A month ago, Island farmers were complaining that it was dry. Now, halfway through August, it is even drier - so much so that Vineyarders are looking for new superlatives to describe the arid conditions.

The Cape and Islands led the state in rainfall earlier in the year. But on Wednesday, the state announced that because of lack of rainfall the region had moved from a drought advisory to a drought watch.

HYANNIS - In a bold show of Island solidarity, Vineyard Steamship Authority governor Kathryn A. Roessel led a move yesterday to ice any expanded ferry service out of New Bedford next year, including freight service.

Two teenagers from Israel. One is Jewish, Yael Tikotsky. The other, Ranin Yanaki, is Arab. They go to separate schools. In fact, most schools in Israel are segregated.

Serious Fire Draws Attention to Danger of Junk Car Dump

By MANDY LOCKE

Edgartown's most glaring eyesore became its largest liability Tuesday morning when volunteer firemen responded to a potentially dangerous fire in the town's illegal graveyard for junk cars.

The spirit and the first candle of the Grand Illumination was carried by a 32-year-old sufferer of Huntington's Disease. With her father, Walter, and her niece, Kyla McCartney, nearby, Tammy Frye lit the first candle Wednesday night on the stage of the Tabernacle; within seconds lanterns throughout the Camp Ground were aglow.

It was the 133rd annual Grand Illumination, and thousands of well-wishers cheered the power and reach of a glowing candle.

He talks like a truck driver and behaves like a used car salesman. Neither is an act. So how did a guy who owns a moving company and sells cars on the side get to be the auctioneer of choice for just about every Island charity?