HARWICH — The new council on aging director will be a familiar face to many seniors and to those who frequent the community center. Selectmen on Monday night confirmed the appointment made by Town Administrator Christopher Clark of Emily Mitchell as the new director. Mitchell worked the front desk at the community center for more than three years before entering Cornell Law School in August 2017. After a year ...

HARWICH — There is one local election on the Nov. 6 state election ballot. Voters will be asked to chose Elizabeth Harder or Peter Hughes to serve as the town's representative to the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates. Hughes presently holds the seat, having been appointed by the board of selectmen last June to fill the unexpired term created when Selectman Ed McManus decided to give up the post to run fo...

They're both held town elective office, they've both served on the county assembly, and they both want the available seat on the board of county commissioners. But that's where the similarities end between incumbent commissioner Leo Cakounes of Harwich and challenger Ron Bergstrom of Chatham. “I believe there's a huge separation on how we conduct ourselves as elected officials,” Cakounes said. “It's a clash...

HARWICH — Residents of Harwich Center on Friday urged the historic district and historical commission to deny the certificate of appropriateness application for the demolition of the gas station building in the village and construction of a 4,000-square-foot mixed use commercial and residential structure in its place. “My suggestion is to reject the plan outright and help the applicant to do it right,” Paul Do...

HARWICH – Their last home game didn't quite end as the Monomoy girls varsity field hockey team might have wanted, but they didn't let a tough 3-0 loss to Barnstable stop them from claiming the 2018 Cape and Islands League crown with a commanding 6-0 victory against Nantucket on Sunday. Monomoy put up a fierce battle against their Barnstable visitors in Monomoy's senior night showdown, but the Div. 2 Sharks cou...

HARWICH – The Monomoy girls varsity soccer team knew going into its Oct. 26 game against Nauset that the Warriors would be tough opponents. But they gave it their all, in spite of a 4-1 loss, before closing out their regular season with a 2-0 shutout of the St. John Paul II Lions on Monday. The Sharks took an early 1-0 lead against the Warriors last Friday in a game moved up a day because of the season's first...

HARWICH – Thursday nights are not your typical football night, at least on the high school stage, but it worked out just fine for the Monomoy Sharks, who held on for a 14-12 victory in non-playoff post-season action. “It was an overall team effort,” said Monomoy head coach Larry Souza. “Everybody firing on all cylinders, doing their jobs, and getting it done.” Souza said the game went down to the final seco...

Their name is pronounced DIE-squith, and for sure a whole lot of D’Ysquiths die during the Academy of Performing Arts in Orleans' regional premiere of Tony Award winner “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” by Robert L. Freedman and Steven Lutvak. This funny show that comes complete with slamming doors, clever music and one actor who plays nine D’Ysquiths, male and female, many of whom meet their ends by vari...

Clarifies Marconi CPA Grants Editor: In Michael Tompsett’s response (“Many Benefits of CPA,” Oct. 11) to my letter (“Ideas To Encourage More Families,” Oct. 4), he appears to have missed my point and has further misrepresented a critical fact.  While his recitation of recent CPA funds expended for affordable housing is no doubt accurate, they represent sunk costs which have not significantly furthered the o...

We don't know if election endorsements from newspapers, ours or any others, do any good, especially given the way most people regard the press today. There's not a lot to say about local races anyway, as there are few that are contested on the Tuesday, Nov. 6 ballot. All of the contests are for state or county office. The latter is growing more and more anachronistic. That's why we think Harwich resident Leo Cako...

Larry Marsland, executive director of the Lower Cape Outreach Council, speaking recently at the Federated Church of Orleans, made two comments that caught my attention. Many Council clients work in jobs that pay $8 to $12 an hour, inadequate to meet the cost of living on Cape Cod. Furthermore, even after they attain greater earning power thanks to programs the LCOC offers, they may not find housing that is afford...

NORTH CHATHAM – When seniors find themselves needing additional health care support, assisted living or even nursing care, it’s an emotionally challenging time of life. But it’s even more stressful for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender elders who also worry about discrimination or harassment. Broad Reach Healthcare, which operates Liberty Commons and the Victorian assisted living residence, is establishin...

ORLEANS — For Charlie McFarlane, the senior center is a good place to visit. The Air Force veteran, who's 86, started coming to a chair fitness class several years ago and now regularly attends Day Center programs. “I haven't met a soul that wasn't a nice person,” said McFarlane. “What's interesting about this place is that it's like someone's standing at the front door saying, 'Come in.'” On Nov. 7 at 11...

ORLEANS — “A house divided against itself, cannot stand,” Abraham Lincoln said in 1858. Yet that's what town meeting did Oct. 29, standing to vote on an article banning recreational marijuana sales and illuminating a deep divide in the community. After more than an hour of passionate, sometimes tearful argument, voters approved the ban by 270 to 255. Then they amended and passed by voice vote rules and regul...

ORLEANS — “A house divided against itself, cannot stand,” Abraham Lincoln said in 1858. Yet that's what town meeting did Oct. 29, standing to vote on an article banning recreational marijuana sales and illuminating a deep divide in the community. After more than an hour of passionate, sometimes tearful argument, voters approved the ban by 270 to 255. Then they amended and passed by voice vote rules and regul...

CHATHAM -- Storm-driven waves flanked a new sand dune meant to protect the Little Beach area from flooding on Saturday, as winds gusted to more than 50 miles per hour and heavy rain pelted the region.   Water flowed around the north side of the new dune and into a low area adjacent to condos on Seagull Lane.  The sand was placed along the stretch of beach in front of the condos as a short-term measure whi...