Receipts by the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank from property sales on the Island fell almost eight per cent in 2006, reflecting the general slowing of the real estate market.

The figures also point to a growing polarization of a market in which higher end properties continue to sell well, while sales at the less expensive end are stalling. The greater part of land bank revenues in 2006 came from sales worth more than $2 million.

Cape Wind Plan Sees Potential in Year Ahead

By IAN FEIN

Beginning today, developers of the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound will face a new political landscape as they continue their bid to build the nation's first offshore wind farm.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick, an ardent Cape Wind supporter, was sworn into office on Beacon Hill yesterday afternoon, minutes after the new Democrat-controlled Congress convened in Washington, D.C., with renewable energy reform as a top priority for the coming legislative session.

West Tisbury School principal Michael A. Halt, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, was called back to active duty this week and will leave for training in just over a week to prepare for a tour of duty in Iraq.

Mr. Halt received the official letter on Wednesday and has known with near certainty that he would be leaving for a little more than two weeks. He must report for duty by Jan. 15.

The price of the typical home on Martha's Vineyard fell for the first time in six years in 2006, as buyers left the market and sales figures dropped by nearly 30 per cent.

The median price for properties was down to around $690,000 in the third quarter of 2006, a fall of almost six per cent compared with a year earlier when the median price was around $732,000.

Fed up with petty internal politics, Dukes County voters this fall decided to take another look at the structure of their regional government. Hoping to prevent another divisive land use dispute, town and tribal leaders in Aquinnah spent months negotiating a potential peace accord. And with a solid financial footing, Martha's Vineyard Hospital trustees closed the year by securing approval for a new state of the art facility.