CHATHAM — On Aug. 18, the environmental education group Ocean Protection Advocacy Kids, or OPAK, led a small group of ocean advocates on a marsh scavenger hunt through the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. After getting an introduction from refuge staff, participants set out into the field with a guide. Students learned how to use a seine net for population studies, and how to use water quality testing kits ...

CHATHAM – A plastic barrier system is being eyed to protect against flooding and perhaps combat erosion in the Little Beach neighborhood. Last Thursday representatives of Muscle Wall were at Outermost Harbor Marine to demonstrate possible uses of the four-foot-high polyethylene structures, which can be linked together to form a continuous wall. “We refer to it as giant Legos,” said Chaz Housley, general man...

CHATHAM — If this summer’s humidity has you down, you’re not alone. Last weekend, the span of the Mitchell River drawbridge was kept in the lowered position because of continued problems related to swelling of bridge timbers during humid weather. Crews made the latest round of stopgap repairs Monday, and are hopeful that the $14 million bridge will remain operational until more extensive repairs can be made ...

CHATHAM – After a flurry of last-minute bidding, this year's Sharks in the Park online auction netted a total of $72,004, topping the $62,461 raised last year by more than 15 percent. The top shark went for $5,000, the highest ever, and nine went for more than $2,000. “It's definitely an all-time high,” organizer Janice Rogers said of the auction total. Bidding on the 60 shark sculptures, which have been...

CHATHAM — Once logistical details are worked out, crews will begin widening and deepening a critical channel providing access to Chatham Harbor, despite threats of a lawsuit from a shorefront property owner. In a special meeting last Wednesday, the board of selectmen authorized the county dredge to conduct the work, and a necessary permit was received from state officials later in the week. Together with the...

CHATHAM – Before her family boarded a charter boat for a day of fishing last Wednesday, 17-year-old Beth Fineberg rinsed her hands in the water off the float at the Ryder's Cove town landing. She'd seen seals swimming about 20 feet out and thought nothing of it. Then she felt a sharp pain in her hands. “It came up from under me and bit a couple of fingers,” she said. She immediately pulled her hands away from ...

CHATHAM – South Chatham residents will be happy to learn that they'll soon no longer have to worry about stains from high iron levels in water pumped from a town well in their neighborhood. In September, water from well number seven will begin flowing through the town's new water treatment plant, a $10 million facility designed to remove high levels of iron and manganese from drinking water. Currently, the pla...

Nearly four years ago, some friends out walking their dogs on Lighthouse Beach came across an outhouse that had been tossed up into the dunes during a storm. They righted it, propped a section of picket fence they found nearby against it, took some photos and went on their way. Over time they started to add more beach debris, eventually hauling some tools to the beach to make it more sturdy. “It started to ...

CHATHAM — The effort to modernize the town-owned trap dock on Stage Harbor received a $150,000 boost from the state Seaport Economic Council last Tuesday. Officials are finishing development of the conceptual plan for the facility, purchased by the town several years ago for $1.5 million. It is flanked on the east by town-owned land at the former Old Mill Boat Yard, where the harbormaster’s office is located...

CHATHAM — A thunderstorm moving through the area last Wednesday came with a new twist: an apparent funnel cloud. Jonathan Palino of Cape Kayaking was leading a group of paddlers in a tour of Nauset Marsh in Eastham, when, on his return trip, they spotted the cloud formation. Palino said he placed the funnel cloud quite far away, probably in a position in the Atlantic southeast of Chatham. “It formed and...

SOUTH CHATHAM — A tiny neighborhood playground, partially completed and left in a state of disrepair for more than a month, could soon be fixed up. In 2015, neighbors successfully lobbied for improvements at the South Chatham Park, located off Judy’s Lane, a 35,246-square-foot parcel that contains a tennis court, a small play area and room for one or two cars. They argued that the playground equipment, a lar...

CHATHAM — The conservation commission voted unanimously last week to issue emergency certification for dredging near the North Inlet to Chatham Harbor. The vote came after a hearing that was contentious at times. Minister’s Point property owner Gerald Milden told the commission that dredging in the harbor is responsible for erosion of his land and other properties. After Milden made a series of heated com...