Off the coast of Chatham, a team of nearly 20 expert fishermen and scientists from around the country is ready. For the past 30 days they have lived and fished aboard the M/V OCEARCH in hopes of capturing, examining and tagging live white sharks.

The West Tisbury School has a new principal, Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss announced Wednesday.

Donna Lowell-Bettencourt, interim director of student support services at Martha’s Vineyard Public Schools, will take over the role before the start of the school year, Mr. Weiss said.

“We have chosen Donna Lowell-Bettencourt and she has agreed. We will work out the details of her moving from the present position to that one in the next week or so,” he said.

They come for the sun, the sand, the drama and romance, to grapple with life and grab hold of it against the backdrop of beachfront idyll. Such are the lives of twenty-somethings in the fleeting days of a Vineyard summer.

At least, that’s what a new reality show may have you believe.

There were no harsh cuts this year, and little of the tense, prolonged debate that has come to epitomize recent annual town meetings in Oak Bluffs. Instead, voters in the financially-strapped town worked quickly this week to pass a modest $24.1 million operating budget for the coming fiscal year and approve 24 articles that will restore some much-needed town services.

A total of 207 voters attended the back-to-back special and annual town meetings Tuesday night, held in the performing arts center of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

There were a few fits and starts along the way, but Oak Bluffs voters moved with speed — and even a bit of humor — to overwhelmingly pass a $24.1 million operating budget for the coming fiscal year at back-to-back special and annual town meetings Tuesday night.