CHATHAM – The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's Sharktivity smartphone app is usually pretty quiet during the winter and early spring months. The white sharks that visit Cape waters during the summer are usually long gone by the new year, and the first sightings of the season usually don't happen until June. It may have come as a surprise, then, when notifications of shark detections began showing up on the a...

CHATHAM – Especially during Friday nights in the summer, when the Chatham Band performs at nearby Kate Gould Park, the north side of Chatham Bars Avenue is lined with vehicles, many of them parked up against a stockade fence along property owned by Chatham Bars Inn. Planning Board member Robert Dubis wants to make sure those parking spaces aren't lost under a new proposal by the inn to use the former bowling a...

CHATHAM – Architecturally, the Eldredge Public Library stands out on Main Street both for its uniqueness – its Renaissance/Romanesque Revival style is unlike anything else in town – and the nearly pristine state of preservation of the original 1886 building. Upon close inspection, however, some of the details of the building have suffered with age. Specifically, the sills, sashes and windows in the 131-year-ol...

HARWICH — The planning board endorsed the proposed temporary moratorium on the sale and distribution of recreational marijuana in a public hearing this past week after receiving testimony from Police Chief David Guillemette and Sgt. Robert Brackett. At the onset of the hearing, Planning Board member Joseph McParland sought confirmation the town voted negatively last November on the state ballot question that a...

HARWICH — A prescribed burn at Thompson's Field Tuesday had to be extinguished by firefighters after it threatened to spread uncontrollably. Crews were called to the area shortly after 9 a.m. at the request of the conservation department, which was overseeing the controlled burn of brush piles in a former meadow on the town-owned conservation land. The fire was between two dirt paths and did not threaten any s...

WEST HARWICH — Facing a budget crisis, the nonprofit Cape Cod Theatre Company – Home of the Harwich Jr. Theatre is hoping that a surge in donations will stem the shortfall before it becomes a showstopper. Theater officials haven't specified the size of the deficit, which prompted them to lay off the organization's education director early this year, and forced them to pare back outreach programs. But two rec...

HARWICH — While the town is facing a larger than normal number of ballot questions seeking funding outside the limits of Proposition 2½, town officials continue to paint a good picture of the financial state of the community. The town's voter information committee brought several town officials and representatives of the two school districts together last week to gather insight into the financial state of the ...

HARWICH — Aquaculture is certainly a growth industry on the Cape and producing seed shellfish is essential to marine farming. There are ongoing efforts in the Herring River to develop a shellfish nursery and the conservation commission has now approved a mobile nursery along the edge of Allen Harbor. Fran Zarette, the owner of the former fish house on the Herring River, has been doing battle with a neighbor ...

HARWICH — The town and the board of health have been named in a suit claiming the denial of acceptance of an application for variances constitutes a regulatory taking under Article 10 of the Massachusetts Constitution and the plaintiffs are seeking damages. At issue is a long standing battle between the estate of Lois A. Jones, which owns a 21,927-square-foot lot, located at 5 Sea Street Extension, fronting on...

HARWICH ─ A sure sign of spring is a line of cars and a busy snack shack at Centeio-Baldwin Field in Harwich since it means that Harwich-Chatham Little League is back in action. This past Saturday saw players from the league's teams swinging for the fences as Opening Day was celebrated. The annual tradition began on a somber note with a moment of silence to honor John Centeio, for whom the field is named. Ce...

HARWICH ─ It's the first official varsity season of the Monomoy boys lacrosse team, and the Sharks are fighting for every goal in spite of tough losses recently to Sturgis East and St. John Paul II, though they were bolstered by a one-goal victory against Sturgis West, the team's first win of 2017. The Sharks hosted the Storm last week, falling 20-8 in a challenging outing. “We're inexperienced,” said hea...

Not very long ago, Chatham and Harwich had two separate high schools, both with competitive athletic programs. Through the years, the successes of those programs resulted in a number of commemorative banners being hung in the respective gymnasiums. In a matter of weeks, some of the last students to pass through the halls of Chatham and Harwich before becoming Monomoy Sharks will graduate, and many of those who pl...

ORLEANS ─ It is estimated that more than six million Jews – men, women, and children – had their lives cruelly and brutally ended in the Holocaust. Pierre Boenig was almost one of them, but instead became a hidden child, saved by being moved from family to family until liberation brought freedom in 1945. On April 27, Boenig will share his experiences and insight during the annual Holocaust Memorial Service, bei...

CHATHAM — Growing up on Cape Cod means different things to different people. For some people, these memories are learning to fish, digging for scallops, helping a parent run their store or sail their boat. For others, growing up on Cape Cod meant endless summers of riding bikes. Cape Cod is famous for beautiful beaches, but much of this peninsula’s beauty can be seen upon the equally exquisite bike paths. “...