No One Is Above The Law Editor: Will the taxpayers of Chatham be allowed to see the list, beforehand, of the people the health board doesn't want to be too hard on? Every short-term rental property should be treated the same. Betsy Abreu Chatham   Help Needed Now More Than Ever Editor: We are incredibly fortunate to live in such a beautiful place that is also home to so many wonderful people ...

We often hear about the benefits of volunteering, not only for the organization that's being helped out, but also for the individual doing the volunteering. No matter what your age, volunteering helps you feel more connected with their community, provides a sense of accomplishment and helps organizations with limited means carry out their mission. There are several examples highlighted in this week's edition. ...

Center Has Frommer's Beat Editor: Remember the days of the Arthur Frommer Travel Guides, seeing Italy on $5 a day? We thought those days were gone forever; however, a friend and I found a bargain even greater than that right here in Chatham. We started with a nature “forest bathing” walk at Chatham’s Sylvan Gardens and followed that by a delicious plant-based lunch prepared by chef Heather Bailey. We decide...

Better Alternatives To Police Editor: While there are some situations which call for police involvement, our society relies too much on the police as a solution for many issues. There is no reason why police need to respond to car accidents or minor traffic violations. These jobs can be done by either paramedics and firefighters or traffic enforcement. In many cases, there is no need for police to respond t...

Sometimes, town regulations can seem like solutions in search of problems to solve. But this clearly isn’t one of those times. Building on work initiated by the town of Orleans, the Chatham Board of Health is finalizing new rules governing short-term summer rentals. Starting as a rental registration program, the regulation will require owners to limit the occupancy of homes to two people per bona fide, health ...

In a story in last week's paper, Harwich Selectman Donald Howell expressed concern about his town's growing share of the Monomoy Regional School District budget. Noting the current 76.65 to 23.35 Harwich-Chatham split, Howell recalled earlier discussions when Harwich's percentage of a regional district was put at 55 percent. With the figures heading toward 80-20, he wondered if that level of financing was sustain...

No Confidence In Leadership Editor: As I read the latest comments by our town leaders relative to the existing Chatham Senior Center, it’s becoming clear to me that we need to question their ability to make cogent decisions which are in the best interest of those of us who reside here. In a clear attempt to manipulate public opinion of the previously failed new COA initiative, they are attempting to dress u...

Assigning financial responsibility to towns in a regional school district is never a simple or easy task. Numerous factors must be weighed and choices made among the many possible ways to divvy up costs. When developing the Monomoy Regional School District agreement, Chatham and Harwich officials opted to use a three-year rolling average of enrollment to determine how much of the district budget each town woul...

Sprawl Not The Problem Editor: I have heard a Housing Assistance Corporation commercial played on the radio that claims the current housing problems on the Cape are the result of “restrictive zoning” which has led to “sprawl.” I take issue with this because the “restrictive zoning” didn’t create “sprawl.” The zoning we had created neighborhoods where working families lived year-round. When I see a neighborh...

Chatham claims the title for the Cape town with the highest median sale price of single-family homes in 2022. According to the Cape Cod and Islands Association of Realtors, that figure hit $1.2 million last year, with Truro close behind at $945,000, followed by Provincetown at $877,500. Wellfleet was next, and then Orleans. While realtors and investors may rejoice at these numbers, they are not something to be...

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...