Chris Burrell

Children Meet Racism on Tisbury Side Street

Chris Burrell |

Two young girls from New Jersey got their first exposure to overt racism this week when they returned from a morning walk into downtown Vineyard Haven and found a racial slur spray-painted in letters two feet tall in the street by the house their family was renting at Clough Lane and Pine street.

Tisbury police are investigating the vandalism that happened Wednesday — possibly in broad daylight — and police chief John McCarthy is looking into whether the incident should be considered a hate crime.

Tisbury Police
Racism
 

 

 

Marijuana at School Stirs Debate: How Big a Deal?

Chris Burrell

Marijuana at School Stirs Debate: How Big a Deal?

By CHRIS BURRELL

No big deal? That may be a widely held view about marijuana on this Island, but a discussion this week about marijuana use by students of the Martha's Vineyard High School turned into a big deal indeed.

Just three days after an article appeared in the Gazette about the presence and use of pot on the high school campus, school leaders reacted sharply, not just to the message but also to the messenger, high school principal Peg Regan.

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An Accepting Culture Is Cited as School Eyes Marijuana Use

Chris Burrell

An Accepting Culture Is Cited as School Eyes Marijuana Use

By CHRIS BURRELL

For students at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, it's as commonplace as the pencils and notebooks: kids bringing marijuana to school or showing up for class when they're high.

The principal describes it as "epidemic," and students say pot is pervasive, used by a vast number of their peers on campus.

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For Boat Line, It Continues to Be 1997

Chris Burrell

For Boat Line, It Continues to Be 1997

By CHRIS BURRELL

Maybe the Vineyard has lost its appeal, or maybe it was the foul weather combined with a flagging economy, but whatever the underlying reasons, the latest traffic figures from the Steamship Authority again reflect a 13-month trend: fewer passengers and fewer cars coming to the Island.

Passenger traffic is down nearly five per cent this year compared with last year. Car traffic is down more than six per cent, according to year-to-date statistics just released, and current through Dec. 14.

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Mopeds Off-Season: They're Useful, Cheap - but on Chilly Side

Chris Burrell

Manuel Suza just ordered a fill-up at deBettencourt's gas station in Oak Bluffs and only had to shell out $1.66. No wonder he was still smiling.

His rig barely uses any fuel, but it comes with a price. It's a moped, and he's riding the thing in 35 degree weather. That explains the thickly-insulated coveralls and ski gloves.

Mr. Suza is one of a handful of hearty Islanders who rely on a vehicle that would hardly win a popularity contest on the Vineyard.

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