Skipper Stephen Besse in Apres, his J/120, won the 38th Moffett Cup on Saturday, sponsored by the Holmes Hole Sailing Association. A small edge in tactics helped him overcome a stifling handicap, to cross the line first, and score best on corrected time.

At the stroke of 12:01 a.m. Sunday, no one turned into a pumpkin, but a whole lot of people turned into obsessive, superstitious and sometimes secretive competitors in the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.

An crowd of about 60 people turned out last week to hear preliminary results of a study predicting how climate change will affect the town of Oak Bluffs, which included precautionary measures that can be taken.

The Federal Aviation Administration has given the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission a deadline of Dec. 31 to finish designing an aircraft rescue and firefighting facility that is already years behind schedule.

The new Edgartown Library, scheduled to open in June, will most likely welcome its first patrons sometime next spring because of construction delays and a struggle to stay within the original $11 million budget.

Traffic was up on SSA ferries in July and August and most Island businesses in the tourism sector said spending was up this summer. An improving national economy, lower gas prices and an unbroken stretch of hot, sunny beach days were all factors.