CHATHAM – Summer residents will hold their 71 st annual summer town meeting next Tuesday, Aug. 8. It may be the longest-running event of its kind on the Cape, and is evidence of the healthy relationship between year round and summer residents. That's also shown by the fact that Chatham has one of the region's only official, town meeting-approved advisory committees composed entirely of summer residents. “I...

CHATHAM – As expected, the break in South Beach created on April 1 has been a boon to boaters this summer. Boat traffic in the area has increased considerably now that there's a more or less direct route from Nantucket Sound to the Atlantic. But that route isn't without its problems. To get to the ocean from Nantucket Sound, boaters must first pass between Morris and Monomoy islands. According to Harbormast...

CHATHAM – In the five years since the first commercial film in 25 years was shown on the town's Main Street, the promise of the Chatham Orpheum Theater has been more than fulfilled. That was evident on a recent rainy morning as a steady stream of moviegoers – heavy on youngsters – came in and out of the theater for the morning matinee. “This is our kind of day,” said John “Kim” Doggett, seated a table in th...

CHATHAM — The Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office has confirmed the discovery of a decomposed human body inside the rescue boat on display on the lawn of Coast Guard Station Chatham. Shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday, Coast Guard personnel notified police that they had discovered what appeared to be a decomposed body in a closed compartment of the boat. “Preliminary investigation has not revealed any ev...

CHATHAM — Yet another shark sculpture from the Chatham Merchants' Association's “Sharks in the Park” display has reportedly been pilfered. The association reported Sunday that the sculpture, painted by artist Tilda Bystrom and sponsored by Pine Acres Realty, was stolen at around 11:15 Saturday night. A reward is being offered for tips that lead to the return of the shark, and the association reports that there...

CHATHAM – On a small island situated on the elbow of Cape Cod, thousands of piercing cries from birds can be heard virtually any time, day or night. This is Monomoy Island, a bird sanctuary monitored and maintained by the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. Monomoy is currently home to around 11,700 pairs of birds – that’s 23,000 individual birds, and the number just keeps growing. “We’ve been increasing tern...

CHATHAM – Someone really doesn't like some of the trees bordering the town's Seaside Links Golf Course. Several trees near the eighth green were recently discovered to have been “girdled” – the bark removed around the entire circumference – probably with a chainsaw, an action Park Director Dan Tobin said was “very intentional.” “Somebody knew what they were doing in terms of killing these trees,” he told th...

CHATHAM – After a one-year absence, the popular Taste of Chatham returns Aug. 31. A benefit for Monomoy Community Services, the event took last year off to “freshen up a bit,” said Theresa Malone, executive director of the human services agency based on Depot Road. “We got some great feedback, so we changed it up a little bit,” she said. The event, which began 30 years ago, features Chatham restaurants a...

CHATHAM – For the second time in less than three years, a group of residents has formally appealed the conservation commission's approval of a revetment along the town's eastern shoreline. Ten residents, including former conservation commission members and the town's former conservation agent, objected to the approval of a 40-foot rock wall at 602 Old Harbor Rd., an extension of a previously approved 140-foot ...

CHATHAM – A number of white sharks cruising around Cape waters are sporting not just one but two tags, which is expected to add significantly to the body of knowledge about the area's most notorious summer visitors. Along with acoustic tags that record a shark's movement when it passes by receivers deployed in waters throughout the region, Dr. Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has b...

CHATHAM – Looking for a house in Chatham? There's a nice three-bedroom, post-and-beam Cape available, and the price is pretty reasonable. In fact, you can have the house for nothing; you just have to have someplace to put it. At a time when historic homes are disappearing as new owners clear lots for new, more modern structures, it's unusual for an owner of a more contemporary home to offer it up for free, ...

CHATHAM — Using a low-tech approach, contractors may have fixed the sticky Mitchell River drawbridge. The bridge, which has a timber superstructure, periodically did not close completely, and engineers speculated that the problem was related to the wood swelling during humid or wet weather. Last Wednesday, the contractor shaved away some of the timber on the fixed portion of the bridge where it abuts the mov...