CHATHAM – The town's share of the Cape Cod Regional Technical High School annual budget will drop by $16,000 next year, but with the district eyeing a new school building, Chatham's tech school spending is likely to see a jump beginning in 2020. If the district's 12 towns vote to approve a new $141 million building in October, Chatham's annual share of the cost will be $113,000 annually over a 30-year period. ...

CHATHAM – A proposal to use $30,000 in community preservation funds to develop National Historic Register District nominations for two neighborhoods has run into a snag. Community preservation committee members questioned whether the proposal fit within the historic preservation function of the CPA, noting that it did not directly preserve an historic resource. There were two alternatives: one is to use the...

CHATHAM – Federal legislation to limit the western boundary of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge to mean low water has been filed by Congressman William Keating. Keating filed the legislation last Thursday. The bill is the same as one filed last fall and seeks to clarify the United States government's interest in the area west of the refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asserted authority over 3,000 t...

CHATHAM – The first time Sean Summers met Tim Roper was after Mr. Roper had zinged him in his satirical Crap Cod Chronicle. “I told him I thought it was funny, even if he did put me in a Speedo atop someone else's shoulders,” Summers said Monday. “We had a drink and were friends ever since.” A former selectman, Mr. Roper died at his Old Queen Anne Road home last weekend. He was 65. Although his wit could...

CHATHAM – Recent winter storms have sent waves crashing over low sections of South Beach, and in one particular location created a washover that officials say could lead to a new break in the barrier beach. Much of South Beach south of Lighthouse Beach is little more than strips of sand barely above high water. One spot about a half mile down the beach where the higher dunes give way to low, flat sand, just pa...

CHATHAM – There's no disputing Shareen Davis' lineage. A 13 th generation Nickerson and a 10 th generation Eldredge, she is descended from Mayflower passengers through her grandmother. She grew up in a fishing family, graduated from Chatham High School (Class of 1976), and for many years ran a trap fishing company with her husband Ernie Eldredge. After volunteering in local organizations and on town commi...

CHATHAM – The first time Sean Summers met Tim Roper was after Mr. Roper had zinged him in his satirical Crap Cod Chronicle. “I told him I thought it was funny, even if he did put me in a Speedo atop someone else's shoulders,” Summers said Monday. “We had a drink and were friends ever since.” A former selectman, Mr. Roper died at his Old Queen Anne Road home last weekend. He was 65. Although his wit could...

CHATHAM – Federal legislation to limit the western boundary of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge to mean low water has been filed by Congressman William Keating. Keating had filed the legislation last fall, but had to re-file the bill with the new Congress. The bill remove the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's authority over 3,000 to 4,000 acres of submerged lands west of the refuge, over which the agency...

Two major storms lashed the area with heavy snow and high winds during the past week. After temperatures reached nearly 60 degrees Wednesday, about eight inches of snow fell on Thursday, canceling school and shutting down shops and municipal offices. While only a few inches of snow fell Monday, heavy winds created white-out conditions at times, and frigid temperatures made driving a challenge. Both storms caused ...

CHATHAM – With the dispute over the western boundary of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge still unresolved, selectmen voted Tuesday to support continued funding of the fight for another year. Money put in place a few years back to fund a consultant to represent the town's interests in Washington, D.C. will run out in June, Director of Health and Natural Resources Dr. Robert Duncanson said. An infusion of an...

CHATHAM – Selectmen have begun digging down into the proposed fiscal 2018 budget, last week reviewing general government, debt and capital spending plans for the coming year. At $2.1 million, the capital budget is up $158,000 over the current year's capital spending, but for the first time since 2012, will be funded completely outside the tax rate. Finance Director Alix Heilala said the source of money for the...