Martha's Vineyard Megan Dooley

Chappy Native Pens Kids’ Book, Talks About Growing Up Different

Megan Dooley | Thursday, December 17 2009 - 1:04pm

As a student at the Edgartown School, a counselor once told Chappaquiddick native Stephanie Duckworth-Elliott that she wouldn’t go to college, and implied that Ms. Duckworth-Elliott would not achieve in life. The young girl had a background and home life that already separated her from other kids her age — she was a member of the only Wampanoag family living on Chappy at the time, and raised primarily by her grandfather — and the counselor’s prediction made her feel even more detached from her peers.

Authors

Saving, Making and Giving: Four Years of Our Island Club Success

Megan Dooley

It’s not easy to pinch pennies on the Vineyard. We all pay the price for the trouble it takes vendors to get their store shelves stocked and their gas pumps filled on the Island. In the best of times, it’s an inconvenience. In the worst of times, such as now, inflated Island prices can be a threat to survival for merchant and consumer alike.

Library Plan Returns to Square One

Megan Dooley

The $15 million Edgartown library expansion project will go back to the drawing board, town selectmen and library trustees agreed this week.

Following the revelation last week that the cost of the project had spiked by another $1.4 million, in separate meetings on Monday selectmen and library trustees decided to replace a planned $4 million town meeting article with a $300,000 spending article.

Aquinnah Wampanoags Place Bets on Casino in Freetown

Megan Dooley

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has suddenly jumped into the casino game again, telling the Freetown selectmen that they plan to try to secure a state license to operate a gambling facility in southeastern Massachusetts.

High School Artists Win Awards In State, Nationwide Contests

Megan Dooley

The creativity of students at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School has made a big impression on the mainland, and they have the awards to prove it.

Senior Hannah Marlin’s photography portfolio has garnered national attention for the young artist, one of only 20 students nationwide to receive a merit award for photography from the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts senior portfolio program. The award came with a cash prize of $100.

Chamber of Commerce Appeals to Towns for Rooms Tax Money

Megan Dooley

Deep cuts to state funding for tourism marketing have prompted the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce to ask Vineyard towns to contribute tax dollars to establish an Islandwide tourism fund. Chamber members made the rounds in Edgartown, Chilmark, Aquinnah and West Tisbury this week, asking selectmen this week to back their appeal. They plan to visit Oak Bluffs and Tisbury next week with the same request.

Too Short on Funds, Edgartown Library Project May Start Over

Megan Dooley

An unexpected spike in project costs for the Edgartown Public Library expansion project left library trustees scrambling for a solution this week, as a plan to ask town voters for $4 million was scrapped when it was discovered that the actual need would be significantly higher.

At a Wednesday meeting of the Edgartown financial advisory committee, library trustees said that they would need closer to $5.4 million from the town by this coming June to secure a $4.6 million grant from the Massachusetts board of library commissioners.