CHATHAM - Officials are investigating a cluster of COVID-19 cases among staff at the North Chatham Post Office and are urging anyone who has visited that location since Dec. 28 to watch for symptoms, speak with their doctor, and consider getting tested. On Saturday, town health officials were contacted by the Occupational Health Nurse Administrator for the New England Region of the Postal Service and learned t...

The historic Stage Harbor Coast Guard boathouse was moved early Friday from Hull to Quincy, where it will be stored until a new location can found for it in Chatham. David Doherty, who has been spearheading the move to return the boathouse to town, obtained final approval from Hull officials on Thursday to remove the structure from the shorefront Acushnet Marina, where it has been sitting for approximately 18 ...

CHATHAM – The town's business community is weathering the COVID-19 crisis despite significant losses, with some sectors down nearly 50 percent. Hardest hit are accommodations, down 40 to 50 percent, and restaurants, which are off about 30 percent, said Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mary Cavanaugh. Retail businesses are down 25 to 30 percent, she said, due primarily to the three-month closure last spri...

CHATHAM – Two of the town's largest restaurants will be closing for the winter due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Chatham Squire and Wild Goose Tavern will close at least through mid March. Knott's Landing will also close later this month. Usually, restaurants with year-round liquor licenses are required to seek permission from the board of selectmen to close for more than a few days. In the past, selectmen ...

CHATHAM — Some unusual activity at Harding’s Beach this week is a precursor to a large dredging operation expected to take place later this month or in early February. Starting Tuesday, the easternmost parking lot at the beach was closed to vehicles to provide working space for crews assembling dredge pipes. The finished pipes will be used by the Barnstable County dredge to pump sand from the Stage Harbor en...

CHATHAM – Selectmen Tuesday balked at accepting the donation of the historic Stage Harbor Coast Guard boathouse, expressing concerns about renovation and maintenance costs as well as its future use. Resident David Doherty has arranged for the 83-year-old building to be moved from Hull to Quincy, where it will be stored for up to six months, all with private funding. But what happens after that is too uncertain...

Ken Baughman has fished since he was a kid and loves being on the water. The Falmouth resident, smart and determined, bought a second-hand motor, built his own boat and launched his career as a commercial fisherman this summer. It has been tough going. “It’s virtually impossible. You really have to come in as an apprentice,” he said. That may soon be a possibility with the recent passage by Congress of the ...

CHATHAM – Demolition of the historic Stage Harbor Coast Guard boathouse, scheduled for Monday, has been put on hold. Officials in Hull, where the structure has been for more than a year, agreed to hold off on enforcement orders requiring the removal of the boathouse from a shorefront property by Jan. 1. Earlier this week it appeared that the boathouse, built in 1936 and once sheltered the historic CG36500 G...

CHATHAM – Nancy Ryder Petrus had no misgivings about getting the COVID-19 vaccine. “I'm 100 percent positive,” she said. “At my age, I'll take my chances.” On Tuesday, a team of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians took over the dining hall at the Victorian Assisted Living facility in North Chatham and set up check-in and inoculation stations so residents and staff could receive the vaccine. Along with the ...

CHATHAM — It’s more than a COVID-safe way to celebrate New Year’s Eve. This year, First Night Chatham is a tribute to ingenuity. For public health reasons, the town’s traditional family-friendly New Year’s party couldn’t happen as usual this year, but First Night volunteers and the artists they celebrate found some creative ways to provide at least a sampling of the usual festivities. To help set the scen...

CHATHAM – There's no escaping the pall the COVID-19 pandemic cast over everything during 2020. Despite a relatively low number of positive cases, Chatham did not escape the impact, economically, socially and politically. Main Street was shut down for weeks, events and celebrations were canceled, and schools went remote as officials wrestled with how to keep residents safe without rending the fabric of the comm...

CHATHAM – The historic Stage Harbor Coast Guard boathouse may not make it off the shore in Hull, where it has been sitting derelict for more than a year. David Doherty, who spearheaded the effort to bring the boathouse back to Chatham, said he was informed late Tuesday by the attorney for the structure's current owners that an agreement to purchase the building was off and that his deposit check would be retur...