It's one thing to hire cashiers, clerks and ice cream scoopers, train them and trust them for a summer's worth of work. But try hiring 42 summer cops, training them, handing them guns and putting them on the street.

Transportation Chairman Speaks
By JULIA WELLS

This will not be a rush job.

That was the word yesterday from Rep. Joseph C. Sullivan about the new legislation now under consideration to dramatically change the Steamship Authority board of governors.

"This is a serious issue that needs to be studied and evaluated in a serious way, and it will be," said Mr. Sullivan, a Braintree Democrat who is co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation in the Massachusetts legislature.

Scientists cast a wide net this week in the search for clues to why a rare disease called tularemia has a foothold on the Vineyard. They drew blood samples from landscapers, dragged for dog ticks and trapped rodents.

Against a backdrop of growing concern about the direction of the Steamship Authority and also about a new alliance between the Vineyard SSA governor and the mainland port communities, an emerging grass roots citizens group on the Island has issued a call to reunite Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket on boat line issues.

"We want to make sure that the focus is on the two Islands and that they are staying together.

Even though the sun took the Fourth of July off, people across the Island found plenty of ways to celebrate Independence Day.

The sharp breezes and daunting sky kept folks off the beach. A survey of Norton Point Beach at midday showed only a handful of people, most of whom traded sunblock for sweaters. In fact, more state police than vacationers braved that territory.

The weather and slow morning nudged people toward their favorite restaurants for a leisurely breakfast.

Fireworks Marred by Accident
By MANDY LOCKE

Quick response by emergency crews averted disaster when fire broke out on the barge launching the Independence Day fireworks over Edgartown harbor.

"It could have been a big disaster. It wasn't. No one was hurt," Edgartown fire chief Antone A. Bettencourt said.

The accident began about 25 minutes into the half-hour, $16,000 show, just before a sequence of rockets introduced the grand finale.