Narrowing the road, adding sidewalks and building a shared-use path are all part of an emerging plan to re-engineer a portion of Beach Road that runs along the waterfront in Vineyard Haven.

New regulations aimed at increasing the coastwide population of striped bass have been approved by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The rules will reduce recreational catch limits by half and commercial quotas by 25 per cent.

Greater transparency, expanded human services and more state funding are among the goals shared by candidates running for the Dukes County commission. Seven people are running to fill seven seats on the board next Tuesday. Four appear on the ballot, while three are running as write-ins.

Vineyard voters will weigh in on races at the federal, state and local level, some of which are hotly contested. Islanders have requested absentee ballots in unusually high numbers, town clerks said. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Candidates running for nine open seats on the Martha’s Vineyard Commission reflect a wide range of priorities for the Island’s regional planning and review agency, but only two are newcomers. All the candidates acknowledge the need for better public understanding of the commission’s role in the community.

As elected officials up-Island balk at the prospect of offshore sand mining, Oak Bluffs is voicing support for the venture. At a selectmen’s meeting early this week, town administrator Robert L. Whritenour said town beaches stand to benefit from new information laid out recently in the draft state Ocean Management Plan.