Graphic by Nicole Jackson This article is a part of 12-piece series for The Times’ 2025 “Year in Review. One of the biggest stories for the Island this year — and many years to come — is offshore wind. From the very beginning of this year, it has felt like the industry itself is twisting in the wind. On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive memorandum that directed federal agencies to suspend all new leases for wind projects before a large assessment of the approval…
School officials are planning community outreach regarding the high school building process after this holiday season with informational sessions that are open to the public. The public gatherings will be held at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) beginning Jan. 8, 2026. The school committee announced the plans in a press release on Tuesday. An informal example of the educational sessions was held in Aquinnah last month. The meeting sparked both controversy and support from residents…
All of the Vineyard’s towns adopted their tax rates, but not all of them will be using a state-approved residential tax exemption that aims to help year-round homeowners with affordability. On Dec. 16, the town of Chilmark, at its annual property tax levy hearing, adopted a single tax rate for all types of properties in the town, joining Edgartown and Aquinnah. The select boards decided against adopting the exemption, but other towns on the Vineyard — Tisbury, Oak Bluffs, and West Tisbury —…
Years after a U.S. Coast Guard facility in Tisbury was found to have contaminated the surrounding soil and affected people living on the property with lead, work is finally under way to remediate the soil. Remediation work has been underway at West Chop Lighthouse Station since at least Friday to clean up lead from paint that was historically used to paint the building. “Impacted soil will be excavated and transported offsite for disposal or reuse at a licensed facility. All excavated areas…
It was 1991 when Hurricane Bob surged on the shores of Martha’s Vineyard, ravaging the landscape and washing away homes. But perhaps its most lasting impact was an increase in insurance for coastal home homeownership. In the past 35 years, because of that famed hurricane and various nor’easters that have swept through since, many home insurance companies expect the Vineyard is due for another devastating storm. That vulnerability, on an Island with some of the highest property values in New…
A regionalized approach was recommended to administrators after a study of Vineyard schools found that the cost per student far exceeds the average in the state. The Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools (MARS) was hired by the All-Island School Committee to analyze budgets and available data to better understand what a regional school system could look like, an effort that began about a year ago. “There’s multiple school committees, different policies and systems, and that does contribute…
An island is necessarily a place of absolute limits –– space, water, and resources. During my 61 years here, I have always put what’s best for the Island ahead of my own personal interests. I voted in favor of the Land Bank and every resource protection outcome I could, including larger lot sizes in hopes of protecting water quality. It has not been enough, and trying to meet the endless demand is not working for the Island. The water quality of our coastal ponds is impaired –– regular…
It arrived at the North Pole like a damp envelope that had been through three ferry decks and an argument. A nearly 60-page stocking-stuffer from the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General, explaining — politely, for a document with such sharp teeth — that the Steamship Authority’s grand website adventure was “doomed from the start,” and that “millions” went overboard somewhere between optimism and oversight. Santa read it with the same expression he wears when a reindeer returns…
The Trump administration’s immigration rhetoric and actions worsen day by day. Every undocumented person on the Island must be extremely apprehensive. Commentators across the country have declared his language the new nativism. The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty writes that President Trump’s words hark back more than a century ago to “the passage of a series of laws, capped by one in 1924, known as the Johnson-Reed Act. The statute put in place a quota system in which visas would be allocated…
I was entering the freeway last week to return home to the Island from Brown University for the holidays as the news of a mass shooting first broke. It was Saturday, Dec. 13, and a horrific tragedy had taken place on my beloved campus of Brown University, where I am a senior. The shooter took the lives of two vibrant individuals and left nine others wounded. A tragedy, in the form of mass shootings, that seems to repeat itself across America constantly. Brown University is a place where I uncovered…
You are viewing: Martha's Vineyard News
Sponsored Content
Advertise with us
Support this website
NANTUCKET – The Town of Nantucket will begin accepting claims next month in connection to last summer’s…
FALMOUTH – Steamship Authority Board of Governors member James Malkin, the representative of Martha’s…
CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Sunday afternoon in a rough neighborhood… you’ve got one Santa on a getaway…
HYANNIS – A fire was reported at a residence on Square Rigger Lane in Hyannis shortly before 8…
BOURNE – From Bourne Fire: Overnight last night, Bourne Fire/Rescue surpassed 5,299 emergency calls…
*** WATCH *** Eastham Police pursuit ends in Dennis Rest Area…
‘Tis the season… YARMOUTH PORT, MASSACHUSETTS — Two employees of a local assisted living…
UPPER CAPE – YMCA Cape Cod has announced the official groundbreaking for the Don…
