If you've taken a stroll through your favorite conservation area lately, you might notice something other than buds on the bushes and birds in the trees. Local forests are littered with trees that were downed by the series of coastal storms that battered the area last month. And that means fuel for forest fires. There were several small brush fires around Cape Cod early this week, thanks to dry conditions and ...

HARWICH — Saturday's first World Fish Migration Day drew a lot of interest in the herring that migrate to headwaters ponds to spawn. But the fish were not as plentiful at the run as the people who came to observe the them. The event was sponsored by the Barnstable County Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, state Division of Marine Fisheries, Harwich Conservation Trust and the Harwich Natural Resources Department a...

HARWICH — As voters head into town meeting next week to act on funding phase two of the comprehensive wastewater management plan, town officials and their consultants last Thursday night sought to answer outstanding questions on the minds of residents. At a cost of $24.7 million, phase two would sewer 640 properties in a portion of the Pleasant Bay Watershed and fund 90 percent of a pumping station that would ...

HARWICH – After more than six months sailing the high seas, the Swain family is safely back in their home on the shores of Long Pond, returning to the routines of work, school and the daily life of landlubbers. While the family – dad Steve, mom Sarah, and kids Lucy, Jessie and Stanley – are happy to see their relatives, friends and two rescue dogs Mayday and Turtle, there's a bit of a wistful longing for the o...

WEST HARWICH — A lot of activity will be taking place around the town's herring run, but the cold spring weather has slowed the migration of the anadromous fish moving into headwater ponds to spawn. “It's been slow and the last week has been very cold, but we're starting to see them in small numbers,” Brad C. Chase, a diadromous fish biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said on Friday. “The C...

WEST HARWICH — The fish house that sits in the Herring River will be getting a facelift. No appeal was filed of a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection decision upholding DEP and the conservation commission orders of conditions that allow the reconstruction of the structure. The project has been mired in appeals for nearly two-and-a-half years. Abutters Gwynne and David Daks initially seeking a ...

HARWICH — With old-timers getting older, and with the town’s demographics changing, there’s a real danger that parts of Harwich’s history could fade from memory. The new Cape Verdean Heritage Oral History Project, a video documentary series produced by Angelina Raneo Chilaka, aims to keep that from happening. “I’ve got a list of people we want to interview,” Chilaka said. Their stories will help form a perma...

HARWICH — Ticket sales for the Toast of Harwich are going well and people are very happy the event is returning to the Wequassett Resort and Golf Club this year, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cyndi Williams said this week. “Ticket sales are on pace or ahead of where we were last time we held the Toast here in 2015,” Williams said. That year 295 tickets were sold. This year there is a 350-ticket lim...

$6 Million Project To Go Before Town Meeting HARWICH — The proposed new East Harwich fire station building met with unanimous site plan and special permit approval by the planning board last week. Voters will be asked in the annual town meeting in May to approve funding for the project. The plan calls for a 9,500 square-foot facility on the same site as the existing 42-year-old fire substation, with the new...

HARWICH — The Harwich Cultural Center will play a major role in the ArtWeek festival that will take place across the state toward the end of the month. The festival seeks to spotlight how the creative economy is thriving in Massachusetts. That will also be the goal here with the “Harwich is Creative” initiative that has been shaped by the center's program aide, Erica Strzepek. ArtWeek is a 10-day festival b...

HARWICH — On a 3-2 vote, selectmen on Monday night decided not to participate in a lawsuit that alleges pharmaceutical companies are responsible for the opioid epidemic and caused additional expenses to municipalities across the nation. Town Counsel John Giorgio made a presentation to selectmen two weeks ago explaining a consortium of lawyers are spearheading the national litigation seeking remuneration for co...

HARWICH — The proposed creation of a crematory at the new pet burial grounds on Queen Anne Road has the support of the selectmen and finance committee heading into town meeting, but one resident said he didn't think it made any sense. If he was an investor on the television program “Shark Tank,” resident Richard Gundersen told selectmen Monday night, he'd say, “I'm out, it doesn't make it.” Cemetery Adminis...