The selectmen on Tuesday strongly backed a proposed bylaw to ban the use of single-use plastic bags in town. The idea will be voted on at the annual town meeting.

The Louisiana shipyard building the new hybrid ferry Woods Hole has notified the Steamship Authority that delivery of the new vessel, expected to start making trips next spring, could be more than two months late.

Quelling quorum doubters, West Tisbury voters turned out 156 strong Tuesday night to approve a short list of items, including expanding an affordable housing initiative and money to repair a section of the ailing town cemetery fence.

Oak Bluffs voters zipped through a 15-article special town meeting warrant Tuesday evening with surprising speed, passing every measure with little or no dissent and a bare minimum of debate. The meeting lasted less than 22 minutes.

As striped bass begin their annual to migration to the Chesapeake Bay, fishermen can look forward to another few years of decent fishing. But a sudden drop in the number of juveniles in 2012 will eventually reverberate up the coast.

Edgartown selectmen Monday established a commercial oyster season beginning Dec. 1 for Sengekontacket Pond, the welcome consequence of an oyster propagation project that proved wildly successful.