Of school votes, permit snafus, and ferry fiascos
Here are some picked-up pieces as we go from winter coats to short-sleeved shirts in the blink of an eye: Hey, Tisbury selectmen, just say no and put the Tisbury School project out of its misery....
View ArticleAbysmal record
The great National Football League Coach Bill Parcells, who won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants and added instant credibility to the New England Patriots, once said, “You are what your record...
View ArticleImportant first step
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does.” Whenever we get an email from Paddy Moore, the dedicated leader of...
View ArticleOur children show the way
Here we are again. Just three months separate the horrific killing of 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Fla., and the latest school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, where 10 more people are dead....
View ArticleDid you watch the wedding?
I woke up just a tad before 5 am to watch the fairy tale wedding of people I don’t know, in a country my Irish husband was not too fond of. And, oh boy, was it worth it. If ever there was a sign of...
View ArticleCourt’s gambling decision may have other implications for Vineyard and beyond
When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal ban on sports gambling on May 14, it did more than allow states to provide for online and casino betting in Massachusetts on baseball, football,...
View ArticleA justified decision
Once again, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe is not taking seriously the ethical lapses of one of his employees, in particular, and his office, in general. Two weeks ago, the...
View ArticlePuff piece
These days social media is filled with photographs of proud parents, standing with their graduates in cap and gown, beaming with pride. We were struck by one such photo over the weekend in our feed: a...
View ArticleOff to a healthy start
It’s too early to give a full evaluation of Denise Schepici as CEO and president of Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, but critics of the hospital have to be pleased so far with the transparency and...
View ArticleRethink the Land Bank
Zealous — but clumsy and tone-deaf — at best; and narcissistic and without empathy at worst, the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission (MVLBC) board and staff have imposed a polarizing change in the...
View ArticleSalting the wounds
Picked-up pieces as we waited in line just about everywhere over the past week. The Steamship Authority has done it again. During a crossing between Woods Hole and Oak Bluffs last Wednesday, the chief...
View ArticleThe broad implications of the Pereira decision
The Supreme Court of the United States essentially engages in two kinds of interpretation. The most well-known is constitutional, when the justices decide whether a state or federal law or some action...
View ArticleStop calling us the enemy
Too often in recent days, weeks, and months, we’ve felt the bitterness toward news people doing their jobs grow. It’s no coincidence that President Donald Trump points to reporters in his press pool...
View ArticleWounds need time to heal
We watched the joint meeting between the board of selectmen and the Tisbury school committee for two weeks and, frankly, one thing seems clear — the wounds may be too raw for these two boards to come...
View ArticleWith Kennedy out and Kavanaugh in, what might that mean?
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s retirement on July 31 has riled the left and thrilled the right. Despite his moderate conservative nature, for the past 12 years he has been the swing vote on the Supreme...
View ArticleNo man is an island
Alan Dershowitz did a disservice to Martha’s Vineyard and its residents last week when he wrote an op-ed for the Hill, claiming that he was suddenly being shunned on the Vineyard social scene. The...
View ArticleGridlock in paradise
Our beach time, our restaurant, our retail therapy, our soon-departing ferry, or our job site is a mere mile ahead. But here we sit on the Island’s summer roadways, so often immobile, staring at brake...
View ArticleSwift and decisive
We were surprised by that initial call from Kevin Brooks, an Edgartown barber, alerting us that he had been the victim of a racial incident involving a Vineyard Transit Authority bus driver. Surprised...
View ArticleGuns, smoking, and getting young voters involved
With another hectic Vineyard summer in full swing, I hope you can take a moment to relax and read about some of our work at the State House. Massachusetts has the lowest gun death rate in the nation...
View ArticleBurning questions
The string of mishaps the Steamship Authority has had over the first half of 2018 is unprecedented. Every time we think it’s reached its peak, something else happens. The SSA needs to take full...
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