CHATHAM — Even as Florida residents brace for a potentially catastrophic strike from Hurricane Irma, local residents are doing what they can to ease human suffering in Texas from Hurricane Harvey. A number of small-scale efforts are underway in various local churches, and a private citizen from Texas, who was visiting the Cape at the time of the storm, returned home with boxes of masks, gloves and other supp...

CHATHAM — It's a proposal that is raising a number of questions and a few eyebrows, but a Florida-based firm is proposing a 40-mile-long network of 15 balloon-mounted cameras to watch for sharks near bathing beaches between Provincetown and Chatham.  The concept floated by officials at Altametry involves deploying balloons on beach days at Harding's Beach in Chatham, two at Lighthouse Beach, one at the north...

CHATHAM – Electric car charging stations in downtown Chatham? The town could become one of the first in the area to offer the convenience to electric car owners as part of a proposed $1 million makeover of the town offices parking lot. There are currently about two dozen electric car charging stations on the Cape, although most are private, located at inns, campgrounds and car dealerships. The detail is inc...

CHATHAM – After several Stage Harbor Road property owners expressed skepticism about a National Historic Register District designation for the neighborhood, the historical commission plans to send a letter answering questions raised at an informational meeting Saturday and taking a straw poll to determine support for the designation. The Massachusetts Historical Commission has already determined that the Stage...

CHATHAM – Rebecca Catron regularly walks down Harding's Beach, past the parking lots toward the eastern tip of the beach. In July, she began noticing more and more dead birds on the beach and in the water, sometimes several within a few feet. “I was thinking gosh, this is not normal,” she said during a walk down the beach last week. “I'm used to seeing one or two dead birds, but this is extreme.” It turns o...

Every September, students and teachers returning to school deal with a whole host of changes and new challenges, from entering a new school to learning the names of new classmates and students. When the Monomoy School District begins classes next Tuesday, students, parents and teachers will face a much more fundamental change: new school day starting and ending times. “It's a big adjustment, on a lot of lev...

CHATHAM — For many years, you could almost locate the intersection of Main Street and Old Queen Anne Road in Chatham by smell. The odor of natural gas meant you were there. The low-grade leak in the pipes under the roadway was enough to cause a strong smell, but not enough to pose a public safety risk. Over the course of years, people reported the odor to the fire department and the gas company would investi...

CHATHAM — Think of them as retirement homes for American flags. As part of his Eagle Scout project, 17-year-old David Van Sickle of Chatham has made two drop boxes designed to receive old American flags awaiting proper disposal. “We were getting boxes of flags from the fire department,” he said. It's not clear how or why the practice started, but people have been bringing old flags to the firehouse for...

CHATHAM ─ Joan and Ed Lerner first started coming to Chatham Band concerts at Kate Gould Park roughly 60 years ago, so it only seemed fitting that for their 57 th wedding anniversary on Aug. 25 they settled into seats with a clear view of the Whit Tileston Bandstand. The Lerners weren't the only ones celebrating that night. The evening also marked the official celebration for the 85 th year of the red-and-...

CHATHAM — Expressing concern that important decisions might be made by as few as two members, Selectman Dean Nicastro is asking the conservation commission to change the way it votes. By unanimous vote, the board of selectmen decided to send a letter to Conservation Commission Chairman Michael Tompsett asking the commission to amend its regulations to require at least four votes to take action under the wetlan...

CHATHAM — In addition to being a former state environmental official and the current executive director for the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, Andrew Gottleib is a four-term Mashpee selectman. And he knows that if constituents don't speak out about an issue, it won't be a priority for his board. That's why in some towns, wastewater planning hasn't really moved the political needle, he said. “In many resp...

CHATHAM — Thanks to several well-timed rainstorms, the town's water system is keeping up with demand this summer. But officials say that, with another four weeks of summer left, it wouldn't take much more than another heat wave to stress the system beyond capacity. There are also predictions for a warmer-than-usual autumn ahead, Public Works Director Tom Temple told selectmen last week. Water and Sewer A...