The 57th annual Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby starts tomorrow morning. For some of the Island's anglers, it can't start fast enough. Fishermen started talking about this year's derby months ago. They talked about the derby when the first striped bass arrived in Vineyard waters in April.

Football Team Opens Season with Big Win

By JOSHUA SABATINI

They charged onto the football field shouting "No Mercy, No Mercy," as the setting sun shone on the backs of their purple jerseys.

For the 2002 Martha's Vineyard football squad, it was a fitting moment minutes before last Friday's season opener, at home against the Coyle-Cassidy Warriors. The current players, part of a program with a long list of shining achievements, will strive to carve their own path of glory from now until Dec. 7, the day of the Super Bowl.

Polls Open Today for State Primary

Vineyard voters go to the polls today to cast ballots in the state primary and Democrats in particular are expected to turn out to make choices in an unusual four-way race for governor.

Senate president Thomas F. Birmingham, state treasurer Shannon P. O'Brien, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich and former state Sen. Warren Tolman are vying for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Tivoli Day Celebrates 25th Anniversary

By BRETT FERRY

The hot, busy months of summer offer working Islanders a short window of opportunity to hustle a year's earnings.

When the close of the season nears, few year-round residents can recall taking a relaxed afternoon stroll through Oak Bluffs - they only remember scurrying up and down the street, head down, dodging tourists and trying to get quickly where they needed to go.

SSA Rate Cuts Gather Backing

New Bedford and Barnstable Join Expanded Boat Line Governing Board for Monthly Meeting on the Vineyard Thursday

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

No rate increases and a possible reduction in excursion fares - these are the key monetary themes this week as Steamship Authority governors prepare to discuss a preliminary budget for the coming year.

Just one week before it was slated for demolition, a waterfront house on West Tisbury's North Shore burned to the ground yesterday in a blaze that kept firefighters from three towns working for nearly six hours straight.