HARWICH — Damage from the tornado that hit last week has been estimated at $3.2 million, including the loss of more than 3,000 trees along public ways, parks and conservation lands. The good news is there were no major injuries or major structural damage to homes and building, Town Administrator Christopher Clark told selectmen Monday night. The tornado that struck shortly after noon on Tuesday, July 23, br...

HARWICH — Construction of the new sewer collection system in East Harwich is scheduled to start on Monday and will create some inconveniences for residents on roads where work will be taking place. Health Department Director Meggan Eldredge said the Robert B. Our Company, the project contractor, has indicated work will begin on Monday along the west side of Cemetery Road running from Queen Anne Road to Route 1...

HARWICH – A tornado with wind gusts to 110 miles per hour touched down in Harwich Center Tuesday, uprooting trees and knocking out power to most of the town.  A tree down across Route 124 near Harwich Center. WILLIAM F. GALVIN PHOTO After striking Harwich, severe winds of up to 90 miles per hour continued int...

HARWICH PORT  —  A long-term environmental cleanup has been launched after a tanker truck carrying nearly 12,000 gallons of gasoline overturned on Sisson Road last Thursday morning, releasing an estimated 4,000 gallons of fuel.  The truck came to rest on its side in front of Star Market, prompting officials to close the roadway for around 16 hours. The driver of the 18-wheel truck told police he swerved to avo...

The Family Pantry of Cape Cod has always focused on providing clients with nutritious food choices, and there's evidence that it's paying off from a medical point of view. The Pantry hosts the "Foods to Encourage" program, led by Barnstable County public health nurses, which provides free simple health screenings for visitors. They've found substantial improvement in those metrics for clients who visit the Pantry...

HARWICH  —  Saying they’re using empty classrooms to meet the need for more early childhood education offerings in the district, the Monomoy schools will soon be hosting a YMCA infant and toddler care program at Harwich Elementary and a Head Start preschool class in Chatham. The school committee voted last week to approve contracts for each program. Both are in the process of recruiting students with the goal ...

HARWICH — The 90-degree temperatures kept participation to a minimum in Saturday's third annual Cape Verdean Festival in Brooks Park, but it was nonetheless a day to celebrate the late Mabel Gomes Canto, who was recognized for her commitment to the community. Each year the festival honors a person who has made major contributions to the community. Shawn Fernandes, vice president of the festival committee, reco...

Dust is unwelcome in Brent Hemeon’s Harwich Port wood workshop.  Among the power sanders, routers, planers, and saws, there is a HEPA filter attached to the ceiling which picks up tiny particles. As a result, the air in the 1,120-square-foot, well-lit workshop, which the 74-year-old lifelong Harwich resident built himself, is pleasant and clear. In fact, a visitor can’t even smell the slabs of wood stacked aga...

HARWICH — What do Squanto, Henry David Thoreau, Teddy Roosevelt and General Motors have in common? They’ve all dealt with the movers and shakers who came from the one-mile stretch from the Herring River to the Dennis town line. known as Captains’ Row. The old Indian or cow path that drew some of the first settlers of the town in the mid-17th century soon became the home to mercantile giants, ship builders and ...

Why are there virtually no codfish to be found in the waters off Cape Cod? Depending on who you ask, it's because of the eating habits of the thousands of gray seals now living in local waters, or it's because of decades of chronic overfishing plus ecological changes, like warming oceans. Peter Trull, Pleasant Bay Community Boating Curriculum Developer and Naturalist, comes down squarely on the latter cause. H...

HARWICH — Selectmen threw their support behind a $350,000 Lower County Road improvement project Monday night. Town Engineer Griffin Ryder projected the work should provide five to seven years of additional life for the road surface. The town has been wrestling with how to address poor road surface conditions along Lower County Road since voters in the annual town meeting turned down a request for $4.5 million ...

HARWICH — A major waterfront improvement project is being proposed for the Wychmere Beach Club, including the reconstruction of existing facilities and the addition of a new restaurant, small restroom, retail building and a pavilion extension. Wychmere Harbor Real Estate filed an application with the board of appeals to alter the existing special permit or to issue a new special permit for the waterfront prope...