Wednesday, May 1, 2013
The former Navy SEAL and the longtime Congressman will face off June 25 to fill John Kerry's former U.S. Senate seat.
A political newcomer will face a long-time Massachusetts politician in the race to be the Bay State's next U.S. senator. The Associated Press has declared Republican businessman and former U.S. Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez of Cohasset and Democratic U.S. Congressman Edward Markey of Malden the winners of their U.S. Senate special primary elections, according to tweets from Fox 25. The call for Gomez came approximately one hour after the polls closed in the statewide primary while a call for Markey came moments later. Gomez defeats his more seasoned opponents, former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan of Abington and state Rep. Dan Winslow of Norfolk. Markey beat fellow U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch of South Boston. Brett Rhyne of Needham ran an …
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Massachusetts voters go to the polls today to make their primary choices for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by John Kerry when he became Secretary of State. Who gets your vote, and why? Tell us in the comments.
Are you still undecided about whom to choose? Patch editors interviewed each of the candidates running for U.S. Senate in today's special election primary. We gathered questions from editors across our coverage area in Massachusetts. The editors asked broad questions about policy, as well as opinions on more local, regional issues. Click on the links below to read the questions and answers with each candidate: Stephen Lynch Edward Markey Brett Rhyne (write-in candidate) Gabriel Gomez Michael Sullivan Daniel Winslow Who gets your vote today? Why do you choose him? Tell us in the comments. Stay Patched in! Follow Martha's Vineyard Patch on Twitter | Like Martha's Vineyard Patch on Facebook | Sign up for the daily email with links to the …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
We gathered questions from editors across Patch’s coverage area in Massachusetts.
Patch editors interviewed each of the candidates running for U.S. Senate in the April 30 special election. We gathered questions from editors across Patch’s coverage area in Massachusetts. The editors asked both broad questions about policy, as well as opinions on more local, regional issues. Click on the links below to read the questions and answers with each candidate… Stephen Lynch Edward Markey Brett Rhyne (write-in candidate) Gabriel Gomez Michael Sullivan Daniel Winslow
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
By nearly three to one, Chilmark voters Monday passed a bylaw restricting the construction of homes larger than 3,500 square feet per three-acre lot.
Chilmark voters marked Earth Day, 2013 by approving a long-sought bylaw aimed at preserving the town's rural character by limiting the size of new houses and additions. After much discussion and two proposed amendments — one approved, one defeated — voters at the Chilmark annual town meeting overwhelmingly approved Article 31, the bylaw that requires planning board review for homes larger than 3,500 square feet of living space on a minimum three-acre lot. After the secret ballot was counted, the vote was 162 in favor of the bylaw to 51 opposed. Four voters cast blank ballots, said town planning board chair Janet Weidner after the meeting. The amendment that passed requires biennial review of the bylaw by a joint session of the planning …
Monday, April 22, 2013
At tonight's Chilmark annual town meeting, voters take up a proposed bylaw aimed at preventing the construction of so-called "monster homes." Do you think it's a good idea? Tell us in the comments and click "Keep me posted" for election results.
The town of Chilmark has about 1,280 homes built between the 1600s and the 2000s, according to planning board chair Janet Widener. The average size of all these Chilmark homes is 2,300 square feet of living space. But 23 have more than 6,000 square feet of living space, and at least one is more than twice that size with 13,000 square feet on a five-acre lot, according to a chart Widener displayed at a recent public hearing in the Chilmark library. A proposed bylaw on tonight’s annual town meeting warrant asks voters to limit new construction to a maximum of 3,500 square feet of living space per three-acre lot (the minimum lot size in Chilmark), with an additional 250 square feet allowable for each additional acre. Only new construction …
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Chilmark Community Center
520 South Rd, Chilmark, MA
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Monday, April 15, 2013
Most of the Martha's Vineyard towns that voted for Elizabeth Warren had more hybrid cars than the state average — except for Oak Bluffs, which was below the state average.
