Though the human toll of COVID-19 keeps growing, statistics show hopeful signs that the virus emergency may be reaching its peak. And with less than three weeks until the traditional start of the summer visitor season, that has heightened efforts to plan for the eventual reopening of the Cape’s economy. As of Monday, there were 960 confirmed cases on Cape Cod, but a large number of those people have recovered ...

CHATHAM — So maybe it’s a little early to be thinking about New Year’s Eve. But then again, less than halfway through the year 2020, most people wouldn’t mind a fresh start in 2021. While plans for Memorial Day and the Fourth of July remain up in the air, First Night Chatham is sounding a hopeful tone about New Year’s Eve. “We’re cautiously optimistic that it’s going to be business as usual,” albeit with ...

COVID-19 Prompts Deep Spending Cuts CHATHAM — Thanks to the pandemic, voters at the annual town meeting scheduled for June 22 will likely see some extreme social distancing, along with a warrant stripped down of big-ticket spending articles and a sobering town budget. Selectmen chose the new date for town meeting on Monday, but a provision is in place that allows the town moderator to postpone the session f...

CHATHAM — For Don St. Pierre, who turns 80 in August, digging ditches, climbing hills and bushwhacking through the puckerbrush isn't as easy as it used to be. He's stepping down as the town's herring warden after more than half a century of watching over the fish runs and their seasonal visitors. A Harwich native, St. Pierre started working on herring runs when he was a member of the sportfishing club Cape Cod...

CHATHAM – The COVID-19 pandemic is even impacting nesting shorebirds. Not the birds themselves, but the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge's annual shorebird monitoring program. Usually by this time of year, at least two staff members have arrived to begin preparing for a summer of watching over the tern nesting colony on South Monomoy as well as the piping plovers and other species that spend the spring and sum...

CHATHAM – Life has been “a battle” for Jennie Porter ever since being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when she was in her 20s, according to her partner Andrew Davol. Earlier this year, however, complications from a particularly bad flare up of the gastrointestinal condition led to a blood clot in her brain and a massive stroke. “It was a one-in-million chance that a clot formed in her brain,” said Davol. ...

CHATHAM – Since it launched two weeks ago, the Chatham Coronavirus Impact Fund has received 16 applications for assistance, and all have been approved, according to founder Stephen Daniel. The applications represent 29 adults, 18 children and 15 seniors who received a total of $11,784 in assistance, with the average award $737. The money has helped residents pay electric and gas bills, rent, vehicle payments a...

Joseph Galatie texted his mom and said she had to get down to the dock quick. Galatie, 21, is a fisherman and worked at the Chatham Fish Pier for Red’s Best over the summer. He knows how irresistible fresh-caught fish can be, and when he heard a local captain was bringing in scallops, it was an opportunity not to be missed. When his mom, Sarah, grabbed her youngest son, Nicholas, 11, and got to Saquatucket ...

Stay-at-home Advisory, Business Closure Extended To May 18 The human toll of COVID-19 continues to grow, but key public health indicators hint that the virus emergency could be starting to level off on Cape Cod. “We’re starting to see that plateau start to happen,” Barnstable County Health and Environment Director Sean O’Brien said Tuesday. But at the town, county, state and federal level, public health off...

CHATHAM — More than ever, fire departments need to make sure that ambulances are fully sanitized between each response, and that can be a labor-intensive process. But Chatham firefighters are trying a new way to sanitize ambulances, police cars and other vehicle interiors using an improvised aerosol system. Fire Chief Peter Connick said credit properly goes to the Tulsa, Okla., fire department, which posted a ...

CHATHAM – Just over a week after it was established, the Chatham Coronavirus Impact Fund is nearly two-thirds of the way toward its fundraising goal, and has already dispersed money to local residents in need. “It's working,” said Stephen Daniel, who co-founded the fund with his wife Mary Beth. As of Monday the Chatham Coronavirus Impact Fund (CCIF) had raised about $220,000, Daniel said, with more donation...

CHATHAM – Unable to hold an in-person event due to the coronavirus emergency, a local group is taking its Earth Day celebration online. Chatham Acts On Climate, formed recently to promote local action on climate change, will host a “stay home event” Saturday, May 2, to mark the 50 th anniversary of Earth Day, which fell on April 22. Nine speakers will talk about actionable ideas, projects and opportunities th...