NEWS & VIEWS

NEWS & VIEWS …from other islands

Ferry fee an issue on Chappaquiddick

MARTHA'S VINEYARD- To avoid arguments between crew and passengers, the owner of the three-car ferry that connects Chappaquiddick to "mainland" Martha's Vineyard named a committee to determine who should get the resident discount fares. But some Chappy folks complained that the monitoring is akin to spying and an invasion of their privacy, the Martha's Vineyard Times reported.

The round-trip fare is $3 for year-round Chappaquiddick residents, $10 for all others. The ticket committee sent a letter to all residents that said the cut rate is available only to those who live on the island all but 30 days of the year, subsequently loosened to 45 days. The residents were asked to sign a form declaring their eligibility.

One resident cried it was "an invasion of privacy… a violation of my civil rights." Another noted that the state requires only six months and a day to determine town residency and the Steamship Authority requires only an address and a driver's license.

The chairperson of the ticket committee, a deckhand on the ferries, said, "We do not intend to spy on neighbors… It's really an honor system." The owner said, "I can give discounts to anyone I want."

Weevil enlisted to fight encroaching vine

SAIPAN- The fast-spreading scarlet gourd vine has covered about 35 percent of the island of Saipan in 14 years and is spreading to outer islands. In order to combat it on the island of Rota, an Extension Service entomologist from Northern Marianas College released 25 weevils there in 2005. Now, the island has about a million of the insects, the Saipan Tribune reported.

For the moment, the weevils are not considered pests, the entomologist said. And they do the job - they feed only on the pesky plant and as it fades, so do the weevils. The method has been used successfully in Guam and Hawaii, it was reported.

Now, where do you suppose we put that whale?

MARTHA'S VINEYARD - They dug all day on the beach where they had buried the 52-foot finback whale buried two years ago but they never did find it, the Vineyard Gazette reports.

The dead whale washed ashore in January 2005. After the New England Aquarium staff did a necropsy to determine cause of death, the carcass was buried deep in the sand - all reported in the New York Times.

An Oklahoma City firm that traffics in skeletons wanted to dig up the bones and assemble them for an osteological museum in Oklahoma City (osteology is the study of the structure and function of bones). They hired the backhoe operator who had buried the whale; he dug long, deep trenches, to no avail. Sure they were in the right spot, the searchers wondered if the surf had buried the whale deeper in sand, or washed the sand away and carried it back to sea.

Volunteers protecting ancient byways

MARTHA'S VINEYARD- As many as 30 Edgartown volunteers will be sworn as byway wardens to help preserve the town's ancient ways and roads, the Vineyard Gazette reports. Their mission will be to keep an eye out for illegal dumping and misuse.