CHATHAM – The town's problematic online mooring permit renewal system is being scrapped. Instituted more than three years ago, the system had low use by mooring permit holders as well as technical issues that did not produce the functionality or savings in staff time that were anticipated, said Director of Natural Resources Robert Duncanson. “We just didn't see the efficiency we thought we would,” he said. ...

CHATHAM — Though there seems to be plenty of common ground when it comes to the landscaping and lighting needs for the new West Chatham Route 28 corridor, deep divisions remain about the underlying traffic plan. The board of selectmen heard a report from the planning board and historic business district commission last Tuesday about proposed landscaping and lighting options for the roadway, which is slated for...

HARWICH — The sign on the former Getty gas station property in Harwich Center that reads “Winstead Village Inn Expansion” is drawing a lot of attention. The landscaping along Main Street in front of the shuttered station has also been vastly improved, with holiday lighting signaling hope for the future there. The property is owned by Bassil Brothers Trust, which purchased it from Getty Realty Corporation for $...

HARWICH — Town officials got a close look Monday night at the capital plan and what it means for taxpayers going forward. The plan recommends $13 million in projects in FY18, driven primarily by more than $4 million in wastewater infrastructure. “The sale of wastewater is the elephant in the room,” Capital Outlay Committee Chairman Richard Larios told the gathering of selectmen and finance committee members in...

HARWICH ─ This weekend, when the curtain rises at the start of the Reaching Heart School of Ballet's “The Nutcracker,” it will mark the 14 th season of the show. It will also be the first time in those 14 years, according to the ballet school's director Melissa Heart, that there will be no special showing for Monomoy School District students during the school day. “We always have done school shows,” said He...

HARWICH — Establishments providing entertainment in Harwich Port will have to adhere to new noise level regulations after selectmen Monday night tweaked proposed regulations one more time before approving them. This was the third hearing before selectmen over the past month on proposed noise regulations designed to appease the business community and residents in the mixed-use district. After two sessions in wh...

HARWICH – Brent Hemeon has been working the soil on his farm between Grassy Pond and Bank Street for nearly 30 years, producing an abundance of fruit, berries, vegetables and salad greens, many marketed through his farm stand or sold to restaurants featuring locally grown produce. Hemeon has long had a love of the land and what it produces, including trees. The farm has approximately 200 fruit trees –apple, pe...

HARWICH ─ Homelessness is a problem that affects thousands of Cape Cod residents, and last week members of the Harwich Fire and Police Departments pitched in to help alleviate their struggle. For four nights and five days firefighters and police officers braved the cold as they stationed themselves outdoors at Brooks Park collecting donations of toys, food and funds to benefit local families in need. Acco...

HARWICH — Though rescuing people from fires is part of the job description, a firefighter can go an entire career without pulling a person from a burning building. But that won't be the case for Deputy Fire Chief David LeBlanc, who rescued a woman from a blazing apartment in South Harwich on Dec. 3. For that action, Fire Chief Norman Clarke, Jr., issued him a formal commendation last week. The woman, whos...

HARWICH ─ In the nearly 50 years since Cheryl Poore began coaching field hockey in Harwich, she has become something of a legend in the sport. That era came to an end this week when Poore officially resigned from her head coaching post at Monomoy Regional High School. “When I first started coaching it was a very different time,” Poore said regarding her reason for stepping down. “Today, the roles of teachers...

HARWICH ─ While other teams were still practicing, the Monomoy girls varsity squad hosted Cape Tech in one of the earliest games of the 2016-2017 season, playing to a 39-11 victory in the Shark Tank Dec. 8. Though pleased with his team's win, Monomoy head coach Pete Richer acknowledged that his players were still shaking off some rust. “It was a very early season game, so we haven't had a lot of time to p...

HARWICH ─ When a softball soared over the fence at Mashpee High last year unbeknownst to the field umpire who thought it bounced first, Monomoy players Hannah Potter and Karley Marchese knew they had to say something. Little did they know that their honesty would result in the program's winning the MIAA Sportsmanship Moment of the Year for 2016. Available members of the team were feted at Gillette Stadium du...

“Everything She Wants” sings Sara Crewe’s father as he leaves her in Miss Minchin’s Boarding School. The Captain’s fortune will keep Sara in extreme comfort; she’ll indeed have everything she wants. Captain Crewe is going far away, back to India, where the two have lived for years. Crewe figures it’s time for Sara to get a proper education. It’s 1887, and in London the gulf between the rich and the poor is wide. ...

Volunteers at the Family Pantry of Cape Cod have no trouble explaining why clients are treated with such respect. For some volunteers, humility is a matter of faith. For others, it's easy to empathize with people who've had a financial crisis or other emergency. And for Family Pantry worker Lisa Joyce, it's because she's walked in those shoes before. Joyce and her husband owned a construction company for many ...

Once upon a time, in the mid-1990s, two founders of the Wheelock Family Theatre in Boston had a conversation. Jane Staab had just finished a successful production of her original musical “The Secret Garden,” based on the classic novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, when Susan Kosoff mentioned that her favorite book by that author was not “The Secret Garden,” but “A Little Princess, Sara Crewe.” “I had to admit th...

Questions Legality Of 'Training' Session Editor: Unbelievable that a member(s) of our board of selectmen, as well as the airport commission, participated Monday in yet another closed meeting not even listed on the town website! Unbelievable that the FAA would call this so-called “training” meeting at the firehouse (!) to secretly discuss airport “grant assurances,” the underlying issue to do with the sky...