When the Oak Bluffs resident home site committee was established by a nearly unanimous vote at a special town meeting in September of 1987, it was widely heralded as an innovative and proactive measure to combat the dearth of affordable housing on the Island by creating low-cost lots for qualified, year-round town residents.
Since that time, the committee has seen its share of highs and lows.
The prolonged saga of the three-story garage built without a permit in 2003 by Oak Bluffs resident Joseph Moujabber along the North Bluffs resumed last Thursday when the Martha’s Vineyard Commission opened a public hearing on revised plans for the building.
On an Island already known for its high cost of living, the Vineyard now claims the dubious distinction of having the highest gasoline prices in the state and among the highest in the nation. Prices for regular gas eclipsed the $4 a gallon mark at most Island service stations this week, while premium prices climbed as high as $4.39 a gallon.
A $5.1 million plan to convert the old Bradley Memorial Church off Masonic avenue in Oak Bluffs into a mixed use building with affordable housing and artist work space has quickly become a heated neighborhood controversy.
On one side is a group of longtime residents of Dukes County avenue and the surrounding area who are proud of their largely blue-collar neighborhood. On the other is a group of town and Island officials touting a dense plan to redevelop property that is the site of the first African-American church on the Island.
Island police were busy over Patriots Day weekend with several calls of bad behavior at various nightclubs and bars. Oak Bluffs police in particular reacted to a high volume of calls for unruly behavior, including a brawl at Seasons Eatery & Pub that ended with several injuries and the arrest of two men.
A Vineyard Haven man accused of raping a West Tisbury woman at knifepoint two years ago was convicted of kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, aggravated rape and home invasion on Wednesday and sentenced to up to 28 years in prison by a Dukes county superior court judge.
