Its sweeping beam has guided mariners to safety and cast long flickers of shadow and light across the westernmost edge of the Vineyard for many decades.

But now the Gay Head Light is slated for a lantern change, and in the process the beam will change from sweeping to pulsing.

Lieut. Matthew Stuck of the U.S. Coast Guard aids to navigation branch said recently that the Coast Guard plans to replace the optic rotating light with a flashing LED light sometime in the next few months. The current optic, installed in 1989, is outdated and replacement parts are scarce, Mr. Stuck said.

All the houses in Chilmark total three million square feet.

Oak Bluffs voted in favor of catch-and-release shark tournaments, West Tisbury approved a new police station and Edgartown approved two spending pr

Edgartown voters made short work of the town’s business Tuesday night, easily approving every spending article on the warrant, passing a bylaw that requires buildings in the historic district to be kept up and voting to take ownership of the Edgartown lighthouse — all in under two hours. With just a handful of questions and little dissent, the 200 voters who filled the Old Whaling Church approved an annual budget of $29.9 million, a six per cent increase over last year.

The former head of the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank, who left last year under circumstances that were never fully explained and now has been permanently barred from banking by federal regulators, said in a statement this week that the allegations against him by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are unfounded and without substance.

Almost six months into his job as president of Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank, Paul Falvey said the bank is on solid financial footing and has restructured its staff to adapt to a tighter regulatory environment.

In the last two months, chief operating officer Richard Leonard has retired and the job of senior loan officer, held by Brad Egan, was eliminated and their duties divided among several employees, he said.

At the same time, Tom Sharkey has taken on additional responsibilities as chief financial officer, Mr. Falvey said.