President Trump has famously said he doesn't have time to read books. Perhaps if John Kelly hid the TV remote, the president might have a couple of hours here and there to read a book. And we'd like to propose something really radical: that he read a banned book. Sept. 23 to 29 is Banned Books Week, which the American Library Association has been sponsoring since 1982. The event celebrates not just the freedom...

I opened a tiny shop at our house on Main Street in Harwich Port this summer. I call it an itty bitty art boutique since it’s only 180 square feet. Due to my husband’s hip replacement and never-ending family visits, I’ve been open just three hours a week during the Wednesday night music strolls (also by chance or appointment, but most people don’t know that.) If a wandering curious or brave soul meanders down the...

Different Approach To Opioid Crisis Editor: As many are already aware, opioid addiction is without question a crisis of epidemic proportions in this country. It is an urgent and ongoing conglomeration of healthcare, financial, social, political and spiritual factors. It impacts every geographical locale: urban, suburban and rural. Moreover, it stretches across nearly all human ethnicities and socioeconom...

Frankly, we were blown away. Just as we were putting together an article marking the end of our summer Helping Neighbors campaign, Family Pantry of Cape Cod Executive Director Christine Menard informed us that a last-minute $5,000 donation – the second one in that amount in a week – had come up. Both of the donations will be matched by a group of summer residents who wish to remain anonymous, pushing the final...

It is time to address the elephant in Harwich’s living room, to acknowledge a very personal and private topic, difficult to assess or resolve, kept from view by elements that belie its reality. One that has not been a subject of this monthly column – until now. Why now? Because of a sign in the Harwich Community Center, a poster resembling those that mark municipal boundaries across Massachusetts. Under the na...

CFL Attracted By Deep Pockets Editor: Regarding the article ("CLF Sues Harwich Resorts") in the Aug. 30 Chronicle, please take a look at this link: tinyurl.com/y84h6qa4. I'm hoping that The Chronicle is going to be "fair and balanced" with regard to assessing whether or not CLF is just bullying our resorts with baseless claims all in the name of soaking enterprises with deep pockets so they can pay their bu...

Trashing Route 39, Harwich Editor: I know that you get many letters and have contributors writing about all the trash, but I have yet to read a “thank you for trashing” letter. Here is mine. Dear Careless, Thank you for carelessly losing your $100 American Express gift card along Route 39 near my home in Harwich. The date was the palindromic 8-18-18. As a member of the Garden Club of Harwich G-Tras...

The Chatham Historical Society missed an opportunity 38 years ago when it declined the Cape Cod National Seashore's offer of the historic motor lifeboat CG36500. The vessel used in the rescue of the crew trapped on the stern section of the Pendleton on Feb. 18, 1952 – still considered the Coast Guard's greatest small-boat rescue ever – instead went to the Orleans Historical Society, which continues to own, mainta...

The label “fake news” is thrown around a lot since its coining on the Trump campaign trail. Sometimes it’s used to distinguish gossip, opinion and commentary from actual journalism. Of course, those things aren’t news at all – fake or otherwise. But sometimes the term “fake news” is applied to actual, verifiable facts that the labeler finds uncomfortable. If it’s provable, that’s not fake news. Period. Even he...

Shoes No Longer Secure Editor: I am sad to report that visitors can no longer safely leave their shoes at the bottom of Lighthouse Beach steps. After our allotted 30 minute visit, ours had been taken. What a shame! Judy Nichols Chatham   Accident Reinforces Safety Concerns Editor: The Trustees and staff members of Brooks Free Library would like to thank you for the Aug. 9 article “Safety Concerns R...

Not again. Unlike yesterday, we were going to get an early start. With an outgoing tide from Menemesha Pond, we would slide out into the northwest current and make it around West Chop and out of Vineyard Sound well before noon. Then, despite the reversal of the tidal flow to against us, the southwest wind would hurry us home diagonally across Nantucket Sound. If the engine would start. A little after fiv...

It’s been a great week for a swim. The area beaches are pristine, the water is clean and cool, and with the mercury flirting with 90 degrees in recent days, plenty of people are in the water. It’s a quintessential Cape Cod summer. But heed this gentle reminder: the ocean is where the wild things are. The waters off the Lower and Outer Cape are particularly sharky right now. On Tuesday alone, the Atlantic Whi...