If I had covered all bets on whether the Tisbury liquor question would wind up in a flat-footed tie, the drinks would certainly be on me. The rare outcome of a 690 to 690 pro and con vote is such as to drive one to drink, unless of course one resides in Tisbury where the question is still moot.

What follows is the text of recent remarks made by Captain Vanderhoop of Aquinnah before the New England Fisheries Management Council.

My name is Captain Buddy Vanderhoop and I am a Wampanoag Native American charter captain and commercial fisherman. I have run the Aquinnah Wampanoag herring run for 35 years.

FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Protecting the Herring

More than one hundred fifty years ago, Henry David Thoreau noted the many rivers on Cape Cod named for herring. The day could come, he mused in his book Cape Cod, when people might find more Herring Rivers on the Cape than herring.

While that day has yet to come, the scarcity of herring in recent years from runs throughout Massachusetts, including on the Vineyard, has endowed Thoreau’s observation with an eerie prophecy.

Holding the Sheriff Accountable

If the state takes over the Dukes County sheriff’s department — and it appears that this will eventually be the case — Islanders likely will not notice the difference. The Edgartown house of correction will still be run as the local jail and the communications center, which is so integral to the Island emergency response system, will remain the same.

What will change is the sheriff will become more accountable for his budget. This is long overdue.