Mark Alan Lovewell
West Tisbury oysters were on the market during the holiday season, but they are unavailable now. Tom Osmers, town shellfish constable, said there were three commercial oyster fishermen out on the pond. The season opened on Monday, Dec. 15 and was closed on Wednesday, Dec. 31. The fishermen were limited to one bushel a day, a sparse amount compared to years ago when the fishery was healthy and more productive.
John J. McCormick of Vineyard Haven believes he is the fastest bricklayer in the country. And while the ground is frozen and the air outside is bitter cold, he is practicing in the basement of his house in Vineyard Haven to prepare for a national bricklaying competition in Las Vegas next month. He will attend the annual World of Concrete and World of Masonry Trade Show, held in the first week of February. Its a big event in the trades and attracts thousands.
For weeks the solemn sound of a foghorn has spread its message across the Vineyard. Day and night, under clear skies, in snowstorms and rain showers, the horn has been heard on the north shore in West Tisbury, across Vineyard Haven, in Oak Bluffs and in Edgartown.
The Nobska Light foghorn in Woods Hole has sounded four times every minute since before Christmas. It finally stopped yesterday, after being fixed.
A plan to require all saltwater recreational fishermen to obtain either a state or federal license has been postponed a year to January 2010. The notice by federal fisheries authorities came out recently; a plan to establish a Massachusetts recreational fishing license has also been postponed.
Paul Diodati, director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said he is pleased by the delay, as it gives federal authorities more time to work out details for the license.
The plywood is up, the roof is ready for shingling. The new Oak Bluffs fire station which will house the old 1929 Maxim fire truck, Engine No. 2, is far from finished, though, and work continues in haste. It won’t just be a garage, it will be a firefighters’ museum.
The disappearance of pay phones around the Island has raised public safety concerns in Tisbury and Edgartown.
In Tisbury, town officials pay a monthly fee to keep a pay phone working at the somewhat remote Park and Ride parking lot near the town water tower.
When the pay phone was removed from in front of the Edgartown police station this fall, officers inside had to rethink the way the public reaches the police after hours, when no one is at the station.