Taygeta was one of more than 60 boats participating in last Sunday's 25th annual George Moffett Memorial sailboat race. Named after one of the seven stars in the small star cluster Pleiades, Taygeta is also one of the longtime stars in this annual autumn race.

Last Friday, Edgartown district court clerk magistrate Thomas Teller had to hand pink slips to two of his most loyal employees. The decision to lay off two experienced employees comes as the commonwealth faces a severe budgetary crisis.

Military veterans and Island police, firemen and emergency medical technicians will take time out in the days ahead to remember the events of Sept. 11, 2001. This Sunday the services begin with the dedication of a new monument at Oak Grove Cemetery in Vineyard Haven, along the Avenue of Flags.

Observances are also planned for next Wednesday, a year after the tragic attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. Island churches are planning services.

Heavy rains last Thursday night ended the Island's long stretch of rainless weather, and even more precipitation arrived in the form of showers yesterday.

Last Friday morning, the Vineyard community awoke to the first evidence of significant rainfall all summer. There were puddles on roadsides, and some dirt roads appeared washed out by the flash of heavy rain.

Manning the front lines of the Island economy, Vineyard harbor masters often see business trends before merchants do. As summer draws to an end, four of the five Island harbor masters told the Gazette that a season typically busy in some regards was even busier than normal in others.

Construction crews are almost done erecting a large research tower nearly two miles south of the Vineyard.

For weeks, a well-lighted barge and tugboat have been involved in a large-scale project due south of Edgartown Great Pond. They've been assembling what will be an all-season steel tower loaded with instruments that will collect weather and ocean data. The tower will rise 68 feet above sea level when it is finished at the end of this week.