CHATHAM — By joint vote of the board of selectmen and the town's representatives to the Monomoy Regional School Committee, Jo-anne Sheehan was chosen Tuesday to fill a vacancy on the school board. The appointment is valid through May, when voters will choose a candidate to serve until May 2019. Sheehan, a West Chatham resident, retired in 2013 after a lengthy teaching career. Holding an undergraduate history...

CHATHAM – It isn't so much the view of the tower – which looks like a small missile or a very large model rocket – that bothers Tish Crowell. It's the possibility that her backyard could flood because a drainage swale was partially filled to accommodate the structure. “I can see it just going to come right here,” she said of stormwater runoff, looking at the yard of the Crowell Road home she shares with her hu...

CHATHAM – A recent Barnstable Superior Court decision narrows the scope of a lawsuit filed by Cape Cod Skydiving against the town, but allows the action to proceed on several counts, including breach of contract and civil rights violations. After an Oct. 5 hearing, Judge Cornelius Moriarty denied the town's motion to dismiss the $100,000 lawsuit filed by Skydive Cape Cod against the town in January but limited...

CHATHAM – The white shark swimming just off the shore of Nauset Beach was angry, but not at the 24-foot boat nearby. That wasn't the problem. The problem was an annoying bluefish that wouldn't stop harassing the shark. While the shark was peeved, those on board the Aleutian Dream marveled at the scene, including longtime shark researcher Greg Skomal. “It never gets old,” he said with a grin.     The...

CHATHAM – Stone Dow has just completed his sixth short-form video as the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen's Alliance's newly hired artist in residence. “We're trying to turn out one a week,” he said during an interview in the Alliance's West Chatham headquarters, where he'll be assembling the videos as well as helping to manage and organize the organization's extensive media archive. Dow, 33, a 2002 graduate o...

CHATHAM – In the coming weeks, selectmen will face a number of policy decisions that will impact the shape of next year's annual budget. As presented by Town Manager Jill Goldsmith and Finance Director Alix Heilala at last Tuesday's annual budget summit, important policy decisions include capital spending levels; service expansion or reduction; revenue expansion; use of funds from the sewer intermunicipal agre...

CHATHAM — As conflicts between people of color and police dominate the news, Chatham Chief of Police Mark Pawlina stated that he wants “to get out in front of” the issues. “Let’s look at ourselves as police and as a community. How are we doing? What can we do better?” Pawlina said at a community policing and race relations forum hosted by Reverend Brian McGurk and St. Christopher’s Church Oct. 18. He assured t...

CHATHAM – About a century ago, Chatham’s town historian William Smith wrote, “No more graceful act could be performed by the grateful descendants of the Pilgrims than to erect… at Chatham a simple monument to this unhonored, but most deserving, friend and protector of their forefathers.” Smith was referring to Squanto (also known as Tisquantum), perhaps the most famous Native American to greet the Pilgrims. Sq...

HARWICH — Capital plan requests for next year run nearly $39 millions, driven by implementation of wastewater infrastructure, addressing the need for the East Harwich Fire Station improvements and the resurfacing of Lower County Road. Town Administrator Christopher Clark presented the plan to selectmen Monday night, emphasizing this is the “first crack at what's been submitted.” He said the numbers in the plan...

HARWICH — The Harwich Conservation Trust relies on volunteer services to assist in conservation efforts. They have a new partner in the Chatham-Harwich Newcomers' woodworking group, which is building trail-head kiosks at conservation properties. “It's fantastic working with the woodworking group,” Harwich Conservation Trust Executive Director Michael Lach said. “They're enthusiastic and dedicated to creating q...

HARWICH — The conservation commission has approved the proposal by Aquacultural Research Corporation of Dennis to use the former fishhouse along Harbor Way on the Herring River as a shellfish nursery. The commission determined that the aquacultural use is exempt under the state Wetlands Protection Act. ARC President Rob Doane was before the conservation last week seeking a request for determination of applicab...

HARWICH PORT — By a more than three-to-one margin, voters Tuesday gave Cape Cod Tech the green light for a $128 million new high school building. Based on unofficial tallies from town clerks in the 12 towns from Mashpee to Provincetown, the building project passed by a vote of 12,207 to 3,927, earning solid wins in each town in the district. “Most of all, this vote endorses our students,” Superintendent o...

When it comes to building active global citizens, it's not enough for a school to require foreign language and world history classes. As part of its new global studies program, Monomoy High School is getting ready to send a small team of students on an eight-day service project in the Dominican Republic. The students will make the trip in February, working with the Dominican Republic Education and Mentoring pr...

HARWICH ─ Not only were the two seniors on Monomoy's field hockey team celebrated on Monday night, but when the Sharks triumphed against Sturgis West 9-0, the duo and their teammates all celebrated together the team's being crowned Cape and Islands League champs for the second straight season. “It's incredible, especially for the second year in a row,” said senior captain Emma Mawn. “Our team's been through ...

HARWICH ─ Tensions ran high in the second of two nearly back-to-back games between the Monomoy and Cape Tech boys varsity soccer teams, with the Monday afternoon game ending in a 1-1 tie. As the Sharks worked to shake off the fatigue from a demanding end-of-season schedule, the Crusaders seized control early, but found putting the ball in the net a challenge. After a scoreless first half that saw the inte...

HARWICH ─ It was a good day to be Tim Scruggs, but a rough day to be a Crusader as the Cape Tech football team fell in football action to the Old Colony Cougars with a final score of 29-8. Scruggs scored his team's only touchdown after hauling in a stellar pass from quarterback Anthony Armenti to put the Crusaders on the scoreboard and cut into the visiting team's lead of 14-8 in the third quarter. Betwee...