Sports
No more waiting for Lyme disease test results; the test can now be done at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital in about 40 minutes compared with a two-day wait.
About two weeks ago the hospital began testing people for Lyme disease using a piece of equipment recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the Biomerieux MiniVIDAS analyzer.
Dr. Lena Prisco, lab director at the hospital, said the instrument detects Lyme antibodies in patient blood samples.
Harpooned swordfish, once synonymous with the Fourth of July holiday and a staple of the Menemsha fishing fleet, are no longer being caught by Vineyard fishermen.
Though prevalent in local fish markets this season, harpooned swordfish are now all being caught by fishermen from afar.
The reason has to do with a convoluted bureaucracy, an expensive permit system and waning interest in the age-old method of catching fresh swordfish.
Citing a decline in use and changes to the health insurance industry, the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital is reporting an operating loss for 2011, the first unprofitable year in about a decade, the hospital said.
The hospital reported an operations income loss of $591,855 from April 2011 to April 2012. While total revenue was up from the previous year, expenses also increased at a higher rate.
Three Vineyard swimmers swam for Team USA and the New England Masters Swim club at the FINA World Masters Swimming Championships in Riccione, Italy from June 3 to June 17. The competition brought together from around the world more than 12,000 masters division pool and open water swimmers, water polo players, divers and synchronized swimmers.
Baseball for Hospice
The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks — the Island’s own baseball team — will host a Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard night July 15 at 5 p.m. at the regional high school in Oak Bluffs. Supporters of Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard will get to meet the members of the board of directors and its fundraising volunteers.
The Sharks will be playing the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide.
All teenagers have to do is show up. Everything else is paid for, and it is state-of-the-art quality. The Alexandra Gagnon Teen Center at the YMCA is entering its first summer at its permanent location. The center has been open for six months, and in that time the bright green walls and larger-than-life Spiderman wall decal have witnessed hundreds of Island teenagers dropping by to play guitar, hang out with friends, watch TV or even create full length CD’s at Studio 57, the Teen Center’s recording studio.