Proponents of Wind Farm Trim Proposal for Horseshoe Shoal

By MANDY LOCKE

Cape Wind Associates erased 40 turbines from its wind farm site plans this week - freeing four square miles of Horseshoe Shoals previously staked by the private energy developer.

The announcement came Tuesday as Cape Wind officials sealed a deal with GE Wind Energy to manufacture the 130 turbines the developer now hopes to erect on 24 square miles of shallow water in Nantucket Sound.

Trash District Audit Issues Bleak Report

Auditor Cites Regional Refuse District for Sloppy Bookkeeping, Points to Opportunities for Abuse

By MANDY LOCKE

The long-awaited draft audit for the Martha's Vineyard Regional Refuse and Resource Recovery district delivered stern warnings for the trash district's leadership to clean house.

In a five-page management letter, auditor John J. O'Brien detailed sloppy and incomplete bookkeeping and pointed to the potential mishandling of cash at local drop-off centers.

Shifting Hotel Plans Ignite Controversy

By MANDY LOCKE

A flurry of phone calls, letters, accusations and denials shook Tisbury this week - tremors that followed public suspicions that construction plans for the Mansion House differ from architectural drawings the Martha's Vineyard Commission and the town zoning board of appeals approved in the spring of 2002.

For the first time in more than two decades, Larry Mercier is sleeping past 4:45 a.m. And as snow blanketed the Island Tuesday morning, Mr. Mercier watched through the window of his North street home instead of through the windshield of one of Edgartown's snowplow fleet.

Retirement is a big change for the veteran Edgartown highway superintendent, who stepped down from his post in early December.

Jail Employees Vote Union Membership After Long Dispute

By MANDY LOCKE

The lowest ranking jail employees offered Massachusetts Correctional Officers Federated Union (MCOFU) a seat at the county negotiating table Tuesday afternoon, as seven deputy sheriffs cast votes inviting the union into the facility.

"Everyone is relieved, but we're anxious to know where we go from here," said deputy sheriff Phill Fuentes.

Housing Opens New Life for Two Families

By MANDY LOCKE

The phone call came at just the right moment for one Island family.

The couple - we'll call them Joe and Sarah - was being driven out of yet another rental, this time because of the owner's decision to put the house on the market. They know the routine all too well, having moved more than a dozen times in their eight years of living on the Island.