater risk of severe complications from the
flu with the flu vaccine this season has been terrific. In October
and November when the flu vaccine was unknown and limited, city
and town boards of health, hospitals, doctors, and others all worked
together to ensure those who needed the vaccine the most received
it.” She added, “The flu season so far has been light,
but will intensify as we move into January and February. I would
encourage all those who are eligible to receive a flu shot to do
so. There is still plenty of time to be vaccinated before the flu
season peaks.”
For more information, contact Visiting Nurse Service at 508-693-7900,
extension 230, or Vineyard Nursing Association at 508-693-6184,
extension 17. There is also a Flu Vaccine Hotline that will provide
updated vaccine information. The hotline can be reached by calling
508-693-0151.
Father, son busted smoking pot
Tisbury police arrested a Tisbury man for allegedly smoking marijuana
with his 16-year-old son. According to Tisbury police chief Ted
Saulnier, the father and son decided to smoke pot before boarding
a boat to do some Christmas shopping.
Tisbury police officer Frank Williams was on foot patrol near the
Cumberland Farms convenience store when he smelled the distinctive
odor of marijuana. The officer investigated and found three men,
the father and son and a 20-year-old cousin, standing behind the
Tisbury firehouse.
Police found a small plastic bag containing marijuana and a pipe
on the ground.
Chief Saulnier said Shane Fennell, 57, of Tisbury was arrested for
possession of a class D substance and contributing to the delinquency
of a minor.
Chief Saulnier said Mr. Fennell told police “he knew it was
a stupid thing to do and should not have done it.”
Students learn a lesson in giving
West Tisbury School sixth graders got a taste of hunger and learned
a lesson in giving while studying the impact of resources, population,
and government on the distribution of wealth in the world.
To better understand the experience of hunger and raise awareness
of food distribution in the world, students and teachers participated
in a hunger banquet. Forty-five students and teachers picked colored
tickets from a basket on their way into lunch. Depending on the
color of the ticket, 15 percent were welcomed to a lavish banquet
table; another 25 percent received a simple lunch of rice and beans;
and the final 60 percent sat on the floor with only a small cup
of rice.
The students decided to take action. In two and a half weeks, the
38 students in the sixth grade raised $700 through bake sales and
donations. The students donated the money to Heifer International,
an international organization that provides people with sustainable
aid.
The money will be used to purchase breeding pairs of llamas, sheep,
and goats for a village in a developing country.
Vineyard Haven Marina is sold to Falmouth man
Vincent Geoffroy, owner of Falmouth Marine, is the new owner of
Vineyard Haven Marina on Beach Road. Mr. Geoffroy bought the waterfront
property for just under $2.5 million.
The marina includes a 330-foot dock, gas pumps, a restaurant, and
a building fronting on Beach Road that was once a marine supply
store.
Mr. Geoffroy’s new business is only a short boat ride from
Falmouth Marine, a full-service marine business located off Scranton
Avenue on Falmouth Harbor. Mr. Geoffroy operates seasonal passenger
ferry service aboard the Pied Piper, a small passenger ferry that
operates between Falmouth Harbor and Memorial Wharf on Edgartown
Harbor.
In a telephone conversation this week, Mr. Geoffroy said he intends
to reopen the marine supply store and upgrade the marina operation
to provide for the boating public’s needs. Mr. Geoffroy said
he will be able to augment his new operation with the considerable
resources available at Falmouth Marine, which should be helpful
to seasonal and year-round Island boaters.
Mr. Geoffroy said the people who have been involved with the marina
would stay involved. He also plans to meet soon with other people
who work on the harbor.
“We would like to be very good neighbors to everyone on the
harbor,” he said. “I want to hear what people have to
say.”
The Vineyard Haven Marina property was formerly owned by New England
car magnate and seasonal Edgartown resident Ernest J. Boch, who
died on July 13.
Mr. Boch bought the marina at a foreclosure auction in February
1997 for $875,000.
Tribe asks SJC to reconsider decision
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) thinks the state Supreme
Judicial Court (SJC) made the wrong decision when it ruled Dec.
9 that the tribe waived its sovereign immunity and is subject to
suit by the town of Aquinnah to enforce zoning regulations and permitting
requirements over the construction of a small shed on tribal land
on Menemsha Pond.
In a petition dated Dec. 23 sent to the state’s highest court,
Douglas Luckerman of Lexington, Wampanoag attorney, asked the state’s
highest court to rehear the case. Mr. Luckerman said the justices
overlooked certain facts and “misapprehended” applicable
federal law and standards.
At the heart of Mr. Luckerman’s eight-page petition is the
same argument he made successfully before a Superior Court judge,
and unsuccessfully before five of the six justices, namely that
the high standard by which a tribe can be said to have waived its
sovereignty was not met when the Tribe signed the 1983 Settlement
agreement.
The 5-1 ruling by the SJC on appeal vacated a ruling by a Superior
Court Justice Richard F. Connon on June 11, 2003, that the town
has no legal means to enforce town zoning regulations on the Cook
Lands, because the tribe had not explicitly waived its sovereign
immunity when it signed the settlement agreement that is at the
heart of the case.
Mr. Luckerman called that decision “absolutely shameful.”
The 1983 settlement agreement was signed by the tribe, the Gay Head
Taxpayers Association (since renamed the Aquinnah/Gay Head Community
Association Inc.), the town, and the state. It was embodied in legislation
approved by Congress known as the Indian Claims Settlement Act of
1987. The agreement, which eventually led to federal recognition
of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head — Massachusetts’s only
federally recognized tribe — specifically provides that the
settlement lands “…shall be subject to all federal, state,
and local laws, including town zoning laws, state and federal conservation
laws, and the regulations of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission
(MVC).…”
Mr. Luckerman said the SJC decision analyzes the case in contract
terms and finds that the tribe attempted to evade its promised performance.
“The Tribe respectfully submits in accordance with the decisions
of the Supreme Court, that questions of sovereign rights and immunity
far outweigh considerations of contract,” he wrote.
In his request for reconsideration Mr. Luckerman said that the standards
applied by the SJC contradict those set forth by the Supreme Court
and disregard the sovereign rights of the Tribe. Mr. Luckerman further
asserted that the SJC lacks jurisdiction to hear the case and has
“unlawfully diminished a tribal government and lowered the
bar set by federal law for the protection and preservation of sovereign
tribal rights.”
Fund seeks grant requests
The Permanent Endowment Fund, the Island’s community foundation,
is seeking requests from not-for-profit organizations and public
agencies for grants from the General Discretionary Fund and the
James P. Cahen Fund.
Grants from the General Fund are for non-profits for capital, start-up,
and special needs, not for operating expenses. The Cahen Fund must
relate to medical, surgical, or health-care services, with preference
for services that benefit low-income residents of Martha’s
Vineyard.
Grant requests should be submitted no later than Feb. 1, 2005, for
consideration in March. New grant requests should be sent to the
Dukes County Savings Bank, Trust Department, P.O. Box 602, West
Tisbury, MA 02575. Contact Deborah Hale (dhale@rrkllp.net)
for further information.
Corrections
In last week's
paper the name of the new pharmacist at the Stop & Shop Triangle Pharmacy
in Edgartown was misspelled. The correct spelling is Richard Coffey.
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