Jennifer Police is in for a busy summer and that’s just fine with her. On Tuesday the current assistant principal at Monomoy Regional High School was chosen to replace departing principal William Burkhead. She is set to step into her new job on July 1. Police was chosen from a pool of 12 applicants that was ultimately winnowed down to two finalists, who were then interviewed remotely, in keeping with COVID-19 ...

Sometimes when we observe nature we see things that seem surprisingly disorderly, even disruptive. After watching cute little chickadees for years, one day I witnessed one trying to kill another. It was spring, hormones were probably running high and these two birds were fighting so fiercely I was sure they were fighting to the death. One bird had the other on the ground on its back and was pounding on it whi...

HARWICH — With Memorial Day, people start to get anxious about the upcoming boating season. Harbormaster John Rendon said the early birds are already arriving at their slips in Saquatucket Harbor. “I’m expecting a good boating season,” Rendon said. “People ask me if I think it’s going to be a terrible boating season, but I think it will be an opportunity for people to get outside, on the water. I think it will...

As summer approaches, local theaters have had big decisions to make. Many local performance venues have gracefully adjusted to the social distancing demands of COVID-19 to provide remote classes, readings and auditions via online platforms like Facebook Live and Zoom. However, there is a big difference between these types of interactions and the typical theater’s summer schedule of rehearsals and performances ...

HARWICH — A Barnstable Superior Court ruling has upheld the town’s position that it does not have to maintain, repair or improve portions of Seth Whitefield and Round Cove roads. Resident Robert Fratus Jr. asked selectmen on a couple of occasions last spring to improve the roads. During those discussions, a number of neighbors protested against the request to improve the base along the dirt road section of Whi...

The New York Times recently detailed how Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin blocked a $13 billion grant to the U.S. Postal Service which was to be included in the CARES Act legislation. The Washington Post reported that the president threatened to reject the bill if a bailout for the agency was included. A compromise was reached providing the postal service with a $10 billion loan from the treasury department. ...

East Inlets Treacherous, Stage Harbor Channel Still Being Dredged CHATHAM – In 1620, treacherous shoals off Chatham forced the Mayflower to turn north rather than head south toward the vessel's original destination in the Hudson River Valley. Shoaling, both inside and outside the town's harbors, still plagues mariners nearly 400 years later. Boaters will have to exercise caution navigating just about all of...

The traditional ceremony honoring the nation's war dead will be replaced this year by a “virtual” Memorial Day commemoration broadcast on television and streamed online. To accommodate social distancing mandates and protect the health of residents, the virtual commemoration of Memorial Day will be recorded and shown on Channel 18 and YouTube on Monday, May 25, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. “Staff has been working o...

May Be Town's Oldest House CHATHAM – William Nickerson came to the Cape's elbow in the mid 1600s to found his own community. He built a homestead for himself and his family on the shores of Ryder's Cove, and later welcomed others who settled throughout the area that is now Chatham. The first settlers' homes are lost; all that is left of Nickerson's house is an outline in the earth and some artifacts discove...

CHATHAM – Twenty years ago, 23 larvae of the federally threatened northeastern beach tiger beetle were taken from a beach on Martha's Vineyard, the last known population in New England, and released on South Monomoy Island. Subsequent transplanting of tiger beetle larvae from the Vineyard to Monomoy took place annually through 2004. To say that the tiger beetles took to Monomoy would be an understatement. The ...

SOUTH CHATHAM — Defying the state closure, Bodystrong Fitness opened for business today. The owner of the gym said the business needs to make money to survive. “We opened against the governor’s order because we have to at this point. It’s been two months,” majority owner Colin Eitelbach said. “I have to open for my family’s sake.” Under the phased reopening plan announced by Gov. Charlie Baker Monday, busin...

Cape Task Force: Expect Muted Summer Season With COVID-19 numbers starting to improve, the state took the first steps toward reactivating Massachusetts’ mothballed economy this week. On Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker announced the start of a careful process of reopening shuttered businesses and restarting public activities, with the goal of reaching a “new normal” by the end of July. But for that schedule to ho...

CHATHAM — One of the town’s longtime “country doctors,” Thomas Halliday, III, M.D., died last Monday from complications of COVID-19. He was 86 years old, and was still seeing patients until shortly before he fell ill. Dr. Halliday is described as a dedicated physician who cared about the people in his practice. Perhaps best known as a longtime partner at Chatham Medical Associates on Crowell Road, Dr. Halliday...