HARWICH — After six hours of testimony and debate, selectmen finally approved the seasonal all-alcoholic beverage license for The Port Restaurant and Bar. However, the board withheld action on the establishment's seasonal entertainment license and on three alleged violations of COVID-19 guideline provisions put in place by the commonwealth. Given the lateness of the hour last Tuesday, selectmen agreed to co...

HARWICH — While Gov. Charlie Baker lifted the state’s outdoor mask order as of April 30, the board of health has voted to keep in place the outdoor mask order approved last July for the commercial district in Harwich Port. The order requires the wearing of a facial covering and six-foot distancing in a section of Harwich Port from Bank Street west to Lower County Road from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Harwich remains ...

NORTH EASTHAM – After his team missed out on the entire 2020 season due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Nauset softball coach Harold Pini wasn’t sure what to expect from the Warriors when they finally returned to the diamond. Despite fielding a new lineup full of young players inexperienced at the varsity level, Nauset delivered in every aspect of the game during Friday’s season opener against visiting Dennis-Yarmou...

HARWICH – Although the Monomoy boys lacrosse team made some mental errors during Monday’s season-opening 15-6 loss to Martha’s Vineyard, there were also positive performances the Sharks will look to build upon in the rest of the season. Monomoy was resilient in the first half as it battled back from a 6-1 deficit by netting four of the final five goals of the second quarter. Despite trailing 7-5 at halftime, t...

After a very long pandemic, audiences will be thrilled to hear that the show will finally go on at the Chatham Drama Guild, as the comedy “Leading Ladies” by Ken Ludwig opens July 8 and runs through Aug. 8. Guild President Pam Banas had a difficult decision to make when COVID-19 health restrictions made in-person performances impossible last year. With “Leading Ladies” on the docket for the opening show of summer...

It’s not often that a writer has the opportunity to see their work transformed into a new format. So, when renowned playwright and sound designer J Hagenbuckle approached Jen Sexton-Riley asking her if she had any short fiction she felt would make a good radio play adaptation, Sexton-Riley jumped at the opportunity. Sexton-Riley, a Chronicle feature writer and ArtCast columnist, presented Hagenbuckle with mult...

Remove Stop Signs For Climate Editor: There are now some seven billion humans all adding gasses that trap sunlight. There is overwhelming evidence that it is increasing the average temperature. The town can take at least small steps to reduce the increase. A vehicle uses much more fuel when going up to speed from a stop or from having to slow down. There are a lot of stop signs that could be removed, a p...

When town meeting established an affordable housing trust, it wanted to shake things up. For years, the affordable housing committee had been trying to increase the stock of dwellings accessible to people of moderate means. Members would hear of an available property, but by the time they could bring its acquisition before town meeting, it would be off the market. So town meeting yielded some of its authori...

Harwich voters go to the polls next Tuesday, May 18, to choose among candidates running for the board of selectman and the water and wastewater commission. In these, the only contested races on the ballot, we recommend votes for Mary Anderson and Ed McManus. Mary Anderson has impressed us ever since she took over as executive director of the Family Pantry of Cape Cod in 2005. She took the pantry from a modest ...

CHATHAM – A call to 911 may be at the worst moment of your life. Whatever prompted the call – a heart attack, a stroke, a fire – "seconds make a huge, huge difference," according to Chatham Fire Lieutenant Ryan Clark, the new public education coordinator for the Chatham Fire-Rescue Department. "It's that serious." If your house number is not easily visible from the street, in daylight or at night, a new progra...

ORLEANS — The town’s present seems to be catching up with its future. Long-debated projects like the downtown sewer system are being built, and visions of better housing options are coming ever closer to reality. Less than two weeks before town meeting, which decides whether plans will become projects, the Orleans Citizens Forum held a busy session May 10 that covered three warrant articles: the Governor Pre...

ORLEANS — The Eastham and Orleans select boards agreed on an agenda for tonight’s joint meeting, but that may be where the agreement ends. The subject is a draft Expanded Environmental Notification Form, prepared by Woods Hole Group as a key step toward obtaining a slew of permits to dredge Nauset Estuary. To improve navigation and public safety for commercial and recreational users, the EENF calls for impro...

HARWICH — After the community preservation committee voted Friday not to support $360,000 toward protection of 31 acres in the Hinckleys Pond watershed, town meeting voters on Saturday had no choice but to postpone action on the purchase. Annual town meeting voters supported several other community preservation funding requests, including $1,150,000 for a new Brooks Academy foundation and the addition of a bas...

Anne G. (Gildea) Casey of Chatham, formerly of Winchester, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, April 27th after a short illness and a long, wonderful life.  Born in Boston, and raised in Boston, Newton, and Milton she was the daughter of Joseph H. and Anna May (Laughnan) Gildea. She is predeceased by her loving husband of 55 years, John Haskell “Hack” Casey Jr., and survived by her daughter, Susan Nutile and her h...

Longtime Chatham resident Spencer Y. Grey died on April 24, 2021 following several weeks of declining health, not quite one month after his 94th birthday.  Spencer was born in Boston on 27 March 1927 to Percy A. Grey and Mary Lou Cressy Grey, and grew up in Beverly with an older brother, Robert. Since the early 1900s his mother’s family had spent summers in Chatham, where they owned one of the oldest houses on St...

David Edward Pickett of Harwich passed away on April 30, 2021 at the age of 89. The youngest son of Richard and Dorothy Pickett, he was born in Manchester, N.H., and raised in Newton with his three brothers. He received his master’s degree from Boston College and went on to teach mathematics for many years. He married Jeanette McGovern on April 3, 1976 and their family grew to include four children and numerous p...