In the early days of his weir fishing business, Kurt Martin had a friend who asked him take along 20-year-old Nick Muto, who was kicking around at home. Martin did. One April day the new guy was fooling around in the skiff and the outboard motor popped off and sank about 20 feet. “‘I screwed up,’” Martin remembers Muto saying. Muto stripped down, dove into the water, tied a rope around the outboard motor, a...

CHATHAM – A new Ms. Eelgrass has been crowned! That may sound bit grandiose for the somewhat subdued event—at least by Ms. Eelgrass standards—held at the VFW Sunday afternoon. But the beauty pageant (if you could call it that) carried on a tradition first begun more than 35 years ago, albeit in a more family-friendly atmosphere. There were four contestants, one fewer than the first Ms. Eelgrass contest held...

CHATHAM — Without discussion, the conservation voted unanimously last week to accept the town’s request to withdraw plans to dredge in Chatham Harbor near the North Cut. At least for now, that move hasn’t ended a waterfront property owner’s suit against the town. On Sept. 4, about a week after the town issued a press release announcing that it had withdrawn the North Cut area from its dredging plans for the ...

CHATHAM — When it comes to controlling shorefront erosion and maintaining navigation, Chatham Harbor poses some problems. The solution, or at least part of it, might be found on Tern Island. On Wednesday, the state announced that Chatham has received more than $50,000 from the office of Coastal Zone Management to support a study of the island. Officials want to know whether adding sand to the island from nea...

CHATHAM — Soil sampling around Homestead Lane shows no detectable levels of cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB, following the failure of an electrical transformer during the July 23 severe storm. The spill prompted town officials to prohibit shellfishing and swimming in Little Mill Pond, Mill Pond and part of the Mitchell River immediately after the storm. First responders noticed a sheen on the...

CHATHAM – The sale of the Monomoy Theatre property was finalized Monday, eight months after its longtime owner announced that it was for sale. Chatham Productions LLC, paid $3,650,000 for the 2.7-acre property at 776 Main St. and 70 Depot Rd., according to documents on file at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds. Frank, Frederick and Catherine Steindler, trustees of the Steindler Family Trust, had put the ...

Labor Day has come and gone. It's time for sewer construction to begin again. A detour was in place Monday as work on the East Harwich sewer system began along Route 137. The work started at Old Queen Anne Road, while a second crew began work on Herndon Road and continued mainline sewer installation on Cemetery and Compass roads. In Chatham, crews began work on the Oyster Pond sewer extension phase of the t...

CHATHAM — Selectmen have a number of concerns about allowing food trucks to operate in town—from traffic and congestion to competition with established restaurants—but they haven’t closed the door on the idea. Working with business leaders, the board Monday said it hopes to have a bylaw in place to regulate food trucks before next summer’s visitor season. Selectman Cory Metters said that it was time for the ...

$3.2 Million Project Leads Into 300 th Anniversary CHATHAM – The history of the First Congregational Church of Chatham is inextricably linked with the history of the town. Its origins reach back to the family of William Nickerson, who held services in their home on the banks of Ryder's Cove because of the difficulties in traveling to the nearest church in Eastham. The church was formally established in 172...

CHATHAM – Labor Day has passed, and to no one's surprise, the fish pier observation deck is not finished. But with a few critical issues solved in recent weeks, the project should begin to move along much faster, said Natural Resources Director Robert Duncanson. General contractor Sciaba Construction Corp. has installed two “infinity drains” on the south side of the deck. In order to make the deck water tig...

CHATHAM – A year after it was automated and all but shut down, the Marconi-RCA Wireless Receiving Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Districts after being nominated by the town's historical commission, with the blessing of then-owner MCI International. That was 25 years ago last month. The commission and local preservationists' recognition of the importance of the ship-to-shore Morse code ...

What is it about art theft that intrigues us? Is it the supposed erudition of those planning the heist, and the audacity of those who carry out the almost-glamorous mission? Whatever entertainment we might derive from seeing art theft on the screen or from reading about it in a book, when art thieves strike close to home, the reality is grotesque and disturbing. Take the famous case of the 1990 theft of ...