Government
Polls are open in every Vineyard town today for a special state primary in the U.S. Senate race to fill the seat formerly held by Sen. John Kerry.
Lieut. Gov. Timothy Murray’s trip to the Vineyard Monday took him from surveying a damaged seawall in Oak Bluffs to watching culinary students cook chicken Marsala at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.
Following nearly a year and a half of wide-ranging and sometimes emotional debate about the impact of large houses on the rural character of Chilmark, voters overwhelmingly approved a new bylaw to limit house size at their annual town meeting this week.
A plan for a large oyster farm in Lagoon Pond spurred debate in Oak Bluffs this week, with town officials weighing concerns about the location and effects of the proposed farm with the potential benefits of aquaculture. Brothers Dan and Greg Martino applied for an aquaculture license to start a four-acre oyster farm at the southern end of Lagoon Pond.
A state primary Tuesday will coincide with two annual town elections on the Vineyard.
Chilmark and Tisbury will hold their town elections on the same day as the primary in a special election to fill the seat formerly held by Sen. John Kerry.
Despite the change in dates to coincide with the senate election primary, town clerks in Chilmark and Tisbury are expecting low voter turnout.
Mr. Kerry stepped down in January to become secretary of state after serving as senator for 28 years.
Members of a town committee charged with organizing the move of the Gay Head Light learned this week that they are not alone in their plight during a presentation about a project to move the Sankaty Head Light on Nantucket six years ago.