An Island inundated
It was a surprise to no one that Five Corners flooded this past weekend, and local officials were forced to close Beach Road for most of the day Saturday as an early-season nor’easter dumped between five and eight inches of rain on the Island. Other places across the Island — Dock Street in Edgartown, Seaview…
New Donaroma’s operation raises environmental questions
Islanders may have noticed a new nursery pop up on Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road recently; 17 acres of sparse activity suddenly featured bright green leaves peeking through landscaping fabric and work trucks with Donaroma’s signature circling in and out. More than nine acres of the parcel of land slowly sprang to life over a number of…
Brazilians on-Island head to polls this Sunday for presidential election
Logo of the Consulate General of Brazil in Boston. Brazil’s presidential election is this Sunday, Oct. 4, and Brazilian voters on Martha’s Vineyard can cast their ballots at polling locations in Framingham and Malden. Voters are asked to check their polling location through Brazil’s E-Título app before heading off-Island, and all voters who previously registered…
Aquinnah’s Orange Peel Bakery closes its doors
The most beloved up-Island spot for wood-fired pizza, and the only place in Aquinnah where locals could stop at any hour of the day or night for a snack and drink, Orange Peel Bakery on State Road in Aquinnah, has permanently closed amid a lawsuit and bankruptcy filing. Juli Vanderhoop, owner of the bakery, said…
Rain and wind flood week two of the Derby
Johnny Rogers and his mom Jeanne celebrated his Shore Triple Crown on Sunday night. —Lisa Belcastro Kevin Seger was all smiles weighing in a small bluefish after fishing through nor’easter. —Lisa Belcastro Oliver Valdes landed his first albie in three years during a weekend of stormy weather. —Lisa Belcastro Angie Fisher reeled in the new…
School committees mull over regionalization
Following an audit assessing the human resources and payroll practices of the Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools (MVYPS) District, members of the All-Island School Committee (AISC) and Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) committee continue to contemplate gradual regionalization. The audit, which was conducted by the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Collins Center for Public Management, recommended…
Washout nor’easter
As a rainbow arched over Vineyard Haven Harbor Monday afternoon, an early-season nor’easter began to exit from the Cape and Islands. The storm, which brought wind gusts as high as 60 mph, finally ended, after between five and eight inches of rain had been dumped on the Island over the weekend and into Monday. And…
Edgartown residents push back on ancient way plan
Eastern half of proposed path. —Courtesy Land Bank Western half of proposed path. —Courtesy Land Bank A plan by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank to cut a public footpath through an ancient way known as Swimming Place Path is before town officials after a year of no action by the Edgartown Select Board. But abutters…
Opioid settlement funds could bridge some health gaps
Updated Oct. 1. Back when now-Gov. Maura Healey was the Massachusetts attorney general, in July 2021, she sued opioid distributors, manufacturers, and pharmacies for their prescription practices, which the state argued contributed to a national opioid crisis.
Martha’s Vineyard Medical pilots tick-related stress management group
Updated Sept. 28, 6:50 pm. Martha’s Vineyard Medical’s Tick Center is piloting a Mindfulness and Stress Management Group program for its patients with alpha-gal syndrome and Lyme disease that starts in October.
Impacts of nor’easter start to hit Island
Satellite image from Friday, Sept. 25. —Courtesy NOAA The winds have been strong all week, and the rain has started to come down as an early season nor’easter heads toward the Island and is expected to last through the rest of the weekend. Several ferry lines have canceled trips for the weekend ahead of the…
Questions in the crosshairs
Alex Friedman at the forum. —Nicholas Vukota Updated Sept. 24, 6 pm. These are men capable of being perfectly still in a tree stand, in the cold and silent air. But they aren’t as at home in meetings, and certainly not ones that last for hours. Many of them abandoned the uncomfortable metal chairs and…
Bracing for a nor’easter
Updated Sept. 23. Ahead of predictions for an early season nor’easter that is expected to pound New England, Islanders and transportation services are bracing for the possibility of heavy wind and rain.
