PLEASANT LAKE — There's no escaping the fact that a new building to replace the aging Cape Tech school will be costly. But according to projections released last week, it will be a bit less costly than initially thought. Owing to more detailed design information and some constructive pencil-sharpening, cost estimates for the new school have dropped from about $141 million to around $128 million. Speaking at la...

HARWICH PORT — The Wychmere Harbor Shellfish Lab is home to hundreds of thousands of growing soft shell clams, oysters, quahogs and mussels. Every summer since 1994, Assistant Harbormaster and National Resources Director Heinz Proft has hired three high school student interns to help run the lab for six weeks. This year’s interns are Kestrel Powers, Samantha Mahoney and Aidan Kotoski. From 8:30 in the morning u...

HARWICH — The planning board has approved modifications to the use and site plan special permits for Camelot, LLC's proposal to build a 12,400-square-foot mixed-use structure in the center of Harwich Port. The project, which now calls for four rental units on the first floor, and four three-bedroom residential units on the second floor, has been in the planning process for more than a year. But it ran into a r...

HARWICH — The town's pet burial grounds to be located on Queen Anne Road are beginning to take shape and could be open in the month of October, providing a tranquil sanctuary for deceased animal companions. The cemetery commission sought and was granted the use of the 2.5-acre parcel of town-owned land to establish the pet burial grounds in town meeting a little more than a year ago. In recent months the lot w...

HARWICH — With cease and desist orders issued by the building department a couple of months ago for mining and other commercial uses taking place on land in the Six Pond Special District, the appeals board had their hands full last week sifting through the details. Clifford DaLuze told the board he and his family own the property in question. He said his father has owned that land since the 1940s and after his...

HARWICH ─ If you've ever wondered what happens to all the baseballs launched over the fences at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, wonder no more. It's likely Walker has them. If not, he'll surely find them soon enough, along with lost tennis, lacrosse, and other balls at local fields. Walker is a 10-year-old black lab owned by Bruce Young, an EMT with the Harwich Fire Department. “My wife wanted a dog,” said Y...

HARWICH — “It's with a little joy, a little sadness and a little apprehension,” Health Department Director Paula Champagne said on Monday of her decision to retire after 30 years of service to the town, which included developing that department. Among her accomplishments, Champagne said was “building a department that is seen as a professional model across the county.” Champagne worked for the Barnstable Co...

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...

HARWICH — Brooks Free Library will not be getting a facelift this summer after bids for the work came in above the appropriated amount. The town has $490,000 set aside for the project. In the first round of bids, the low bidder was $143,200 above the allocated funds. A second round, which elicited a single bid, also came in too high. “There was only one bidder and the total cost of the project to include th...

HARWICH — Officials here have received word from the state Attorney General's Office that the temporary moratorium on recreational marijuana approved in May's town meeting is in compliance with the state constitution, even as the state legislature put forward changes last week to the recreational pot law approved in a ballot question in November. The town's moratorium placed a ban on the creation of recreation...

HARWICH — The sign outside now identifies the former middle school as the Harwich Cultural Center, and members of the community are being invited inside to explore the transition during an open house from Thursday to Saturday of this week. “There seems to be quite a bit of interest,” Community Center Director Carolyn Carey, who has been charged with leasing rooms in the center, said this week. “I'm excited abo...