An Hour to New Bedford, Starting June 24

By TOM DUNLOP

MAMARONECK, N.Y. - The next big thing in Island water transportation stands three decks high in the shed. The blocklike components of her stern face a rocky harbor and the morning sun. Her twin hulls knife their way off into darkness. The aluminum hull of the Whaling City Express, under construction at the Derecktor Shipyard here at the western end of Long Island Sound, will be launched tomorrow. With her maiden arrival in Oak Bluffs on the morning of June 24, an interesting experiment begins:

After more than two years of trying to conceive a new purpose and new life for an old building, Oak Bluffs selectmen are poised to sign a contract to lease their abandoned town hall to the Steamship Authority for roughly $46,000 a year.

In West Tisbury, ‘A Path Beside the Roadways'

By CHRIS BURRELL

A sidewalk may seem like the most hum-drum of amenities, but in West Tisbury they refer to their walkways with great deference, calling them "paths beside the roadways."

Until last year, this up-Island town with nearly 15 miles of paved streets enjoyed only the barest scrap of sidewalk, about 200 feet from Alley's General Store up around the corner of Music street to the side entrance of the First Congregational Church.

Terminal Plan Would Pave Pizza Hill

By MANDY LOCKE

The Steamship Authority's visions for a revamped Oak Bluffs terminal may have hit a snag this week when a town official questioned whether the planned staging area infringes on a town park.

Pizza Hill, a North Bluff bank where townspeople take a slice of pie and watch the moon over Nantucket Sound, could be transformed into an asphalt parking lot - just one feature of a plan presented by Steamship Authority officials Wednesday.

Boat Line Eyes Nantucket Freight Issue

By ALEXIS TONTI

A Steamship Authority agreement with the town of Barnstable turned into a point of contention yesterday at the monthly boat line meeting, where Nantucket officials and residents objected adamantly to taking any steps that would force them to run freight service between that island and New Bedford.

North Bluff Garage Permit Is Revoked

Next, Abutter Vows to Seek Demolition; Owner Says He Will Fight the Move; ‘Somebody's Going to Pay'

By MANDY LOCKE

The Oak Bluffs building inspector this week revoked a permit for a controversial garage built in the North Bluff.

Following advice of town counsel, building inspector Richard Mavro declared the structure illegal Tuesday, six months after he originally issued a building permit, and more than a month after he ordered the contractor to stop work on the three-story garage.