CHATHAM — Selectmen have reluctantly called a special town meeting for Oct. 3 at 1 p.m. at Veterans Field, despite their concerns about holding a large public gathering during the pandemic. Required by law because it was forced by petition, the meeting will ask voters to consider creating a Main Street Theater Overlay District that will allow the redevelopment and restoration of the historic Monomoy Theatre. ...

CHATHAM – The town recreation department and Monomoy Community Services are teaming up to help working families by sponsoring after-school programs for kids in kindergarten through grade seven. Having reliable daycare is critical for parents who work, a realization that led the two agencies to work together to adapt their usual after-school programs to suit the pandemic. Previously Monomoy Community Service...

WEST CHATHAM — When the Rocking Unicorn Nursery School opens its doors to students on Sept. 14, as it’s done for the last 40 years, there will still be loads of storybooks, art supplies and colorful toys. But there will also be masks, hand sanitizing stations and all sorts of special provisions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Each morning, youngsters will line up on the socially-distanced footprin...

CHATHAM — As part of a $1.2 billion federal airport safety and infrastructure grant program, the Federal Aviation Administration is sending a $347,000 check to the Chatham Municipal Airport. The funds will be used to conduct an airport-related environmental study. The environmental assessment is designed to find environmental impacts that might result from the implementation of parts of the airport master pl...

Property Owners Likely To Appeal CHATHAM – More than a year after 62 trees were illegally cut down on a coastal bank overlooking the Mill Creek marsh, the conservation commission last week issued a final enforcement order requiring restoration of the area. It seems likely, however, that the property owners, Bryan and Maria Donohue, will appeal the order, following a contentious meeting last week during whic...

CHATHAM – The Chatham Squire, one of the town's most iconic restaurants, closed Sunday after a staf member tested positive for COVID-19. After briefly reopening Monday, the restaurant voluntarily closed again Tuesday after three more employees tested positive. Owner Todd Hearle said the iconic restaurant would remain closed until at least Thursday to allow additional deep cleaning and disinfecting. “We have...

One of the takeaways from a public meeting the Monomoy Regional School District held in 2018 to get input into its strategic planning process was that the 100 or so people in attendance weren't representative of the school population. “There was a strong majority of white faces in the room,” recalled Marc Smith, the district's director of curriculum. “Even with the work we'd done with outreach, we were mis...

CHATHAM – The owners of the Monomoy Theatre property say they have collected enough signatures to call a special town meeting and were expected to turn in petitions for certification this week. Greg Clark said he was waiting to collect a few remaining petitions before totaling the signatures. “We expect to have all of the original signatures together by Wednesday and file the paperwork by Thursday,” he wrot...

CHATHAM – After five years at the helm of the Atwood Museum and the Chatham Historical Society, Executive Director Danielle Jeanloz stepped down on Tuesday. “I have decided to retire to a more leisurely Cape Cod page,” she said in an announcement sent to historical society members Sunday, adding that she plans to remain involved “as a volunteer, member, and donor.” “It's never a good time,”...

And Aren’t Deterred By COVID-19 Protections On the roads and in Main Street shopping districts, the summer of 2020 was, not surprisingly, a bit muted. But aside from the social distancing and the face masks, things almost looked normal on the beaches. Last weekend, despite the cooler late summer weather, people flocked to the shoreline in impressive numbers. Nauset Beach in Orleans had hund...

CHATHAM — The town has raked in a $295,000 grant from the Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council to help design a new shellfish upweller facility at Stage Harbor. The grant will fund the next phase of engineering for the upweller and multi-use waterfront facility at 90 Bridge St. The funds will cover designs, permitting and bid document preparation for the projected $3.4 million project. The final plans m...

CHATHAM – It's official: Whales are more popular than sharks. Or, at least, people were willing to pay more for the painted and decorated whales on exhibit in Kate Gould Park this summer than they were for the sharks that populated similar displays in the past. Auction of the whales in this year's Chatham Merchants Association-sponsored Art in the Park brought in a total of $82,480, which beat out the previ...