HarborWorks — Embracing our past as a way to define our future
The last year has been the start of a journey for all of us at HarborWorks, the flagship project led by the new nonprofit, Vineyard Lands for our Community (VLC), an Island community redevelopment...
Island older volunteers providing millions in help
By Karen Tewhey
Martha’s Vineyard has an aging population. One in 3 residents are 65 or older, exceeding the national average of 1 in 5. And the elder population is only getting bigger: It is...
Hospice advocates pay tribute to President Carter
His gifts were many. And at 100 years old, he had given them consistently and generously throughout his life.
But no gift may be as enduring as the one President Jimmy Carter gave us the...
A tribute to Janet Messineo
Last year ended with sad news for the fishing community — we lost Frank Daignault — and now another acclaimed angler is gone.
I was part of a group introduced to Janet Messineo on Martha’s...
Reflections in Ireland on our presidential election
The ties that bind Ireland and the U.S., formed during the brutal years of the Great Irish Famine, are intense. America represented salvation and a chance to rebuild shattered lives. Over time, these Irish...
If not Spring Street, where?
As with my resignation from the Tisbury planning board, I have deliberated long and hard whether there would be any value to my comments on the volatile situation that is occurring at 97 Spring...
The future of climate change
Vineyarders, like all Americans, are living in an era of vast environmental and climate change. For most of November, the entire commonwealth suffered under “red flag” alerts. Since Sept. 1, so little rain has...
Why community-supported local news matters now more than ever
The Rotary Club of Martha’s Vineyard gathered in a small knot around the American flag at the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs yesterday and sang “God Bless America.”
After all the divisiveness and national hand-wringing...
Affordable housing and conserving the land and waterways
The critical need for hundreds of affordable housing units on Martha’s Vineyard need not conflict with the Island’s environmental beauty. With smart growth, we can achieve both. We can enrich the lives of everyone...
The Court and guns, again
Many residents of the Vineyard are gun owners, hunters, even firearms collectors. But few likely own something commonly called “a ghost gun.” These weapons come unassembled, via the Internet, in pieces that anyone can...
A voice raised for justice: E. Jacqueline Hunt
Jacqueline Hunt, an icon of the Oak Bluffs community, died on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at noon. She knew the community history, and she lived it. She leaves a void that will never be filled....
Vote no on Question 4, promoting psychedelic use
I am a believer in the power of certain psychedelic medications to help depression, awaken spiritual experiences, and break damaging compulsive behaviors such as smoking or alcohol use. I have used ketamine in my...
Charter students weigh in on cell debate
Social studies students in Grade 7 at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School were asked to write arguments for and against banning cell phones in school, a debate that's been playing out across the...
Cellphones should be banned in schools
Many schools, both public and private, are banning cell phones. Is this a good idea? Let me present three connected points and a (seemingly) logical conclusion:
Nearly all teenagers — 95 percent — are on...
Planets align for autumn, stars rise at The Times
Summer slipped away on Sunday morning at exactly 8:43 am amid a light rain and cool temperatures, as the gray skies shifted to the start of the autumnal equinox.
This change in the season always...
Administration reinforces aim at creating a welcome center
We were dismayed by the recent article about the Chilmark Community Center (CCC) and its board, the Chilmark Town Affairs Council (CTAC), which quoted from a letter written by Chris Fischer to the Chilmark...
What’s wrong with being old?
Please don’t put me out on the ice floe to die just because I don’t know how to code.
Growing old doesn’t mean growing stupid. Having issues using exotic programs on the internet doesn’t mean...
Say no to the Housing Bank
It is very important to say NO to a Housing Bank. However, I say that with the conviction that no person is more passionate than I when it comes to our very desperate need...
On a perfect morning, a time to remember
The intense clarity of the morning sky here on the Island yesterday reminded me of that moment in American history that changed everything on Sept. 11, 2001. On this 23rd anniversary, at 8 am,...
A message to students on the first day of school
It’s my hope that my grandchildren’s teachers, and lots of other teachers as well, will say something like this on the first day of school: “Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to school. I hope...