It is months away from the start of both the recreational and commercial fishing season, yet already there is change ahead. Fisheries managers, looking at the health of fish stocks, are making a regulatory forecast and some predictions about the availability of fish for the year ahead.

Striped bass, one of the most precious resources in our waters, will likely be more scarce this summer, and anglers who love to catch fluke will likely be able to take more home.

The town of Oak Bluffs has decided to take a harder look at operations at the Goodale’s Sand and Gravel Pit in Oak Bluffs. Recently-appointed building inspector James Dunn has determined that a hot asphalt storage silo operating on the site since last April runs afoul of town zoning.

By SARA BROWN

When David and Ann LeBreton reflect on their 10 years as owners of Edgartown Books, the front porch of the Main street bookstore looms large.

At least three Island towns will likely be asking voters in the spring what they think about the controversial roundabout, even as town officials said this week not even a lawsuit could stop the project if the state decides to go ahead with it.

Oak Bluffs this week joined the towns of Edgartown and West Tisbury in certifying petitions for a nonbinding referendum about the project on annual election ballots. All three towns would pose the simple question: Should a roundabout be built at the blinker intersection of Edgartown-Vineyard Haven and Barnes Roads?

An Aquinnah woman who police say left home during a snowstorm Saturday night to check on a nearby property she caretakes, died of exposure to the cold on her return home.

Amanda Hutchinson was administrative assistant to the Aquinnah planning board and board of health, and also served as the town’s health agent. She was 50 years old.

The thwack of a hammer reverberated through Vineyard Haven Wednesday morning. Several blocks away, the whirl of a saw carried downwind.

January may be the height of the quiet season on Martha’s Vineyard, when Main street parking spaces open up and so many storefronts remain bolted, but the streets of Vineyard Haven hardly have been sleepy of late. Instead, business owners and workers have spent the winter months brokering leases, renovating facades and hatching plans that could breathe new life into the long-ailing downtown.

Long known for their Yankee thrift, Chilmark officials were caught by surprise this week by an initial budget forecast that would require a funding increase of nearly 10 per cent.

Gasps were audible at the first financial advisory committee budget hearing with the board of selectmen Tuesday night, as the selectmen and committee grappled with ways to reduce a budget inflated by school budget assessments and increased demand for public services.

Be careful what goes into the sea. It isn’t always gone.

Authorites in Spain have recovered the remains of a 26-foot fiberglass recreational boat floating in the waters off Spain. The boat, called Queen Bee, has been traced back to the waters of Nantucket and a boating accident that happened three and a half years ago.

Scholarships

The Permanent Endowment for Martha’s Vineyard, the Island’s community foundation, is now accepting applications for its 2012 educational scholarships.

Seventeen scholarship funds are administered by the permanent endowment, which will be awarding scholarships to both high school seniors and Vineyard students currently enrolled in college or graduate school. Last year, $144,300 in scholarships were awarded to 63 Island students, with awards ranging from $500 to $5,000.

Vineyarders are rightfully proud of the yearly abundance of oysters and scallops pulled from Island ponds, but little is made of what goes back into the water. Jessica Kanozak, creator of the Island’s nascent shell recovery program, hopes to change all that. After the first year of a pilot program on the Vineyard to return seashells to the sea, experts and community leaders met Saturday to discuss the program’s strengths, weaknesses and potential for expansion.