House Backs New Bedford Vote on SSA Board

Whaling City Wins Most Issues; Two Islands Get Little in Return

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

BOSTON - Ending a four-year hostile crusade by the city of New Bedford to restructure the Steamship Authority, state legislators finally surrendered this week, approving a bill that meets nearly all the demands of the Whaling City, including an immediate voting seat on the boat line board of governors.

House Backs New Bedford Vote on SSA Board

Whaling City Wins Most Issues; Two Islands Get Little in Return

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

BOSTON - Ending a four-year hostile crusade by the city of New Bedford to restructure the Steamship Authority, state legislators finally surrendered this week, approving a bill that meets nearly all the demands of the Whaling City, including an immediate voting seat on the boat line board of governors.

Seventh and eighth graders on the Island are consuming alcohol, smoking marijuana and having sex at rates far higher than middle schoolers from two years ago.

Mary Jacobson knows that the Red Sox took a beating last week from the Arizona Diamondbacks. She also knows that if you're teaching math to a second-grade boy, it's not a bad idea to throw in some baseball talk.

Special town meetings in June are supposed to be humdrum affairs, but the one coming up Tuesday in Oak Bluffs puts voters face-to-face with two of the most controversial issues in town and on the Island - cigarettes and mopeds.

Island Summer Labor Market Avoids Shortages of Past Seasons

By JOSHUA SABATINI

The word spread from Martha's Vineyard to prospective summer workers all over the world: The Island has a high cost of living and there were fewer jobs available at the start of the season.