The Hungry Traveler, the popular five-week documentary film series produced by Carol Yindra as part of the Eldredge Public Library Learning Series, whets your appetite again this year as it returns to Chatham’s Orpheum Theatre beginning Wednesday, May 2 at 10 a.m. The five-documentary series is socially informative as it highlights culinary tours of exotic foods, delectable wines, interesting locations and col...

E lection, Town Meeting Deadlines Letters relating to Chatham's annual town meeting and election will be accepted for publication through the issue of May 3. Irrigators Should Pay For Water Editor: I am writing in support of the editorial regarding water rates.  We have owned our vacation home in Chatham for 20 years.  During that time we have seen countless number of McMansions built, all with ma...

Any deaths from opioids are tragic and wasteful. We have seen our share of them in our local communities, and while not always high profile, they have the same devastating effect whether the cause is spoken about or hushed up. The more than 500 Cape Codders deaths due to opioid overdoses since 2000 have caused emotional anguish, social instability and economic woes throughout the community. Various agencies ha...

“I don’t believe in frettin’ and grievin’ Why mess around with strife I never was cut out to step out and strut out Give me the simple life.”   While doing research for a course on The Great American Songbook that I’m teaching with Steve Bornemeier as part of the Learning Series sponsored by the Friends of the Eldredge Public Library, I came across the old song “Give Me the Simple Life.” I’ve alway...

The Lower Cape economy relies heavily on guest workers from Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and other parts of the world, but with strict limits on the H-2B visa program – and a shortage of housing – local employers always seem to be scrambling for more staff. “I know the Cape, as a whole, is concerned,” Harwich Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cyndi Williams said. Though she hasn’t heard specific problems...

ORLEANS — Fewer Orleans residents died in 2017 than in the previous two years, an even 100 as opposed to 114 in both 2015 and 2016. That's one of the facts in the Annual Town Report for year 2017, now available at town hall and worth a look-through before the May 7 town meeting. One of the 100 deaths in 2017 was that of Jean Finch, the founder of Cape Cod's first skateboard park, which is still located at...

ORLEANS — The list of what didn't happen at 353 South Orleans Rd. over the last two centuries could be shorter than the list of what did. The property at the corner of Namequoit Road and Route 28 has been home to a sea captain, a selectman, a state representative, a lay preacher, a salt maker, a farmer, and a cultivator of trees – and that's just the life of John Kenrick, Sr., who lived there for the first h...

ORLEANS – On July 21, 1918, the German submarine U-156 surfaced about three miles off Nauset Beach and shelled the tugboat Perth Amboy and the four barges it had in tow. The barges were sunk, the tug was badly damaged, and two people were injured. Several shots fired from the U-boat’s 5.9-inch deck guns hit the Orleans shore, making the town the only place on U.S. soil to receive enemy gunfire during World War ...

CHATHAM – A demolition delay application has been filed for the stately, iconic home at the corner of Shore Road and Seaview Street that once belonged the late noted geographer Harm de Blij. Owners Ronald and Ann Cami of San Francisco, who bought the 233 Seaview St. property in 2012 for $3.6 million, will go before the historical commission on Tuesday, May 1. According to application filed by Harwich attorn...

Since the Cape Cod National Seashore was created in 1961, there’s been one official conduit through which citizens and town governments could share concerns about the national park: the National Seashore Advisory Commission. Silenced for more than a year by a federal review, the commission has at last been given permission to hold a meeting. But experts say the future of the commission remains unclear, caught ...

Next Sunday, April 22, is Earth Day, the 48 th year of the celebration of the planet. A number of events are being planned in the area to mark the occasion. On Saturday, April 21, “Love Thy Nature” will be screened at the Chatham Orpheum Theater. Narrated by Liam Neeson, the film explores how we’ve lost touch with nature and looks at how a renewed connection with nature is key both to good health and to solvi...

ORLEANS — Barring any tricks from Mother Nature, off-road vehicles will have access to North (Nauset) Beach this summer under a joint management agreement between Chatham and Orleans. After months of stalemate, and with less than three weeks remaining until the current agreement expires, Chatham and Orleans selectmen approved a one-year beach management agreement last Wednesday. With Chatham selectmen in ...

CHATHAM – The German occupation of the Netherlands in 1940 seemed civilized, initially. The Dutch continued, at least superficially, to run the country, and life on many levels continued as before. “At first we hardly knew they were there,” Jerry Karter said. Other than hunger – there was never enough to eat – for a child, it was “an exciting time,” added Arend Vos. But as the war wore on, life became more and...

HARWICH – After more than six months sailing the high seas, the Swain family is safely back in their home on the shores of Long Pond, returning to the routines of work, school and the daily life of landlubbers. While the family – dad Steve, mom Sarah, and kids Lucy, Jessie and Stanley – are happy to see their relatives, friends and two rescue dogs Mayday and Turtle, there's a bit of a wistful longing for the o...

WEST HARWICH — A lot of activity will be taking place around the town's herring run, but the cold spring weather has slowed the migration of the anadromous fish moving into headwater ponds to spawn. “It's been slow and the last week has been very cold, but we're starting to see them in small numbers,” Brad C. Chase, a diadromous fish biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said on Friday. “The C...

WEST HARWICH — The fish house that sits in the Herring River will be getting a facelift. No appeal was filed of a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection decision upholding DEP and the conservation commission orders of conditions that allow the reconstruction of the structure. The project has been mired in appeals for nearly two-and-a-half years. Abutters Gwynne and David Daks initially seeking a ...