TRURO — The board of health approved a series of updated regulations on May 18 governing cesspools, septic systems, and well-water testing. The most significant change is that all cesspools […]
Archives for May 2021
THE HOUSING CHALLENGE, PART 1
Who Builds Affordable Housing Here?
The list of interested developers on the Outer Cape is short
The list of developers expressing interest in a handful of affordable housing initiatives now in the works on Outer Cape Cod will likely be short. Taking on such a project […]
LEADERSHIP
Hoort’s ‘Hands-Off’ Management Led to Financial Crisis
‘You’re only as good as the employees you hire,’ says former administrator
WELLFLEET — The problems with the town’s financial management, which two temporary accountants are now trying to untangle, began years ago and mushroomed during former Town Administrator Dan Hoort’s tenure. […]
WELLFLEET AUDIT
Management Letter Finds Major Discrepancies in Accounts
Town’s auditors are no-shows at select board meeting
WELLFLEET — While the town’s June 30, 2020 financial statements somehow passed muster, receiving what is known as an unqualified opinion in the independent auditor’s report from Powers & Sullivan […]
CIVICS
Wilson, Carlson, and Wolf Face Off in Wellfleet Select Board Race
Carlson and Wolf jump in with write-in campaigns
WELLFLEET — When select board member Helen Miranda Wilson became the lone town resident to file election papers in April, she told the Independent that her unopposed status meant she’d […]
APPRECIATION
Joe Bones, Who Had a Million Stories, Is Gone
The legendary captain and musician was irresistible and esteemed
PROVINCETOWN — So, this is back in the early ’60s, down in Connecticut, in some kind of factory. A bunch of guys eat lunch every day at the same table. […]
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Niggel Hits Roadblock in Storage Unit Review
Zehnder threatens suit to challenge regulators’ interpretation of plan
EASTHAM — A new 4,800-square-foot storage unit building proposed by Barbara Niggel, the owner of Willy’s Gym, will be dropped from the project currently before the planning board after an […]
CHOP TALK
Chopper Young Can Take Care of Himself
Wellfleet’s champion shucker on selectmen, self-sufficiency, and what winning the lottery can’t change
WELLFLEET — Chopper Young is waiting on a fish. He’s knee-deep in Sally’s Bottom (from him, this guarantees a smirk), two poles planted, a headwind niggling his lines. Six feet […]
OUTER CAPE PORTRAIT
New Chapter in an Old Book
JODY MELANDER / EXPLORER & MAKER / TRURO In the ’80s, when Jody Melander arrived in Provincetown, it was love at first sight. But over the decades, P’town has changed. […]
MEMORIAL DAY 2021
The Civil War Memorial Reminds Us of Our Racist Past
We cannot change history, but we can face it to build ‘a more perfect union’
I strolled through the Gifford section of the Provincetown Cemetery recently, reading the inscriptions on headstones I found intriguing. Many of the people named on those stones are not in […]
FROM THE LARDER
Lamb Chops and Artichokes on the Grill
Smoke and fire and other gifts that got us through this
There are some advantages to working in a vineyard. First, there’s the wine, though not until 5 p.m. Because I’m working. And, at this vineyard, there’s a food truck at […]
TOOLSHED
The Right Tools for the Job
A plantswoman on the hand tools she cannot garden without
TRURO — There are catalogs full of gardening toys to consider at this time of year. You can start to imagine that, if only you had the right apron, swivel-headed […]
DIAMONDS
Practice and Patience Pay Off for Nauset Baseball
The team sets its sights on winning the Cape and Islands crown
EASTHAM — The Nauset High baseball team’s first game this season was on May 12, nearly two years since it last took the field in June 2019. “The kids are […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, May 25 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
MILLION-YEAR PICNIC
By the Otherworldly Light of a Partial Eclipse
Outer Cape sky watchers: mark your calendars for June 10
Over the winter, we’ve considered the Moon’s cataclysmic origins four billion years ago, its phases and visible surface features, and how it creates ocean tides. With a partial solar eclipse […]
