Even putting aside the impact of the pandemic, the drop in enrollment in the Monomoy Regional School District is alarming. As we reported last week, the district has 102 fewer pupils this fall than last school year. Families opting to home school their kids account for a large percentage of that figure – 55 students, according to Superintendent Scott Carpenter. But there are also 20 new students who are living...

It's unfortunate that the proposed Main Street Overlay District zoning amendment, scheduled to go before voters at Saturday's special town meeting, did not get a thorough enough airing earlier. It's problematic and in its current form should not be approved. The overlay district clearly lacks the specificity needed to justify the tradeoff of less restrictive zoning for continuation of the iconic theater and re...

Oppose Ballot Question 2 Editor: I strongly oppose Nov. 3 Massachusetts Ballot Question 2 on “Ranked Choice Voting.” First, in my view, it is actually nothing more than a political scam being promoted by the radical Massachusetts Democrat Party. Second, “ranked choice voting” is a scheme to disconnect elections from issues and allow candidates with marginal support from voters to win. Third, it obscures ...

The Greater Boston Food Bank is projecting a 59 percent increase in the number of people in Eastern Massachusetts who will experience food insecurity due to the pandemic. On the Cape, that number is expected to be higher; during normal times, about 10 percent of the population of the peninsula – approximately 28,000 people – experience food insecurity, according to Christine Menard, director of the Family Pantry ...

Harwich's long-delayed annual town meeting takes place this Saturday at 10 a.m. outdoors at football field behind the Monomoy Regional High School. Despite efforts to pare back articles to limit discussion and the length of the meeting, there's a lot of meat on the warrant. Voters will tackle not only the usual budget measures, but a critical zoning amendment and controversial petitions to ban the sale of single-...

The Real Price Of Plastic Water Bottles Editor: As a citizen of Orleans and someone who has worked for 20 years for marine scientists, I am voicing my strongest possible support for a ban on all commercial sales of single-use plastic water bottles in Orleans.  As a Cape Codder, I urge all my fellow citizens throughout this unique and cherished place we call home to ask for the same in your own hometowns. ...

If you’re like us, the phrase “these unprecedented times” is starting to set your teeth on edge. (We’ve been in pandemic mode for half a year now, which surely sets some precedent.) But there’s no getting around it: 2020 has been a year like no other. COVID-19 has laid bare the hidden societal problems in our community. The lack of affordable housing, the wealth gap and the need for affordable childcare are mo...

The Beach Is For All Editor: Donald Trump and his supporters do not own Lighthouse Beach! How many of us have walked this beautiful beach and stopped to smile at the “Shack,” a sculpture made of things that have washed up over the years? It flies an American flag symbolizing to me the greatness of the United States, which we all call home no matter how we vote. On my walk along the beach Sunday mornin...

When local schools open their doors next week for the first time since March, students won't be stepping back into classrooms as if nothing has changed. Everything has changed. And not just physically, though that will be the most obvious difference. With fewer desks to accommodate social distancing, classrooms look sparse. Signs everywhere remind students (and staff) to wear masks, wash hands and use sanitize...

Do Something For The Environment Editor: If you had the opportunity to do something for the environment, wildlife and your future that only took a bit of forward thinking and a small amount of effort, would you? If you don’t want to be swimming in, consuming, surrounded by, and overrun by ever mounting plastic trash, now is the time to support a Cape-wide ban on single-use plastic bottles. Otherwise, som...

Disappointed By Anti-racism Vote Editor: As your recent article stated, the Monomoy Regional School Committee passed the Massachusetts State Association of School Committees’ anti-racism resolution at their monthly meeting and I applaud them for doing so. But in spite of strong positive support from Dr. Carpenter and committee members Terri Russell, Sharon Stout and Tina Games, the Monomoy vote was not unan...

For years, swimming has been prohibited in the Cockle Cove Creek that runs along the Cockle Cove Beach parking lot, where it bends east to merge with Buck's Creek and empty into Nantucket Sound. Consistently poor water quality readings resulted in essentially a permanent closure. A 2005 study failed to find conclusive evidence of a specific source of the contamination, ruling out effluent from the sewer plant, ro...