CHATHAM – A crowd gathered Sunday morning on the front lawn of the First United Methodist Church to witness the rededication of the facade of the historic downtown building. Pastor Barbara Kszystyniak blessed and dedicated the newly renovated front of the building “to the glory of God, the people of Chatham and people of faith.” The crowning achievement of a multi-year restoration, renovation and preservati...

It's no secret that housing is a problem both locally and Cape-wide. The hot market for seasonal homes has driven costs beyond what's affordable for most working people, and the supply of modest, reasonably priced homes is woefully inadequate. Specifically targeting the need for affordable – and livable – year-round homes for working people, Cape Cod Young Professionals, in partnership with the Cape Cod and Is...

CHATHAM — At some point in the future, Lower Cape residents and policymakers will be engaged in a very difficult debate. With rising sea levels, key roads like Route 28 – and entire neighborhoods – may need to be relocated away from the encroaching waves. And that debate will need to be informed by extremely reliable, detailed data. To that end, federal officials are planning to install a state-of-the-art tide...

New Book Profiles 139 Local Residents What makes a Cape Codder? A new book, “I Am of Cape Cod: People and Their Stories,” sets out to answer that question. From Native American Wampanoags to 12 th generation descendants of colonists to recent washashores, 139 people across the Cape tell their stories using what author Anne LeClaire of South Chatham calls, in her introduction, “a collage of voices.” The ...

CHATHAM – For years, downtown merchants worked to lure pedestrians to the east end of the Main Street business district, lobbying the town for crosswalks and an extension of the sidewalk on the north side of the road and holding special promotions to highlight shops in the area. Slowly the improvements came, with the January approval of the town's purchase of the Eldredge Garage property for parking at the eas...

CHATHAM – It's been 13 years since Lynne Fletcher O'Brien started Pantry Partners. With the help of local summer real estate rental companies, the program continues to collect leftover food from summer visitors to help stock the shelves at the Chatham Food Pantry. The idea behind Pantry Partners is deceptively simple. When people leave their short-term summer rentals, ask them to drop off unopened food or pape...

CHATHAM — Gov. Charlie Baker last week received some tangible evidence that many local residents and visitors oppose the federal taking of more than 3,000 acres of state-owned tidal flats and submerged lands west of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. Baker's office received a petition with 1,013 signatures urging him to actively support H.R. 1157, a bill introduced by Congressman William Keating, D–9 th ...

CHATHAM – Hoping to send a message to would-be thieves and pranksters, officials this week filed charges against a 21-year-old man who allegedly stole one of the sharks from the Sharks in the Park art exhibit. On Monday, police charged Kevin J. Martin of Bellingham with wanton destruction of property, a misdemeanor, after an incident in the early morning hours of July 4 that saw the allegedly stolen shark reco...

CHATHAM — Officials say a minke whale that spent last Thursday in Stage Harbor before dying in the Oyster River apparently had an underlying health condition that caused it to become stranded. The 18-foot long whale was first spotted in the area of the Eldredge trap dock before 6 a.m. Thursday, and onlookers watched in amazement as it swam under the floats at Old Mill Boat Yard. When it emerged from under th...

More than a postcard backdrop, the Cape's working waterfront is an economic engine. And it deserves continued financial support from the state, said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who is also the chairman of the state's Seaport Economic Council, which is making sizable investments in the shorefront infrastructure in Chatham and Harwich. Polito visited Old Mill Boat Yard in Chatham and Saquatucket Harbor in Harwich Por...

CHATHAM – Like anything new, it's taking a little time for boaters to get used to the fact that they need to pay a fee to access the town's waterways. A waterways user permit is now in effect, required for any vessel launched from a public ramp. The permit costs $150 for nonresidents and $50 for residents, and covers all vessels except canoes, kayaks and any unregistered boat. While officials are empowered ...

CHATHAM — Like a sticky cupboard on a humid day, the new Mitchell River drawbridge sometimes jams when it closes. Open for just over a year, the bridge cost taxpayers about $14 million, and town officials sometimes have to park a truck on top of the span to force it to lower fully. “Clearly that's not something we want to have to do every time,” Natural Resources Director Robert Duncanson said. Though the...