HARWICH – The planning board is two members short, but tempers are flaring over efforts to fill one of the seats. Selectmen are being asked to consider a reduction in membership, foregoing the need for appointing additional members. At the selectmen’s Feb. 28 meeting, the board’s interview committee nominated Sandy McLardy for the planning board appointment. Selectmen Chairman Michael MacAskill took issue with...

HARWICH – A town meeting petitioned article seeking to ban hunting in the Bell’s Neck Conservation Area drew a lot of debate before the conservation commission last week. But the petition may face a setback in its goal, based on a legal opinion issued by Town Counsel John Giorgio. “To the extent that this article seeks to mandate that hunting not be allowed on the Bell’s Neck Conservation Area, it is not in pr...

HARWICH – The Toast of Harwich will return in April. The annual event that showcases local restaurants’ cuisine and sampling of wines and beverages was postponed for two years due to the pandemic. Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cyndi Williams said the festive event will return to the Wequassett Resort and Golf Club on Friday, April 22, and there will be plenty of local restaurant participants and wine ...

ORLEANS – The Nauset boys hockey team’s season was seconds from being over. Trailing by a goal in the final minute of Saturday’s Division 3 state tournament first-round matchup, Nauset sophomore Cam Connery scored for the 13 th -seeded Warriors with 32 seconds remaining to tie the game at 2 and force overtime against No. 20 North Middlesex. After eight minutes of scoreless 4-on-4 overtime, Nauset capitalize...

HARWICH – Most of the Monomoy girls basketball players had never seen an atmosphere like it. Those who have hadn’t seen anything comparable since 2020, before COVID-19 altered the way games were able to be played on the court and watched from stands. Masks were optional for players, coaches and spectators alike during the 26 th -seeded Monomoy girls basketball team’s Division 4 state tournament preliminary-rou...

ORLEANS – The Cape Cod Furies girls hockey team trailed for nearly all 45 minutes of their postseason game. The eighth-seeded Furies suffered a 1-0 loss to 25 th -seeded Reading on Saturday in the opening round of the Division 1 state tournament after senior Maddie Rzepka scored the Rockets’ lone goal just 39 seconds into the contest. The Furies created plenty of scoring chances in the remaining 44:21 of ac...

ARWICH – It was the type of performance the Monomoy girls basketball team had grown to expect out of Melissa Velasquez. Still, it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Sharks. The junior guard from Harwich scored a career high 23 points to guide 26 th -seeded Monomoy to a 61-22 victory over No. 39 Blue Hills in the opening round of the Division 4 state tournament March 1 in Harwich. “It’s exciting to ...

     It's many an author's dream to create a character who will resonate so strongly with readers that they just can't get enough. But what happens when the character becomes so charismatic, so compelling, so popular that he outshines the author?      Why, it's elementary, my dear Watson. What happens is "The Sherlock Problem."      From March 18 to April 3, Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre wi...

     At long last, Monomoy Regional High School is back with an in-person production, and this one is worth the wait. “The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is a musical comedy that will deliver laughs while setting your toes tapping. Can you spell H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S?      Two years ago, as if we need to be reminded, the arrival of COVID-19 forced the MRHS performing arts department to halt production of “...

     HARWICH – “Find something you love to do, and you'll never work a day in your life.”      The love portion of the old adage certainly pertains to Nina Schuessler, Producing Artistic Director of Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre for the past 25 years. Schuessler's love has shone in her every action at the beloved West Harwich theater. As for the never working a day in your life? Over 25 years...

If the Chatham Select Board does not fold the former Chatham Health and Swim Club into an ongoing feasibility study of potential senior center locations, officials risk once again losing a town meeting vote on a new facility to serve the town's growing senior population. There's significant interest in the community in at least investigating how the health club – closed since the pandemic began and on the mark...

Don't Pass Up Opportunity Editor: The former Chatham Health Club building, with its pool, is a wonderful resource for townspeople of all ages. We should try to save it. Babies to seniors would benefit and everyone in between. It would keep us moving, walking, and exercising. It lowers stress and improves well-being. We have lost the pool at Broad Reach and we miss it. This is an opportunity, but it is go...

Chatham Council On Aging The following council on aging programs and events are scheduled during March. Most require registration. For more information, to register for a program, get help with Zoom or find out about transportation, contact the senior center at 508-945-5190. AARP tax aide income tax preparation assistance is scheduling appointments through mid April. Free federal and state income tax pr...

ORLEANS — The news from Cedar Pond isn’t all bad. “There have been some improvements since various management plans have gone into place,” marine and fresh water quality committee chair Judy Scanlon told members March 7. “The public needs to hear some of the positive developments.” They’ll have an opportunity to do that at the committee’s next meeting, on March 28, when the recent adaptive management monito...

ORLEANS — The town’s comprehensive wastewater management plan has an adaptive management component that accounts for changes in technology and other factors that may arise during the decades it will take to clean local waters. It appears that adaptive management can apply to financing the effort as well. A lot has changed in the wastewater financing world since 2011, when the town’s wastewater plan was approve...

ORLEANS — The Nauset Regional School Committee says it’s done what it could to hold down projected costs for the budget that begins July 1, but recognizes that some sharp increases are beyond its control. Members are ready to make their case and take questions at tonight’s (March 10) public hearing at 6 p.m. before voting on the budget. The operating budget for the regional high school is proposed to go up ...