West Tisbury School Debate a Focus of Meeting

By CHRIS BURRELL

The line-up for next week's annual town meeting in West Tisbury is about to test voters' political stamina, math skills and tolerance for spending sprees.

The raging debate over whether the town should withdraw from the up-Island regional school district is expected to drive much of the discussion - but make no mistake, the annual town meeting that starts Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the West Tisbury School gymnasium is going to be a whopper for more reasons than school secession alone.

The Ritz Cafe has been cooking up lunches for the last month. At The Rare Duck, the focus this summer will be on martinis, comfy couches and a new brand of music.

West Tisbury Committee Wants Chilmark to Share More Financial Burden

By CHRIS BURRELL

The fight over the cost of education up-Island took a nasty turn this week as West Tisbury finance leaders traveled to Chilmark and pitched their hard-line solution: Pay a bigger share of the school costs or consider leaving the regional school district.

At issue for West Tisbury finance committee members is the price tag on operating the Chilmark School, a kindergarten to fifth grade facility with just 45 students and a per-pupil cost of $19,820.

In the Campground, a Feeling for What Oak Bluffs Will Gain

By CHRIS BURRELL

A splotch of fluorescent orange paint tags the trunk of a pine tree standing over what was once campsite Number 92 in the old Webb's Camping Area.

The tree is a survivor, proof that the chainsaws didn't make it this far and a sign that the southern woodlands in Oak Bluffs are truly an arrested development.

Three Stories, Balconies, a Roof Deck: A Garage Project Stirs the North Bluff

By CHRIS BURRELL

When he applied for a building permit last fall, Joseph G. Moujabber told the Oak Bluffs building inspector he was replacing an old one-car garage in his backyard. It would cost just $22,000 to build and would be used for storage space only, the application states.

But almost five months later, the building under construction - three stories tall with balconies and a roof deck - looks more like a Florida condo than a garage.

Auto Class Revs Up Vocational Program

By CHRIS BURRELL

Her school day is bookended by chemistry and global studies, but for Lauren Richards, the three hours sandwiched in between are anything but abstract and theoretical. They are grimy, noisy, hot, smelly hours.

Miss Richards is a car mechanic in training, one of nine students at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School who major in the vocational automotive program.