HARWICH ─ Before the start of the Monomoy football team’s game Friday against Avon/Holbrook, team captain Nathan Amaker gathered the team in a huddle and led them in a passionate victory chant. It was magic that worked for the Sharks, who cruised to a 41-16 win in their inaugural outing in the Mayflower Athletic Conference Comprehensive. “They’re an undermanned team, and our kids came out and did what they h...

HARWICH ─ The power of youth was evident in the Monomoy girls varsity soccer game against St. John Paul II when an eighth grader proved instrumental in the Sharks’ Cape and Islands League win. Monomoy bested their opponents 3-0 last Thursday in a dominant outing in the Shark Tank in which Monomoy held sway over their visitors for much of the game, even as the Lions heightened their defense in the game's seco...

Publishers often send us books here at The Chronicle hoping for a review or feature story. Often, the books have little or nothing to do with the interests of the paper or our coverage area. “The Handy Boston Answer Book” is a good example; fun book but Boston is well outside our territory; I can only speculate that it arrived here because we're located in eastern Massachusetts. So when “Bad Little Children's ...

Although the recent decision by the Attorney General's Office regarding an Open Meeting Law complaint filed by a resident against the Chatham Airport Commission was technically correct, we are concerned that the narrow interpretation of the law could lead to the limitation of public debate. Chairmen of town boards and committees are, for the most part, generous in allowing public comment at meetings, sometimes...

Details Of W. Chatham Plan Lacking Editor: This past weekend, I watched the meeting sponsored by the Chatham Planning Board and HBDC to learn what landscaping was being proposed for West Chatham. While the DPW director spoke about the limits of work, he never addressed any specifics of MassDOT’s 100 percent design. The announcement stated this meeting was “to review proposed landscaping – West Chatham Roadw...

Donald Trump has gone to great lengths to protect his “brand,” which has appeared on everything from steaks to hotels to the failed Trump University. But as the Republican nominee for president, Trump's name is now more or less public domain and now graces some quite interesting properties. Together with an entirely new sub genre of news coverage that is barely indistinguishable from entertainment reporting, they...

Harwich Elementary School MRHS Student Leaders Complete Community Service At HES A “shout out” to Monomoy High School student leaders who donated their time and effort to their elementary school community by providing a much appreciated 'childcare' opportunity for parents/guardians. Their community service hours, once again, made our Curriculum Nights a success!   Chatham Elementary School ...

The manatee that visited Harwich waters over the summer got a surprise last Thursday when it was captured by marine mammal rescue experts and shuttled to the Mystic Aquarium for rehabilitation. And then it had a surprise for researchers. It's pregnant. On Tuesday, veterinarians were conducting a routine medical exam on the manatee, named “Washburn” after the island in Falmouth where it was rescued. “An u...

CHATHAM -- State shark biologist Dr. Greg Skomal, working with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, tagged the season's 20th shark today. The 15-foot shark was tagged off the northern tip of North Beach Island at about 1:30 p.m. Skomal is in the third year of a five-year population study which aims to get a handle on the number of white sharks that frequent the waters off Cape Cod during the summer.  Since...

After just one year on the job, Monomoy Athletic Director Brendan Case has resigned, according to an email sent by Superintendent Scott Carpenter to families in the school district on Saturday (Sept. 24). The email states that the reason for Case’s resignation, effective Sept. 23, is to “explore other options and have more time with his young family.” The email further states that a formal job posting for a...

CHATHAM – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe issued a statement Wednesday saying he was disappointed that the town is seeking federal legislation to resolve the dispute over the western boundary of the Monomoy Wildlife Refuge. The Fish and Wildlife Service worked “tirelessly” with the town to develop the comprehensive conservation plan for the refuge, he said, resolving significant differences th...

CHATHAM — When there's a vacancy on the department, Police Chief Mark Pawlina hires people, not robots. And because police officers are human beings, there's a risk of racial bias. The key, Pawlina said, is to be aware of that risk, to train officers to use their authority sensitively and judiciously, and to make sure the general public understands how law enforcement works. Speaking with a small group of...

CHATHAM — An unsigned pamphlet that was bulk mailed to Chatham residents this week blasts Harbormaster Stuart Smith for allowing his brother's boat mooring in Ryder's Cove to be used by Selectman Seth Taylor. In the style of a parody, the mailing advertises the “Selectmen's Choice Access Mooring Plan,” or SCAM, and encourages people to call the harbormaster to “see if you qualify to jump the line and get a m...

CHATHAM — In 2014, voters purchased land near the Mitchell River drawbridge for a wide range of potential uses, from a commercial fishing vessel offloading pier to a handicap-accessible platform for recreational anglers, a new home for the town's shellfish upweller, or a new dock for Coast Guard boats. Now, with the property already in regular use by the public, town officials are asking stakeholders to help th...

Last Friday researchers tagged the 19 th great white shark of the season, a 15-foot animal located off Nauset Beach in Orleans. According to the Chatham Shark Center, that brings the total number of sharks tagged in Cape waters since 2009 to 97. Since 2014, the state Division of Marine Fisheries, working with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC), has identified 200 individual sharks, 20 of them so f...