Congressional Hearing Sought CHATHAM — After it took the Coast Guard 14 hours to respond to a grounded sailboat on Monomoy Point, the select board is seeking some answers, even if it takes an act of Congress to get them. Which it might. On Tuesday, the board voted to ask Ninth District Congressman Bill Keating to intervene in the case. In a letter authorized by the whole board, Chair Peter Cocolis asked Kea...

Of the top 29 fishing communities in the Northeast facing gentrification stress, Chatham is ranked third. Research undertaken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) collated a host of indices including retiree migration and housing disruption into a story map, also highlighting voices of fishermen.  “A story map puts it into context and can help raise awareness of issues that have bee...

For the year so far, the median sale price of a single-family home in Chatham is $1,283,750, a nearly 75 percent jump from last year, when the median price was $735,500. In Orleans and Harwich, the figures are not as eye-popping, yet they still tell the story of a real estate market that's on fire. The median sale price of a house in Orleans for the year year is $977,000, a nearly 29 percent increase; in Harwi...

CHATHAM – It's been a long 18 months for many nonprofit organizations that have worked extra hard to meet the needs of the community and yet haven't been able to hold their traditional fundraisers due to COVID-19 restrictions. Monomoy Community Services hopes to start climbing back out of the fundraising hole with a new event, the Back 2 Summer Sound Festival, scheduled for Thursday, July 1 at the VFW on George R...

CHATHAM – Voters returned incumbent Select Board members Cory Metters and Dean Nicastro to office for another three years in Thursday's annual town election. Chatham native Metters topped the vote tally with 832 votes, followed by Nicastro with 685 and challenger Tom Wilson with 406. This is the third term for both Metters and Nicastro. The contest for the two three-year terms on the board was the only race on...

CHATHAM – Who’s the mystery person on the cover of the brand new book “I Am of Chatham: People and Their Stories”? You’ll have to wait until the release party on Friday, June 25 at Gallery Antonia to learn who writer John Whelan and photographer Kim Roderiques chose to grace their book’s cover. “This book will be fun for the people of Chatham because they’re going to know a number of the people in the book,...

CHATHAM – Incumbent Select Board members Cory Metters and Dean Nicastro were returned to office in Thursday's annual town election. Metters topped the vote tally with 832 votes, followed by Nicastro with 685 and challenger Tom Wilson with 406. The two three-year terms on the board were the only contested races on the ballot. A total of 1,115 voters turned out for the election at the community center, 18 per...

Plastic Bottle Ban, Boathouse Funding Approved CHATHAM – Housing dominated both the Saturday and Sunday sessions of the town's annual town meeting, with many warning that without taking significant steps to make housing more affordable, the town will lose the opportunity to become an inclusive and diverse community and risk becoming an enclave for the wealthy. “Affordable and attainable housing is a keyston...

CHATHAM – The prospect of The Squire selling cold beer in its Main Street shop did not sit well with members of the select board. Concerned that customers might drink the Squire-branded beer in public, the board voted unanimously last week not to grant a beer and wine package store license to the shop, which is across the street from the popular tavern and restaurant. Squire owner Todd Hearle said he wanted...

CHATHAM — Under squally skies Tuesday afternoon, with a tropical storm churning offshore, French adventurer Guirec Soudée pulled the first of thousands of oar-strokes that he hopes will deliver him back home. Soudée grinned and waved to well-wishers as the launch from First Light Boatworks towed his ocean rowboat down the Mitchell River, through Stage Harbor and out the South Cut to a starting location about...

PFAS Numbers Raise Questions CHATHAM — Town officials are seeking more data to determine the degree of PFAS contamination in certain public wells, even as they’re struggling to understand some of the test results they’ve already received. Town officials shut down a well off Training Field Road after PFAS levels were recorded at 40.7 parts per trillion, over the 20 ppt threshold set by state regulators for...

CHATHAM – It's back to the drawing board for the council on aging. The proposed $8.3 million senior center at 1610 Main St. in West Chatham failed to muster the two-thirds vote necessary to pass at Saturday's annual town meeting at Veterans Field. The vote, 358 in favor and 326 opposed, fell 98 votes short of the 456 required for approval. The select board was scheduled to review the results of town meeting...