By all accounts, William Nickerson was a bit irascible. A weaver who left Norwich, England with his wife Anne Busby in search of greater freedoms in the New World, he first settled his family in Salem, then moved to Yarmouth, which in 1640 would have been akin to a tiny village in the wilderness. “By all accounts he was a willful man used to having his way, and impatient with bureaucracy,” Dana Eldridge writes in...

“Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble.” So goes the Shakespearean mantra for this, the 10th month, October. Wicked winds rip the last desperate leaves from creaking limbs and send them skittering down empty streets as darkness steals hours from our day. It’s Halloween again. Why do we love it so much we spend $7 billion a year on it? It’s because we need fake scary so we won’t b...

ClamBQ Thanks All You, Too Editor: On behalf of the Orleans Chamber of Commerce, I would like to thank the community for its support to make ClamBQ, the Orleans Food and Music Festival, a success. Thank you, town of Orleans selectmen and municipal staff, Nauset Public Schools, Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office, and Orleans Bowling Center for helping us again. Thank you to our official sponsors: Agway...

HARWICH – As people grow older, connecting with others is essential. Judi Wilson, the new director of the Harwich Council on Aging, and her executive administrative assistant, Marie Carlson, have always worked in fields that involved connecting with others. They have been motivated by the desire to help other people. Said Wilson, most recently director of the council on aging in Orleans, “I love the work. T...

ORLEANS — Philip Scholomiti calls them “the flotsam and jetsam of our planet.” Writing to the board of health earlier this year, the Orleans resident said that flimsy single-use plastic bags “mar our highways, clog our storm drains, slowly leach their chemicals into the soil contaminating our food chain, and devastate the animals that inhabit our oceans, bays, and ponds.” Scholomiti called on the health b...

ORLEANS — The heavy lifting is right up front in the special town meeting warrant to be acted upon Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Nauset Middle School gym. Article 1 asks for more than $3.6 million to begin construction of the downtown sewer collection system, Article 3 for a commitment of $94,000 to complete the Lonnie's Pond aquaculture experiment, and Article 4 for $75,000 for an independent review of the 25 perc...

When white sharks are off the coast of Cape Cod, it's clear that they're here for a single purpose: hunting seals. But tracking data shows that white sharks spend the off-season far out in the Atlantic, often in the dark depths far beyond the edge of the continental shelf. A journal article co-authored by state shark biologist Greg Skomal published Friday considers what they might be doing out there. Analyzi...

CHATHAM – Not all historic homes, it seems, are created equal. Although it was included as a contributing structure to the proposed Stage Harbor Road National Historic Register District, a 1940s-era home along the scenic roadway was recently given the nod for demolition. In a Sept. 19 ruling, the historical commission determined that although the bungalow-style home at 292 Stage Harbor Rd. met the technical...

CHATHAM ─ Wood shavings litter the floor at First Light Boatworks. The air inside one of the building's massive bays is pungent with the scent of cedar. There is something else, as well: a sense of excitement since progress has clearly been made in the build of a double-ended ketch, which is beginning to resemble the beauty she'll be upon completion next June. This is the part of boat building that First Lig...

CHATHAM — After a crack appeared in the ceiling of the computer training room, town officials brought in a structural engineer to check the condition of the council on aging building on Stony Hill Road. The results weren't good, and officials say the repairs could top $100,000. The problem was discovered in March, and the engineer recommended the installation of a steel beam to better support the roof. Witho...

Archaeological Dig Finds Evidence Of Hearth And Home Of Chatham's Founder CHATHAMPORT – An archaeological team digging in the woods behind the Nickerson Family Association’s property on Orleans Road last week made a spectacular find: the site of the circa 1664 homestead belonging to William and Anne (Busby) Nickerson, the founders of Chatham. “Locating the site of William Nickerson’s original homestead is a...

CHATHAM – The finance committee has joined the board of selectmen in backing the construction of a new Cape Cod Regional Technical High School building. The $127.9 million project will go before voters in all 12 towns in the regional district on Oct. 24. A majority vote will determine if the process of replacing the 42-year-old technical high school located on Pleasant Lake Avenue in Harwich will move forward....

CHATHAM – The airport commission has updated its website about unmanned aircraft systems – drones – to ensure that the correct information is available the devices proliferate. “We just wanted to put it out there,” said commission member Huntley Harrison. Information previously on the website was outdated, he added, and while there weren't many changes, the group felt it was important to ensure that the town w...

HARWICH — The reconstruction of waterside infrastructure at Saquatucket Harbor is expected to get underway this week, Harbormaster John Rendon said. Contractor BTT Marine Construction is seeking to get an early start on the project. Rendon said the contract award identifies a start date of Oct. 16, but the company plans to mobilizing its equipment this week. His department will be trying to move boats to one s...