Out of Shadows and Into Light, a Mother Marks a Big Moment

By C.K. WOLFSON

She walks through the chilly arena, pointing out details of the rink, the pro shop, first aid room, coaches' rooms and the trophy case, pausing in front of the framed displays, the board posting the week's schedule: open skating, instruction, Mites, Squirts, Bantams, captain's practice, figure skating, boys' and girls' hockey, adult league.

"This is where my heart is," she says firmly.

Tisbury's Two-Day New Year's Affair Aided by Donation

By ALEXIS TONTI

No one regards the first of January with indifference, and this year Tisbury is inviting the Island community to welcome 2004 with two days of celebration highlighted by a fireworks display over Vineyard Haven harbor New Year's Eve.

The Last Night, First Day festival, now in its third year, has always run on the contributions of the Island community, but this year an unexpected $10,000 donation from Ernie Boch Jr. and his family has gone a long way toward funding the event.

Boat Line 2004: Big Challenges, with Some Internal Tensions

By JULIA WELLS

The monthly meeting was canceled, but there is no shortage of business news at the Steamship Authority these days, where revenues are down, a new but poorly defined marketing push is under fire and fissures between Nantucket and the Vineyard have grown wider.

And the monthly meetings keep getting canceled.

A Boom Is Changing Edgartown (Again)

By MANDY LOCKE

The sound of hammers and saws pulses through downtown Edgartown. Morning calm is broken by a foreman yelling instructions to a team of roofers and by the beeping of a delivery truck backing into a driveway with a load of lumber. A lane of traffic on Cooke street has become a parking lot for workmen reporting to one of three project sites in a single block near Pease's Point Way.

"It's looks like the Big Dig," said one contractor, Norman Rankow.

Developer Vows Total Clearing of Woodlands; MVC Votes for Review

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

The developer of the Down Island Golf Club went toe to toe with the Martha's Vineyard Commission one more time last night, publicly declaring his intention to clear-cut 270 acres in the southern woodlands and openly challenging the commission to try and stop him.

Manuel Suza just ordered a fill-up at deBettencourt's gas station in Oak Bluffs and only had to shell out $1.66. No wonder he was still smiling.

His rig barely uses any fuel, but it comes with a price. It's a moped, and he's riding the thing in 35 degree weather. That explains the thickly-insulated coveralls and ski gloves.

Mr. Suza is one of a handful of hearty Islanders who rely on a vehicle that would hardly win a popularity contest on the Vineyard.