In this country we have often-strange priorities when it comes to food and feeding the hungry. In 2010, $161 billion worth of food was wasted and ended up in landfills, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This represents 30 to 40 percent of all the food produced. And in 2017, people spent over $66 billion on dieting and weight loss products. At the same time, many of us can’t conceive of what i...

HARWICH — Without a resolution with EverSource on costs associated with providing additional electric infrastructure to Cranberry Valley Golf Course, the town may have to delay implementing plans for a solar array at the new golf cart barn and the switch from gas to electric golf carts. “Everything is dictated by EverSource,” Golf Director Roman Greer told members of the golf committee in a session two weeks a...

HARWICH — The town's Green Communities designation is paying off. The Baker-Polito Administration on Thursday announced that Harwich was among 30 municipalities across the state designated as Green Communities. The town received a $152,910 grant, part of $4,866,648 in grants awarded by the administration to recognized communities' commitment to reduce energy consumption and contribute to a healthier environmen...

HARWICH — Sidewalk conditions have become a major issue here, with initiatives underway to add sidewalks and improve others in several areas in town, including in and around Harwich Center, Harwich Port to Saquatucket Harbor and along Bank Street to connect the town center with Harwich Port. Now a new initiative is underway to improve sidewalks around the elementary school. Principal Mary Oldach is seeking a S...

If you've stopped by a local tennis court lately, such as the courts by Monomoy Regional Middle School in Chatham or those at Brooks Park in Harwich, you might have seen a plastic tote with a note on it. Similar to the little book libraries around the region, the boxes are Little Free Tennis Libraries and the hope is to spread them across Cape Cod. Tennis coach Sat Jiwan Ikle-Khalsa, best known to his students...

As the holidays fade in the rearview mirror, a whole new landscape full of opportunities awaits us. Each day we choose where to focus our attention. A new year gives us a chance to see how we spent our attention last year, and how we might change at least some of that this year. Winter on Cape Cod is a lovely time to consider and contemplate the things that are important to us. There is a stark beauty in leafl...

HARWICH – There's something different about learning at Harwich Elementary School. Once a week it goes to the dogs, and the teachers, students, and even the visiting pups couldn't be happier about it. Each Friday a pair or more of tail-wagging, soft and fluffy therapy dogs trots along just ahead of their owners, ready for quick classroom visits before a longer stop in the school's reading room, where students ...

CHATHAM – When Tim Linnell bought his first fishing boat he brought his six-year-old son Sam to Maine to pick it up. “He was climbing all over it,” Tim remembers, “throwing lines overboard.” Less than 20 years later, Sam brought his dad to Gloucester to see the commercial vessel he was buying. “This is what I love to do. This is how I was always going to make a living,” said Sam at the Chatham Fish Pier ...

Though a special place, Cape Cod has problems that towns, their institutions, and above all its residents need to fix. Complex and difficult to understand, faced with conflicting and sometimes self-serving solutions, the problems often make me feel lost. Learning their nature and getting a handle on proposals to address them can set my head spinning. Official activities of town meetings, boards of selectpersons a...

It's A Wonderful Theater Editor: I would like to publicly thank the Chatham Orpheum Theater for their generous gift. My husband and I were one of 147 guests of the Orpheum at the free showing of the classic "It's a Wonderful Life." It clearly was not something the theater "had" to do, but to offer what was a "sold” out free performance was very much appreciated. It solidifies my feeling that we are very luc...

We're skeptical of decisions made on the regional or even national level that directly involve facilities or operations locally, particularly when there is little or no input from the people directly impacted. An example is the dispute over the western boundary of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. Had U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials had detailed discussions about their decision to assert jurisdiction...

Ask a teen about e-cigarettes and the chances are good they will describe them as a safe substitute for smoking. With a fruit flavored vapor smell and the appearance of a thumb drive, they are being used in school hallways, bathrooms and at home. Their use has become cool, according to Bob Collett, Director of the Cape Cod Regional Tobacco Control Program. "Kids believe the false notion that an e-cigarett...

ORLEANS — The chairman of the board of selectmen expects to “have something to say” by mid-month about running for another term. The vice chairman is already saying it. Alan McClennen and Mark Mathison, whose terms are up this May, can disagree strongly on approaches to the town's challenges, yet their probing discussions of the issues have brought clarity to and prompted action on many concerns. In the s...

ORLEANS — Since Dec. 17, the town has been preparing a treat for the ocean at Nauset Beach. It's not being delivered by food trucks but by dump trucks. “We're either going to feed the ocean asphalt this winter or feed it some sand,” Natural Resources Director Nate Sears told town meeting Oct. 29. Voters agreed to spend $1.1 million to build up the dune between the ocean and the parking lot, and then approved...

ORLEANS — The year began with the Academy Playhouse rolling out plans for a $4 million campaign that included a renovation and expansion of its historic theater that would increase accessibility. It ended with an announcement from the Academy of Performing Arts trustees that the theater would take an “intermission” for four months and its staff would be laid off. “The idea and the need and concept to renovat...

Cancelation of the midnight fireworks due to high wind and rain didn't dampen the celebratory atmosphere of Chatham's First Night Monday. Buttons sold out by mid-day and a huge crowd filled Veterans Field for the evening fireworks. This year's country and western theme permeated the event, from pony rides to performers decked out in cowboy gear.   ...