Sports
Just as the first snows arrived on the Island yesterday, other signs of winter were in evidence around the Island this past week.
In addition to Christmas sales and plastic lawn Santas, the young athletes of the Vineyard could be found practicing their jumpers and perfecting their slap shots, as the high school sports scene moved from the autumnal fields of soccer and football inside to the cozy confines of ice rinks and basketball courts.
Yo-yoing, a fishing technique commonly used by commercial striped bass fishermen in Massachusetts and elsewhere, should be outlawed, according to Brad Burns, president of Stripers Forever, a national nonprofit organization that advocates treating striped bass as a game fish in state waters.
Dukes County has received a grant for $55,000 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services to conduct outreach and enrollment services for the state’s affordable insurance programs.
The programs are MassHealth and Commonwealth Care and, for people with higher incomes, Commonwealth Choice.
Deadline Looms for
Island Health Insurance
Saturday, Dec. 15 is the last day that Islanders can sign up for health insurance with Vineyard Health Care Access Program and get accepted by Jan. 1.
Massachusetts residents will lose their personal deduction on their state income tax if they cannot prove they have health insurance by that date.
The program, which began in 1999, helps Islanders who need access to affordable plans and related health-care resources. More information is available by calling 508-696-0020.
Club Slates Black Powder
Shoot for This Sunday
The Martha’s Vineyard Rod & Gun Club’s annual Black Powder Shoot will be held Sunday, Dec. 9 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is the day before the primitive firearm deer season opens on the Island.
The club invites the public to participate. The club is off the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road at 3rd street in Edgartown.
They are symptoms most of us have experienced. Fatigue? We chalk it up to skimping on sleep. We forget where we put our car keys and call it a sign of age. Anxiety — one too many things on the to-do list. Hardly ever do we stop and think these symptoms all have one cause. Rarely do we think they are signs of sickness.