HARWICH — Brooks Academy Museum will celebrate the 175 th birthday of the historic Brooks Academy building with its seasonal opening Sunday. Native son Sidney Brooks supervised the construction of the building, completed in 1844, which initially served as the Pine Grove Seminary. Today the building belongs to the town of Harwich and is operated as a museum by the Harwich Historical Society. Sunday's opening w...

HARWICH — Selectmen agreed Monday night to establish an ad hoc noise containment committee to develop a policy designed to prevent noise from outdoor entertainment venues in commercial districts from disturbing people living in adjacent residential neighborhoods. Residents who live in and around Harwich Port are especially concerned about the increased volume of music emanating beyond the business district. Ov...

HARWICH — The cemetery commission this past week voted to return the 2.25 acre parcel that had been approved for a pet cemetery on Queen Anne Road to the board of selectmen. That action puts to rest the year-long battle among factions in town over whether a municipal government should be involved in such an enterprise. There has been considerable debate about whether the town did due diligence in developing a ...

HARWICH — While selectmen have approved an increase in a couple of disposal area fees, the board balked at placing a $10 fee on stickers for the Treasure Chest, the town's swap shop. The board also agreed to hold the line on the price of residential disposal area permits for this year. The proposed $10 fee for the Treasure Chest sticker drew debate last week, but questions were raised about the nature of the f...

HARWICH — There was more of a congenial atmosphere last week than previously in the planning board session with the proposed developers of a retail store proposed on Route 28 in West Harwich, even as the board contemplated sending the project to the Cape Cod Commission as a limited discretionary referral. Harwich Retail LLC is proposing to build a 7,489-square-foot store on property at 48 and 52 Route 28; the ...

HARWICH — The town and Monomoy Regional School District received good news this week from bond rating firm S&P Global, which upgraded the town's credit rating to AAA. That could mean substantial costs savings on borrowing. The change is particularly welcome with the town embarking on a multi-million dollar sewer project in the coming years. “Having the AAA rating ensures that the town will enjoy low int...

HARWICH — A proposal to change the harbor management plan to allow the sale of beer and wine at the Dockside Seafood Shack at Saquatucket Harbor drew a storm of protest in the public hearing before selectmen last week. On a split vote, selectmen agreed to make the change to accommodate the beer and wine license at the snack shack. Harbormaster John Rendon said the amendment was being made to address the pro...

HARWICH — Hinckley’s Pond is expected to receive an alum treatment in September to remove excessive phosphorus which has lead to numerous algae blooms and fish kills in the pond in recent years. Town officials were successful, after a couple of proposals, in getting the community preservation committee to provide funds from the recreational category of the Community Preservation Act for the treatment. The comm...

PLEASANT LAKE — Compared to the heavy political, financial and legislative lifting needed for the Cape Cod Tech school building project, hoisting a several-thousand-pound steel beam in place for the traditional topping-off ceremony Thursday was clearly the easy part of the job. State Sen. Julian Cyr spoke about special legislation he pursued with ...

PLEASANT LAKE — Compared to the heavy political, financial and legislative lifting needed for the Cape Cod Tech school building project, hoisting a several-thousand-pound steel beam in place for the traditional topping-off ceremony Thursday was clearly the easy part of the job. State Sen. Julian Cyr spoke about special legislation he pursued with ...

SOUTH HARWICH — The Harwich Conservation Trust is asking residents to keep an eye open for eastern box turtles and spotted turtles, two declining local species that face a variety of mostly man-made threats. If you find one, officials are asking you to snap a photo and record some information, all of which will be relayed to the state's Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. The eastern box turt...

HARWICH — The neighborhood dispute between The Port Restaurant and Bar and the abutting Perks Coffee Shop and Beer Garden in Harwich Port is heating up. The attorney for The Port filed has a petition seeking enforcement action relating to an outside bar the owners claim is encroaching on their property and is therefore illegal. The sparing between the two establishments intensified over the winter when Perks m...