The Chatham Select Board made the right choice in backing an article for the May annual town meeting that, if approved by voters, would set aside four acres of town-owned land along Middle Road for affordable housing. The town's open space committee had requested that a perpetual conservation restriction be placed on all 19 acres of this particular parcel, which is contiguous with some 70 acres of land that su...

The process of lowering nitrogen in the region's waterways to reach acceptable water quality levels is a slow one. It takes time, and significant money, to install sewers or other treatment methods that remove nitrogen from wastewater, and it takes longer still for clean groundwater to migrate to coastal embayments and begin the process of recovery. It's self evident that doing so is good for the environment a...

Preserve The Goose Pond Forest Editor: It is clear there is a housing crisis on the Cape. It is also clear there is a climate crisis, and it affects every living thing on the planet. The United Nation's Sixth Assessment Report on global climate change, released on Feb. 28, paints a dire picture. The Earth is heating up at a pace unmatched in recorded history. We can avert the worst consequences of climat...

If the Chatham Select Board does not fold the former Chatham Health and Swim Club into an ongoing feasibility study of potential senior center locations, officials risk once again losing a town meeting vote on a new facility to serve the town's growing senior population. There's significant interest in the community in at least investigating how the health club – closed since the pandemic began and on the mark...

Don't Pass Up Opportunity Editor: The former Chatham Health Club building, with its pool, is a wonderful resource for townspeople of all ages. We should try to save it. Babies to seniors would benefit and everyone in between. It would keep us moving, walking, and exercising. It lowers stress and improves well-being. We have lost the pool at Broad Reach and we miss it. This is an opportunity, but it is go...

Despite the importance of the local news we cover, it's been difficult to focus this week given what's going on half a world away. Although Ukraine is more than 7,000 miles from Cape Cod, today's ever-present media, both mainstream and social, make the war there as immediate as a blizzard in our backyard. Photos of Russian tanks lining highways leading to Kyiv are chilling. The scenery is familiar; it could be...

Time For Unique Thinking Editor: As the Chatham COA was so focused on a new building, they did not notice that many seniors were filling their active lives with activities/programs without ever entering the COA building. Chatham seniors recognize themselves as part of a community, a feeling of fellowship with others sharing common interests. The Chatham Health Club could bring "health" benefits to all. G...

Boat Deserves A Mooring Editor: The Atlantic Workshop boat saga reminds me of a story about my dad. Willard Salter lived 30 years in Orleans and among his volunteer jobs he was a selectman, which he found a thankless position. Near the end of his job stint, a citizen complained that a “For Sale” sign on his beetle cat in the front yard violated sign bylaws. My dad, in his characteristic wit, wrote a lette...

There are many things about Massachusetts to find fault with, but one thing we really appreciate about living here is that we don't usually have to deal with narrow-minded efforts to ban books – at least, not locally. The same can't be said for Tennessee – where a school district took Art Speigleman's Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “Maus” off the shelves because of panels showing naked cartoon mice – or Tex...

At a recent meeting with the Chatham Select Board, Airport Commission Chair Huntley Harrison said he feels the commission isn’t succeeding in promoting the positive work being done on behalf of the airport, as evidenced by the steady barrage of negative letters published in The Chronicle. First, we feel his pain. The letters from airport critics generally come from the same small group of authors, and sometime...

The town of Chatham and the Coast Guard have been at odds since the Coast Guard downgraded Station Chatham’s surf station designation and discontinued using two 42-foot nearshore surf boats on Jan. 5. Why the change? The Coast Guard’s own data revealed that surf conditions didn’t meet the criteria for Station Chatham to remain specially-designated as it had been for decades. In the meantime, two 45-foot respon...

Chatham Celebrates Women For Real Editor: Really! Women deserved much more than a “virtual” parade to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s rights in 2020. Granted, the COVID pandemic was the reason that the parade was canceled, but that doesn’t mean we can’t rectify the misfortune. I’m sure there were some fantastic ideas floated (pardon the pun) for honoring the greatness of women, past, present, and...