Joseph Galatie texted his mom and said she had to get down to the dock quick. Galatie, 21, is a fisherman and worked at the Chatham Fish Pier for Red’s Best over the summer. He knows how irresistible fresh-caught fish can be, and when he heard a local captain was bringing in scallops, it was an opportunity not to be missed. When his mom, Sarah, grabbed her youngest son, Nicholas, 11, and got to Saquatucket ...

Stay-at-home Advisory, Business Closure Extended To May 18 The human toll of COVID-19 continues to grow, but key public health indicators hint that the virus emergency could be starting to level off on Cape Cod. “We’re starting to see that plateau start to happen,” Barnstable County Health and Environment Director Sean O’Brien said Tuesday. But at the town, county, state and federal level, public health off...

HARWICH – As the seniors of Monomoy Regional High School count down to their last days, so, too, is Principal William “Bill” Burkhead, who has been named the new superintendent of Scituate Public Schools, effective July 1. Burkhead shared the news with district families in a letter sent by email Tuesday. “In early January, 2014, I received a phone call from Superintendent Carpenter offering me the position ...

HARWICH — The former Handler's Auto Parts property along Route 28 in Harwich Port has been sold, but it will remain in the family. Jeffrey Handler announced on social media this past last weekend that the property was sold to himself and other members of the Handler family. What the future plans are for the property are not clear. “Not sure at this point,” Handler wrote on social media. “We need to do a lot...

HARWICH — Health Director Meggan Eldredge has received many calls from people urging the health board to put in place a regulation requiring the wearing of masks in public places. But while the board of made it clear last week that people should be wearing masks in public, it stopped short of issuing a mandate. Enforcement would be just too difficult, board members said. Board of Health Chair Pamela Howell ...

HARWICH — Critical budget items will be the focus of the June 22 annual town meeting. Other articles, especially those likely to generate prolonged discussion, will be postponed. That is, if the town can hold the session on June 22. “I’m still skeptical we’ll have a June annual town meeting,” Selectman Michael MacAskill said last Friday. If the meeting is held, Board of Selectmen Chairman Larry Ballantin...

HARWICH – With the COVID curve far from flattened in the United States, and Massachusetts continuing to see new cases, it came as no surprise when Governor Charlie Baker canceled schools across the state on April 21, but Monomoy Superintendent Dr. Scott Carpenter was ready. “It’s one of those things that on some level I think was a bit of a relief,” he said. “I, personally, went into this thinking it was going...

Shortly after Governor Charlie Baker announced on April 21 that schools across the state would remain closed through the end of the academic year, Monomoy baseball catcher Sean Gould drove to Whitehouse Field, crouched down behind home plate, and held his arm out as if prepping for one more catch. It’s a catch that won’t be coming. On April 24, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) vote...

For the first time since World War II, there will be no summer baseball in Chatham. In fact, there will be no baseball at any of the Cape’s ballparks until 2021 after the Cape Cod Baseball League officially canceled its 2020 season amid concerns regarding COVID-19. News of the cancellation was announced by the League on April 24 via a statement on their website that reads: “ The Cape Cod Baseball League Execut...

The coronavirus pandemic has created extraordinary conditions that require a response unlike any seen before. With many people out of work and cut off from friends and family, the need for volunteers to meet the demand on food pantries, the need for personal protection gear and services provided by local governments and nonprofits has never been greater. Fortunately, local residents have stepped up and are makin...

“If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air, Quaint little villages here and there, You’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod...” The lyrics are sweet and the sentiment is chowder-thick in the gold record-earning anthem to seaside charm crooned by Patty Page back in 1957. If ever there were an unofficial theme song for the Cape, “Old Cape Cod” is unmistakably the one, adapted into lyrics by Milton Yakus ...

Do you know someone who is going above and beyond in this extraordinary time? Let us know! For the next few weeks we'll be highlighting those who do good deeds in our local communities by selflessly helping their neighbors. Drop us an email at editor@capecodchronicle.com if you know of any good deeds you'd like to see exposed. Snowy Owl Offers Coffee Care Packages Customers of Snowy Own Coffee Roasters c...

Local residents have been extremely generous to organizations providing relief to those in need during the coronavirus crisis. But it's also important to recognize that nonresident homeowners—summer folks—are also helping in a major way, even though they weren't exactly welcomed here when the when the current situation began to unfold. Despite being admonished for leaving places like Boston, New York and New J...

Preparation Is The Best Strategy Editor: I have been told that rather than recommending that people wear masks in grocery stores towns have to mandate their use in supermarkets. Several cities and towns in Massachusetts currently  have such mandates in place.  As I walk around shopping I’m surprised how many people there are that ignore the recommendation to wear a mask. With summer coming I have a great co...

ORLEANS — When it comes to the future of its former operations center on West Road, the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank “is really not inclined to work with the town to develop an (affordable housing) project long-term before they can get out of it,” Director of Planning and Community Development George Meservey told the affordable housing trust April 21. Options are still on the table, however. Meservey said...

ORLEANS — The town’s affordable housing trust entered “final negotiations” with Cape Abilities to purchase outright a 1.25-acre property at 107 Main St. that could be developed as affordable rental apartments, trust chairman Alan McClennen confirmed last week. The proposed purchase was on the agenda of the board of selectmen, whose approval is required, in an executive session held last night (April 29). At th...