An unusual plan by a private landowner to build and pay for a 619-foot wooden walkway across property owned by the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank will go before the Chilmark conservation commission on Wednesday.

When Todd and Kara Alexander left for a month-long vacation to Sri Lanka a week before Christmas, the Oak Bluffs couple was looking forward to relaxing in the warm sun and white sand beaches of Arugam Bay.

Mrs. Alexander is in the early stages of pregnancy, and the thought of a beach resort they had read about in the travel guide sounded like an ideal tonic.

New York city may have Times Square and the ball drop, but Islanders looking to ring in the new year need look no further than Vineyard Haven to find their New Year's Eve fix.

The annual Last Night First Day celebration, sponsored by the Tisbury Ambulance Association, begins today, and with warmer weather forecast and new activities planned organizers are predicting this year's event will be one of the most successful.

Commission Begins Islandwide Planning

Three-Year Initiative Starts in January as MVC Updates Comprehensive Plan with Eye Toward Deep Study of Issues

By IAN FEIN

The Martha's Vineyard Commission will kick off a three-year Islandwide planning effort in 2005, hoping to develop a comprehensive set of guidelines by which the commission and individual towns can manage future growth on the Vineyard.

"It's long overdue and it's needed desperately," said commission member Nathaniel Orleans, who introduced the idea last spring.

Steamship Authority Weathers Changes Through Long Year

By JAMES KINSELLA

As 2004 got under way at the Steamship Authority, there was some question about whether there would be a Steamship Authority in the future.

In mid-January Nantucket governor Grace Grossman confirmed that she had been exploring since the previous summer whether that island should secede from the boat line, an entity created by the state in 1960 to ensure reliable, affordable ferry travel between Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and the mainland.

Business Leaders in Vineyard Haven Pitch Plan to Allow Sale of Beer, Wine

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

A new initiative to allow the sale of alcohol in Vineyard Haven landed without warning in front of the Tisbury selectmen this week. At their regular meeting Tuesday the board received for review a draft article that would allow restaurants to sell beer and wine to patrons.

The plan to convert Vineyard Haven from a dry to a wet town has the backing of a group of local business owners and also the Tisbury Business Association.