In-law apartments a boost for housing, supporting seniors
America has an infrastructure and housing problem, and the Vineyard is right in the thick of it: Baby boomers are aging, and the infrastructure isn’t there to meet the demand.
The New York Times reports...
The world needs more Waylon Sauers
A couple of weeks ago, I left work early to attend the final home game of the MVRHS Unified Basketball team. It was unlike any other high school basketball I’ve ever seen.
The team includes...
Sankaty documents raise concerns of a cover-up
The records obtained by The Times from a Steamship Authority internal investigation into what caused the freight vessel Sankaty to become untethered from its Woods Hole slip certainly do not make the authority look...
Religion in America today
The First Amendment’s two religion clauses require the government to “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Historically, the Supreme Court has interpreted these clauses by saying,...
Seastreak, a noble and hopefully successful business venture
It’s ironic that Seastreak officially launched its new commuter service to the Island last week on the same day that Steamship Authority ferries were riddled with issues. Steamship passengers had up to hourlong waits;...
More and more secrecy
We are all going to have to trust Superintendent Richie Smith's interpretation of the school lawyers' interpretation of the law.
Again.
Despite a high level of public interest in the legality of the MVRHS School Committee's...
High time that Trustees own stewardship responsibilities
We take pride in our family's enduring ties to the Vineyard and the Chappaquiddick community. Our family history here is one of service and stewardship — past presidents of the Chappaquiddick Island Association, Trustees...
Support needed for permanent winter homeless shelter
The need for a program to house the homeless in the winter on Martha’s Vineyard is undeniable. Just last week, we received reports that homeless veterans without housing were camped in Island woods; individuals...
Veterans continue to need our help
Voices is a series the Martha’s Vineyard Times has pursued as a way to give the public a platform to tell their own stories in their own voices. In a way, it’s a self-conscious...
Four fine Island whines: Not Chardonnay or Montrachet
Tipping
Lord knows I believe in tipping. I may be poor, but I’m not cheap. In fact, I usually overtip to make up for the parsimonious ways of my fellow senior citizens who...
Transfer fee won’t make attainable housing more expensive
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey’s administration yesterday finally announced a significant housing bond bill. There’s a lot to it, what the administration says is the largest investment in housing by a governor to date.
Perhaps most...
Undermining the federal agencies
An effort is underway to undermine the authority of federal regulatory agencies, some 100 of them. Scholars call these agencies the foundation of the contemporary administrative state. Conspiracy theorists call them “the deep state,”...
Give pickleball a chance; all we are saying is respect our neighbors
Pickleball has been the fastest growing sport in the country, seemingly, for the past several years. It’s popular. It’s fun to play for all ages. You don’t need to be the most athletic or...
Inhabiting the light
My paintings are worked out in the studio, but my information — my inspiration, people like to say — comes from places I go to and look at and take in. The Vineyard has...
End unwarranted exemptions for immunizations
This week’s report that a number of schools on the Island have high exemption rates for vaccines is troubling.
According to the latest data from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Dukes County has the...
Badly behaved bikers, and lax and lazy lawmakers
My neighbor tried to run me off the road in late August. He was in his car, and I was on my bike, and if I hadn’t stopped, he would have crashed into me....
Airbnb tax should go to funding housing
Chilmark is considering setting aside $200,000 annually to help ease the lack of housing on the Island.
On its face, it’s a terribly inadequate amount of money. It’ll take several years of providing $200,000 to...
Help save public education with teacher business cards
Friends,
At every back-to-school night I can remember, I made a point of introducing myself to the women and men who taught my three children. It went this way: “I’m John Merrow, (name of child)’s...
The Dover Amendment and the turf battle
In his Sept. 5 decision, Land Court Judge Kevin T. Smith interpreted the so-called Dover Amendment (G.L. c. 40A, § 3) to reject the town of Oak Bluffs’ attempt to protect the sole-source aquifer...
Can anonymous cash donations be accepted by a public school committee?
There are a lot of cliches about money. "Follow the money." "Show me the money." "It's all about the money." "Money is power." As these sayings suggest, money is often at the heart of...