A Really Bad Idea Editor: I grew up on the Cape, in Barnstable and have a vested interest in preserving the Cape and our planet in general. What are the real costs of decommissioning the Plymouth nuclear plant? You’re kidding me right? This falls into the department of unbelievable human behavior; that our politicians, our state and county officials and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are thinki...

Many Brewster voters are convinced that tourism dollars are the motivation behind the town’s push to expand access to Wing Island and the surrounding coastal marshes. They’re right. The Brewster Chamber of Commerce uses “Cape Cod’s Ecotourism Destination” as its tagline. “With 5,000 acres of protected lands and an active conservation trust, Brewster is a known seasonal tourist destination to families and individ...

Critical Support For Library Editor: The South Chatham Public Library's February Love Your Library fundraiser is winding down and the library wants to thank all those who have already shown their support of the library and its service to the community. Special thanks to the Cape Cod 5 Foundation for its support of the appeal. All funds raised will be used to offset operational costs and will enable the libr...

Sewering A Narrow Answer Editor: I find the Kristin Andres article rather narrow in its approach to the wastewater issue. The statement that we have "too much nitrogen, mostly from our septic systems" and that "we've gone beyond the carrying capacity of the Cape's natural ability to attenuate the excess" seems to serve her primary proposition — build sewer systems. This is what the engineering studies wi...

The housing crisis on Cape Cod is a complex issue that requires urgent attention and action from local and state policymakers. For years, the lack of affordable housing has been a significant problem for both low- and middle-income families on the Cape. The skyrocketing cost of living, combined with a limited supply of affordable housing, has led to an increasing number of families struggling to make ends meet a...

Decisions last week by the Chatham and Harwich community preservation committees regarding affordable housing funding requests were shortsighted and not in the best interests of residents. The Harwich CPC cut in half the request of the town's affordable housing trust for $500,000, citing recent turmoil among the trust's board and with members of the board of selectmen. After recent contentious meetings, Town A...

Impediments To Tree Trimming Editor: The airport commission is presently trying to persuade 22 property owners to remove their trees at their expense. However, the real problem, documented in the airport layout plan, is the vegetation growing in the wetlands and vernal pool areas, which are very close to the southern end of the runway on the airport property itself. This vegetation penetrates the approach s...

When a person dies in a house fire, it’s always a deep tragedy. But when the victim is a child, it affects the entire community. We were heartbroken to report the death of an six-year-old boy, Kyi Bourne, in an apartment house fire in Orleans Saturday. We send our thoughts and love not only to Kyi’s family and loved ones, but to the first responders whose efforts were heroic; to the wider school community that...

After 2021 town meeting voters narrowly rejected accepting land at 1610 Main St. in West Chatham for a new senior center, there was widespread skepticism among advocates that a new facility for the council on aging would ever get built in town. Expectations were that the land was gone, that owner William Marsh — who had offered to donate the property — would move on with some other type of development. That di...

COVID Not To Blame Editor: Regarding “COVID Continues To Impact Monomoy School Budget” (Jan. 19): Sorry, as usual, COVID is being used as a smoke screen. It's obvious your paper incorporates a very liberal point of view. Utility price increases have nothing to do with COVID and have everything to do with Biden strangling our oil and gas production under the pretense that global warming is going to ki...

Harwich town and chamber of commerce officials who successfully lobbied for Cultural District designations for Harwich Port and Harwich Center are to be congratulated for their efforts. Now comes the harder work: making those designations work for Harwich. The Massachusetts Cultural Council's approval of the district designations last Thursday highlights the work Harwich has done to boost the profile of the ar...

New Festival Officers Editor: The Harwich Cranberry Festival Inc. is a non-profit, all-volunteer group that organizes and produces the annual July and August arts and crafts fairs at Brooks Park, Beach Day each September for the children, musical concerts throughout the year, and the hugely popular Cranberry Festival and Cran-Jam in September at the community center. Proceeds from the vendors and some donat...