Housing solutions: Accessory dwelling units
The “Writer’s Cottage,” an 100-square-foot ADU Geoffrey White has on his property. —Sarah Shaw Dawson On a windy day this August, architect Geoffrey White strolled to a 100-square-foot accessory dwelling unit (ADU) he had built near his home in West Tisbury. He’d designed the small building as a livable “garden shed” back in 1995. It’s…
Marijuana business eyes Oak Bluffs zoning amid legal disputes
A cannabis entrepreneur group’s plans to set up a dispensary on the Island fell through last year, and assets in 90 Dr. Fisher Road in West Tisbury, the former location of the Island’s only marijuana-growing facility, are being liquidated. But representatives of Black Harbor Group, which had rented the West Tisbury location, said they’re making…
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Environment
New water refill stations on Island tap map
Vineyard Conservation Society (VCS) announces several new water bottle refill stations across the Island, expanding access to convenient drinking water while helping reduce people’s reliance on single-use plastic. The newest addition is an outdoor refill station at the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group’s John T. Hughes Hatchery in Oak Bluffs, made possible through a generous grant…
Health
‘It’s about living’
Hospice Palliative Care of MV Staff. —Courtesy Hospice & Palliative Care of Martha’s Vineyard “You are not alone. Our compassionate Island team is here to make life’s hardest transitions easier.” These are the first words that greet you when visiting the new website for Hospice & Palliative Care of Martha’s Vineyard (HPCMV). The organization, which…
Housing
Katama Meadows talks trudge forward
Updated Sept. 12. In the brightly lit Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC) meeting room for four Thursday nights so far this summer, deliberation on the 54-acre subdivision development proposal in Edgartown, Katama Meadows, has oscillated between the need for a few affordable homes and the potential impacts of a sprawling development. It also raised questions about…
Education
Bringing the darkness to light
Jack Pachico, Anna Giannetti, Jeremy Regan, and Sam Cavallaro at the walk. —Sarah Shaw Dawson Lucas Martins and other members of Hope Squad spoke at the event. —Sarah Shaw Dawson Chilmark the ox. —Sarah Shaw Dawson Bagpipes were played at Big Bridge. —Sarah Shaw Dawson Between 150 and 200 Islanders gathered at Bend in the Road…
Politics
Primary favors Democratic incumbents
Updated September 3. About two hours after polls closed, Rob Galibois secured victory in the Democratic primary for the Cape and Islands District Attorney race Tuesday.
Cops and Courts
Tension over the Oak Bluffs fishing pier
Swimmers often jump off the fishing pier, which has led to arguments over access for recreational fishermen. —Paul Bagnall Oak Bluffs fishing pier was specifically built for recreational fishing. —Paul Bagnall As Oak Bluffs looks at implementing a new security camera policy, ongoing tensions between summertime swimmers and those who want to fish in peace…
Immigration
Father detained by ICE back in Brazil
Rogério da Silva Lima and Nycolas de Alvarenga Lima. —Robyn Twomey Rogério da Silva Lima, 42, the Brazilian father who was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody alongside his teenage son Nycolas de Alvarenga Lima (now 16) while fishing in Menemsha in May, left the U.S. on Saturday and returned to Brazil Sunday…
Ferry and transportation
Frustrations brew over delayed SSA reservation system replacement
The specter of the Steamship Authority’s (SSA) website development, a failed project that wasted millions in taxpayer dollars with nothing to show for it, is haunting the development of the new reservation system. At the SSA board meeting on Sept. 15, ferry officials said that a repeat of the website project can’t happen with the…
Opinion
Goodbye and thank you
To the Editor: David and I, along with our dogs, Rufus and Ruffy, will be leaving Martha’s Vineyard and moving to Stonington, Conn. As much as we don’t want to…
In response to ‘The time is now to fix Five Corners’
To the Editor: Regarding your editorial on flooding in Five Corners (Sept. 24): One would think any Third World country such as ours (joke joke) could easily rig up some…
Trump cuts to climate science leave us all vulnerable
The Island always feels vulnerable when extreme weather conditions like last weekend’s early-season nor’easter start heading our way. This time was no different, especially as forecasts became more and more…
