The Martha's Vineyard Commission last night affirmed its decision to reject the Down Island Golf Club plan, but not before a minor fracas around an

Freight Service Outlook Dims

Steamship Authority Awaits Word from New Bedford on Summer Freight Service to Island; New Deadline Is Set

By JULIA WELLS

The dubious outlook for summer freight service between New Bedford and the Vineyard got even more dubious last week when Steamship Authority treasurer and acting general manager Wayne Lamson told the SSA board of governors that the Whaling City has refused to respond to inquiries from the boat line.

Collusion: the word has surfaced more than once in recent months during a storm of politics around Steamship Authority affairs.

When Vineyard boat line governor J.B. Riggs Parker was not reappointed by the Dukes County Commission in a 4-3 vote late last year, a group of Vineyard selectmen and city officials in New Bedford cried foul, among other things accusing four members of the county commission of collusion.

Attorneys for the town of Oak Bluffs and the Martha's Vineyard Commission returned a serve this week in a high-stakes legal dispute that will ultimately test the power of the Martha's Vineyard Commission to review affordable housing projects under state law.

The search for a new chief executive officer for the Steamship Authority took an unexpected turn late yesterday when one of the leading candidates for the job suddenly dropped out.

State Attorney General Files Brief in MVC Case

By JULIA WELLS

The Massachusetts Attorney General sided with a Connecticut housing developer this week in a key legal dispute that is expected to decide whether the Martha's Vineyard Commission has the right to review low and moderate income housing projects under Chapter 40B, a section of state law commonly known as the anti-snob zoning statute.

The groundbreaking case goes to the heart of the unique powers vested in the commission by the state legislature more than 25 years ago.