BARNSTABLE — After waiting on the edge for years, the legal battle between skydive opponents and the town of Chatham just got a shove. Last week, Barnstable Superior Court Judge Gary Nickerson set a Dec. 4 trial date for the suit filed against the town by the Citizens for a Safe Chatham Airport. Skydive opponents, who were arguing for a preliminary injunction to block the issuance of any skydiving contracts ...

CHATHAM – The human skull found on the grounds of the Atwood House Museum in December was initially found more than two years ago on the outer beach. The new information was revealed this week about the skull, which apparently belonged to a Native American and was more than 100 years old. Its discovery by landscapers doing fall cleanup work on Dec. 9 generated considerable interest locally and regionally. “...

CHATHAM – Members of the Aunt Lydia's Cove committee won't get a say in how money that will be collected into a new waterways user fee revolving fund will be expended. The waterways user fee revolving fund, which will be established in an article in the May 8 annual town meeting, is expected to collect some $300,000 annually from the new waterways user fee and fish pier docking permit, lease and fuel pier reve...

CHATHAM – Effective March 31, Deputy Fire Chief Peter Connick will be the town's new fire chief. Town Manager Jill Goldsmith announced Connick's appointment to the board of selectmen Wednesday. Under the town's charter, the appointment is provisional, and becomes effective 15 days after the notification, unless a majority of the board votes to reject it within that time. Connick will success Fire Chief Michael...

CHATHAM — After more than a century watching over the east end of downtown Chatham, the landmark Eldredge Garage building has been razed. On Monday, a small crew using an excavator tore down the large barn piece by piece, pulling aside scrap metal and salvageable timbers for recycling. By the end of the day Monday, about two-thirds of the structure had been demolished, and work was suspended Tuesday because ...

 Strong Winds, High Seas Batter Lower Cape      CHATHAM — Though barely a flake of snow fell, Tuesday's strong storm downed scores of limbs and trees and tore up east-facing portions of the shoreline with high surf.  The afternoon high tide inundated low-lying coastal areas, flooded portions of Old Wharf Road in North Chatham and splashed over Route 28 in East Harwich and South Orleans. Winds...

During World War II, Leo Vernon Eldredge sent periodic letters to local men serving overseas. One of the men he corresponded with was his friend Edwin W. Taylor, father of Selectman Seth Taylor. Edwin Taylor saved the letters sent to him by “LV” and brought them home with him after serving in the South Pacific. Seth Taylor recently shared one of those letters, printed here, which he said “discusses or adds some ...

CHATHAM – The iconic windmill on Briggs Way overlooking Chatham Harbor took a little trip the other day. Crews from Sylvester Building Movers wrested the 77-year-old windmill from its stone foundation and ever-so-carefully and slowly transported it a short distance away to a corner of the property. The windmill – never a working mill but built as a summer home by Herbert Briggs in about 1930 – is under a de...

CHATHAM – Town officials are hoping to convince the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources to approve legislation to clarify the western boundary of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. In a March 6 letter, Town Manager Jill Goldsmith asked Republican Congressman Rob W. Bishop of Utah to support House Bill 1157, filed by Ninth Massachusetts District Representative William Keating at the request ...

Acknowledging that their draft wastewater agreement with Harwich is a complex, weighty document, some Chatham selectmen are floating the possibility of deferring action until a special town meeting in the summer or fall, rather than seeking approval at the May annual town meeting. The board will likely make a decision at its March 14 meeting, but several people at their Feb. 28 session raised the possibly of d...

CHATHAM — A downtown landmark for more than a century, the large livery barn at the former Eldredge Garage will likely go under the wrecking ball this week, deemed unsafe to use and impractical to restore. But before being reduced to rubble, the historic building had a secret treasure for preservationists. Deep in the basement of the old building, perhaps untouched for the better part of a century, was a horse...

CHATHAM – Given the uncertainty about the future of the main navigation channel into Chatham Harbor, selectmen are raising questions about sinking millions into renovations of the municipal fish pier and are looking for more flexibility in directing resources to Stage Harbor as an alternative for the town's commercial fishing fleet. Rather than move ahead with just some of the elements of a five-year waterfron...