CHATHAM – The time frame under which town government operates, the fiscal year, runs from July 1 to June 30. The fiscal year that ended a few weeks ago was one of the most tumultuous in the town's history, beginning and ending with unprecedented natural disasters that will have local implications for years to come. A year ago today, 90-mile-per-hour winds blew through town after a tornado touched down in neigh...

HARWICH PORT— In an emergency order issued Tuesday, the board of health mandated that masks be worn in the heart of the village. The emergency order is based on an uptick in COVID-19 cases reported since Friday. Masks are required along Route 28 from Bank Street west to Lower County Road. The area is a small but busy section of the village with a lot of pedestrians, said Health Department Director Meggan Eldre...

HARWICH — The planning board is hoping to prepare at least some of the provisions necessary to implement the West Harwich District of Critical Planning Concern in time for adoption in the September annual town meeting. But last week Town Planner Charleen Greenhalgh told the board that it was unclear whether the board of selectmen will even be accepting additional articles for the meeting warrant. The planni...

HARWICH — A year ago, the fire department was dealing with a fuel tanker rollover that spilled 8,000 gallons of fuel near the entrance to the Star Market less than a half mile from the Sisson Road station. Last Saturday, the department was dealing with another rollover, but this time it was in department command. Approximately 100 people were on hand at the Robert A. Peterson Memorial Firehouse to wish 43-year...

HARWICH — Police say a man wanted for murder in Bridgeport, Conn., was hiding out in a home in the Headwaters neighborhood before he was apprehended last Thursday. The man was identified as 25-year-old Jefton Brown, who is charged in connection with the killing of a man whose body was found in East Lyme, Conn., on June 2. Deputy U.S. Marshal Neil Sullivan said Brown has ties to Harwich and was under surveill...

CHATHAM – While fog kept many folks onshore last weekend, there were some who were undaunted by it and the winds that whipped the waters off of Chatham into frothy whitecaps. To the members of the Monomoy Yacht Club, conditions might not have been perfect, but they were good enough to get in a Sunday afternoon sailboat race. A little more than half a dozen intrepid sailors and their crew headed out of Stage Ha...

As parents, teachers, students, and communities grapple with the complexities of reopening schools, I find myself watching parents and their young out in nature. It’s easy to do right now. They’re all around us. Many people think young birds should be smaller than adults, but the truth is that they achieve adult size sooner than independence, just like my young adolescent grandsons. Birds especially...

Today is the one-year anniversary of the tornado that tore through a 2.8-mile stretch of town from just west of Harwich Center, following Route 39 into East Harwich and into Chatham. With winds churning at 110 miles per hour, trees posed no resistance, littering and blocking roadways, making vehicle passage nearly impossible. “It was probably the worst natural disaster the town has seen and I worked through Hu...

“Poetry’s medium is not merely light as air, it is air: vital and deep as ordinary breath.” – Robert Pinsky  We could all use more poetry and music in our lives during these strange days, and this week we’re in for a memorable treat. On Thursday, July 23 at 7 p.m. Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre will sponsor the Voices of Poetry, hosted by VOP Founder/Director and host of Poet's Corner on r...

“Well, she got her daddy’s car And she cruised through the hamburger stand now Seems she forgot all about the library Like she told her old man now And with the radio blasting Goes cruising just as fast as she can now   And she’ll have fun, fun, fun Til her daddy takes the T-bird away.”   In the summer of 1963, the Beach Boys exploded on the popular music scene. “Surfin’ Safari” had ...

Like cancer, racism is most dangerous when it is hidden. When it is overt, bigotry can at least be confronted. But insidious racism can exist in a community that prides itself on inclusion and tolerance. The signs can be subtle, like the defacement of local Black Lives Matter lawn signs, or letters to the editor that marginalize the protest movement.  At The Chronicle, we try to call out such behavior when we ...

Stay Engaged Editor: OK, I’ll admit it: I am a little worn down by the world. Obviously, COVID-19 has made life harder, much more for some of us than others for sure, and we each have our own family/life/work challenges to face. But there is more to all this, and for me it’s the backdrop of the constant and relentless assault on truth, science, responsible environmental regulation and the very democratic pr...

ORLEANS — Snow Library has been fighting back against the pandemic with on-line programs and curbside pick-up, the latter just expanded to six days a week. But the global crisis has prompted the state's library commissioners to forgo a new round of planning grants, one of which Snow trustees intended to seek in their effort to expand or build a new library. “We have been told by the Massachusetts Board o...

ORLEANS – For the first time since it was sold by a Monomoyick leader to English colonists in 1711, Sipson Island in Pleasant Bay will officially open for public access on Saturday, July 25. The Sipson Island Trust (SIT) purchased most of the island for conservation in June, culminating a major fundraising campaign led by the Friends of Pleasant Bay and the Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts. Mark Robi...

ORLEANS – With every day the COVID-19 pandemic continues, finding good news can be a challenge, but for small business owners in Orleans, there is hope courtesy of the Small Business Hardship Fund. According to Noëlle Pina, executive director of the Orleans Chamber of Commerce, funds are coming from the Orleans Police Relief Association in order to help small businesses stay afloat during difficult times. ...

HARWICH —Police say a man wanted for murder in Bridgeport, Conn., was hiding out in a home in the Headwaters neighborhood of Harwich before he was apprehended Thursday. The man is identified as 25-year-old Jefton Brown, who is charged in connection with the killing of a man whose body was found in East Lyme, Conn., on June 2. Deputy U.S. Marshal Neil Sullivan said Brown has ties to Harwich and was under survei...