NORTH CHATHAM – Assisted living programs are a great option for seniors who need regular assistance from a caregiver, but they’re not inexpensive. A new partnership with Broad Reach Assisted Living at the Victorian is helping connect certain wartime veterans with a little-known Veterans Administration benefit that can help defray those costs. “It’s helping those veterans who have, of course, done so much for t...

New Appointees Stress Need For More Mental Health Services ORLEANS – A new safer communities task force is taking shape with a special focus on mental health. The select board voted May 3 to appoint three at-large members of the public to the task force. Robert Jones, Christine Berlane and Fran Kelly will each serve terms that will expire on Dec. 31. The board also voted to appoint a fourth candidate, Ja...

CHATHAM – The town’s long battle to compel the cleanup of junk from the McGrath property at 32 Mill Hill Rd. enters a new chapter this week when inspectors from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection visit that property and a second one owned by McGrath off Barn Hill Road. Last spring, town officials led a cleanup of metal debris, appliances, car parts and furniture from the town-owned road l...

The dangers of Lyme disease are well understood, as are most of its health effects. But a relative newcomer, the fleet-footed lone star tick , can also bring life-changing illness. “Deer Ticks are not the only tick in town,” said Barnstable County entomologist Larry Dapsis, the deer tick project coordinator for the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension.They get the most attention because Lyme disease is so prevalent...

What if you could make good friends while at the same time doing philanthropy work that would benefit the entire Cape Cod community? Actually, you can. By joining one of two local Cape Cod Hospital Auxiliaries you can have fun while raising money for the hospital’s new cancer services. When Robin Berlanti moved to Orleans from her longtime home in upstate New York, one of her neighbors recommended that she ...

ORLEANS – Being a small business owner is more than a job. For those who do it, it's something you live everyday. But the demands of owning and operating a local business have only grown in recent years. In addition to managing things such as payroll, staffing, inventory, scheduling and insurance issues, many business owners on the Cape have been left to take on another difficult but critical role. "Part of...

     Gail Tilton has an affectionate nickname for the students in her Artful Living class. She calls them her Wellness Warriors.      If the nickname sounds heroic, there’s good reason. Let’s face it. Finding ways to stay healthy, active and engaged throughout the winter season can be challenging, and the pandemic didn’t make things any easier. Exploring new methods of keeping fit and learning new things among f...

ORLEANS – Both select board members up for re-election in May say they're ready to take on new three-year terms. Andrea Reed and Mefford Runyon have both taken out nomination papers to keep their seats on the board and have begun the process of gathering signatures from registered voters to get on the ballot for the May 16 annual town election. Residents interested in running for seats on the select board, ...

ORLEANS – With one vote, a project decades in the planning became reality last week. The board of water and sewer commissioners on Feb. 15 unanimously voted to deem the town's new wastewater treatment facility on Overland Way substantially complete, some small "punch list" items notwithstanding. "It took a lot of decades to get to this day," Tom Daley, the town's public works director, told the board follow...

HARWICH – A parade of people walking, and sometimes dancing, can be found inside the gymnasium at the community center on almost any weekday. Indoor Walking was created by recreation department program specialist Susan H. Fraser about a year ago after she received a phone call from resident Terry Canavan, who had injuries resulting from a car accident and was looking for a safe location to do walking exercises...

At the age of 68, many people begin to think about retiring, taking it a bit easy, maybe even slowing down after a long career.  Not Charlie Abate.  At age 68, 24 years ago, Abate began a new career as one of the most popular and appreciated fitness instructors on Cape Cod, an endeavor from which, at the age of 92, he has now chosen to take a well-deserved rest. It was a position he accepted out of a desire...

CHATHAM – Building on successes in Harwich and Orleans, Town Manager Jill Goldsmith is seeking new ways to expand the reach of human services programs in town. As part of a package of more than 12 full-time positions she’s considering for the fiscal 2024 budget, Goldsmith has included four part-time seasonal community service officers to work with police, and one or two clinical social workers to help citizens of...

If you’re looking for a good reason to take common sense precautions to prevent the spread of illness, public officials have three. COVID-19, influenza and the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are all in circulation now, creating a “tripledemic” of respiratory ailments. COVID-19 is now in its third year, and though it is now endemic in the population, it continues to cause illnesses and deaths. Case numbers i...

ORLEANS – Those property owners who still need to replace their above-ground fuel storage tanks now have until March 1 to do so, otherwise they will face daily fines. The daily fines of $250 were due to kick in this month. But the board of health on Dec. 15 voted to push back the date in which the health department will begin issuing fines until March 1 in an effort to give both staff in the fire and health de...

ORLEANS – The clock is ticking for approximately 600 property owners and businesses to replace their above-ground fuel tanks to be in compliance with a new regulation passed by the board of health. The board approved and adopted its above-ground fuel and storage tank regulation in June 2021, and the regulation went into effect in September of last year. Crafted through a collaboration between the town's hea...

Massachusetts cities and towns will share 40 percent of the half a billion dollars the state received from the $26 billion federal opioid settlement. According to state guidelines, the money must be spent on prevention, harm reduction, recovery and treatment programs related to opioid abuse. Officials from the Barnstable County Department of Human Services are urging local towns to form substance abuse committ...