In his recent book “The Geography of Risk: Epic Storms, Rising Seas, and the Cost of America's Coasts,” Pulitzer Prize winning author Gilbert M. Gaul suggests that the 20th century pattern of coastal development has doomed vast swaths of prime real estate to potential destruction. Thousands of miles of heavily developed shoreline lies in the path of increasingly powerful storms and rising sea levels. Building eff...

Pause Airport Master Plan Process Editor: I want to add my voice to the increasing number of citizens who oppose the master plan for "upgrading" the Chatham Municipal Airport. Alternatives 2 and 3 are unacceptable. I and others want more town selectmen, fire safety personnel, and the code enforcement office involved in hearing the concerns we citizens are raising, such as: * Increased (not decreased) saf...

CHATHAM – Since its founding in 1942, the Chatham Chamber of Commerce has welcomed only those businesses based in town to join its ranks. Some out-of-town enterprises that didn't compete with locally-owned businesses were allowed to join on a case-by-case basis, but for the most part the chamber maintained a closed membership. In recent years it was the last Cape chamber to do so. Now the Chatham Chamber has j...

ORLEANS — Bluefish Outfitters, the parent company of Goose Hummock Shops, won’t drop anchor for marina and boat storage at the former Beth Bishop parking lot on Route 28. “We have found an alternate site and will not be asking to store boats on the property at this time,” David Bailey, outdoor center manager for Goose Hummock, wrote in an email Nov. 13. At the Nov. 6 zoning board meeting, the company withdre...

ORLEANS — The zoning board has denied the appeal of a building permit issued for 21 Great Oak Rd., a large house under construction that has been listed for short-term vacation rentals for up to 22 people at a time. Vince Ollivier, who lives across the street, filed the appeal based on Hydrangea Properties’ permit request for “construction of a new residential home.” In an interview earlier this month, he sa...

Sharon Gotch Cobb, 76, of East Orleans, died suddenly on November 7, 2019 at Cape Cod Hospital. Born in Streator, IL to Hulda (Greenberg) and Frank Gotch. She will be truly missed by her loving husband of 45 years, Peter H. Cobb. After graduating from Streator High School in Illinois, Sharon attended the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, earning herself a Master’s Degree in Education, finding her place ...

Edward Joseph Hughes of Chatham passed away on November 4th surrounded by his loving family.               Ed was the son of the late Michael and Isabella Ballance Hughes and was predeceased by his brother, John, and his sister, Mary Carlson.               Ed was born and raised in the Upper West Side of New York City and graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School and St. John’s University with a degre...

CHATHAM – It's not yet set in stone, but it's very likely that a compromise will result in the historic home known as “Starboard Light” remaining on the shores of Stage Harbor, where it's served as a landmark for the past 150 or so years. Members of the historical commission reached a consensus last Tuesday on a plan proposed by prospective property purchaser Robert Moss to move the antique house, also known a...

CHATHAM — Since Vietnam, the nature of warfare has changed substantially. But what it means to serve in the armed forces—the selflessness and sacrifice—remain the same. The U.S. Coast Guard’s honor guard enters the assembly in the community center gymnasium Monday. Hank Holden, the guest speaker at Chatham’s ...

CHATHAM – The town has begun fining the contractor of the fish pier deck project $500 a day. Sciaba Construction Corporation was put on notice that the town would be seeking “liquidated damage”—the term in the contract for fines—beginning Oct. 17, the day after the latest deadline for completion of the $1.4 million deck project. As of late last week, a new completion date has yet to be set, according to Dir...

CHATHAM — At 5 p.m. Tuesday, the airport commission convened a special listening session on the divisive airport master plan update. Three-and-a-half hours later, most attendees seemed to be even more strongly opposed to the plan, calling it potentially costly, unsafe and unnecessary. Near the end of the session, board of selectmen Chairman Shareen Davis criticized the commission for staunchly defending the pl...

First of two parts CHATHAM – Two years ago, the Little Beach area experienced the worst flooding it had seen in 30 years, maybe longer. Sandbag walls were breached, houses were inundated, and boats plied the submerged streets rescuing residents. With warnings that climate change and sea level rise will only make conditions worse, property owners are already throwing up sandbags to stanch the flooding that...

CHATHAM – Times change, as do concerns and items on the public’s agenda. This became very evident last Thursday evening when the third in a “Series on Race Relations and Community Policing” was held at Saint Christopher’s Episcopal Church. Jointly sponsored by the Reverend Brian W. McGurk, rector of the church, and Chatham Police Chief Mark Pawlina, the previous two well-attended events had seen lively discuss...

HARWICH — The message from Lt Col. Charles D. Carroll, USAF, Retired, was clear: The freedoms we enjoy in this country do not come from the efforts of religious leaders and politicians, but from the veterans who put their lives on the line. The Monomoy Regional High School Ladies A Capella Group sang patriotic songs at the Veterans Day ceremony.  ...

HARWICH — Twenty years ago this month, in a bid to stop a rush of residential development and the groundwater pollution it would bring, Harwich officials took a gamble on a new regulatory tool. In creating the Six Ponds District of Critical Planning Concern, or DCPC, and the zoning rules that followed, they rolled the political dice and hoped voters wouldn’t see the move as a government land grab. Two decades ...