EAST HARWICH — With a little fanfare Monday morning, the Harwich Fire Department opened the new $6.75 million fire substation in East Harwich. Most of the fanfare came nearly two months ago, during an official ribbon cutting for the new station. Since that time, additional work has been taking place on the epoxy floor in the six-vehicle apparatus bay, and some challenges with the heating system have been addre...

Contamination May Force Current Site To Be Abandoned HARWICH — The water department is concerned about pollution to the well fields at its Chatham Road site and is considering moving its operation to the land on Queen Anne Road where a pet cemetery was previously proposed. Selectmen asked the real estate and open space committee a couple of weeks ago to assess the future of the parcel, the jurisdiction of w...

HARWICH — There will be another effort by a Harwich Center Initiative Committee, working more closely with town agencies, to develop a road map for revitalizing Harwich Center. Selectmen last week heard a report from the committee, which was put in place a year ago and charged with shaping a plan but which took a hiatus last March. Committee members said they needed additional assistance, including traffic, pa...

NORTH EASTHAM – The records have been falling like dominoes with each event the Nauset girls indoor track team competes in, but recently the Warriors accomplished a goal that will belong to the 2019-2020 team always: they won the Cape and Islands League title for the first time in program history. “It's exciting,” said head coach Moira Nobili. “It's the whole team and the whole season that builds up to that. T...

HARWICH – The Monomoy girls varsity basketball team might have fallen to Sandwich with a lopsided score of 57-35, but head coach Pete Richer told the team he thought it was their best game all season. “I told the girls after the first quarter that was the best quarter of the year, and I told them after the game it really was our best game of the year regardless of the score and considering the competition,” Ri...

HARWICH – Quiet leadership and dedication to sport have worked well for Monomoy's Connor Deveau during his high school lacrosse career, so well in fact that Deveau recently celebrated his official signing to play for Regis College next fall. It was none other than a confident Deveau that secured the attention of Regis College Men's Lacrosse head coach Matthew Sweeney by sending an email with his own lacrosse h...

It’s a common lament these days, especially among older people, that kids today are too focused on screens and structured activities with little or no free playtime. The thought seems to be that many children never get outside unless they are going from building to car and back again. This is disturbing for many reasons, but perhaps we should also ask ourselves if it’s really true. Since the beginning of t...

HARWICH — Ann Hart's interest in the arts started at a very early age, having grown up in a creative family. She said her mother was an “artsy-craftsy person” who did a lot of work with furniture and antiques, and she took notice. Observation paid off for Hart, an East Harwich resident, whose work will be on display in February at the Signature Member Show of The New England Watercolor Society on Newbury Stree...

Who doesn’t love a thriller set in the often-paranoid world of spies, where nothing is quite as it seems to be? Author Keith Yocum’s “Valley of Spies” (Time Tunnel Media, 2019) has been named to Kirkus Review’s 2019 prestigious list of Best Indie Mysteries, Crime Stories and Thrillers. “Valley of Spies” is the third book in the trilogy that began with “Color of Blood,” and continued with “A Dark Place.” All...

If there's one thing Cape Codders care about, it's water. Whether it's groundwater, which comes from our single-source aquifer, or the coastal waters that drive our economy—which the region will spend billions on to clean up toxic nutrient loading—clean water is as important as the air we breath. It's ironic, then, that levels of MTBE, a gasoline additive that may be carcinogenic in high concentrations, was de...

Complete Streets Not Needed Editor: Recently The Chronicle wrote about  Harwich moving forward with the Complete Streets Program under MassDOT requirements to pursue a sidewalk along Route 28 from Harwich Port to Saquatucket Harbor.  On this topic it was suggested that bike lanes be put along Hoyt Road because there would not be enough room on Route 28 for compliant sidewalks and a bike lane.  I drove Hoyt ...

ORLEANS — This Webb site might draw a lot of attention. And this site would be real, not virtual. F.W. Webb Company, purveyor of plumbing, lighting supplies and more, wants to demolish two buildings at Bayberry Square, also known as the Underground Mall, on Route 6A near the Brewster line and build a 32,000-square foot building. For comparison’s sake, the former Hearth & Kettle at nearby Skaket Corners is ...

ORLEANS — With solemn faces, members of the fire and rescue department sat in the rear of the Nauset Room Jan. 22 as the board of selectmen discussed the process of finding a successor to Chief Tony Pike, whose last day before retirement will be Feb. 22. If a new leader isn’t found by then, Deputy Chief Geof Deering, who sat with his colleagues during last week’s meeting, would become acting chief. The board d...

Winter is a great time to go beachcombing. High winds, high tides and rough seas churn up a lot of stuff and leave it on shore for the discriminating walker to find. What you find will vary with where you are on the Cape, so bring your sense of adventure, bundle up and don’t forget to bring your binoculars because you may find some pretty cool birds as well. If you’re really lucky you might spot a right whale...

Preschool Screening Chatham and Harwich elementary schools provide integrated preschool programs that are designed to meet the requirements of the special needs preschool population as well as other preschool children from the community.  Chatham Elementary School will conduct its annual early childhood screening, by appointment only, on Wednesday, March 18. Parents interested in having their child attend...