CHATHAM — On Monday, the April Fools of Chatham Fire Department and their legions of friends will be taking their annual frigid dip in Nantucket Sound for a worthy cause. The event, taking place on April 2 instead of April Fools Day to avoid conflicts with Easter, invites the public to get a serious jump on the 2018 swimming season by dashing into the icy waves for a quick swim. Participants and spectators a...

CHATHAM – Although still in preliminary, town officials were urged last week to keep moving forward on plans for new commercial fishing offloading facilities in Stage Harbor. “We need this tomorrow,” fisherman and Aunt Lydia's Cove Committee member Jim Nash told the waterways advisory committee last week. The group was getting its first look at plans for renovations to the Eldredge trap dock, which the town...

CHATHAM – Peter Cocolis' career in the aerospace industry, where he worked on commercial and military programs, and in the Air Force, where he worked at the Pentagon and participated in the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks in the 1980s, taught him both to ask a lot of questions and not be afraid to make mistakes. “You learn by doing and you learn by making mistakes,” he said. Currently chairman of the plannin...

HARWICH – At the Parent University forum hosted by Monomoy Schools on March 21 the prevailing message was clear: student safety is the top priority not only for educators and administrators, but also for local police and fire officials. “Most of us have kids in the district,” said Chatham Police Sergeant William Massey. “So we share your concerns as parents.” The event was held not only to address parent fe...

CHATHAM – The public reaction to the consolidated waterways regulations under review for the past year was somewhat underwhelming. A few people showed up at the waterways advisory public hearing on the 54-page document held at the community center last Thursday, but the response seemed somewhat muted compared to what officials anticipated. Perhaps the fact that the committee had already announced that it wo...

Erosion Threatens Refuge's Morris Island HQ CHATHAM – It was a year ago Sunday that an early spring northeast storm punched a hole in South Beach, about a quarter mile south of Lighthouse Beach, creating a new inlet in the barrier beach that runs along the town's eastern shoreline. After a series of winter storms, that barrier beach looks more like Swiss cheese than a solid line of dunes. The April Fool'...

CHATHAM — A 27-year-old man with addresses in Chatham and Norwood, Mass., faces a laundry list of criminal charges after his arrest Wednesday morning, hours after he allegedly stole one vehicle and then carjacked another. At his arraignment in Orleans District Court last Wednesday, Joseph M. Bopp pleaded not guilty to 14 separate charges. He was also the subject of several outstanding warrants for alleg...

CHATHAM — When mariners in distress call Coast Guard Station Chatham, more often than not, there’s a volunteer on the other end of that lifeline. While the local flotilla of the Coast Guard Auxiliary provides all kinds of support for the station, it also provides a team of qualified watchstanders who answer the telephone and monitor the marine radio for emergencies. And these volunteers, with varied backgrou...

CHATHAM — Come snow, rain, wind or high water, there’s one thing on the minds of many Lower Cape residents as the latest coastal storm passes through: will the lights stay on? In what appears to have been the largest power outage since Hurricane Bob in 1991, the Cape saw nearly 120,000 people without power during the height of last week’s blizzard, with the entire town of Chatham without electrical service f...

CHATHAM — In a bid to dig out from a growing pile of bills from recycling companies, the town is seeking to increase a variety of fees at the transfer station. While the change will affect per-item charges for residents recycling old mattresses, tires and electronics, the biggest increase will be for local commercial haulers looking to bring in mixed recyclables. For those two companies, Benjamin T. Nickerso...

CHATHAM – With the arrival of a new ambulance and two new pumper trucks, the fire department finds itself with one of the most up-to-date vehicle fleets in the area. When the department's tower truck, which went into service just about a year ago, is factored in, more than half of its vehicles are new. That's unusual, since the department typically spreads out its vehicle purchases. However, there was a lon...

CHATHAM – With one week left before nominations for the annual town election close, there are candidates for every position on the ballot, but as of early this week no contested races. Planning Board Chairman Peter Cocolis became the latest to join the slate of candidates, taking out nomination papers for the one-year term on the board of selectmen left vacant by the resignation of Amanda Love. Cocolis was una...