The numbers of Island school students passing and even acing the state MCAS tests increased significantly this year, according to school and district test results released yesterday by the state department of education. Raw scores across the Island were also higher than state averages.

New Bedford Summit Pushes Fast Ferry

By JOSHUA SABATINI

At a summit meeting held at the New Bedford Whaling Museum Saturday, officials from Martha's Vineyard, New Bedford and Falmouth agreed to urge the Steamship Authority to consider a new proposal for fast ferry service from the city to the Island.

New Bedford mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr. invited Island officials to the summit after the SSA board of governors killed the fast ferry proposal by a vote of 2-1 last week.

SSA Studies New Deals for New Bedford Ferries

By JULIA WELLS

Steamship Authority treasurer and acting general manager Wayne Lamson said yesterday that a freshly minted plan for a high-speed ferry project laid out last week by the city of New Bedford is now just one of three new proposals.

"We got a proposal last Thursday night, there was the one that New Bedford showed everybody on Saturday, and we got another one just last night," Mr. Lamson said from his office in Woods Hole.

On a crowded court docket last September, it was just another run-of-the-mill drunk driving trial. But for the six jurors who spent the day in Edgartown district court, it demanded a gut-wrenching decision.

Threat of Housing Plan Overshadows Hearing on Oak Bluffs Golf Course

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

Reports on wildlife habitat, turf management and fiscal impact were the scheduled fare at a public hearing last night on a proposal to build a luxury golf club in the southern woodlands section of Oak Bluffs - but in the end, discussion about the golf course plan was overshadowed by a discussion about housing.

Opening day for the bay scallop season is as much a part of the Vineyard culture as any holiday. On Saturday, dozens of smiling Tisbury residents turned out in Lagoon Pond to harvest bushels of the tasty sweet bivalves, and they had little trouble finding them.

Holders of family recreational permits harvested 528 bushels last weekend. Those bay scallops would be valued between $40,000 and $50,000 if they were sold on the retail market.