The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has quietly developed a partnership with a successful Native American casino developer/operator, perhaps based in the northeastern United States, and is ready to re-enter the Massachusetts casino derby with a different approach.

The tribe has been engaged in gaming-related proposals for 15 years without opening a casino, but has remained in the background during the recent surge of interest in gaming in Massachusetts.

For the casual fisherman, fishing the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby is like going from sandlot baseball to the major leagues.

He realizes that a welter of customs, laws of natures, tips and superstitions have developed over centuries of Island fishing and more than six decades of derby competition to create a mind-boggling fishing culture.

This casual fisherman felt that it would take an act of God to prepare him to compete with the best.

On Sunday afternoon, a plaque will be unveiled in West Tisbury in celebration of a small group of town women who, nearly 50 years ago, took a little risk to play a part in a glorious, heroic and sweeping change in our national history.

Temperature: Precip.

Day Max. Min. Inches.

Fº Fº

Sept. 14 75 51 .00

Sept. 15 74 55 .80

Sept. 16 66 50 .22

Sept. 17 67 45 .00

Sept. 18 67 55 .00

Sept. 19 72 55 .00

Sept. 20 68 57 .00

Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 69º F.

Island fish, like Island tourists, come and go with the seasons. Striped bass, bluefish, false albacore, bonito and scup and summer flounder all migrate.

Yet there is one species of fish that once were caught here year-round. Winter flounder stayed in Island waters through the changing seasons.

Next week the Chilmark Public Library is hosting a forum with a top New England authority on the raising of juvenile winter flounder.

The Vineyarders and Whalers renewed their long rivalry on the soccer field this past week. The boys’ team traveled to the Grey Lady to turn back a hostile crowd and defeat a talented team, while the girls lost a tight yet ultimately frustrating game to the Whalers at home.

After defeating the Whalers last week, the boys’ golf team followed with an up-and-down week, beating Mashpee on the road, losing a nail-biter to Old Rochester at home and then winning a match at Sturgis.

In the last year and a half, about 16 youths (people 19 years old or younger) were admitted to Martha's Vineyard Hospital for attempted suicide, according to hospital data recently acquired by the Gazette. In the year-and-a-half prior to that, seven youths were admitted for attempted suicide.

Of the 16 attempted suicides by youths in this past year and a half, 14 occurred between January and May of this year.

Students Honored

Three Vineyard students were named to honor lists for the fall semester at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, N.H.

They are Eric Soikkeli and Kayla Mastromonaco of Vineyard Haven, who were named to the dean’s list, and Paige McCarthy of Vineyard Haven, who was named to the dean’s honors list.

DESIGNATION PITFALLS

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Shareholders, Corporators

Approve Bank Merger

Shareholders of The Martha’s Vineyard Co-operative Bank and corporators of Dukes County Savings Bank have approved plans for the two institutions to merge, bank officials announced.