EAST HARWICH — How do you choose a ripe melon? When is the best time to buy green beans? What's the easiest way to cut a pineapple? When it comes to questions about produce, Al has the answers. That's one reason Al Garnett, the produce manager at the East Harwich Stop & Shop supermarket, will be traveling to Chicago in June to receive the 2017 Retail Produce Manager Award from the United Fresh Produce As...

HARWICH — The District One Hazardous Material Response Team was called to the fire department headquarters on last Friday afternoon after a local resident received a white powdery substance in the mail. Fire Department Captain Joseph Mayo said the letter was sent from Las Vegas to the local resident, who Mayo said he could not identify because of potential application of the Health Insurance Portability and Ac...

HARWICH — The town's legal counsel has declared the community preservation committee did not violate the state's Open Meeting Law as asserted by resident Donald Howell in a complaint filed with the committee in early February. Howell questioned the legality of the actions taken by the committee in its Jan. 26 meeting in which it made several recommendations to include articles in the annual town meeting warran...

HARWICH ─ Upperclassmen at Monomoy Regional High School will find a new set of graduation requirements and a slightly changed curriculum after the school committee voted 5-3 to approve changes that will begin in the next school year. The new graduation requirements lower the amount of credits necessary to graduate from 100 to 94, and bring about a slightly different curriculum that makes government class an ...

HARWICH — Almost every week, Youth Counselor Sheila House has a conversation with a parent who's concerned that their teenager is spending too much time on their phones or computers. A panel of experts will take up the topic following a screening of the film “Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age,” next week. The event happens on Wednesday, March 22 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium at Monomoy High School. ...

HARWICH — The owner of the Resilient Family Farm off Chatham Road has filed a request with the state department of environmental protection for a superseding order after the conservation commission determined a previous owner's horse paddock was not exempt from the Wetland Protection Act and requires commission review. Farm owner Barry Viprino is contending the use of the paddock for horses establishes agricul...

HARWICH – The conservation commission will be doing battle in court over an enforcement order issued this past summer relating to an addition it estimates to be nine feet from a wetland. The commission issued the enforcement order after the work was done without a building permit. Conservation Administrator Amy Usowski said she was busy this past week preparing documents for the suit filed by the property owne...

DENNIS – Selectmen from Harwich, Dennis and Yarmouth heard a clear message from their wastewater consulting firm relating to the cost savings associated with building a tri-town wastewater treatment plant that would be located in Dennis. “It’s a watershed moment for the towns,” said David Young, vice president of CDM Smith, Inc., the wastewater consultant working with the three towns in developing comprehensiv...

 Strong Winds, High Seas Batter Lower Cape      CHATHAM — Though barely a flake of snow fell, Tuesday's strong storm downed scores of limbs and trees and tore up east-facing portions of the shoreline with high surf.  The afternoon high tide inundated low-lying coastal areas, flooded portions of Old Wharf Road in North Chatham and splashed over Route 28 in East Harwich and South Orleans. Winds...

HARWICH — Selectmen made clear their opposition to a petitioned article that would direct the town not to use its resources to enforce federal immigration laws unless police officers have a criminal warrant or evidence of probable cause of another crime. The petitioned article was filed by Harwich resident Elaine Dickerson, who said it is part of a Cape-wide initiative to put the concept before voters. The pet...

HARWICH — A proposal to establish a Cape Verdean Exhibit/Cultural Center, potentially in the Harwich Middle School, received strong support from selectmen Monday night. The proposal was put forward by Barbara Burgo and Jane Teixeira-Henry. Burgo worked as one of the curators in collaboration with the Harwich Historical Society in hosting So Sabi , a Cape Verdean exhibit at Brooks Academy in 2012. “During t...

HARWICH — Selectmen agreed Monday night to tiptoe through the funding of phase two of the comprehensive wastewater management plan, slated for the May annual town meeting. The board voted not to put forward a single request for $34 million to implement phase two, which calls for the design and construction of sewers in the Pleasant Bay watershed; payment to the town of Chatham for the purchase of treatment cap...