The Provincetown Independent - Unchained news for Outer Cape Cod

health

Outer Cape Immunization Rates Among Lowest in State

Just 77% of Wellfleet kindergartners have been fully vaccinated

By Sophie Ruehr Nov 14, 2019

WELLFLEET — A large number of children who visit the Outer Cape Health Services clinic here are “under-vaccinated” — having not received a full series of standard immunizations against infectious diseases, which are required under state law for school admission. Only 77 percent of the kindergartners at the Wellfleet Elementary School in the past three years have been fully immunized against hepatitis B, MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), polio, and varicella (chickenpox), according to the Mass. Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences. This puts Wellfleet Elementary in the 10th percentile for immunizations statewide. At Eastham Elementary, the immunization rate is only slightly higher, with 83 percent of kindergartners having received a full series of vaccines. … ▶

ECONOMY

How Was the Tourist Season? It’s Too Soon to Say

Key tax data won’t be available until Dec. 30

PROVINCETOWN — The tourism industry brings about $200 million into Provincetown every year, according to Tony Fuccillo, Provincetown’s director of tourism. It’s an … ▶

ECONOMY

Fishing Is Still the Most Dangerous Job

Fishing Partnership’s insurance plan, the model for ‘Romneycare,’ has helped

Close brushes with death are common for Outer Cape fishermen. Rick Marvin of Eastham, who fishes for lobster, bluefish, and crab, knows from experience that a … ▶

CIVICS

Select Board Comes Down Hard on Fire Chief’s VFW Plan

A unanimous vote not to recommend petitioned article at special town meeting

PROVINCETOWN — The most consequential vote at Tuesday’s select board meeting came after most of the audience had left: a unanimous decision not to recommend Fire … ▶

CANNABIS

From Russia With Cash

Local pot shop financed by Russian oligarchs

PROVINCETOWN — It turns out the marijuana industry and the end of communism have a lot in common. U.S.-born investor Boris Jordan, the major shareholder of … ▶

MILLION-YEAR PICNIC

Why Orion the Hunter Is Rising This Evening

An astronomy lesson for five-year-olds of any age

BODY/MIND

Press Pause: Developing Awareness with Yoga

Interoception makes us less likely to ignore symptoms of larger problems

ECONOMY

Surf Shops Suffer Effects of Shark Tales

Local business owners bemoan the media frenzy over great white danger

NATURA VIVA

Asclepias Seeds Leaving the Nest

Milkweed drifts toward a home for next year

OP-ED

An Alternative to the Police and Fire Substation Proposal

Providing for safety needs while preserving VFW for new housing

SKETCHBOOK

Provincelands, Dune Shacks, Fall Day

THE HOMELESS

‘When Are We Going Home?’ Rocha Still Asks

David Chick says he is near giving up trying to help a homeless man

HYANNIS — Freddie Rocha greeted David Chick with his usual questions: “When are we going home?” and “Did you come to take me home?” Chick smiled and asked if he had … ▶

AT THE LIBRARY

A Classic Dysfunctional Family Memoir

Tales of resilience as holidays loom

Educated Tara Westover New York: Random House, 2018 Family dynamics can range from quirky to full-blown dysfunctional even at the best of times, but holidays have … ▶

HOUSING

Looking at Affordable Housing Through Irish Eyes

The CDP’s Andrea Aldana travels to Ireland for an ‘affordable housing journey’

EASTHAM — What would we do differently if we saw affordable housing as a human right? That’s the key question Andrea Aldana, director of housing advocacy for the … ▶

ELECTIONS

Wellfleet Scraps Wooden Ballot Box

Questions about election security are dismissed by select board

WELLFLEET — The select board voted 3-2 on Oct. 22 to “retire the horse and buggy,” as board member Kathleen Bacon put it, and replace the town’s 95-year-old … ▶

THEATER

Despite Real-Estate Challenges, Harbor Stage Sticks to Its Mission

But the founders of Wellfleet’s artist-run theater are still searching for a place to live

For their first seven years, the four actor-founders of the Harbor Stage Company — Robert Kropf and Stacy Fischer, Brenda Withers and Jonathan Fielding — who run the … ▶

ENVIRONMENT

A Mountain of ‘Sacrificial Sand’ Is Dumped at Blasch House

Coastal bank is replenished as property owners challenge town in court

WELLFLEET — The Blasch property is receiving another massive amount of “sacrificial sand” in an effort to stall the mansion’s collapse over the edge of a coastal … ▶

Main Content

Footer