The discovery of airplane parts and other evidence at South Beach this week confirms that two men traveling in a private plane that disappeared 10 days ago were killed in a catastrophic crash in Vineyard waters.

Fast ferries have been much in the news these days, especially on the Vineyard, but here is a fresh question to ponder: What happens when a ferry that plies what is arguably the shortest route in the world suddenly becomes faster?

Of course the answer is simple enough - the ferry gets there faster. On the Chappaquiddick ferry this means a route that now takes about two minutes has now been shortened by about 30 seconds.

The long-awaited master plan for the Martha's Vineyard Airport envisions longer and wider run-ways, more hangars, a bigger main terminal and room for retail shopping - all that but no land for a new jail.

County Manager Announces Retirement

By JONATHAN BURKE

After giving a report on the fiscal health of county government, Dukes County manager Carol Borer announced Wednesday evening that she will retire from the position she has held since 1997.

The statement caught county commissioners off guard: "Well, that's a surprise," said John Alley of West Tisbury.

Speak English: That's the Goal for Newcomers

By C.K. WOLFSON

Antonio Santos is waiting.

The 42-year old Reliable Market employee, an Island resident for almost two years, is fluent enough in English to have become a department manager at the Oak Bluffs market and to teach Portuguese to English-speaking Islanders. "So why do I need a tutor," he says, explaining, "I want to improve my accent and grammar so I can have more friends; so I can express my ideas in a clever way and because I don't want to sound stupid - because I am not stupid."

The land search for a plane carrying two people that is believed to have crashed near or on Martha's Vineyard Tuesday night was suspended yesterday afternoon at 3 p.m., pending new information.

For two long days and a night, local firemen, police and volunteers combed the woods of the Island in search of the remains of a single-engine airplane that went missing in foul weather. As the Gazette went to press, there was still no trace of the plane.