Once relatively scare, services for veterans on the Vineyard are expanding in a number of ways. At Community Services a counseling program has long been in place, and a new program began in October on post traumatic stress syndrome. Island vets say they are finding common ground.

Jo Ann Murphy was named Massachusetts Veterans’ Services Officer of the Year for her work to support veterans in the Vineyard community.

“It was a shock,” she said this week.

The Tisbury police will now carry Narcan, a medication that counteracts opiate overdose, in their police cruisers.

During the nine months Army pilot Wender Ramos was deployed in Afghanistan, he flew Black Hawk helicopters around the eastern part of the country.

The effects of the coastal storm this weekend could be seen Monday morning in Katama Bay, where a sailboat ran aground Saturday night. The Mass Transit, a 105-foot racing sloop anchored in the Edgartown harbor, was carried by winds to the upper bay.

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.