CHATHAM – The property at the downtown rotary that houses Cumberland Farms has been sold. The nearly one-acre lot was purchased May 19 by Obsidian ML6 LLC, a San Diego, Calif.-based real estate investment company, for $5,161,138. According to a spokesperson for the Westborough-based convenience store company, the sale was part of a recent sales-leaseback transaction that saw Cumberland Farms sell this ...

CHATHAM – Repairs necessitated by the collapse of a section of a 50-year-old sewer line closed a section of Main Street to traffic and disrupted businesses for several days last week. Although pedestrians continued to have access to the section of the Main Street between Cross Street and Chatham Bars Avenue, the traffic closure and presence of heavy construction equipment impacted business significantly. “I...

CHATHAM – Drop by morning, noon or night, and the mess deck at Coast Guard Station Chatham smells like home, with the aroma of comfort foods, hearty favorites and enticing exotic dishes. That’s been thanks to the work of Culinary Specialist Second Class Micah Hetrick, whose cooking skills recently earned him the title of Culinary Specialist of the Year for the entire Coast Guard. “I’ve been cooking with my mot...

If you run afoul of the law, you might find yourself spending several hours in a small detention cell at the police station until your arraignment in court. But if you’re arrested late Friday or over the weekend, you might spend several days and nights in that cell, without a shower, a mattress or any privacy. Barnstable County Sheriff Donna Buckley is earning praise from police chiefs for resuming a pre-pande...

CHATHAM – Norman “Norm” Pacun was a wash-ashore who valued — more than most, perhaps — the historic nature of the town he chose as his home. He’s being remembered as a strategic thinker, a compelling orator, and a dedicated preservationist. Mr. Pacun died on May 27 at the age of 91. A Brooklyn native, Mr. Pacun attended Harvard Law School and was admitted to the New York bar in 1959; he made a career as a c...

CHATHAM – The cemetery commission is considering allowing “green” burials in a section of the South Chatham Cemetery. The environmentally friendly internment option involves burying remains without a concrete vault or embalming. Bodies can be buried in a shroud or a biodegradable container, depending on cemetery regulations.  Currently only a few cemeteries on Cape Cod allow green burials. Last week, the ce...

CHATHAM – The cemetery commission is investigating the idea of establishing a memorial to the nation’s armed services at Union Cemetery. The memorial would be a way to honor the late George Goodspeed, who ran the commission for more than 30 years, said chair David Whitcomb. Although plans are only in the early stages, the initial concept, brought to the commission earlier this spring by Tom Blute and John F...

CHATHAM – When it comes to delivering fresh seafood, time is of the essence. But town officials are worried that, without some intervention, fishermen will find themselves waiting in line for hours to unload the day’s catch. The packing house at the municipal fish pier has space for two companies to operate, receiving and packing the local catch for transport to market. But when Marder Trawling, one of the two...

CHATHAM – Amid the cookouts, traffic jams and summer sales, citizens were asked to pause for a few moments Monday to reflect on the reason for the Memorial Day holiday. In front of Chatham’s memorial to the Great War Monday morning, they did just that. “People sometimes confuse the meaning of Memorial Day and Veterans Day,” said retired Army Chief Warrant Officer Robert Franz, who led the observance. Vetera...

CHATHAM – Seeing a need to invest in the town’s landings and waterfront infrastructure, town meeting in 2017 voted to authorize an $11.3 million bond to fund a slate of overdue projects. Today, a number of major jobs have been completed and two-thirds of the borrowing authorization has been spent — despite the fact that other big projects remain in the pipeline. On May 16, Health and Natural Resources Direc...

CHATHAM – It's not unusual for kids playing little league to get hit by balls. That's part of learning how to play the game. But when injuries happen due to poor field conditions, that's another matter altogether. Two recent incidents where players were hit by balls at little league fields at Volunteer Park and the community center highlight deficiencies in the maintenance of the town's facilities. "That st...

CHATHAM – To encourage the creation of more affordable and workforce housing units, the planning board is brainstorming ideas for new requirements and new incentives for developers, in the form of a revised zoning bylaw. Housing and Sustainability Director Gloria McPherson led the board in a working session last week to consider ideas that could be included in a revised zoning bylaw designed to better encourag...