CHATHAM – By early this week, some 80 percent of this year's 7,500 First Night Chatham buttons had been sold. While the New Year's Eve event regularly sells out, the buttons are disappearing faster and faster every year. Usually they're gone by the early afternoon Dec. 31; last year it was 10 a.m. A steady stream of button buyers stopped by First Night headquarters, tucked just off Main Street behind Bella o...

CHATHAM – It was a year of contrasts in Chatham. A number of long-standing projects came to fruition in 2016, including completion of a new fire station, the opening of the new Mitchell River drawbridge, and the construction of a new bridge over Muddy Creek. But it was also a year when progress on several key issues was frustratingly slow. The dispute over the western boundary of the Monomoy National Wildli...

CHATHAM – Currently the town has two historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places – the Old Village and the Marconi/RCA Wireless Receiving Station. Last week the historical commission set in motion plans to nominate up to four more districts to the National Register, putting a high priority on two of the areas, Stage Harbor Road and South Chatham. The commission endorsed a plan by the ...

CHATHAM — Acknowledging that it doesn't replace the state Open Meeting Law, a split board of selectmen last week adopted a policy encouraging the chairmen of town committees to allow public comment at their meetings whenever possible. Drafted by resident Norman Pacun and amended by selectmen, the statement acknowledges the Open Meeting Law and the need both for public participation in government and for orde...

CHATHAM – Demolition of the historic Eldredge Garage stable/garage building was approved by the historic business district commission last week. The owners agree to preserve the former gas station building at the 365 Main St. site, mothballing it until its future use can be determined. A group of residents and business owners is helping the Eldredge family clean up the former service station site to clear the ...

CHATHAM – The zoning board of appeals last week sided with a Chatham Bars Inn neighbor who complained that the inn's use of a vacant lot off Claflin Landing had intensified beyond its previous uses. ZBA Chairman Robert Hessler chided CBI for failing to work with Claflin Landing resident Kathleen McCullough in what he said was essentially a “grandiose neighborhood dispute” which never should have reached his bo...

CHATHAM – A training session for selectmen and airport commissioners conducted by representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration has prompted questions from an outspoken opponent of skydiving at the town's airport. David Bixby, a member of the group that is suing the town to block the return of skydiving, questioned why the session was held behind closed doors and whether those attending violated the s...

CHATHAM – Staff and volunteers from the town's shellfish department braved frigid temperatures last week to make sure oysters grown in the town's upweller survive the winter. On the shores of Oyster Pond, legal-size oysters were culled from bags containing about 25,000 oysters. About 9,000 were placed in cages in the pond to overwinter, while the remaining oysters were distributed in waterways throughout the t...

CHATHAM — Remember your first job? Maybe it was mowing lawns, delivering newspapers or busing tables. For a variety of reasons, those early jobs can be dangerous ones. “Safety Matters,” a new program launched at Monomoy Middle School last week, aims to teach kids about workplace safety, maybe even before they get their first job. “Any workplace has potential hazards,” program presenter Jennifer Maclachlan...

CHATHAM — The rules are strict and the penalties for violators are stiff. But the regulations being finalized by the board of selectmen aim to ensure that the town's public water supply can continue to meet growing demand. Acting in their capacity as the town's water and sewer commissioners, selectmen last week held a public hearing on the draft regulations. They asked the water and sewer advisory committee to...

CHATHAM – A training session for selectmen and airport commissioners conducted by representatives of the Federal Aviation Administration has prompted questions from an outspoken opponent of skydiving at the town's airport. David Bixby, a member of the group that is suing the town to block the return of skydiving, questioned why the session was held behind closed doors and whether those attending violated the s...

CHATHAM — A Chatham man was cold and wet but uninjured after his boat capsized near the north inlet late Tuesday afternoon. Harbormaster Stuart Smith said the single man aboard the 22-foot center console boat, identified as fisherman Justin Pascarelli of Chatham, was in the area of the inlet when his boat rolled in the surf. Smith said Pascarelli waded to a nearby sand bar, and thanks to a waterproof cell ph...