In a three-way partnership that will protect the last key piece of undeveloped land at one of the oldest wildlife sanctuaries on the Vineyard, the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank, the Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Felix Neck Wildlife Trust announced yesterday that they will buy 34 acres from Lucia Moffet for $2.55 million.

The Moffet property runs along the entire length of the entrance road to the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary on the eastern side.

At his arraignment Friday in Edgartown District Court, William O'Connell, a powerful Quincy developer, pleaded not guilty to charges that he was drunk and operating his 47-foot cigarette boat negligently when the propeller struck and killed his close friend, Quincy real estate broker William Sanderson.

By wide margins, Island high school students are still outpacing their peers in the rest of the state when it comes to risky behaviors such as drunk driving, binge drinking and smoking marijuana.

SSA Launches Plan to Tighten Security

By JULIA WELLS

The Steamship Authority will spend about $200,000 this summer to
boost security on ferries and at boat line terminals on the Cape and
Islands.

Senior managers at the SSA said this week that they are trying to
incorporate a new awareness about safety and security into operations at
the public boat line, although it is still unclear how much can be done
that is meaningful - and also legal.

For members of the Island's Brazilian population, one of the
most frightening prospects is a visit to the hospital. Rather than a
lack of health insurance, what keeps many away is the fear of not being
understood.

This Fourth of July parade was clearly the biggest. Last
night's fireworks were vivid and colorful. And those words can
also be used to describe a parade that was so large that it took nearly
two hours to run its course.

Edgartown fire chief Tony Bettencourt said: "It was absolutely
the largest. It was incredible."

A Quincy man vacationing on Chappaquiddick was killed yesterday
afternoon after being sucked into the propeller blades of a 47-foot
white cigarette boat piloted by his best friend, William
O'Connell. Mr. O'Connell, a prominent Quincy developer, now
faces charges of operating a motorboat while under the influence of
alcohol and fleeing the scene of a boating accident.

The Emperor of Ocean Park

Blockbuster First Novel Surprises Modest Author Stephen Carter

By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer

He is a law professor first and a novelist second, but he is also a
lot of other things, in no particular order: a loving husband and
father, a deeply religious African-American, a constitutional scholar, a
conservative among liberals, a writer, a writer, a writer.

It was one of the town's best-kept secrets, and hundreds of coconspirators kept it quiet for months.
Retiring fire chief Richard H. Clark Jr. was treated to a surprise party
on Saturday. The event that filled the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury
took months to plan and was kept a secret from the chief until the last
moment. This party will go down in the record books as Tisbury's
biggest caper.

Family, Friends, Island Gather to Honor Life of Marc Widdiss

By JOSHUA SABATINI

Friends and family of the late Marc E. Widdiss gathered in the
Aquinnah cemetery Saturday afternoon for a graveside ceremony underneath
a clear sky, meeting later at Aquinnah Circle for a celebration of his
life.

Mr. Widdiss, of Aquinnah, died June 17 at age 54 after a three-year
battle with leukemia. His wife, Beverly, was at his bedside at Brigham
and Women's Hospital in Boston.