The Joint Committee on Consumer Protection will hold a public hearing in Boston next week on the town of Tisbury's home rule petition to license the sale of beer and wine. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 10 a.m. in room B1 at the State House.
The public is welcome to attend and offer testimony. Cape and Islands Rep. Eric T. Turkington suggests that people interested in speaking contact the committee in advance at 617-722-2030.
The Tisbury selectmen voted a maximum age of 65 for its firefighters on Tuesday night, at the recommendation of the town's attorney - and to the dismay of about 10 firemen in attendance.
The pressing question of whether fire captain Michael Carroll - who turned 65 this month - would have to leave the department had a more popular outcome. Mr. Carroll will be exempt from the new policy, which is effective only for firefighters turning 65 on or after Oct. 1.
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School principal Margaret (Peg) Regan quietly announced late last week that she will resign at the end of the school year.
Mrs. Regan submitted a letter of resignation to Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss on Friday.
After no one from the public attended last week's public hearing, the Tisbury selectmen voted unanimously to raise the fines for parking violations by $10 apiece. The new fines will go into effect next spring.
Ten-dollar parking tickets for violations like parking overtime, in the wrong direction, or more than one foot from the curb will now be $20. Fifteen-dollar parking tickets for violations like parking in a restricted or prohibited area, within 10 feet of a fire hydrant, or overnight will now be $25.
In the last year and a half, about 16 youths (people 19 years old or younger) were admitted to Martha's Vineyard Hospital for attempted suicide, according to hospital data recently acquired by the Gazette. In the year-and-a-half prior to that, seven youths were admitted for attempted suicide.
Of the 16 attempted suicides by youths in this past year and a half, 14 occurred between January and May of this year.
After 27 years of building the wooden boats of other men's dreams, Nathaniel Benjamin, 60, built a boat for himself.
They christened her Charlotte under parted skies on Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of onlookers spilled onto the beach, down to the end of the dock and up to a rooftop of the boat yard. The potluck was plentiful and the beer flowed from a rowboat packed with ice. Boat launchings mean big parties at Gannon & Benjamin and this was no exception.
