Against the backdrop of a sustained national recession, the focus of the Oak Bluffs annual town meeting next week is expected to be town finances, as voters consider a $24.1 million annual budget and several hefty spending articles, including a $500,000 dredging project in Sengekontacket Pond. Substantial pay increases for the town administrator and town clerk are expected to be another point for debate.
Two Island men accused of attacking and robbing the elderly ticket taker of the Capawock Theatre in Vineyard Haven last September pleaded guilty this week in Dukes County Superior Court to reduced charges as part of a plea bargain agreement with prosecutors.
The weather may still be cold and grey, but spring was in full swing on the Vineyard’s athletic fields this week as the high school spring sports teams held practices and played in their first games of the season.
The boys’ tennis team split a pair of matches, while the softball team dropped their opener after a promising preseason. The boys’ lacrosse fell behind early in their opener but rallied late to make the game close, while the girls’ lacrosse team was dominant in its opener, winning easily by a 12-goal margin.
The chief executive officer of Festival Network, the national entertainment promoter that has held a concert in Ocean Park featuring the Boston Pops for the past two years, has said the future of the concert is in doubt, largely because it lost money last year.
CEO Chris Shields has also leveled harsh accusations at the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard, saying that the nonprofit organization still owes his company thousands of dollars from ticket sales last August.
Four suspects arrested in November in one of the largest heroin drug busts in Island history will face multiple felony drug charges later this month in Dukes County Superior Court during the spring court session.
The accused are Kaleb C. Garde, 26, of Vineyard Haven; Roseline J. Gaspar, 24, of Vineyard Haven; Garrett J. Gibson, 24, of Oak Bluffs; and Alexander W. Carlson, 22, of Edgartown.
An uncertain economy coupled with unpredictable weather in the late summer has forced the cancellation of cruise ship visits to the Island this year.
The mammoth ships usually come into Oak Bluffs several times during late September and early October. But representatives from Norwegian Cruises and Royal Caribbean told town officials last month they were cancelling.
