“Just a closer walk with thee, Grant it, Jesus, is my plea, Daily walking close to thee. Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.”   We live in the age of wonder with so many resources as close as our computer. In this case I am referring to all that is available to us on YouTube. A great number of my musical favorites have died and most of the rest are no longer able to perform at the level they once coul...

We've editorialized in the past about our belief that Barnstable County Commission incumbent Ron Beaty should not be returned to office. We haven't changed our tune; we want to reiterate, two weeks before election day, that the county commission race is the most important local contest on the Nov. 3 ballot, and removing Beaty is critical for the continued function of county government on Cape Cod. Of the four ...

Support Ranked Choice Voting Editor: I would like to offer an opposing view to Mr. Beaty's somewhat conspiratorial theory opinions about the ranked voting option on the ballot as Question 2. The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan, non-profit organization with a long history of deep research and dispassionate review of voting rights, supports ranked voting. When they did their research the criteria they ...

The 43 degrees in the outside shower did not deter me enough to skip shaving the other morning. The next day was forecast for 73 so I could tough it out this early October morning. NOAA’s long range forecast for the winter has switched course, calling for a warmer than normal December-January-February. That could push the draining of the shower off until after the traditional date of Nov. 1. Until then, a micr...

President Trump and his minions have done their best to question the legitimacy of and discourage people from voting by mail, even though it's an option the president himself uses. With the nation still in the grip of a pandemic, many people, especially the most vulnerable, will see mail-in voting as their best option. Absent evidence of large-scale abuse, fraud or any other negative the president wishes to apply...

Candidate Knows The Cape Editor: Whether you are voting by mail, early or in person on Nov. 3, please get out and vote. We are fortunate to live in a country where we have the right to vote and locally, to have a regional coordinating body in the Barnstable County Commissioners. Please join me in voting for Mark Forest for county commissioner. I had the pleasure of working with Mark for a year as he served ...

Even putting aside the impact of the pandemic, the drop in enrollment in the Monomoy Regional School District is alarming. As we reported last week, the district has 102 fewer pupils this fall than last school year. Families opting to home school their kids account for a large percentage of that figure – 55 students, according to Superintendent Scott Carpenter. But there are also 20 new students who are living...

It's unfortunate that the proposed Main Street Overlay District zoning amendment, scheduled to go before voters at Saturday's special town meeting, did not get a thorough enough airing earlier. It's problematic and in its current form should not be approved. The overlay district clearly lacks the specificity needed to justify the tradeoff of less restrictive zoning for continuation of the iconic theater and re...

Oppose Ballot Question 2 Editor: I strongly oppose Nov. 3 Massachusetts Ballot Question 2 on “Ranked Choice Voting.” First, in my view, it is actually nothing more than a political scam being promoted by the radical Massachusetts Democrat Party. Second, “ranked choice voting” is a scheme to disconnect elections from issues and allow candidates with marginal support from voters to win. Third, it obscures ...

The Greater Boston Food Bank is projecting a 59 percent increase in the number of people in Eastern Massachusetts who will experience food insecurity due to the pandemic. On the Cape, that number is expected to be higher; during normal times, about 10 percent of the population of the peninsula – approximately 28,000 people – experience food insecurity, according to Christine Menard, director of the Family Pantry ...

Harwich's long-delayed annual town meeting takes place this Saturday at 10 a.m. outdoors at football field behind the Monomoy Regional High School. Despite efforts to pare back articles to limit discussion and the length of the meeting, there's a lot of meat on the warrant. Voters will tackle not only the usual budget measures, but a critical zoning amendment and controversial petitions to ban the sale of single-...

The Real Price Of Plastic Water Bottles Editor: As a citizen of Orleans and someone who has worked for 20 years for marine scientists, I am voicing my strongest possible support for a ban on all commercial sales of single-use plastic water bottles in Orleans.  As a Cape Codder, I urge all my fellow citizens throughout this unique and cherished place we call home to ask for the same in your own hometowns. ...