HARWICH — Recognizing local firefighters' dogged determination to save lives, a national animal rights group has decided to throw them a bone. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, has awarded Compassionate Fire Department Awards to the Harwich and Brewster fire departments for their rescue of a dog from a house fire on April 15. The two-alarm blaze on Standish Circle caused around $100,00...

HARWICH — The planning board endorsed the proposed temporary moratorium on the sale and distribution of recreational marijuana in a public hearing this past week after receiving testimony from Police Chief David Guillemette and Sgt. Robert Brackett. At the onset of the hearing, Planning Board member Joseph McParland sought confirmation the town voted negatively last November on the state ballot question that a...

HARWICH — A prescribed burn at Thompson's Field Tuesday had to be extinguished by firefighters after it threatened to spread uncontrollably. Crews were called to the area shortly after 9 a.m. at the request of the conservation department, which was overseeing the controlled burn of brush piles in a former meadow on the town-owned conservation land. The fire was between two dirt paths and did not threaten any s...

WEST HARWICH — Facing a budget crisis, the nonprofit Cape Cod Theatre Company – Home of the Harwich Jr. Theatre is hoping that a surge in donations will stem the shortfall before it becomes a showstopper. Theater officials haven't specified the size of the deficit, which prompted them to lay off the organization's education director early this year, and forced them to pare back outreach programs. But two rec...

HARWICH — While the town is facing a larger than normal number of ballot questions seeking funding outside the limits of Proposition 2½, town officials continue to paint a good picture of the financial state of the community. The town's voter information committee brought several town officials and representatives of the two school districts together last week to gather insight into the financial state of the ...

HARWICH — Aquaculture is certainly a growth industry on the Cape and producing seed shellfish is essential to marine farming. There are ongoing efforts in the Herring River to develop a shellfish nursery and the conservation commission has now approved a mobile nursery along the edge of Allen Harbor. Fran Zarette, the owner of the former fish house on the Herring River, has been doing battle with a neighbor ...

HARWICH — The town and the board of health have been named in a suit claiming the denial of acceptance of an application for variances constitutes a regulatory taking under Article 10 of the Massachusetts Constitution and the plaintiffs are seeking damages. At issue is a long standing battle between the estate of Lois A. Jones, which owns a 21,927-square-foot lot, located at 5 Sea Street Extension, fronting on...

EAST HARWICH — There were no serious injuries in a two-alarm house fire on Standish Circle Saturday afternoon, and firefighters are credited with saving the family's pet dog from the blaze. As of Saturday, officials were still searching for the cause of the fire that scorched a single-family house at 16 Standish Circle. Heavy fire was showing from the house when the first firefighter arrived. The blaze had s...

HARWICH — “Harwich is bursting with flavor” is the theme of this year's Toast of Harwich, sponsored by the chamber of commerce. The event will roll once again through the streets of the town on Friday, May 5 with participants being transported to four hubs by trolleys. The trolley transportation aspect of the event was introduced last year as a way of taking people out into the community to experience differen...

HYANNIS — As they do each year, the local chapter of the American Red Cross presented medals for heroism Friday, and a number of the honorees were from the Lower Cape. Last July, Nauset Marine employee Olivia Underwood was cleaning a boat when she saw a sudden flash in a nearby boat. She rushed to find that a fire had ignited the clothes of her coworker, Joe Pires; without hesitating, she doused him with wat...

HARWICH — Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod put forward a new ownership agreement to address site control issues raised by the appeals board last week, but ran into new concerns about whether rental units in the historic Judah Chase House were legally permitted. The nonprofit is seeking a comprehensive permit for an eight-lot subdivision that would provide six-affordable homes off Route 28 in West Harwich. Two ...

WEST HARWICH — A long shadow of sexual abuse came to light this week with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River settling eight sexual abuse cases against the late Rev. James Nickel, who served as a priest in Holy Trinity Church from 1972 to 1978. Seven of the eight boys sexually abused by Nickel were alter boys. Six of them served in Holy Trinity Church and one at Our Lady of Annunciation in Dennisport. The...