CHATHAM – A group of residents hopes to raise $300,000 to provide financial assistance to community members undergoing hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Working with Monomoy Community Services (MCS) and the Lower Cape Outreach Council (LCOC), the Chatham Coronavirus Impact Fund will focus on paying housing, energy, medical and vehicle repair bills for residents who have lost jobs or are otherwise sufferi...

HARWICH — A second employee at Allen Harbor Marine Service has succumbed to the coronavirus. Bob LeBlanc, 87, the marina's facilities manager, and father of Craig LeBlanc, owner of the business, passed away last Monday after a week of hospitalization. COVID-19 has hit the business exceptionally hard. On March 28, Julie Bruchu Bradley, 59, a sales administrator at the marina, died after a brief battle with t...

The lights go down. You silence your phone, get any last minute coughs and squirms out of your system and settle in for an evening’s escape into the magic of theater, elbow to elbow with your fellow audience members.  Seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?  If you are yearning for the shared experiences you used to enjoy at our many local theaters and creative spaces, take heart. Hardly missing a beat, as t...

Do you know someone who is going above and beyond in this extraordinary time? Let us know! For the next few weeks we'll be highlighting those who do good deeds in our local communities by selflessly helping their neighbors. Drop us an email at editor@capecodchronicle.com if you know of any good deeds you'd like to see exposed.   ABC Window Challenge Chatham Elementary School and community partners J...

Though the official toll increases daily, the number of people sickened by COVID-19 is expected to peak or plateau this week or next, public health officials say. In coronavirus hotspots like New York, California and Washington State, statistics hint that “we’re potentially seeing the caseload level off,” County Health Director Sean O’Brien said Tuesday. Here, the timing of the peak number of cases depends on ...

CHATHAM — Facing the possibility that all sorts of fee and tax revenue will be down because of the COVID-19 emergency, town officials are preparing an austere budget plan for fiscal 2021. Finance Director Alix Heilala told selectmen Monday that she and Town Manager Jill Goldsmith are making contingency plans in case available revenue declines to 75 percent or even half of the current year’s local receipts. ...

More than 40 Cape Codders are helping front-line emergency and healthcare workers by creating face shields with their 3D printers. Nearly 2,000 of the shields have been made and distributed to Cape Cod Healthcare, local first responders and other healthcare workers. The shields, consisting of a plastic visor and a sheet of clear plastic that covers the face, is one part of the personal protective equipment wor...

HARWICH — Julie Bradley, well-known in the town's business community, became the first local resident to succumb to the COVID-19 virus. She passed away at home on March 28 after a brief battle with the virus. She was 59. Board of Health Director Meggan Eldredge informed selectmen of the death in the board’s meeting Wednesday night. Despite the state Department of Public Health recommending that local officials...

CHATHAM – Chatham Bars Inn, the town's largest private employer, is instituting a “pause in operations” through April 30. The announcement came prior to guidance issued by the state department of public health Tuesday limiting the use of hotels, inns and short-term rentals to healthcare workers and those on the front line of the coronavirus response (see "Concerns Arise About Out Of State Visitors" ). Whil...

CHATHAM — Plans are now in place for the long-awaited renovation of the town's trash transfer station and recycling center. But given the financial uncertainties caused by COVID-19, selectmen last week said they'd like to see a scaled-down project rather than the $4.3 million renovation that they pursued earlier. Selectmen heard a brief presentation from DPW Director Tom Temple, who argued that the disposal ar...

With public health experts saying that the peak number of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts is still about two weeks away, local officials say social distancing is more important than ever. The number of confirmed cases in the state and county climbed steadily this week, but Chatham Natural Resources Director Robert Duncanson said it’s not wise to focus on those numbers. “Everybody should probably assume that th...

HARWICH — A freeze on non-essential spending has been put in place by selectmen in an effort to keep town costs down given the unknown financial impact the COVID-19 pandemic may have on the community. Selectmen last week expressed concern that revenues could be lost if the pandemic keeps people away from the Cape this summer. Various taxes and fees, such as the meals and hotel taxes, would likely be lower than...

Staff Reduced, Emergency Equipment In Short Supply HARWICH — Outer Cape Health Services is hoping to keep its three health clinics in operation, but this week it took the drastic step of reducing its staff by 50 percent. The COVID-19 outbreak has reduced patient visits and driven additional expenses to the point that projected revenue losses are as much as $1 million a month, according to the agency. “Betwe...

Prevention The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to the coronavirus. Wash your hands frequently, practice cough etiquette, stay home when possible and maintain social distancing. Learn more at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick and www.mass.gov/covid19 . If You Think You’re Sick The key symptoms of COVID-19 are a fever, a cough and shortness of breath. Find an ...

On Wednesday, the Chatham Board of Health issued a notice urging people from New Jersey, New York or Connecticut who've come to their seasonal homes in Chatham voluntarily self-isolate in their homes for 14 days. The move was recommended by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, the notice reads . "This voluntary self-isolation, out of an abundance of caution, recognizes that New York City is the current ...

Though it could not be confirmed through public health channels, the COVID-19 virus has apparently claimed the life of a retired priest who was affiliated with Christ Church, Harwich Port. According to the Rev. Brian McGurk, rector at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church of Chatham, the Rev. Dr. Richard Ottaway, an Episcopal priest and college professor, died Sunday night at Cape Cod Hospital as as result of COV...