HARWICH — They might seem like a repository of dry information, but annual town reports can shed light on a community’s values, its problems and its strengths. Now, thanks to a program of the Boston Public Library, many of Harwich’s old town reports are now just a click away. Through a portal known as Digital Commonwealth, and at no expense to the town, the reports back to 1866 have been scanned and can be v...

If you think art is something to be appreciated from afar, it’s time to roll up your sleeves, pick up a paint brush, knitting needle, or chisel and start creating. That’s the message from the organizers of ArtWeek, a 10-day, state-wide festival that gets underway tomorrow. While there are ArtWeek demonstrations, classes and lectures around the Cape, the Lower Cape—and Harwich in particular—will be a center of ...

HARWICH — Bank Street residents told selectmen last week that they do not want parking for Harwich Port employees in their residential neighborhood. Responding to a recommendation from the ad hoc parking committee to use the former fire station lot at 203 Bank St. for employee parking, several residents expressed concern for increased traffic, increased speeding, late night disturbances and the lack for pedest...

Stop & Shop supermarkets in Orleans, East Harwich and around southern New England are open and the shelves are rapidly being stocked, days after the company and workers reached agreement on a three-year labor deal, ending a 10-day strike. On Easter Sunday, the corporation and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union announced that negotiators had reached tentative agreement, subject to ratification vot...

HARWICH – Isaiah Stafford first started playing basketball in the fourth grade. After watching professional basketball on television, he was ready for his own Paul Pierce moment, eventually parlaying his skills honed on a Harwich travel team into a spot on Monomoy's varsity team. This week, Stafford was selected to the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Association All-Academic Team, proving that hard work pays off...

Just in time for the fifth Independent Bookstore Day on April 27, three bookstores in Chatham, one in Harwich Port and two in Orleans have joined the new Cape and Islands Bookstore Trail, a brainchild of Caitlin Doggart-Bernal who, along with her mother Joanne Doggart, owns Where the Sidewalk Ends Bookstore and Children’s Annex in Chatham. “It should be a lot of fun for readers who love to seek out indie books...

The Cape’s rich heritage of public libraries and independent bookstores has not escaped the notice of one bestselling author who frequently visits friends on the Cape and will soon give a talk here. “I’m particularly struck by how many thoughtful readers of books seem to live in the towns of Cape Cod,” Andrew Dubus III said in an email interview last week. “I’m also struck by its volume of public libraries and...

First impressions of Rob Sennott, the retired publisher of The Barnstable Patriot who died last week at 74, were lasting. He looked as tall and solid as a New York skyscraper, and his deep voice echoed the rumble of the city's subway. When wife Toni and he arrived to take charge of one of New England's oldest weeklies, it was as if the Chrysler Building had settled its Art Deco eminence in a much flatter lands...

“On the road again Just can’t wait to get on the road again Goin’ places that I’ve never been Seein’ things that I may never see again And I can’t wait to get on the road again.”   Willie Nelson wrote and sang “On the Road Again” which won the Grammy for Best Country Song in 1980. The song has become one his most popular recordings. Willie, even at 85, still does lots of touring and spends lots ...

Editor's note: Letters to the editor regarding candidates for the May 21 Harwich town election will be published through our May 9 edition. Letters about the May 16 Chatham town election will be published through the May 2 edition. The deadline for letters to the editor is Monday at noon. End Pet Cemetery Debacle Editor: There is an expression “when in a hole, stop digging.” This expression is quite ap...

In 1974, the Chatham Conservation Foundation purchased Strong Island in Pleasant Bay for $700,000, saving 46 acres of upland and another 78 acres of marsh from development. A three-acre area was reserved for a house for the previous owner and his heirs, but otherwise the island remains open to the public. It is considered a jewel, and it's hard to imagine today what the bay would be like had the island been devel...

Middle School 'Empty Bowls, Full Hearts' Fundraiser May 1 On Wednesday, May 1, from 5 to 6:30 pm, Monomoy Regional Middle School will host its second annual “Empty Bowls, Full Hearts” fundraiser to raise money for and awareness of hunger issues on Cape Cod.  For many families, monthly income is used for fixed expenses, such as mortgage or rent payments, insurance, and utilities. What little additional i...

ORLEANS – The historical commission, in the midst of an effort to promote historical districts that could preserve the town's built heritage, faced another request to demolish a part of that heritage last week. The board imposed a one-year demolition delay on the 1810 Alice Collins Hanvey house at 21 Great Oak Rd. in East Orleans. Members did the same for the historic Kendrick-Sparrow House more than a year ago, ...

ORLEANS — The mystery buyer-backer helping the Friends of Pleasant Bay preserve Sipson Island isn't a stranger. Rich Nadler and his wife Cheryl have lived year-round in Orleans since 2010. He's visited Sipson as a member of the town's conservation commission. “We had hoped to remain anonymous,” he wrote to The Chronicle last week, “but with the evolving role of the town in funding the conservation restr...

                Alice Anne “Tootsie” (Marconi) Clack, 84 of Franklin, formerly of Chatham, Ann Arbor, Mich. and Windsor Locks, Conn., passed away peacefully on Monday April 1, 2019 with her daughter by her side at The Branches of North Attleboro after declining health.                  Born on March 3, 1935 in Hartford, Conn., Alice was daughter of the late Angelo Francis “Wuzzy” Marconi and Alice Louise (Bold...