CHATHAM — When a bus overturns, a mass shooter strikes, or a car plows through a crowd of pedestrians, it can do more than cause lots of casualties. It can overwhelm the regional network of responders, ambulances and hospitals. Working under a new statewide emergency medical services plan for mass casualty incidents, Lower Cape firefighters are learning how to quickly size up an emergency and call in additio...

CHATHAM – Due to ongoing construction work, the boat launching ramp at the town-owned Old Mill Boatyard will be closed Monday through Friday beginning this week. The ramp will be open over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Nov. 24 to 27, but will close again on Monday, Nov. 28. Thereafter, it will be open on weekends through mid February, when the Old Mill Boatyard construction project is expected to be comple...

CHATHAM — New water conservation rules for swimming pools and in-ground sprinkler systems are working their way down the pipeline. The draft regulations call for all new residential irrigation systems to be connected to private wells, where they are available, starting on April 1, 2018. Property owners who have a private well suitable for irrigation will be required to use it, rather than using town water, for...

CHATHAM — The town-owned property at 90 Bridge St. has a lot of advantages: it's in a prime waterfront location, it has key permits in place, and it's not tied up with an existing use. But the land has a major drawback: it's tiny. Acting on voters' mandate to use the property to benefit many different uses, the town's three waterways-related committees met jointly last week to prioritize those potential uses...

For most people on the Cape, summertime is the busy season. But each winter, thousands of Cape residents seek help from The Family Pantry of Cape Cod. That’s the time when families often have the toughest time making ends meet. And the extra expenses of the holiday season only make things worse. To help meet the holiday and year-round needs of this often overlooked population, the Cape Cod Chronicle is lending...

CHATHAM – A Sears Road couple has sued the conservation commission over its denial of a request to build a 192-foot revetment to protect their $3 million home on the Oyster River. The commission denied the revetment in June, stating that owners Richard and Sandra MacDonald of Dover failed to show that there is no other way to protect the 4,800-square-foot home on the property from storm damage. The house, buil...

CHATHAM — For aging veterans, a visit to the nation's war memorials in Washington can be a poignant experience. But for those who served in World War II and Korea, the most senior veterans, travel can be a challenge. On Monday, local vets heard from the founder of Honor Flight New England, which provides all-expense-paid trips to D.C. for senior veterans. Joe Byron spoke at the annual Veterans Day luncheon, ...

CHATHAM – A proposal to only allow registered voters to make agenda requests at selectmen's meetings was rebuffed by a majority of the board last week. Selectmen voted 3-2 to embrace inclusion and continue with the long-standing policy of allowing anyone to make an agenda request under the “Public Announcements and Agenda Requests” segment of the board's regular weekly meetings. “To exclude voices in politi...

CHATHAM – The fate of the three Avis Chase cottages in the Old Village is now in the hands of a three-judge panel from the state's appeals court. On Monday attorneys from the Avis Chase Women's Association of Philadelphia and the Young Women's Christian Association of Boston delivered their arguments over ownership of the cottages, which were bequeathed by Chase to the Young Women's Christian Association of Ph...

Selectmen Mull Multiple Options To House COA CHATHAM — Selectmen agree that the council on aging building on Stony Hill Road is a bad fit for seniors, with ill-suited program spaces located on three floors. But when it comes to where a new senior center should be built, or what size it should be, board members say they need more information. Principal Projects Administrator Terry Whalen analyzed several...

Volunteer Water Watchers Program Has Benefited Town For 18 Years CHATHAM – Without the town's coastal water monitoring program, which depends on volunteer “water watchers,” it's unlikely that the town would be as advanced as it is in improving its coastal water quality. The work done by the water watchers, a program run in conjunction with the Friends of Chatham Waterways, would cost hundreds of thousands...

CHATHAM – The town's attempt to block a citizens group's lawsuit that seeks to prohibit skydiving at Chatham Municipal Airport has been denied by the state appeals court. “We're disappointed,” said Chairman of Selectmen Jeffrey Dykens. “We've tried to exhaust all legal avenues for dismissal of complaint” in order to avoid prolonged and potentially expensive litigation. Associate Justice Eric Neyman turned d...