Band Concerts, Weekly Music Festivals Begin Once again this summer, music lovers can take in a different show just about every night of the week, many of them free. While national acts are on display at venues such as the Melody Tent and the Payomet Performing Arts Center, many of the local shows provide an opportunity to hear Cape musicians that play in a variety of genres and styles. Along with the tradit...

While on average four people each year are killed by sharks, over 100,000 sharks are killed by humans. In fact, 32 percent of open ocean sharks, including the scalloped hammerhead and the whale shark, have been hunted in such high numbers that they are now in danger of going extinct. These are some of the facts behind ocean conservationist William McKeever’s new book “Emperors of the Deep: Sharks—the Ocean’...

Ivan Bassett has some amazing stories to tell. In this week's front-page interview with Alan Pollock, the World War II veteran details his experiences aboard the Navy's 673-foot heavy cruiser USS Boston, which saw significant action in the Pacific Theater, right up to anchoring in Tokyo Bay following the surrender of Japan. While life on the cruiser was better than on the battlefield, Bassett, a 93-year-old Ch...

Brooks Library Offers Thanks Editor: The staff and Trustees of Brooks Free Library are having an open house  on Saturday, June 29 from 2 to 4 p.m. to celebrate the completion of our restoration and preservation project, and would like to invite the people of Harwich as well as the community preservation committee to join us in this celebration as a thank you for all your support with this project.  Light re...

“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high” Well, you won’t find the high cotton here in Chatham, but the rest is possibly true. George Gershwin wrote the tune and DuBose Hayward added the lyrics in 1934. Hayward also wrote the novel “Porgy” on which Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” was based. All of a sudden it is the end of June and Chatham summer is upon us. All the sign...

ORLEANS — People can walk their dogs before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. on a town property adjacent to Skaket Beach now that the selectmen have scaled back what was a round-the-clock seasonal ban at Willie Atwood Road and Wildflower Lane. It was standing room only in the Nauset meeting room June 19 as more than 70 opponents of the restriction called on the board to reverse its recent decision. Testimony from dog...

EASTHAM — The selectmen of Eastham and Orleans have reached an agreement to move forward on dredging Nauset Estuary. Exactly where the shovels will dig and other issues are unresolved, but the boards, meeting June 24 at Eastham Public Library, saw the wisdom of letting the permitting process provide the information they'll need to make such decisions. At the same time, the boards green-lighted a variety of fie...

CHATHAM — A Minister’s Point property owner whose land is threatened by erosion is keeping up the legal fight against dredging in Chatham Harbor. Essentially denying an earlier appeal by property owner Gerald Milden, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued a superseding order of conditions late last month that would have allowed dredging to go forward in an area inside the North Inlet...

CHATHAM — Pledging to bring a new senior center proposal to voters this fall, Selectmen Monday outlined a plan to find a better site for the building, even if it’s smaller than the Middle Road parcel rejected by town meeting last month. The town will issue a renewed request for proposals (RFP) from private property owners who would like to sell or potentially even lease land to the town on a long-term basis....

CHATHAM – A decision on allowing a food truck downtown during the summer Mondays on Main music nights was postponed this week. The board of selectmen are tentatively scheduled to take up the topic June 24, pending submission of followup paperwork by the Chatham Merchants Association, the event sponsor, specifically regarding the food truck location and a traffic and pedestrian safety plan. Selectmen last week ...

CHATHAM – The town is justly proud of its history and the historical assets that it has preserved. This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, residents and visitors will have the opportunity to experience special events and open houses at the town's museums and other sites during the annual History Weekend. Sponsored by Historic Chatham, a cooperative effort among the town's museums and non-profit historical and cultur...

CHATHAM – A request to demolish a historical house that was the subject of a 2013 documentary will go before the historical commission next month. “Starboard Light” is the name of the circa 1860 house at 154 Champlain Rd., as well as the title a film by Nick Fitzhugh, whose family owned the property for decades before selling it in 2010. The house was a gathering place for several generations of the Fitzhugh f...

CHATHAM – In reaction to the recent cutting of trees along town-owned land bordering the Seaside Links Golf Course, the board of selectmen is considering a strict policy punishing those who encroach on municipal property. Officials detailed a half dozen incidents where abutting property owners encroached on town land; four of them bordered the golf course, and two others involved land near town cemeteries. ...

Additional Contract May Be Necessary To Complete Work HARWICH — Frustration levels are high as town officials examine how to move forward with funding the remainder of the phase two sewer project for East Harwich. On Monday night selectmen approved the first construction contract for the work, even though the town may not have enough money to cover a second contract to complete the project. Selectmen approv...

HARWICH — Lower County Road was referred to is being in “shambles” at the selectmen’s meeting on Monday night, but the board could not make a decision on how to move forward with repairs. The town’s department of public works put together a plan to reconstruct a 2.25-mile section of the road, which was assessed as being in deplorable condition and which had recently been dug up to accommodate water department ...