HARWICH — Aquaculture is certainly a growth industry on the Cape and producing seed shellfish is essential to marine farming. There are ongoing efforts in the Herring River to develop a shellfish nursery and the conservation commission has now approved a mobile nursery along the edge of Allen Harbor. Fran Zarette, the owner of the former fish house on the Herring River, has been doing battle with a neighbor ...

HARWICH — The town and the board of health have been named in a suit claiming the denial of acceptance of an application for variances constitutes a regulatory taking under Article 10 of the Massachusetts Constitution and the plaintiffs are seeking damages. At issue is a long standing battle between the estate of Lois A. Jones, which owns a 21,927-square-foot lot, located at 5 Sea Street Extension, fronting on...

EAST HARWICH — There were no serious injuries in a two-alarm house fire on Standish Circle Saturday afternoon, and firefighters are credited with saving the family's pet dog from the blaze. As of Saturday, officials were still searching for the cause of the fire that scorched a single-family house at 16 Standish Circle. Heavy fire was showing from the house when the first firefighter arrived. The blaze had s...

HARWICH — “Harwich is bursting with flavor” is the theme of this year's Toast of Harwich, sponsored by the chamber of commerce. The event will roll once again through the streets of the town on Friday, May 5 with participants being transported to four hubs by trolleys. The trolley transportation aspect of the event was introduced last year as a way of taking people out into the community to experience differen...

HYANNIS — As they do each year, the local chapter of the American Red Cross presented medals for heroism Friday, and a number of the honorees were from the Lower Cape. Last July, Nauset Marine employee Olivia Underwood was cleaning a boat when she saw a sudden flash in a nearby boat. She rushed to find that a fire had ignited the clothes of her coworker, Joe Pires; without hesitating, she doused him with wat...

HARWICH — Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod put forward a new ownership agreement to address site control issues raised by the appeals board last week, but ran into new concerns about whether rental units in the historic Judah Chase House were legally permitted. The nonprofit is seeking a comprehensive permit for an eight-lot subdivision that would provide six-affordable homes off Route 28 in West Harwich. Two ...

WEST HARWICH — A long shadow of sexual abuse came to light this week with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River settling eight sexual abuse cases against the late Rev. James Nickel, who served as a priest in Holy Trinity Church from 1972 to 1978. Seven of the eight boys sexually abused by Nickel were alter boys. Six of them served in Holy Trinity Church and one at Our Lady of Annunciation in Dennisport. The...

HARWICH — The state Department of Environmental Protection conducted an onsite hearing last week at the Resilient Family Farm off Chatham Road at the request of owner Barry Dino Viprino, who is asking the state to reverse a conservation commission ruling that the farm is not exempt from Wetland Protection Act provisions. The commission made the decision at a hearing in mid-February after determining the farm h...

HARWICH — With $5.7 million in tax liens sitting on the books, Treasurer/Tax Collector Amy Bullock has made the decision to sell the liabilities to a private investor. The sale could provide the town with a quick infusion of money. Bullock brought the idea to selectmen nearly a year ago, pointing out state law allows municipalities to sell tax liens to private investors. She said this week the town presently h...

Cape Cod Potters, Inc. and the culinary department of Cape Cod Regional Technical High School will host the 25 th annual fundraiser Soup Bowls for Hunger to benefit The Family Pantry of Cape Cod on Wednesday, April 12 in the cafeteria at tech school at 352 Pleasant Lake Ave., in Harwich. Tickets are now available for $18 each. The “soup-line” style meal consists of a roll, coffee or tea and a warming soup se...

HARWICH — Selectmen withheld support for a request by Protect Our Cape Cod Aquifer director Laura Kelley Monday night to have selectmen write a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) protesting planned herbicide spraying to keep vegetation down along power lines. Board of Selectmen Chairman Michael MacAskill stated at the beginning of the board's meeting that they would not be ...

EAST HARWICH — It's not unusual to see young people busily at work at Pleasant Bay Community Boating, but they're typically in boats or in sailing classes – not on the roof, swinging hammers or digging up the grounds. The teens are students at Cape Cod Tech, taking part in one of the school's most ambitious building projects in recent years. The future builders, landscapers, plumbers and electricians are carry...