HARWICH — Along with the cold weather, the reality that it may be a tough winter for restaurants is settling in. Facilities for outdoor serving are being shuttered and limited indoor serving capacity could make the usual slow winter even slower. Town officials are weighing options available to restaurants. One is to allow longer closures. Selectmen last week approved owner Damien Wiseman's request to close the...

HARWICH - Bill O'Connell doesn't mind doing double duty. Though already head football coach at St. John Paul II High School in Hyannis, he recently signed on to become the new head basketball coach for Monomoy girls varsity basketball and is looking forward to leading the Sharks into a strong future. “It's a great school,” he said of Monomoy. “I've seen them play, having coached on the Cape. Some of the people...

This year has been challenging for everyone, especially our local theaters, dance studios, and anyplace where groups of people come together. As we've all learned to work around restrictions on gatherings, some organizations and individuals in the community have risen to the occasion and shone, finding ways to keep the give-and-take between audiences and performers, between instructors and students alive and kick...

Rein In Airport Commission Editor: The Chatham Airport Commission has submitted a proposed plan to the FAA which apparently has not been publicly posted, presented or approved. Gale Associates say that the five-year plan requires 22 easements. However, the Airport Layout Plan (ALP), a definitive document, includes the original 46 avigation easements and a ruinous 40:1 surface for instrument departures, whic...

The future of Chatham Elementary School requires extensive discussion and some deep soul searching on the part of residents, town and school officials. Nothing should be off the table; the future of the Monomoy Regional School District is at stake. Enrollment in the lower grades in the Monomoy district has been declining for several years, with Chatham Elementary leading the way. This year there is a single ki...

HARWICH – Since 2006, Jodi Belson has been serving the women and families on Cape Cod. Now she's bringing her skills as a certified nurse midwife to Outer Cape Health Services, and Belson couldn't be happier. “I live on the Outer Cape,” Belson said. “This is my community. This is my home.” Prior to signing on with OCHS, Belson practiced in both private and hospital-based settings, most recently with Cape Co...

ORLEANS — Voters agreed Tuesday to proceed with a renovation/expansion feasibility study of the fire station, the purchase of a new pumper truck, and the expenditure on design and permitting for dredging work in Nauset Estuary and Pleasant Bay. Turnout was 25 percent for the special election held to exempt the measures, which had been backed at the Oct. 31 town meeting, as debt exclusions from the tax levy l...

ORLEANS — After just his first meeting as a member of the state’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission, commercial fisherman Bill Amaru had good news for fellow supporters of dredging Nauset Estuary. “We are going to discuss a new survey of fish stocks in the estuaries where dredging will be taking place to see if the window for dredging can be expanded,” Amaru wrote in an email. “Certain species that were abu...

ORLEANS — Today (Dec. 3) at 4:30 p.m., the community preservation committee will begin sifting through more than 20 requests for funding, including $2 million to help acquire the former Cape Cod Five operations center for community housing. Among other requests on the list is the recreation advisory committee’s “Orleans Outdoors” initiative, a $189,636 package covering amenities from bike and kayak racks to ba...

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” is how Nauset Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Conrad might sum up the past few months in the school system that has been profoundly changed by the coronavirus pandemic. “With change comes change. Do not be afraid of it,” are words that Conrad frequently speaks to his staff. Conrad gave the keynote speech during the Orleans Chamber of Commerce’s 31st annual m...

“We are in a moment right now where it has never been more apparent that housing equals health care,” Andrea Aldana, director of Housing Advocacy for Community Development Partnership (CDP), said last week during an Orleans Citizens forum on affordable housing. “Our ability to control the pandemic is really closely tied to access to safe, decent and affordable housing that allows people to shelter in place and pr...

Harwich - William Anthony “Bill” Kretschmer Jr., “N2KNL,” 63 of Harwich passed away on November 6, 2020 in Milton after suffering from a stroke. Bill was born in Syracuse, N.Y. to William and Ursula Kretschmer.  He graduated from Liverpool High School in 1975.  Before retiring, he was a Water Technician for the Town of Yarmouth.  He was an expert ham radio operator, historian of radio stations from the 1950s to ...

TANSEY, Norman F (Fred), 88, of Chatham, passed peacefully on 11-9-2020 after a long illness, at home with family at his side. Born 1-4-1932 in Brooklyn, N.Y, son of the late Margarethe Amelie Paetzel, the late Eugene Tansey and stepson of the late Leslie Paetzel. After graduating from high school in N.J., Fred served four years in the USN, serving during the Korean War. He was very proud to be a veteran.After ...

Olive F. Hart-Bogue passed away peacefully on November 17th, in her home of 60 years, surrounded by loved ones. She is the daughter of Rachel (Horton) and William Forrest. Born in North Truro on August 20th 1930, she and her family moved to Chatham in 1942. She graduated from Chatham High School in 1948 and moved on to Framingham State College, where she graduated with a B.S. degree in Home Economics in 1953. ...

September 15, 1944 - November 16, 2020 Michael “Mickey” Joseph Reynolds, 76, of Sweet Home, passed away Monday. He was born in Attleboro to Joseph E. and Rita C. (McCracken) Reynolds.    Michael grew up in Massachusetts and attended Boston School for the Deaf in Randolph and American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Conn. He worked in Tennessee, Florida, Virginia, California and has lived in Sweet Home, Ore...

CHATHAM – Dr. Josephine Piekarz Ives, 99, of Chatham, passed away peacefully at home on Nov. 16, 2020.  She was born in Colchester, Conn.; the daughter of the late Joseph and Anna (Przybos) Piekarz.  She was predeceased by her husband, Sumner Albert Ives, who died April 24, 1984. Josephine graduated from the Teachers College of Connecticut in 1943 and taught first grade in West Hartford, Conn. for three years.  ...