The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank has agreed to purchase one of Chilmark's quintessential homesteads - the Hollis Burton Engley home off Middle Road.

The question of whether claims of sovereignty entitle the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to skirt local and state laws will be decided in Dukes County superior court, rather than a federal district court in Boston where lawyers for the tribe wanted the case tried.

Sheriff Michael McCormack Takes Case for New County Jail Public

By JOSHUA SABATINI

Amid the uncertainty of acquiring land for a new county jail on the grounds of Martha's Vineyard Airport, Dukes County sheriff Michael McCormack has kept busy reminding Island officials that the present jail and its site at the gateway to Edgartown's historic district is simply inadequate.

He launched a similar campaign when he first took office in January 1999.

Oceans and Coastline Face Environmental Troubles; Report Urges New Policies

By JOSHUA SABATINI

A report that details the findings of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy halfway through its 18-month study of the nation's seas paints a bleak picture of coastal waters.

"The oceans are in trouble," the report says. "Our coasts are in trouble. Our marine resources are in trouble . . . all, perhaps, in serious trouble."

Celtic Music Fans Are Island Impresarios

By NIS KILDEGAARD

A visitor to their woodworking shop near the ice arena finds Gregg Harcourt and Mary Wolverton hard at work, wearing headphones and goggles to protect them from the sounds and sawdust of power drills and planers. When they turn off the machinery to greet their guest, another sound becomes apparent. From speakers mounted throughout the shop come the sweet strains of Irish music - reels and jigs and airs played lightly on the fiddle, pipes and concertina.

That Place Called Home on Halcyon Way: Vineyard Builders Give Back to the Island

By MANDY LOCKE

The steady banging of hammers and hum of table saws drifting across Old County Road in West Tisbury offered every indication that the Halcyon Way work site was just another Island home under construction.

But the concentration of construction vehicles from a half-dozen different contractors, a three-year-old running around with a half-pint tool belt strapped to her waist and the crock pots full of chowder and chili suggested otherwise.