The state conservation and recreation department is accepting applications for a superintendent following the sudden death of John J. Varkonda in late December. Mr. Varkonda was 55 and had been steward of the state forest for 26 years.

Arts MV held its annual meeting on Monday which featured speaker Ann Markusen, an expert in assessing how arts can bring more dollars to a community, including redesigning public places to promote commerce.

Visits to the guidance office at the high school are up, and guidance counselors at the middle schools say anxiety and depression is affecting kids younger than previously observed.

G & S Solar Installers LLC of New York plans to post a bond for the cost of the entire construction for the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative, Inc. Island officials said they were pleased to hear the news, which followed a January announcement that the former investor was going out of business.

Beetlebung owners Renee and John Molinari, the newest holders of a seasonal all-alcohol license in Oak Bluffs, plan to cater to a different audience than the typical bar. The Menemsha-based business will fill one of several vacancies on Circuit avenue with a hybrid coffeehouse and bar, to open in May.

Oak Bluffs selectmen voted 4-0 with one abstention to hire outside experts after a police investigation of Roger Wey, director of the Oak Bluffs Council on Aging, did not find probable cause to bring criminal charges against him.