This year, the annual Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) will take place on Aug. 5 and 6, and local riders are getting in shape for the event. Cyclists from across the country will be participating in the bike-a-thon, which ranges from 25 to 192 miles, depending on the route. Among those riding this year are Chatham residents Paul Potash and Al Etre and Harwich residents Jennifer Hastings, Melissa Morse and Steven Conne...

A visit to Monomoy Island reveals a stunning landscape rich with wild birds, swaying beach grass, and miles of soft sand. But to call it “pristine” would be an exaggeration. To know why, all one has to do is look among the grasses and seashells anywhere on the beach. You'll find a wealth of trash. Some people might say, 'So what?' and chalk it up to modern life. But on the island, and off, trash has become a h...

CHATHAM — When she's not spending time with her family in Chatham or volunteering for the town's Independence Day parade committee, Nicole Gullotti is helping fight a disease that afflicts more than 5 million Americans. She's part of a Boston University team that's conducting a host of studies and clinical trials to better understand Alzheimer's disease. Gullotti's job is to recruit participants for the vari...

ORLEANS — A baseball story is more than a play-by-play and a box score. It's a summertime ritual that enfolds more stories than you can imagine. Take last week's Cape Cod Baseball League game at Eldredge Park between the circuit's top two teams, the Orleans Firebirds and the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. With just a week to go until the last regular-season contest on Aug. 3 (the Firebirds are in Chatham tonight t...

ORLEANS — Creating housing options that match the town's changing demographics is not impossible, a consultant told the planning board and affordable housing committee last week. Karen Sunnarborg, who's been working on a detailed housing study for Orleans, presented a clutch of short- and longer-term strategies at a public hearing July 25. “So much of this came out of the lively discussions and terrific conver...

CHATHAM — The Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office has confirmed the discovery of a decomposed human body inside the rescue boat on display on the lawn of Coast Guard Station Chatham. Shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday, Coast Guard personnel notified police that they had discovered what appeared to be a decomposed body in a closed compartment of the boat. “Preliminary investigation has not revealed any ev...

CHATHAM — Yet another shark sculpture from the Chatham Merchants' Association's “Sharks in the Park” display has reportedly been pilfered. The association reported Sunday that the sculpture, painted by artist Tilda Bystrom and sponsored by Pine Acres Realty, was stolen at around 11:15 Saturday night. A reward is being offered for tips that lead to the return of the shark, and the association reports that there...

CHATHAM – On a small island situated on the elbow of Cape Cod, thousands of piercing cries from birds can be heard virtually any time, day or night. This is Monomoy Island, a bird sanctuary monitored and maintained by the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. Monomoy is currently home to around 11,700 pairs of birds – that’s 23,000 individual birds, and the number just keeps growing. “We’ve been increasing tern...

CHATHAM – Someone really doesn't like some of the trees bordering the town's Seaside Links Golf Course. Several trees near the eighth green were recently discovered to have been “girdled” – the bark removed around the entire circumference – probably with a chainsaw, an action Park Director Dan Tobin said was “very intentional.” “Somebody knew what they were doing in terms of killing these trees,” he told th...

CHATHAM – After a one-year absence, the popular Taste of Chatham returns Aug. 31. A benefit for Monomoy Community Services, the event took last year off to “freshen up a bit,” said Theresa Malone, executive director of the human services agency based on Depot Road. “We got some great feedback, so we changed it up a little bit,” she said. The event, which began 30 years ago, features Chatham restaurants a...

CHATHAM – For the second time in less than three years, a group of residents has formally appealed the conservation commission's approval of a revetment along the town's eastern shoreline. Ten residents, including former conservation commission members and the town's former conservation agent, objected to the approval of a 40-foot rock wall at 602 Old Harbor Rd., an extension of a previously approved 140-foot ...

CHATHAM – A number of white sharks cruising around Cape waters are sporting not just one but two tags, which is expected to add significantly to the body of knowledge about the area's most notorious summer visitors. Along with acoustic tags that record a shark's movement when it passes by receivers deployed in waters throughout the region, Dr. Greg Skomal of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has b...

CHATHAM – Looking for a house in Chatham? There's a nice three-bedroom, post-and-beam Cape available, and the price is pretty reasonable. In fact, you can have the house for nothing; you just have to have someplace to put it. At a time when historic homes are disappearing as new owners clear lots for new, more modern structures, it's unusual for an owner of a more contemporary home to offer it up for free, ...

CHATHAM — Using a low-tech approach, contractors may have fixed the sticky Mitchell River drawbridge. The bridge, which has a timber superstructure, periodically did not close completely, and engineers speculated that the problem was related to the wood swelling during humid or wet weather. Last Wednesday, the contractor shaved away some of the timber on the fixed portion of the bridge where it abuts the mov...

HARWICH — Selectman Jannell Brown was in court Wednesday answering an assault charge, the second time she has done so in as many years. Brown pleaded not guilty to a single misdemeanor count of assault and battery on a family or household member, and a single charge of malicious destruction of property valued at less than $250. She was ordered to stay away from the alleged victim, and will return to court fo...

HARWICH — Nearly two years ago, Department of Public Works Director Lincoln Hooper proposed a “stand-alone” project for the reconstruction of Lower County Road. By “stand alone,” he meant town funded, without any help from state highway grants. Hooper was before selectmen Monday night to provide a status report on that project. He cited numerous deficiencies in the roadway, including poor surface conditions, s...