Lauren and Jim Steiner of Oak Bluffs welcomed Avery Brenda Steiner 38 seconds after midnight on Sunday. Avery is the first baby of the New Year on the Cape.

A hardy band of birders braved chilly temperatures and gusty winds for the Vineyard’s 57th annual Christmas Bird Count.

The freight ferry Sankaty collided with the Island Home Friday evening while backing into the slip in Woods Hole. No one was injured in the mishap.

A final August vacation for a sitting president. An Island grappling with the heroin crisis. A community rallies around the family of a fisherman lost at sea. Here’s look at major stories that engaged Gazette readers in 2016.