A late-season blizzard, the third major coastal storm of the season, plastered the Lower Cape with a layer of wet snow Tuesday.   While the snow was fluffy and dry in inland areas, the snow that fell on the Lower Cape coated tree limbs and power lines.  That, coupled with winds that gusted 70 mph or higher, caused tens of thousands of people to lose electrical service. Though they are making progress restor...

Parkland, Fla., is more than 1,500 miles from Cape Cod, but a mass shooting inside the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School there on Feb. 14 shook the Monomoy School District to its core, with educators and local officials redoubling efforts to keep students safe. “I think every time something like this happens, it causes everybody to rethink,” said Harwich Police Chief David Guillemette. “It brings the issue ...

CHATHAM –Police Chief Mark Pawlina went before the board of selectmen last Wednesday to stress the need to improve security at local schools by installing bullet-proof doors and locks on classrooms and a full-time school resource officer. Pawlina had no specific spending proposal; indeed, school facilities are under the purview of the Monomoy Regional School Committee, not selectmen, so the board had no authority...

CHATHAM – Sharks in the Park will be back this summer – for perhaps the last time – but they won't be in the park. Rather, the exhibit of colorfully-decorated cut-outs of the predators of the deep, the town's most high-profile summer visitors, will be staged on the lawn of the Eldredge Public Library. Call it Sharks at the Library. The colorful, whimsically decorated five-foot sharks attract thousands of vi...

CHATHAM — Though they’re decidedly undecided about a location for a new senior center, selectmen this week endorsed a town meeting article that funds a feasibility study and the hiring of an owner’s project manager. The article asks town meeting to appropriate $100,000 to fund a site feasibility study, to pay an architect to produce a conceptual design and cost estimate for a new senior center, and to hire a...

Packing hurricane-force winds and a massive storm surge, last weekend’s coastal storm left its mark not only on the battered shoreline, but on the the people of the Lower Cape who were left to clean up the mess. Some of those people were still without electrical service at press time Tuesday afternoon. Redrawing Maps Because it brought wind gusts over 90 mph, giant surf and a storm surge of around four fe...

CHATHAM – It's hard to believe, but growing up in Norwalk, Conn., Irene Gillies hated public libraries. “When I was a kid I was allowed to walk downtown to where the library was,” she explained. “I was into Agatha Christie, and that was in the adult section, and I was told I couldn't take [a book] out unless my mother was with me. Since I was allowed to be there by myself, I was highly insulted.” Other than...

HARWICH — The Monomoy Regional School Committee has decided not to pursue a controversial plan which would have allowed future realignment of the elementary school grades without the need to bring the plan to town meeting voters. The committee made its decision about two weeks after Chatham selectmen rejected the proposed change to the regional school agreement. Under that proposal, once the regional agreeme...

With two weeks remaining before the deadline to take out nomination papers for the annual election, a race has emerged for the three-year seat on the board of selectmen. Candidates Ed McManus and Thomas Sherry have both filed and had their papers certified by the board of registrars. “I want to be the voice of the people and give them a place to vent,” Sherry said on Monday. “Every town has issues, but as a se...

HARWICH — While public awareness of the opioid crisis is better, there’s not much other positive news on that front, officials say. “There’s not an awful lot of encouraging news,” Police Chief David Guillemette told the board of selectmen recently. The board had asked for an update on the problem in Harwich, and the chief said it continues to be a top concern. “Our community here reflects the trends acros...

HARWICH — Concerns have been raised about water intrusion at the new maintenance building at Saquatucket Harbor, with Selectman Donald Howell referring to the location as “Lake Downey.” Town officials admit there was a miscalculation on the depth of groundwater in a survey provided to the town before the start of the project, but Town Engineer Robert Cafarelli said this week adjustments have been made that wil...

Housing Assistance Corporation of Hyannis is seeking to work with the community to make improvements to the homes of seniors, the disabled or veterans. The program is called “Big Fix” and focuses on helping the most needy in the community. HAC Chief Development Officer Ann VanVleck told selectmen Monday night the group chooses one community each year and team leaders and volunteers provide small home repairs, ...

HARWICH — It has been a 13-year undertaking, but the results of the persistence of the Friends of the South Harwich Meetinghouse to preserve and restore the historic South Harwich Methodist Church will be on display over the St. Patrick's Day weekend with a grand opening series of benefit concerts by the Chatham Chorale. The Chatham Chorale will perform four of their popular Celtic concerts at the meetinghouse...

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day a week early with the award-winning Celtic roots band Runa which will perform Irish and Scottish music in Harwich on March 10. “We’re bringing out all the celebration early,” says the band’s co-founder and manager Shannon Lambert-Ryan. “We’ll be playing high-energy songs and tunes from Ireland and Scotland and American Appalachian blue grass.” Runa will mark its own 10 th annive...

HARWICH – Elvis Presley caused a stir with his soulful songs and swiveling hips. William Shakespeare did the same with ribald plays like “Twelfth Night.” Now, the two have come together in Monomoy High School's rockin' spring musical “All Shook Up.” The show, which opens March 14, was chosen by art teacher Deb Donovan and music teacher Rose Richard, who serves as director and musical director, for its comedic ...

Living without electricity is fun for a while, but it gets old fast, as thousands of Cape residents can attest after last weekend's nor'easter. While some were fortunate to not lose power, many were out for 24, 36, 48 or more hours, growing colder and losing more perishable food by the hour. If you own a generator, you became the most popular household in the neighborhood. But more and more, communications and...