Bank Robbery Ends in Wild Chase

A $3, 380 bank robbery in Edgartown Tuesday morning led to a high-speed chase and a bizarre showdown in the woods near county airport runways between police with guns drawn and a man firing arrows from a high-powered bow.

The man, later identified as 35-year-old William E. Sweeney of Tisbury, was quickly arrested after tense moments during which police say they almost opened fire.

Historic Ruling Grants Gay Head Indians Federal Recognition

The federal government Wednesday recognized the tribal status of the Gay Head Wampanoag Indians in a historic decision that opens the way to settlement of the bitter, 12-year-old land claim dispute.

Island's Football Season Ends With Loss in Nantucket Game

At Nantucket Saturday there were two football games. One was staged on the playing field, properly, and Nantucket won convincingly, 34-0. Ultimately the only victim in that game was the playing field, and that will repair itself.

MV Katama Sails a New Look into Vineyard Waters

Welcome aboard the MV Katama, the latest addition to the Steamship Authority fleet. She is now on line in Vineyard waters. And in the years ahead she will sail with us and we with her on thousands of trips to the mainland and back. The Katama, with a new, more spacious look and lines similar to the MV Auriga freight vessel, is 180 feet long, carries 149 passengers and 32 cars. She comes to the Vineyard from the more placid waters of the Gulf of Mexico where she has sailed since launch in 1981 as an oil exploration vessel.

 

St. Pierre School Celebrates Its Years of Memories: This Summer Is for Dorothy

Eugene Baer, teacher of art at the Tisbury School, would never have come to Martha’s Vineyard had it not been for the St. Pierre summer school. He was introduced to the school as a student in college, when he was looking for work as a counselor. “I had never heard of Martha’s Vineyard,” he says.

According to Barbara St. Pierre-Peipon, Mr. Baer’s story is not unique: many people first heard of the school before learning of the Vineyard. As the school goes through its 46th year, its reputation continues to spread.

Alley’s Store, West Tisbury Institution, Passes to the Ulfelder Family

This week for the second time in less than a decade, Alley’s Store, a venerable West Tisbury institution, is changing hands. Howard and Susan Ulfelder of Hingham are buying the store from Charlie and Teena Parton, who bought it from the Alley family six years ago.
 

Preservation Society Launches Effort to Buy Flying Horses

The Martha’s Vineyard Historical Preservation Society Inc. this week formally announced the launching of its campaign to raise $740,000 by Dec. 8 to purchase the land, building and business of the historic Oak Bluffs carousel, the Flying Horses.
 
As part of its agreement with the present owner of the carousel, James Ryan of Osterville, the society has managed the Flying Horses since its opening on the Memorial Day weekend. It is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
 

Island Enters Into the Age of Land Bank

Starting Monday morning, buyers of Martha’s Vineyard real estate will pay two per cent of the purchase price to the Martha’s Vineyard land bank. Tisbury voters yesterday followed the other five Island towns by endorsing the measure designed to raise money for preserva­tion of natural and recreational resources.
 
The Dukes County commissioners this morning were to appoint one person from each Island town to the land bank commission. The state secretary of environmental affairs will appoint a seventh member.
 

Historic Sale Will Protect A Landmark

An Island museum and landmark changed hands on Patriots Day. The museum of the Sea Coast Defense Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a little white building on upper Main street in Vineyard Haven, has turned over to Martha’s Vineyard Historical Preservation Society. The museum is a repository of memorabilia going back generations, to the Island’s whaling days.
 

All Outdoors: The Plight of the Plover

Is it too early to be thinking about the breeding season? Yes, in general, but no for the piping plover, a species that usually returns to Martha’s Vineyard in late March and begins nesting by mid-April. For this year, on Jan. 10, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added this species to its list of endangered and threatened wildlife.
 

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