BY MARCY SHORTUSE - It just makes sense that Capt. Waylon Mills and his team aboard Blaze took first place in the Turnin’ Tides All-Release Tarpon Tournament this past weekend. The namesake of the tournament was his first tarpon boat, after all.

It seemed to bring him luck, as he and teammates Stu and Jill Lewis and Joan and Capt. Dann brought three fish to the boat.

The Easter sunrise service that is held each year on the beach at the south end of the island led directly to the hiring of the new Head of School for The Island School, Jean Thompson.

“I was looking in the Beacon for the schedule, since I like to attend the service every year,” said Jean. “I saw the article about Rosa (Ramos) leaving and that they were going to begin the search for a replacement. I went to the next board meeting and introduced myself and gave them my resume, and I asked if it would be possible for me to spend a day at the school. That way we could see if it would be a good fit from both sides.”

BY LIZA STROUT - First, pictures and videos began to appear on Facebook. Dead tarpon, floating in the Pass after a Professional Tarpon Tournament Series event. A tarpon slowly dying, a circle hook snagged through its throat.

They spread through the local Facebook community and beyond like wildfire.

BY LIZA STROUT - Lew Hastings has spent time tarpon fishing. He has even managed to land a few silver kings, and has also overseen three tarpon tournaments of his own - two Ladies Day events and this year’s successful return of the World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament.

So it came as a bit of a surprise to find out that Hastings had never actually been in a tarpon tournament in his life. What is truly amazing is that of everyone on the winning team from Saturday’s Howl at the Moon Tarpon Tournament, he has the most experience with actually catching the fish.