HARWICH – When the news broke that Monomoy Regional High School senior Perry Comeau of Harwich had earned the Massachusetts Association of Superintendents Award for Academic Excellence, the congratulations started rolling in and haven't stopped, and rightly so. Comeau is one of the top students at MRHS and shows no sign of slowing down even as graduation rapidly approaches. The annual award is given to a high ...

HARWICH — With help from a health insurance windfall and a proposal to raise the local hotel-motel base tax from 4 to 6 percent, Town Administrator Christopher Clark has presented selectmen with a proposal for a balanced budget for fiscal 2020. Clark’s proposed $70,257,941 spending plan represents a 7.8 percent increase over the current year’s budget and aims to keep a similar level of service without the ne...

HARWICH — The conservation commission has approved the storage of 800 lobster pots adjacent to wetlands in the yard of lobster fisherman Ken Weeks on South Street, but putting the puzzle together to ensure the traps are not stored inside the 50-foot no-disturb zone may not be an easy task. Weeks went before the commission in December after receiving a citation for storing the traps in the wetlands resource are...

HARWICH — Fire Chief Norman Clarke wants to make changes to the department's major equipment purchases in the capital plan which could save the town $1 million and reduce the number of fire trucks in the department. “We're putting all our eggs in one basket,” Clarke told selectmen. He proposes to change the capital plan by eliminating the purchase of a $600,000 fire engine in FY20 and a ladder truck replace...

HARWICH – What do you get when you have 17 stellar basketball players, a season of successful games, and one exciting championship victory? You get the stellar fourth and sixth grade teams in the Monomoy Travel Basketball program, both of which went undefeated in their regular seasons this winter, and their winning ways aren't over yet. The 2018-2019 season of the Monomoy boys fourth grade team began in early ...

Harwich Elementary School Fun Run The Harwich Elementary School Fun Run Fundraiser officially kicked off on Feb. 13 with a pep rally; online pledging began Feb. 6. This year the school is trying to raise $20,000. Check out www.boosterthon.com to learn more information about the upcoming Fun Run and be on the lookout for more information coming soon. Kindergarten Registration Kindergarten Registr...

CHATHAM — Teaching middle school students about heroic figures in history can be a dry proposition; after all, it was a long, long time ago that Washington crossed the Delaware. But working with local first responders and the co-author of “The Finest Hours,” Monomoy Middle School teachers have found a way to bring history to life. For the second year, Monomoy sixth graders read the young reader version of th...

For some, Valentine’s Day is just another blank square on the calendar, for others, it’s a special day to show appreciation for friends, children, parents and spouses. And for youngsters and oldsters, whose hormones are still raging, it may be a heart throbbing, love seeking adventure. Love relationships can be tough: half end in divorce or break-ups. To the unattached, Valentine’s Day may be SAD (Singles Awar...

Coast Guard Grateful For Support Editor: We would like to extend a heartfelt "thank you" to every person and business that helped the crew of U.S. Coast Guard Station Chatham. We were all completely overwhelmed by the kindness, compassion, and generosity that was extended to the active duty members and their families. We may be U. S. Coast Guard Station Chatham, but the enormous amount of support we receive...

Chatham resident and former long-time finance committee member Roslyn Coleman posed an interesting – and certainly “outside the box” – proposition at Monday's meeting of the board of selectmen. With the conversion of year-round houses to summer homes one of the factors driving up real estate prices and making it difficult for young families to stay in town, and with demolition of modest homes one of the main ways...

Imagine this scenario: An elderly widow with chronic health problems, whose only child lives in Wisconsin, retires to a house at the end of a 200-yard lane in a rural area of the Outer Cape. Does this sound like an ideal scenario if that woman needs emergency services? If she can no longer drive, how will she obtain groceries, or go to a medical appointment, church or a movie? The point is, if you are going...

HARWICH — Each foreign national employed in the U.S. under the H2B temporary non-agricultural visa program sustains the jobs of 4.6 Americans, according to Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Wendy Northcross. Northcross joined a panel of representatives of the business and political worlds Feb. 9 at the cultural center to demystify the seasonal worker program. “Without an influx of additional wo...

ORLEANS — It's been a long haul to get dredging Nauset Estuary on the public's radar, but now that the signal is strong some eager proponents are urging patience. “I ask that people in this room open their hearts and their minds to the obvious challenges that are going to be ahead of us, to not lose patience with the amount of time it will take for the permit process,” fisherman and dredging advisory committ...

Theater Supporters 'Remain Hopeful CHATHAM – They're not giving up, but supporters of the Monomoy Theatre are wondering what their next move will be now that the Main Street property is under agreement to be sold to another buyer. Exactly who that buyer is was still a mystery early this week. The buyer is not affiliated with the theater. Mary Ann Harwood, chairwoman of Monomoy Theatre, Inc., said that wh...

CHATHAM — A contractor has been hired, some of the preliminary utility work has been done, and the West Chatham roadway redesign project is expected to get underway in earnest this spring, officials say. The $4.2 million project includes the installation of roundabouts on Route 28 at Barn Hill Road and George Ryder Road, along with new sidewalks, crosswalks and a multi-use bike lane. A more controversial por...