James Gutensohn, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Management (DEM), plated a crucial role in the public effort to save South Beach from private developers.

A chapter in American maritime history will close Tuesday when the last car and passenger-carrying steamboat in North America sails out of Woods Hole harbor.

The retirement of the SS Naushon from the Steamship Authority fleet marks the end of a 170-year era of steam ferry service along the Eastern seaboard.

When John E. Phillips opened his store in 1928, penny nails were four cents a handful, a pound of putty was about a dime and every face that passed through the door was a familiar one.

The 233-foot M.V. Eagle, the Steamship Authority’s largest and most extravagant ferry, arrived in Woods Hole 24 hours ahead of schedule on Tuesday. Sailing out of a cold fog bank into the Vineyard Sound beneath a torrent of sleet and rain, the $8-million ferry completed her voyage from Louisiana.

The Steamship Authority’s newest all-purpose vessel, the MV Gay Head, sailed into Vineyard waters early this month with none of the hype or fanfare typical of the arrival of a new passenger vessel.

It has not been christened with its new name and plans to hold an open house on board have been put off. But to the standby passengers it will carry in years to come and to those who sail the vessel, its virtues will not be underestimated.

“A lot of the time these ships go unnoticed but they’re real workhorses,” said Capt. Edward B. Jackson, who currently pilots the Gay Head.

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.

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.

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.