Homelessness is getting worse on the Island with 56 people counted as unhoused in late January. This high count comes at a time when the winter shelter is being forced to move from the MV Community Services campus because of construction and is looking for a new location.

About a mile west of the post office on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, a new neighborhood is taking shape with a $68 million nursing home at its heart.

The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School has set new graduation requirements for this year after a ballot initiative got rid of the need to pass a statewide standardized test. 

There will be at least two new Vineyard select board members this year as the Island’s annual town elections continue to take shape. 

Longtime Oak Bluffs select board member Gail Barmakian is not seeking reelection after 15 years on the board, instead opting to run for the town clerk position. 

A maritime recruitment firm with operations around the world is poised to conduct the search for a new Steamship Authority general manager.

The select board voted at its Feb. 25 meeting to approve the transfer of the store’s liquor license, inventory and stock to Sumanbhai Patel’s Dukes County Market, Inc.

In a trio of bills filed earlier this year, State Rep. Thomas Moakley requested more staff for the Edgartown District Court, a year-long study into the staffing levels and the condition of the 1858 courthouse, and better access to the state’s housing court for the Vineyard and Nantucket. 

On Sunday, officials confirmed that the turbine at the southernmost end of the Vineyard Wind lease off Martha’s Vineyard was apparently hit by lightning late last week, damaging the already broken blade. 

The Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council recently awarded more than $60,000 in grants to three dozen Island arts nonprofits.