The towns on Martha's Vineyard are green and blue, except for Oak Bluffs which is brown and blue. That’s what we found when we compared data from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles to the vote in the 2012 U.S. Senate race. You can see the results in the map above: Large circles suggest towns with more hybrid ownership per capita, and the red/blue color suggests which way those towns voted last year. Compared to the state average of 18 hybrids per 1,000 vehicles, here's how Island towns stacked up: Patch’s research suggests the state has a good number of what might be called “green Republican” communities. More than 40 percent of the communities where Republican Scott Brown carried the vote — including Edgartown — have above-…
Thursday, April 11, 2013
A whisker-thin majority of 69-66 at town meeting wasn't enough to pass the $1.3 million borrowing article that would have allowed Tisbury to construct a long-discussed cutoff route to State Road. Hear from both sides in our video.
At one point during Wednesday night's continuation of the Tisbury town meeting, rainfall on the roof of the school gym was so loud that even the stentorian Clarence Barnes had to raise his voice on the microphone in order to be heard. Barnes was speaking in favor of the proposed connector road between Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road and Holmes Hole Road west of town, which would give motorists a cutoff route to the Tisbury business district on State Road. "I'm in the trucking business," Barnes told the meeting. "I go to Edgartown more times in a day than you're probably going to the bathroom." His 15 employees also drive all over the Island, Barnes continued. Originally opposed to the connector, Barnes said, he now supports it. Barnes's …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The non-binding referendum, making future shark fishing tournaments catch and release only, next comes before voters at Thursday's annual town election, according to the Vineyard Gazette.
Both Island newspapers are reporting the success of a referendum that was placed on the Oak Bluffs annual town meeting warrant by petition to make future shark fishing tournaments catch and release only. The Martha's Vineyard Times reports the non-binding referendum passed 64 to 50. The referendum was aimed squarely at the annual Monster Shark Fishing Tournament, which has been held in Oak Bluffs for the past several years. Tournament founder Steve James, of the Boston Big Game Fishing Club, told Oak Bluffs selectmen last week that in his experience, catch and release shark tournaments have not been successful. "Nobody comes to an all-release shark tournament," James said in the April 4 meeting (see video). Oak Bluffs resident and Patch …
A year-long moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries passed in one Martha's Vineyard town meeting Tuesday, but failed in two others. A ban on public consumption of medical pot failed in one town and passed in two.
Medical marijuana patients may need to consult a map before they light up or eat their doctor-prescribed herbal medications on Martha's Vineyard. Town meeting votes in three Island municipalities have created a patchwork of regulations on where residents and visitors may legally consume prescription pot. Tuesday night, Edgartown voters passed a 12-month moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, but not a proposed ban on smoking or otherwise ingesting prescribed marijuana in public places. This effectively means that patients with legitimate prescriptions may smoke pot anywhere tobacco smoking is allowed, but they won't be able to fill their prescriptions at a dispensary in Edgartown for at least a year. In Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven…
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury and West Tisbury are all holding their annual town meetings tonight, with special town meetings preceding in the first three.
What will voters be deciding at the town meetings this week? Here's a round-up including the full town meeting and special town meeting warrants: All meetings begin at 7 p.m. Stay Patched in! Follow Martha's Vineyard Patch on Twitter | Like Martha's Vineyard Patch on Facebook | Sign up for the daily email with links to the latest news | Got something to say? Start a blog and share your views.
41.39038
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The Old Whaling Church
89 Main St, Edgartown, MA
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Martha's Vineyard Regional High School
100 Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Rd, Oak Bluffs, MA
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West Tisbury School
401 Old County Rd, West Tisbury, MA
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215 Spring St, Vineyard Haven, MA
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Stringer Bell
7:00 am on Tuesday, May 7, 2013
U.S. Rep. Edward Markey: Taxpayers Should Pay Bomber Remains Bill http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_co... "U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, told the Herald the feds should take the problem off Stefan’s hands, although he didn’t say whether he intends to take any action. He said in a statement:“The people of Massachusetts should have the right to say … more ›