The eclipse will occur on the evening of Friday, Oct. 18, when the moon passes through the edge of the Earth’s shadow and loses some of its brightness. The peak moment when the full moon is most covered will be just before 8 p.m. 

The actual eclipse begins at 5:48 p.m. and is finished by 9:52 p.m., according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac website. This full moon is called the pumpkin moon. 

After nearly 10 years as a work in progress, the final phase of construction on the Lagoon Pond drawbridge in Tisbury is slated to begin this fall. “It’s been a long journey, I would say,” said Tisbury Department of Public Works director Fred LaPiana. “It’s nice to see it come to fruition.”

National health care reform rolled out Oct. 1, leaving some confused about if and how things will change, and others lost in the details of premiums and health insurance exchanges.

On the Vineyard, the staff at Vineyard Health Care Access is at the front lines, fielding calls from residents, receiving training on the new law, and answering questions about how things will change.

This year is the 68th anniversary of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. Stephen Amaral, 78, of Oak Bluffs, has fished in 67 of those derbies. Sometimes people don’t believe him when he says he’s fished in every derby but one, he said on a recent Wednesday afternoon, seated at his dining room table and surrounded by derby photographs and newspaper clippings.

A 25-year-old West Tisbury man was killed Monday when the car he was driving collided with a tree on Old County Road.

David S. Campbell, often called Davey, was a 2007 graduate of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, where he was remembered this week as a gifted athlete who was “universally loved.”

Ray Ellis began every painting as though it would be the best painting he ever did.

It was with this spirit and enthusiasm that Mr. Ellis approached his life and his more than 80-year career as a painter on the Vineyard and beyond. Mr. Ellis died on Friday at the age of 92 from complications due to a recent stroke. He was painting two weeks before his death.

Katama Bay oyster farms reopened for business last Saturday, about three and a half weeks after the area was closed to harvesting because it was linked to cases of Vibrio bacteria.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) announced the reopening Friday afternoon, Oct. 4. The 12 independent oyster farms operating on Katama Bay were back to business Saturday at dawn.

Three Island men were arrested Thursday following a raid at an Oak Bluffs home that turned up more than $50,000 in drugs and cash.

Police arrested Ryan Dunbar, 20, and William Rogers, 20, both residents of 7 Sea Glen Road, where Oak Bluffs officers executed a search warrant.

The strong persistent northeast wind this past week has made fishing especially tough the last few days. Seas are high and waters rough from East Beach on Chappaquiddick to Dogfish Bar in Aquinnah. The forecast for the weekend isn’t much better. To catch fish, an angler has to be more strategic about where he or she goes.

An Oak Bluffs business owner’s months-long battle with the town to generate income on his property may be nearing resolution.

At meetings spanning the spring and summer, Bill Coggins asked selectmen to support various plans for a Circuit avenue lot he purchased in April. The board discouraged him from pursuing options that included food trucks and retail cars, saying they would compete with brick and mortar businesses and violate a town bylaw that prohibits the exhibition of wares on the street.