Transportation summit reports Island challenges and solutions
The recent Older Adult Transportation Summit (convened Tuesday, Sept. 20) shed a bright light on the challenges facing the Island's older adult drivers as they attempt to navigate the Island using alternate forms of...
Let’s keep things impersonal
The adult and child walking in front of me were complete strangers, people I had never seen before. The man, who looked to be in his early 30s, was casually dressed. He was holding...
Pull the plug
It remains an embarrassment for the Island that the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School Committee is suing the Oak Bluffs planning board over the board’s decision to reject a special permit that would have...
Ron DeSantis’s good fortune, Greg Abbott’s reversal
“Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.” –President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, address to the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1938
Two governors, Ron DeSantis...
Where are you?
Updated Sept. 29
At one point, we actually counted the number of tweets by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, targeting Martha’s Vineyard, and it was 62 — or about 60 more tweets than he wrote to...
Vineyard pride
We saw the worst of humanity. We saw the best of humanity.
The 50 migrants and refugees from Venezuela were on Martha’s Vineyard for just about 40 hours, but in that time we saw — once...
Are we invested in county government?
With the recent primary election, it seems an opportune time to reflect and raise questions about where we are and where we are headed.
Let’s start with the Dukes County Sheriff. Given the state of...
SSA is performing ‘pretty well’
I am here to give you an update on the Steamship Authority at the end of a very busy summer. Through August 2022, 11,406 trips, of 11,677 scheduled and available, operated on the Vineyard...
Should the United States have a new Constitution?
The question posed in the title recently surfaced in the New York Times. A conservative House Republican from Texas, Jodey Arrington, introduced legislation directing the archivist of the U.S. to “tally applications for a...
Don’t fall for sportswashing
As journalists, we are biased when it comes to LIV Golf, and make no apologies for it.
If you’re not familiar with LIV Golf, it’s a professional golf tour that’s being financed by the Saudi...
Tackling the mental healthcare crisis
Founded in 1961, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services (MVCS) was one of America’s first rural Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC). The community mental health movement of the 1950s and 1960s had the dream that communities...
Get ready to vote
We know you’re still basking in the glow of another successful summer on Martha’s Vineyard. Some of our favorite traditions were back in full swing, with no restrictions — the Oak Bluffs fireworks, the Ag...
Unthinkable grief
It’s every parent’s nightmare. You send your young adult children off into the world, and then receive the worst possible news.
Our heart aches for the parents of Tavaris and Tavaughn Bulgin, the Jamaican nationals...
The postal service and abortion
Most women seeking abortions today now go about self-medication by ordering two pills through the mail. According to the Guttmacher Institute, medication abortion is the chosen method for women to end a pregnancy in...
Put it to a vote
Let’s just be clear about something up front — the Tisbury School committee, select board, and building committee are not responsible for inflation and supply chain issues that are driving up the cost of the...
The art of the career pivot
Instead of the Great Depression of the 1930s, we face the “the Great Resignation” of the 2020s, with millions of workers pivoting into new careers, adding part-time gigs, or learning new skills. Two years...
Be open to change
We’re in the midst of a housing crisis that’s exacerbated a worker shortage on the Island. So inevitably needed off-Island workers need to commute and thus match up work and ferry schedules. A crisis...
Let students make the rules
We’re well into August now, and Island teachers are feeling the familiar dread and excitement of a new school year. I suggest that educators spend the first few days easing into the school routine...
Back to zen
Islanders love yoga. Hot yoga. Vinyasa yoga. Restorative yoga. Goat yoga. Llama yoga. We have it all. Yoga is known to increase flexibility, improve muscle strength, help maintain a balanced metabolism, good for cardio...
Abortion and the right of locomotion
The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly guarantee the freedom of movement. Law enforcement authorities may detain a person from leaving a state if they suspect that person of committing a crime. Alternatively, prosecutors can...