Since last fall Estelle T. Burnham has had a new friend, a companion in hard times. Confined to a wheelchair, Ms. Burnham, 64, of Edgartown spends her day with a dog.

His name is Braun, and this one-and-a-half-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever offers her attention and care 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Aquinnah Town Leaders Scramble Anew for Fresh Revenues to Replace
Shortfall

By MAX HART

Aquinnah selectmen learned this week that the town now faces another
financial dilemma: a $25,000 budget shortfall for fiscal year 2005.

Wastewater Board Explains Mercury Mishap

By JAMES KINSELLA

The Oak Bluffs wastewater commission declared this week that the mercury exposure incident at the town treatment plant is no cause for public alarm and is being handled responsibly by plant superintendent Joseph Alosso.

"We are on top of this thing," said commission chairman John Leite 3rd. "Our manager has been on top of it. We don't micromanage. We give him latitude to run the plan. He has called us every step of the way. We are going to solve this problem, if it exists."

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has denied a petition by the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to hold a new hearing on the much-watched sovereignty case, closing the door on the last option for the Wampanoags at the state level.

In a one-sentence ruling issued late in the day on Wednesday, the state supreme court denied the motion by the tribe to rehear the case.

The tribe will now pursue an appeal to the United States Supreme Court.

Text of this article is missing.

Tea Lane Residents Clamor for Paving Ancient Town Byway

By MAX HART

Fed up with the ruts and potholes on their dirt road, residents
along historic Tea Lane in Chilmark are pleading with town leaders to
consider paving the 242-year-old byway.

"This is not just a colonial road anymore," Thomas
Rivers, a resident who lives off Tea Lane, told the Gazette this week.
"This is a colonial road in modern times, and it is failing its
residents. It is past time that the town responds accordingly, and some
of us think that means paving it."

After the Storm, Sledding Is Fine Sport from Farm Neck Fairways to
Tashmoo

By MAX HART

The snowdrifts near the tee box on the third hole at Farm Neck Golf
Club in Oak Bluffs are deep, very deep.

So deep, in fact, that they rise up past the waist of an
average-sized adult, a good three to four feet of snow. Trying to wade
through them is an exercise in absurdity; it's nearly impossible
to navigate without falling on your face.

Road Crews Tackle Epic Storm Cleanup

Highway Departments in All Six Towns Labor Tirelessly Around the
Clock to Remove Mountains of Snow

By JAMES KINSELLA

Vineyard road crews worked through the teeth of last weekend's
storm, battling white-out conditions and drifting snow to keep the
public ways clear.

When the snow slowed, workers in down-Island towns began hauling
away tons of the white stuff, building small mountains in designated
dumping areas.

Amid an escalating political climate around the controversial Cape Wind project, the Martha's Vineyard Commission decided last week to finally step into the fray.

While commission members were clear they would not take a position on the project itself, they unanimously agreed to take up as a cause the inadequate regulatory framework for permitting offshore wind farms.

Wastewater Treatment Workers Suffer from Mercury Exposure

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

Two employees at the Oaks Bluffs wastewater treatment plant are now
receiving medical treatment for exposure to mercury after they handled a
chemical at the plant that contained the toxic substance.

The exposure was first reported in late December, but town officials
confirmed yesterday that it may in fact reach back for as long as two
years.