"I was so surprised," said Catherine Thompson, director of the Chilmark Public Library. Ms. Thompson learned last Thursday that her library was the recipient of a state grant totaling $1,108,880 for expansion and renovation.

Ms. Thompson said the library trustees had applied in January to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. "I just hoped we'd make it to the waiting list," she said.

The library trustees and other town leaders have been working for years on an expansion plan.

The newly restored Civil War Monument is back home in Oak Bluffs. The statue of a soldier standing atop a pedestal is as handsome as it was when it was first built, worthy of another century.

The monument was reassembled last week and while there is still much to do, the restoration project is nearly finished.

The Vineyard's outermost lighthouse is celebrating a birthday.

Edgartown selectmen this week affirmed the use of fire as a land management tool as long as members of The Nature Conservancy continue to work closely with the town's fire chief.

Joel R. Carlson, a fire manager for The Nature Conservancy, came before the selectmen to answer concerns about the risk of setting fires in wooded areas. The meeting was attended by representatives of the town conservation commission and the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest.

A lobster pot filled with a bouquet of colorful flowers adorned the top of the casket for one of the Island's best-known fishermen, selectmen and friend. Hundreds stood in silence during the graveside service for Herbert Hancock on Sunday afternoon. Mr. Hancock died April 26 at the age of 71.

An osprey flew high above Chilmark Pond. Friends and family stood below on a grassy knoll at the Abel's Hill Cemetery.

There is good news on the Vineyard Haven waterfront. Douglas Rock, an extremely dangerous hazard to navigation, has - finally - been marked.

The rock, as big as a Volkswagen Bug and close to the surface in waters off West Chop, is now identifiable by a tall spile and sign that says: "Rocks."

The marking brings closure to a struggle that has gone on for years.