New health regulations aimed at reducing groundwater contamination will result in many homeowners in Ocean Heights and Arbutus Park paying tens of thousands of dollars for new water and septic systems.

The regulations, finalized this week, will apply to all new developments and will also, over time, require modifications to hundreds of existing homes built on substandard lots.

A leisurely walk Sunday along Long Point Wildlife Refuge adjacent to Tisbury Great Pond turned treacherous for a Vineyard Haven man after he fell through the ice and nearly drowned in freezing waters while trying to save his two dogs from a similar fate.

For Wesley Nagy, a popular Island musician, it will be a Sunday stroll he will not soon forget.

Parents and teachers packed themselves into the community room at the Edgartown School on Wednesday night to hear which of the three finalist candidates for the principal position the superintendent and school committee had chosen - but then learned that none of the three had been chosen.

After months of trying a more diplomatic approach, officials at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School are now considering taking legal action to overturn a recent decision by the South Coast athletic conference to remove several Vineyard sports teams from its ranks.

Proponents of the $42 million renovation and expansion of the Martha's Vineyard Hospital will go before the Oak Bluffs zoning board of appeals next week for a special permit.

The permit would clear the way for the new building to be larger and taller than normally allowed under the town zoning bylaws.

The public hearing, scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the town senior center, will be dedicated entirely to the hospital application.

Town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport met with Oak Bluffs selectmen on Tuesday to answer lingering questions about a report he co-authored last month in which he concluded the town did not have legal authority to award personal service contracts and special one-time bonuses to several town employees over the past few years.