In a move that sets the stage for the town of Oak Bluffs to break ranks with the controversial Boston Big Game Fishing Club Monster Shark Tournament, a divided board of selectmen on Tuesday voted to deny a one-day liquor license for shark tournaments.
Following the vote, tournament organizer Steven James said the town’s action provides grounds for a lawsuit. He accused selectmen of discriminating against the popular fishing tournament and fishermen in general.
In a surprise move, Oak Bluffs selectmen on Tuesday unanimously agreed to extend last call and closing time at town bars and nightclubs by one half hour on a trial basis, meaning patrons can now get a drink up until 1 a.m. and stay in an establishment until 1:30 a.m.
Island homeowners who already pay some of the highest home insurance rates in the nation received some rare good news last week when the state insurance commissioner rejected a proposed 25 per cent rate hike for the FAIR Plan, the state-backed insurance provider of last resort for most Vineyarders.
In her May 8 decision, insurance commissioner Nonnie Burnes said FAIR plan officials failed to demonstrate a need for the proposed rate hike.
The former West Tisbury library director who abruptly resigned last March after less than a year on the job pleaded guilty last Thursday in Salem superior court to two counts of rape, stemming from an incident while he was a Boy Scout leader in Haverhill over 20 years ago.
Island emergency officials were inundated with calls from concerned residents Wednesday afternoon after a haze of smoke and ash descended on the Island from a brush fire on Noman’s Land, the small uninhabited island off the southern coast of Chilmark.
The fire was part of a controlled burn started by the U.S. Navy to clear away underbrush and expose unexploded ordinances left on Noman’s during training exercises over the past five decades. Noman’s Land is part of the town of the town of Chilmark, but is owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The advent of spring on the Vineyard brings with it the welcome return of things like warm weather, the majestic osprey and the running of the herring. But it also signals the return of several less celebrated Island traditions, including traffic jams, tick bites — and those dreaded traffic tickets.
