Fate of MVRHS project in hands of Island voters
Islanders across the towns are set to vote on the most expensive building project they’ve ever seen next week. A decade of work culminated in a plan for the regional high school building that addresses what school officials said are necessary upgrades and renovations, and is projected to cost more than $300 million. It is…
UPDATED: Father detained by ICE released
Updated May 27. The father and teenage son who were out fishing together before they were taken into ICE custody were ordered by federal judges to be released from the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the past week. The son, 15-year-old Nycolas de Al Varenga Lima, has already returned to the…
A changing of the guard
Under the beaming May sun at the U.S. Coast Guard Station Menemsha, the duty of overseeing and protecting boaters in the historic fishing town and the waters around the Island was passed to Chief Petty Officer Tyler Vanderhaden in a ceremony on Friday morning. Vanderhaden has been a chief petty officer in Menemsha for two…
Emergency management group pushes for Island-wide coordination
Over the winter, the Vineyard was battered by a historic nor’easter that dumped snow across the Island and caused power outages. Now, county officials are pushing for better coordination for emergencies that hit the Island. The Olson Group, an emergency management consulting firm hired by Dukes County, proposed the creation of an Island-wide emergency management…
Edgartown Select Board approves Chappy Ferry license transfer
Capping off months of heated debate that garnered statewide attention, the Edgartown Select Board unanimously approved the transfer of the Chappy Ferry license, from longtime operators Peter Wells and Sally Snipes to current captain Brian Scall, on Tuesday night. The decision allows Scall to officially take ownership of the ferry service, subject to approval of…
ISland Life
Behind the Band: Rose Guerin
Ready for their entrance
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Environment
Island and Vineyard Wind officials meet
Island town administrators and Vineyard Wind officials finally sat down this past week to take steps to possibly replicate an agreement that Nantucket established last December. “I met with … Vineyard Wind and town administrators yesterday,” Tim Caroll, Chilmark town administrator, said at a select board meeting on Tuesday. “We’re working on a [memorandum of…
Health
Massachusetts House passes epinephrine access bill
The Massachusetts House of Representatives unanimously voted 149–0 to pass a bill that increases access to epinephrine auto-injectors throughout the state, after years of advocacy by an Islander whose husband died from a wasp sting. Initially petitioned by several state lawmakers, including State Rep. Thomas Moakley and State Sen. Julian Cyr, Bill H.5443 will make…
Housing
Honoring those who gave their all
The Island’s Memorial Day ceremony moved indoors due to heavy rain during the country’s 250th founding anniversary. But veterans from around Martha’s Vineyard said the honoring of their fallen comrades was not diminished. The Island community gathered in the new gymnasium of the Tisbury School on Monday before heading over to the American Legion Post…
Education
MVRHS students honored
As another school year comes to a close at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, students were recognized for their academics, extracurricular activities, and character. Last week, the high school hosted its Honors Night to celebrate the accomplishments of their students over the school year. Here’s a list of award recipients for the 2025–2026 school…
Politics
Aquinnah voters approve all funding requests
The unofficial results of the Aquinnah annual town election are in. Residents of Aquinnah voted 96–32 in favor of allowing the town to assess an additional $100,000 in real estate and personal property taxes to fund both the department budgets of the Up-Island and Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. They also voted 104–23 to allow…
Cops and Courts
Edgartown man pleads guilty; bomb threat charges dropped
David M. Capato, 58, an Edgartown man charged in 2025 for making a bomb threat at the Vineyard Haven Steamship Authority terminal, pleaded guilty Wednesday, May 21, in Dukes County Superior Court, and was sentenced to five years of probation on multiple counts. At the change-of-plea hearing before Superior Court Judge Elaine M. Buckley, Capato…
Immigration
Teenager taken by ICE released; hundreds gather in Menemsha rally
Hundreds of Islanders stood and marched in solidarity with Nycolas de Al Varenga Lima, the high school student who was arrested by immigration officials alongside his father, Rogerio da Silva Lima, in the fishing town the pair were detained from earlier this week. The streets of Menemsha were overflowing with an estimated 275 supporters of…
Ferry and transportation
Oak Bluffs welcomes first ferry of the summer
In another sign of the upcoming summer season, the Steamship Authority (SSA) brought a little more fanfare to the annual opening of the Oak Bluffs terminal this year. The SSA hosted its inaugural “First Ferry” event on Thursday, with organizers celebrating as the crew of the ferry Martha’s Vineyard brought Oak Bluffs’ first batch of…
