Sunday, December 1, 2024
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Keep raising the rafters on the ideals of American democracy

As a fraught, divisive, and violent election came to an end, it was too close to call whether it would be Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump until the dark, predawn...

Through the noise at Spring Street 

Updated, Nov. 5 There has been a lot of noise around the construction of workforce housing on Spring Street in Vineyard Haven the past several months, a project that is intended to house Vineyard Wind’s...

VOTE for democracy

In a presidential election widely considered fateful for our democracy, there are still Islanders who wonder if their vote really matters. They question whether they even need to vote, especially if they come from...

Are we ready for the next hurricane?

The eyes of the nation were tuned to the dramatic and tragic events that unfolded this month as two hurricanes ravaged two regions of the South within the space of just two weeks.  Hurricane Helene...

Transparency key in discussion of school audit

A push to better understand equity, diversity, and inclusion across all levels of society, including in the workplace and at schools, emerged in the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 murder at the hands of...

It’s time to ban mopeds once and for all

An all-too-familiar tragedy unfolded in Oak Bluffs last week, one that should have been avoided.  The life of a middle-aged woman from Florida — described by friends and family as a beautiful and kind soul...

Seeing the forest for the trees

The clearing of the homeless from the State Forest last week was startling and callous. But one thing remains quite clear, we don’t have a homeless problem, we have a housing problem. Last week, a...

Turbine fracture a troubling precedent

News this past week of a Vineyard Wind turbine blade fracturing and scattering debris all the way to Nantucket’s shores is more than just minor turbulence in the burgeoning and nascent offshore wind industry....

Keep M.V. franchise-free?

It is one of those points of pride for our Island. We have always kept big franchises out. There was the famous standoff in the 1980s when a group of Islanders stood strong against...

Measuring our Island by how we treat the least fortunate 

There is a hidden trend on the Vineyard that the public and advocates worry is growing more troubling. We reported last week on an increasing population of people experiencing homelessness on the Island, with some...

Turn up the volume on calls for affordable housing legislation

A wave of disappointment is crashing here on the Island in reaction to this week’s news that hopes are fading in this legislative session for state lawmakers to pass a way for cities and...

Juneteenth: A holiday for everyone

At the Tabernacle Flag Pole in Oak Bluffs, Islanders gathered at noon Wednesday for a flag raising ceremony marking Juneteenth, the national holiday that celebrates freedom and honors the history and culture of African...

Cost of living is too high

If you are as shocked as our families are by the high prices every time you go into a store on the Vineyard, then you understand how important it is to have the prices...

District attorney and sheriff need to stop squabbling

Back in 1958, John Leo Brady was convicted of first-degree murder in Maryland. During his trial, Brady admitted that he had taken part in a botched carjacking, but insisted that his co-defendant, Charles Boblit,...

Piecing together a broken life

The Island is left trying to piece together the broken shards of the life of Jared Ravizza.  Every corner of the community seems to be struggling to understand how the 26-year-old who washed ashore on...

On this frenetic holiday, pause for Memorial Day’s true meaning

Here comes the sun. Or at least, that is the hope for this Memorial Day weekend, as the unofficial start to the summer season gets underway.  College graduations are mostly over, and students are beginning...

Steamship shows its arrogance … again

In the news last week, the Steamship Authority administration recommended providing a permit to a New Bedford company to deliver freight trucks from the South Coast city to the Island on a year-round basis.  Under...

The new EPA emissions rule

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On April 25, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued far-reaching new rules concerning coal-fired power plants: They must capture the air pollution that they produce, or they will have to shut down. The federal...

The Times’ first editorial

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from an editorial printed on the front page of the first published MV Times newspaper. The paper came out on Thursday, May 3, 1984. We are republishing...

‘A Timely Issue’

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The front page of the newspaper has yellowed into a sepia tone in the frame that hangs in my office overlooking Vineyard Haven Harbor, but the words feel like they are still unusually current....