The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has been entangled in a legal conflict with the federal government over its native lands in Taunton and Mashpee. Last week, the Department of Interior released a finding on the tribe’s status, saying its lands do not qualify to be held in trust.

On this week's edition of Looking Skyward: A green-hued comet makes its closest approach to Earth in 70 years, and the story of Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the British astrophysicist who discovered pulsars, but is only now being recognized for her achievement.

Dr. Alice Weiss is a veterinarian and pet advice columnist who helps people navigate the joys and challenges of pet ownership. She’s also the creator of DOGSENJOYLIFE on Twitter and Instagram. Alice joins us on The Point for a fun and informative hour of dog stories, and takes questions about the health and well being of your animal.

Campaign ads are now appearing in more frequency on TV and races are heating up, with just under two months until the mid-term elections. WCAI's Kathryn Eident talked with State House reporter Mike Deehan about a possible indpendent candidate for govenor and the Senate race for the Cape and Islands district seat.

The farm bill started off as a New Deal program in the 1930s to supply emergency aid to farmers who were economically hard hit because of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Over the last 85 years it’s grown and morphed into a huge omnibus piece of federal legislation that impacts everything we eat in this country.  

It might be easier to list the differences between Alaska and Nantucket than what the two places have in common. One is a small Island off the New England Coast the other a large territory comprised of vast wilderness and island chains. And the differences don’t stop with geography. Their history, economies and culture are also quite different. Yet Crocker Snow Jr. sees deeper and profound commonalities between the two places. He put his observations into a book titled Nantaska, the Minnow and the Whale, the Curious Parallel Lives of Nantucket and Alaska.

Steven Raichlen has a new TV series Project Fire, an exploration of how we grill today and how we will grill and smoke tomorrow. The Point's Mindy Todd and Amy Vince joined Steven for some innovative and delicious live fire cooking at his home on Chappaquiddick island. 

September is a time of transitions, especially here on the Cape. Summer visitors have transitioned back over the bridge. Our kids transition back to school, our beaches and parks transition back to local ownership. And perhaps more than in any other month, transitions in the bird world are everywhere evident, from the exodus of northern songbirds to the arrival of the first winter sea ducks. But few transitions are sadder than the loss of our hummingbirds, those kinetic clowns of flowery suburban backyards.

Tap dancing takes to the streets.