As predicted, COVID-19 case numbers driven by the ultra-contagious Omicron variant appear to have peaked on Cape Cod, as they have in other parts of the country. Because of a two-week delay related to the typical progression of the disease, death rates continue to climb, however. As of last week, the 14-day percent positivity rate on the Lower Cape had begun to generally decline, standing at 18.4 percent in Ha...

CHATHAM – Four duck hunters and their dog were rescued Tuesday afternoon when their boat overturned and dumped them in the frigid waters off Scatteree town landing. All four of the men were unharmed, and after being brought to the fish pier and warming up in ambulances, declined further treatment. It was the second day in a row the fire department received a call for a duck hunting boat in distress. And on ...

CHATHAM – Last year, $1 million went into the town's affordable housing trust fund from community preservation proceeds. This year, the trust is asking for more, up to 80 percent of all of the revenue raised through the Community Preservation Act. With anticipated revenue of $1.5 million – $1 million from the 3 percent property tax surcharge plus a $500,000 state matching grant – the request, if approved by th...

CHATHAM – When he was hired as park superintendent in November 1984, Dan Tobin worked for an elected park commission and had just one full-time staff member. Together with summer staff, they took care of the town's parks and beaches. The recreation operation was a separate department under an independently elected recreation commission. Over the next decade, the department evolved and grew, first taking over m...

If you can't find single plastic bottles of water at your favorite local retail store, it's not because of supply chain problems. On Jan. 1, a ban on the sale of single-use plastic water bottles of less than one gallon went into effect in Chatham. The town joins Orleans and Harwich – which implemented bans in September – and six other Cape towns in prohibiting the sale of individual plastic bottles of water. ...

CHATHAM — The next version of the waterways bylaw needs to address the shortage of moorings in town, while protecting the interests of commercial fishermen. That was the message the waterways advisory committee received in a public hearing last Thursday. The committee is revising Chapter 265 of the town bylaw, which regulates everything from abandoned vessels to waterskiing. But most of the bylaw, and most of ...

Officials Authorize Wider Study Of Parking Issues CHATHAM — It’s like a law of physics: in a town where parking is at a premium, a parking ban in one place causes an equal and opposite traffic jam elsewhere. Having followed the advice of the traffic safety committee by banning parking on both sides of Barcliff Avenue, the select board acknowledged that losing the parking spaces will only prompt the fish p...

CHATHAM — On a 3-2 vote Tuesday night, the select board backed a plan to set aside the former water department office at 127 Old Harbor Rd. for affordable or attainable housing. Their decision was clouded by complex legal issues surrounding the property, as well as some philosophical divisions among board members. Town meeting voters, who overwhelmingly endorsed a nonbinding proposal in June to use the prope...

COVID Case Surge Breaks Records Meeting in emergency session last Thursday, the Chatham Board of Health ordered the mandatory use of masks in businesses, clubs and other places of assembly, including stores, restaurants, bars, churches, libraries and municipal buildings. The mask mandate replaces a previous recommendation that face coverings be worn in indoor public places. In its own emergenc...

CHATHAM – Since June, the cemetery department has been without an administrator. The department's day -to-day tasks have been left to Dan Tobin to handle in addition to his regular duties as director of the parks and recreation department. Tobin, however, is retiring at the end of the month, and members of the cemetery commission worry that without a dedicated administrator, there will be no one to meet with g...

Future Phase Would Connect To West Chatham CHATHAM — The bikeways committee is peddling a plan to improve safety by separating vehicles from bike trail users along George Ryder Road. The committee endorsed a plan to build a separate path alongside the road to carry pedestrians and cyclists through the Old Colony Rail Trail without requiring them to mix with vehicle traffic. Currently, the bike path follows ...

CHATHAM – Years ago, when folks wanted to move a building, the most efficient way was to take it apart piece by piece – a process known as flaking – and reassemble it at another location. Because it is so labor intensive, that's not done often these days, when it's easier to use modern machinery to simply pick up and move a building in one piece. However, the historic barn at 68 Shell Dr. is too fragile to mov...