The spirit and the first candle of the Grand Illumination was carried by a 32-year-old sufferer of Huntington's Disease. With her father, Walter, and her niece, Kyla McCartney, nearby, Tammy Frye lit the first candle Wednesday night on the stage of the Tabernacle; within seconds lanterns throughout the Camp Ground were aglow.

It was the 133rd annual Grand Illumination, and thousands of well-wishers cheered the power and reach of a glowing candle.

A month ago, Island farmers were complaining that it was dry. Now, halfway through August, it is even drier - so much so that Vineyarders are looking for new superlatives to describe the arid conditions.

The Cape and Islands led the state in rainfall earlier in the year. But on Wednesday, the state announced that because of lack of rainfall the region had moved from a drought advisory to a drought watch.

For Robert C.

A live baby great white shark was brought into Menemsha harbor by a local fishing boat Tuesday morning. And though the fish was only five feet in length, the fact that it was a great white caused quite a stir.

A 54-year-old pilot was killed when a plane he had built himself crashed south of the Vineyard on Saturday afternoon. Timothy L. Crawford of Idaho Falls, Ida., was piloting a single-engined, two-seater Long-EZ aircraft from Barnstable Municipal Airport when for no known reason the plane crashed about four miles south of Long Point, West Tisbury.

Striped bass is one of the Island's favorite seasonal fish. And its season in fish markets and restaurants is about to close for another year.