Author Andrew R. “Bob” Black did a bit of preliminary research on the steps of the Boston Public Library before embarking upon his new book “Buried Dreams: The Hoosac Tunnel and the Demise of the Railroad Age” (Louisiana State University Press, 2020). He had been researching another topic when “this Hoosac Tunnel kept popping up. It was a political football,” he recalled during a telephone interview last week....

One of my favorite places to walk is an old farm that was bought by a town as conservation land. They lease land to sheep and goat farmers and there are chickens sometimes as well. The pastureland is kept open, mowed naturally by its inhabitants. There are a few trees for shade though they have no low-lying branches, due to above mentioned inhabitants. It’s a very peaceful place, surrounded by woods and trails th...

Officials are predicting a huge increase in food insecurity on the Cape this fall as a result of the pandemic. And with local unemployment rates still extremely high, many more local residents may face financial difficulties in the coming months. We've assembled a list of local nonprofit organizations that are ready to help local residents in need. Click on the links below to get information about applying for...

CHATHAM – A lot of attention is being focused lately on the preservation of the Monomoy Theatre building and the adjacent Washington Taylor House. There are several other old buildings on the property, though most are not particularly historic. With one exception. At the rear of the property — actually on a separate lot facing Depot Road — is a tiny, 645-square-foot three-quarter Cape that occupies a very swee...

CHATHAM – Once in a while a local gets to experience a one-of-a-kind Cape Cod day after working all summer while the tourists enjoy this glorious place we all call home. We were invited to join friends Jerry Evans and Erin Hilley on Jerry’s Carolina Skiff to go on a shark spotting adventure. Our hosts had heard there were numerous shark sightings off Chatham’s shores so off we went on a sunny breeze towards “J...

CHATHAM — “It's hard being closed,” said Kevin McLain, executive director of The Chatham Orpheum Theater. But don't get the wrong idea. The Orpheum is committed to staying closed until it can safely reopen to provide the same kind of experience for which it is known and loved. The number one priority of this community theater is exactly that. Community. It's that commitment to community which has inspired the ...

When times are uncertain and the daily cable TV news just seems to go from bad to worse, doesn’t the company of a friend sound comforting? In the Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre’s latest offering, a 10-minute play titled “Just Give Me a Minute,” two friends contemplate the “Golden Girls option.” Instead of living their lives separately and facing the future on their own, why not pool their reso...

If determination had an image, it would be of a cancer patient still smiling in spite of enduring harsh treatments that don’t come with a guarantee of success. Behind them would likely be family and friends in their Jimmy Fund Walk shirts, raising funds for research and taking steps they hope will one day lead to a cure. Brenda Azure and her daughters Sienna and Alexa know that walk well, for they’ve completed...

CHATHAM – If you use the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app, you might have noticed some new alerts. Along with the familiar blue square with a white fin indicating a white shark sighting are new yellow boxes that when clicked, offer information on tagged sharks detected by real-time acoustic receivers. The new feature officially launched on Sept. 14, allowing users to access real-time detectio...

After visiting the observation deck at the Chatham Fish Pier, three siblings climbed around the metal sculpture honoring fishermen and talked about all they had learned. Frances Leyshon, 8, was able to say what fish was coming in — dogfish — and “they filled the whole back of the boat.” Emerson, 6, knew commercial lobstermen came in as well, and had gotten to see a boat unload. And Grayson, 4, who like h...

Not long ago, Faye Anderson was sitting in the office of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance chatting about her new lobster business with her dad, longtime fisherman Mike Anderson, while people across the Cape watched from home. Faye, who owns Chatham Lobsters with her fiance Brock Bobisink, was describing how many of the lobsters that get caught in traps are set free alive; too small, for example, or...

It’s that time of year again, when summer sighs and slumps in exhaustion, birds fill up on bugs and seeds, and spiders look for places to hang out inside your home, garage, shed or vehicle. Before you scream and grab the poison bug spray, consider this. Spiders eat a lot of insects, many of the same ones that bug you. Psychologists, biologists and other observant people will readily admit that many peopl...