HARWICH — While playing a high-tech treasure hunt game in Hawksnest State Park Friday, a father and his two young children uncovered a bag filled with heroin paraphernalia. Justin Tavano, a Chatham firefighter, was in the conservation land with his eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter searching for a geocache, usually a small container filled with trinkets for the finder. But in the spot where the ca...

HARWICH — Should it meet the requirements, Harwich could become the fifth Cape Cod town to join the state's Green Communities program, earning cash for its energy conservation efforts. Town officials met last Tuesday with program representative Seth Pickering, who said Harwich could receive an initial grant of up to $160,000, plus additional funding opportunities, for meeting five key criteria. Town Admin...

HARWICH PORT — When renovations are complete, Saquatucket Harbor will be a major attraction for summer visitors. Town officials want to make sure that, for pedestrians coming from the nearby shopping district, it isn't an attractive nuisance. Coming from the village center, there are sidewalks along Route 28 from the Bank Street intersection to a point just beyond Snow Inn Road, but not quite to the popular ...

HARWICH ─ People in the Harwich area might be used to seeing Eric Beebe out for a run on the Rail Trail now and again as part of his commitment to wellness, but when he took to the trail on Oct. 15, it was for an entirely different reason. This time the run had a deeper purpose: to raise money for Children's Hospital in Boston, with which he has a special connection. “Four years ago my oldest son was diagnos...

HARWICH — The board of selectmen Monday unanimously endorsed the construction of a new East Harwich fire substation, even though the costs are likely to be about $2 million higher than expected. The $6,044,954 request will go before voters in May. Fire Chief Norman Clarke, Jr., said he takes responsibility for the fact that the project cost has jumped significantly since he pledged to hold the line at $4 mil...

HARWICH PORT — Painstakingly, one boatload at a time, a contractor has begun to dredge Saquatucket Harbor. The work began last week, and as of Monday morning, two scows filled with silty sand had been removed from the harbor, leaving about 22 loads to go. Working from a barge, crews use a large excavator fitted with a clamshell scoop to remove the dredged material, loading it on special barges. The work is m...

Like communities across the nation, Lower Cape towns are planning their Veterans Day observances Saturday. All of the activities happen at 11 a.m., the 11 th hour of the 11 th day of the 11 th month, when the armistice was signed that ended World War I 99 years ago. In Chatham , the ceremony will take place inside the community center. Participants will include local members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars...

HARWICH — A decade ago town officials pursued an Adams Grant to develop a cultural and historic identity for Harwich Center that would spur economic growth. While that didn't come to fruition, there have been several initiatives over the past couple of decades that have been marginally successful in using town cultural assets to attract tourists. A new program may help realize those earlier visions. The tow...

HARWICH ─ If the electric bill at Monomoy Regional High School has gotten lower recently, folks can thank Aidan Kotoski, a high school junior with a passion for saving energy in the hopes of helping the planet. Through the Earth Club at MRHS, under the tutelage of advisor Sally Angiola and with a grant from the Harwich Garden Club, energy monitors were purchased and installed at several locations around the ...

HARWICH — Affordable and workforce housing has become a major focus of the board of selectmen and the planning board as the town considers establishing a housing trust and hiring a part-time housing coordinator. More than a month ago, selectmen raised the issue of tweaking the town's accessory apartment bylaw to make it easier for homeowners to provide a second housing unit on their property. One concern cente...

Addiction to heroin and other opiates reaches across all socioeconomic boundaries, but a new study claims that young men in the building trades on Cape Cod are five times more likely than others to overdose and die. The findings, presented in a study by the Barnstable County Department of Human Services issued last month, ultimately raises as many questions as it answers. Researchers don't know why, for inst...

HARWICH – At a League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area-sponsored lecture about presidential powers Saturday, October 28 at the community center, Dr. Peter Ubertaccio, professor of political science and Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Stonehill College, gave a clear and informative picture of how executive powers were designed and how they have changed since the founding fathers created the constitu...