This week, for the second time, I heard former pro basketball player Chris Herren talk about his battle with drug addiction. Herren, a former member of the Boston Celtics, spoke about his illness and its toll in a stirring talk at Monomoy Regional High School on Monday. While much of what Herren said struck me, one comment in particular stood out. A question he'd ask if his own kids started using illicit subst...

HARWICH ─ Thanks to an unprecedented display of athleticism, the 2016 Harwich Cranberry Harvest Half Marathon will be one for the history books. Each of the top three men's runners – Jim Spisak, Amos Sang, and Glarius Rop – soundly broke the record for fastest Cape Cod half marathon set in 1991 by Larry Bartholomew. Bartholomew claimed victory in the Hyannis half marathon with a finish time of 1:06:56, which...

HARWICH ─ Though the Monomoy boys golf team didn't clinch the Cape and Islands League crown, they've got their sights set on the South Sectional Championship, and with the team's top three packing a punch on the links, it's possible the team will add another trophy to the high school case. Last week the Sharks suffered a challenging loss to Sturgis West, falling 128-148. But other matches this season have be...

HARWICH — The FY18 budget message presented to Town Administrator Christopher Clark by selectmen states clearly the board's directive to stay within the limits of Proposition 2½, and to assist in doing so, the board is discouraging new hires and increased hours for part-time employees. “I view this as the most important document the board of selectmen votes in the year,” Selectman Peter Hughes said. Selectm...

HARWICH — “It's a complicated dance,” Monomoy Regional High School teacher Richard Houston told selectmen Monday night of opinions in favor and against Question 2 on the election ballot being disseminated in 30 second commercials on television and radio. The ballot question seeks to expand the number of charter schools that would be allowed in the commonwealth. Approval of the question would give the state Boa...

HARWICH — The pet cemetery approved by voters for 2.25 acres of town-owned land along Queen Anne Road is showing a little life, with department of public works employees using a Bobcat to clear brush from the lot. “We trying to get the lay of the land, find out what the topography is there,” Cemetery Administrator Robbin Kelley said of the work taking place last Thursday. Voters approved the use of the land...

HARWICH — Saturday will be a busy day around the Route 124 overpass of Route 6, as state and local officials, together with the Bridges for the Fallen organization, dedicate the bridge to fallen World War II pilot U.S. Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Ralph Wallace Burns. The 10 a.m. dedication is anticipated to draw a large crowd at the commuter parking lot near the bridge, where the ceremony will be held. With l...

WEST HARWICH — The selectmen on Monday night voted to provide Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod with $240,000 from the town affordable housing trust fund to purchase approximately 1.5 acres of land off Route 28 to construct six affordable homes. As required when approving the use of the housing trust funds, the town's housing authority and housing committee last week also endorsed the allocation to Habitat proj...

HARWICH ─ It’s not often that an auditorium full of high school students is so silent one can hear the proverbial pin drop, but that was the case when Chris Herren spoke at Monomoy Regional High School on Monday. Herren, a former member of the Boston Celtics and a recovering drug addict now sober for eight years, brought a powerful message to students, many of whom were moved to tears by his words. But it...

CHATHAM – Beth Fouhy didn't intentionally follow her father, noted journalist Ed Fouhy, into the news business. Growing up, she took for granted the informed, lively family conversations about politics and current events. “I think I had to leave home and go to college, go to friends homes for dinner and find out they had less interesting dinner conversations,” she said. Fouhy, senior political editor for NB...

CHATHAM – With autumn temperatures sweeping in over the past week, the Pumpkin People aren't be far behind. Sponsored by the Chatham Merchants Association, Pumpkin People in the Park is the annual display set up in Kate Gould Park centered around – what else – pumpkins. Business, non-profit organizations and individuals sponsor a Pumpkin Person, creating a scenario that, in the past, have ranged from simple to...

CHATHAM — In an assertion of the town's legal “sovereign immunity” to legal nuisance claims, the board of selectmen has voted to appeal a recent Barnstable Superior Court ruling to the Massachusetts Appeals Court, over the issue of skydiving. Following Judge Robert Rufo's Sept. 13 ruling that skydiving opponents can proceed with their legal effort to block skydiving at the Chatham airport, Town Counsel Patrick...

CHATHAM — Volunteering with a nonprofit group, Chatham contractor John Marsh recently traveled to Haiti to build a simple home for a needy family and to share modern construction tips with local builders. But by the end of the adventure, he knew that he was the one who'd received the education. “I'm not a world traveler,” said 34-year-old Marsh. A manager with Eastward Homes, the family business, he admitted...

CHATHAM – The battle for jurisdiction over the waters west of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge may be headed to court. Attorney General Maura Healey announced Tuesday that she has notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of her office's intention to file a lawsuit against the federal government to confirm state ownership of more than 4,000 acres of water and submerged land in Nantucket Sound west of the...

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced Tuesday that she intends to file suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to confirm the state's ownership of thousands of acres of submerged lands bordering the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. “Communities in Massachusetts have led the country in protecting marine ecosystems while supporting a modern and robust fishing and shellfishing industry,” ...

CHATHAM — In an assertion of the town's “sovereign immunity” to legal nuisance claims, the board of selectmen has voted to appeal a recent Barnstable Superior Court ruling to the Massachusetts Appeals Court, over the issue of skydiving. Following Judge Robert Rufo's Sept. 13 ruling that skydiving opponents can proceed with their legal effort to block skydiving at the Chatham airport, Town Counsel Patrick Coste...