A tragedy over the Independence Day holiday involving a 34-foot cabin cruiser in Oyster Bay, N.Y., brings to light a hazard that may not be at the top of every boater’s list of concerns: passenger and load limits.

The following letter was sent to Bret Stearns, natural resources director for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah): The town of Aquinnah would like to thank you and members of the tribe’s natural resources department for all the hard work you did protecting Aquinnah’s natural resources during the grounding of the lobster boat Sherry Ann July 10 out by Squibnocket Point.

This is so familiar, the stories, the struggles that all of you are dealing with. I know firsthand what Lyme disease can do to one’s livelihood. I’ve lived with it for 17 years now, not only Lyme, but Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Brucellosis.

Peter Robb, in his July 13 letter, has recently furnished Gazette readers with several fine examples of unabashed Republican thinking, as put forth by their hard-working public relations staff and faithfully hammered into our eyes and ears by “Fair and Balanced” Fox News. All the Democrats need do is give this hogwash the widest possible circulation, and they can win in a walk.

In response to Peter Robb’s letter, Losing Faith: I was enjoying your letter of July 13 until I realized they must have left out the paragraph where you offered any proof for your negative assertions regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The oppressive heat wave that has blanketed the Northeast in recent weeks finally broke on Wednesday night. A rush of cool air followed the razor edge of thunderstorms that lashed the rest of the state with hail, high winds and flooding in what has been reported as the most severe weather of the summer. Here the storms just brushed past the Island on their track from west to east, barely sprinkling the Island with much-needed rain.