LETTERS
SEND YOUR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: DON@NANTUCKETINDEPENDENT.COM
AN "INSANE" IDEA

To the editor:

At the Special Town Meeting this Thursday, special interest groups will attempt to get the people of Nantucket to approve an undisclosed amount of money to purchase and renovate the Dreamland Theater.

The vote on this insane idea must be, "No."

As an alternative, why doesn't this group negotiate with the town a low cost, long term lease on a parcel of land at the corner of Fairgrounds and Old South Road? The people of Nantucket already own 28 acres of land at this site and it would be an ideal opportunity for the arts to raise funds to construct a building that meets its needs rather than the town buying and renovating a huge building in terrible disrepair.

Please vote "No" on this article.

- Michael Angelastro

WHERE HAS MISHA BEEN?

To the editor:

On June 2 my daughter Catherine arrived in Nantucket with her two cats. The cats were safely ensconced in the shed for the summer on Nantucket, and could come and go as they pleased in the garden and fenced-in yard. Both inside cats, the older one happily reveled in the sunshine and shade, hiding in the lilies in the heat of the day and lounging on the deck in the early morning and evenings. The younger cat, however, unused to the ways of the outside world, disappeared after four days, perhaps frightened by a burly cat living under the porch next door.

Catherine was devastated. She contacted the MSPCA, Geronimo's, the animal control officer and put up signs in the downtown core area where we live. We had calls of sightings of orange tiger cats, but they weren't Misha. After three weeks of fruitless searching, Catherine had to leave to report to a job.

Much to our surprise, the MSPCA called on July 10 to report that an orange tiger cat matching Misha's description had been brought in by a kind person from 'Sconset. He was a shadow of his former self, limping and battered, but at least he was home, eating a little and drinking a lot. The next two days he appeared to be fading fast, but on the third day he perked up, demanded food whenever the refrigerator door was opened, and appears to be very much on the mend.

We are all very grateful to the good Samaritan that took the time to deliver Misha to the MSPCA before it was too late, and for that wonderful organization for caring for him enough to reunite him with his family. Catherine is ecstatic and we are very curious to hear how he came to be so lucky.

Sincerely,

- Judith R. Lochtefeld

CAPE WIND REASONING

To the editor:

Our electricity bills can be lower when Cape Wind's project is in operation, for the following reason.

For electricity dispatched by ISO (Independent System Operator) New England's bidding system, all bidders are required to submit their confidential price bid in competition with other generators competing for ISONE's needed amount of electricity. ISONE requests bids for each hour of nearfuture days: producers submit their price and the amount of electricity they will provide. To understand this bidding award system, envision the bids as 'bricks' (of varying height dependent on the amount of electricity each generator guarantees to provide) stacked against a wall. On the wall is a horizontal line - the line's height is proportional to the amount of electricity ISO-NE expects to dispatch in any particular hour. The bid bricks are, in effect, stacked with the lowest price on the bottom and higher bids in increasing order above lower bricks. The resulting price for those successfully bidding in each hour is the highest bid with all or a part of its brick below the horizontal line for that hour.

When Cape Wind starts generating electricity, its bids will be at or near the stack's bottom because wind is free while fossil fuels average 60 percent of electricity generators' variable cost. Cape Wind's brick will push up other bricks, usually pushing the previous high bid above the horizontal line, reducing the dispatched price to the lower price on the brick below the pushed-off brick.

The result is that purchasers of Cape Wind's electricity will receive lower prices directly, while those purchasing electricity from others in the ISO-NE stack will also pay lower prices because Cape Wind's 'brick' will usually lower their price also.

- Jim Liedell THANKS TO DANE

To the editor:

On behalf of the Artists' Association of Nantucket, I want to thank the Dane Gallery for selecting our Children's Art Program as the beneficiary of the extraordinary Hot Glass Nantucket show. Everyone who had the opportunity to watch the glass blowing was spellbound and learned so much. We are grateful to you and to Lance Kelly for all your effort in bringing the Corning Museum of Glass road show to Nantucket and for making the event such a success. It was a gift to the Nantucket community that will long be remembered.

Sincerely,

- Penny Scheerer

President, Artists' Association of Nantucket