Wampanoags Ask High Court to Reconsider Sovereignty Case

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) has asked the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) to reconsider a case freighted with long-term implications for the tribe's sovereignty and land use powers.

The tribe's attorney, Douglas J. Luckerman of Lexington, filed the motion last Thursday with the SJC, the highest court in Massachusetts.

On Dec. 9, the SJC ruled against the tribe in the case.

More Students, Higher Scores: High School Cracks SAT Exam

By IAN FEIN

Efforts to improve SAT scores at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School are apparently paying off.

For the second consecutive year the graduating class of seniors posted the school's best average scores on both the verbal and math sections of the key college entrance exam. The class of 2004 also had the highest percentage of Vineyard students to ever take the test - with 152 of 181 graduates, or 84 per cent, giving up a Saturday morning to put their No. 2 pencils to work.

Christmas came three days early for the family of U.S. Army Sgt. Randy Dull.

Early Wednesday evening, as the sun set and lit the sky the color of salmon, Sergeant Dull -  who was wounded in Iraq by a roadside bomb two months ago - arrived at the Martha's Vineyard Airport to a hero's welcome.

The Christmas tree in the corner of the room may not be the tallest, grandest or most elaborate, but for Melissa Peters and her daughter, Ashley, the five-foot pine is perfect. With its twinkling lights and gleaming ornaments, the tree symbolizes more than just the coming of the holidays; it also marks a new era of Christmas at the Peters's house.

Rather, make that the Peters's home.

Hy-Line Pitches Fast Ferry, Year-Round Service to Link Oak Bluffs and Hyannis

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

In a move that would tie Martha's Vineyard even more closely to the mainland, Hy-Line Cruises wants to launch year-round fast ferry service between Hyannis and Oak Bluffs by next May.

The high-speed ferry operation proposed by the Hyannis-based company would become the second such service started within a year between the Vineyard and the mainland.