Skies were blue this week in Edgartown, where, despite an unusually high number of vacant storefronts, empty sidewalks and available parking places on every block, two of the Island’s major commercial landlords were among those forecasting a bright summer season for business.
A sharply divided Martha’s Vineyard Commission voted last Thursday to hold another round of review for several proposed changes to the new YMCA building off Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, including a new walking bridge, outside basketball court, covered pavilion and temporary irrigation system.
By JIM HICKEY
The Oak Bluffs planning board next week will hold a public hearing on two major changes to the town bylaws that will appear on the ballot of the annual town meeting, one that would create new regulations for wind turbines under 200 feet and another that would require property owners to apply for a special permit to build within federal flood plain zones.
Oak Bluffs residents and business owners on Wednesday strongly criticized a plan to turn part of Dukes County avenue into a one-way street, during a well-attended public hearing at the public library. Everyone who spoke at the meeting said they opposed the plan, which is currently under discussion by the town roads and byways committee.
An Island man and registered sex offender was arrested and charged with sexually abusing a mentally handicapped victim last week after he reportedly fled the Island and was apprehended by Massachusetts State police while trying to flee into a restaurant in Dartmouth.
An Island man arrested this week is facing several charges of rape and indecent assault and battery against a mentally retarded person.
Peter Duart, 41, a registered Level II sex offender as well as a former assistant coach of the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School football team, and an elected, currently serving member of the Tisbury planning board, was arrested by Massachusetts state police on Wednesday in Dartmouth after Oak Bluffs police issued a warrant for his arrest.
