The state legislature has given final approval to the Island Health Plan to make use of millions of dollars in state subsidies for the grassroots health insurance initiative.

After more than a year of inching toward legislative approval, this week's senate override vote gives the needed clearance to begin offering low-rate insurance to Islanders without it.

Innkeeper Stephen Caliri chats about golden retrievers with his guests in the parking lot of the Victorian Inn after directing them to lemonade and cookies on the back patio. The cordless phone on his belt rings, and Mr. Caliri begins rattling off room rates to a prospective guest on the other end of the line. He even mentions the third-floor mahogany deck he laid over the winter.

Time for Guaranteed Standby? an Old Idea Gets New Airing

By ALEXIS TONTI

A Steamship Authority plan to reinstitute guaranteed standby on a trial basis this summer has at least one Oak Bluffs committee campaigning for a complete revival of the old standby policy, and has sparked an Islandwide debate on the boat line vehicle reservation program.

Chilmark Will Vote on School Repairs

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

It's going to cost a fresh pile of money, but Chilmark selectmen said this week that they now have a handle on the source of the physical plant problems at the town grammar school - and are on track to repair them.

But first voters must agree. A special town meeting is set for next Wednesday, when voters will be asked to approve another $200,000 for repairs at the Chilmark School.

And now another bit of bad news for the already troubled West Tisbury town hall: Rats have taken up residence there. T.J. Hegarty, county rodent officer, was called in and found plenty of evidence by just taking a walk around the building. He found a network of tunnels. "There is a well-established colony," Mr. Hegarty said yesterday.

A California woman who owns a spectacular property overlooking the ocean in Chilmark has been told she can't rent the spot out for any more wedding