ORLEANS — Nauset Public Schools Supt. Brooke Clenchy has confirmed that her retirement at the end of the current school year, first announced last month in an email to parents […]
Archives for 2024
DEMO DESK
Contractor Says Demolition Did Truro ‘a Favor’
Cape Cod Builders has a history of suing municipalities
TRURO — Cape Cod Builders, without the town’s permission, demolished a cottage in early October instead of renovating it for use as employee housing as the firm’s contract required. Thomas […]
ON THE BALLOT
Question 5 Would Increase Wages but Allow Larger ‘Tip Pools’
Many restaurant workers fear new rules would erase wage gains
It makes sense that a ballot measure that would more than double the wages that must be paid to tipped employees would be popular with at least one large block […]
ON THE BALLOT
‘Dark Money,’ Wind Power, and Question No. 7
A Hingham man’s solo campaign is behind a nonbinding referendum
ORLEANS — Until they saw the roadside signs urging them to “Vote NO Question 7,” most Outer Cape voters had no idea there was a seventh question on the Nov. […]
ON THE BALLOT
Question 6 Asks Voters to Decide County Budgeting Process
The answer depends on whether you think the Assembly of Delegates is ‘advisory’ or ‘co-equal’
After marking their choices for president, Congress, the state legislature, the county commission, and five statewide ballot questions, voters here will be presented with a sixth question that doesn’t appear […]
ON THE BALLOT
Question 4 Would Legalize ‘Psychedelics Centers’ and Personal Use
PROVINCETOWN — Among the many choices that Massachusetts voters face on Election Day is ballot Question 4, which would legalize and regulate several psychedelic substances. A “yes” vote would OK […]
LITTLE HOUSES
An ADU Project in the Seashore Becomes a Snafu
Conflicting laws could put Seashore homeowners’ certificates at risk, Supt. Flynn said
WELLFLEET — The owners of a two-acre property at 19 School House Hill Road are overseeing the finishing touches on an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) built under the town’s still-new […]
THE SHIPPING NEWS
Wellfleet Harbors Mariners in Need
A modern installment of a traditional story of rescue and recovery
WELLFLEET — There is an expression in French for when all of the elements are against you, said Marie-Anne O’Reilly: “Contre vents et marées. Against wind and tide.” O’Reilly, her […]
HAUNTED HISTORY
Beware the Black Flash!
Remembering the leaping, fire-breathing phantom of Cape Cod
It bounds down the alleyways off Commercial Street, its black cloak trailing in the wind, dark laughter bubbling from behind its horrible metal mask. Children dash home in terror the […]
ROAD TRIP
To Edward Gorey, Everything Was a Gem
The Yarmouth Port home of the artist known for his sense of Edwardian macabre is anything but scary
I have an image flaming in my head, and it’s glorious. Edward Gorey (or Ogred Weary, for he often used anagrams) drives up to his house in Yarmouth Port. He has […]
POLISHING UP
Letting Gravestones Speak
Robert Sweetman teaches the careful cleaning of historic markers
“Her toils are past, her apricots down, her scurvy and her love,” Robert Sweetman reads. “No, that can’t be right.” He kneels before the lichen-covered grave in Provincetown’s Old Alden […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
Chesapeake Bay Results Are In, and They’re Not Good
Striper spawning success is low for sixth year in a row
The results are in from the annual seine in the Chesapeake Bay to determine the status of the juvenile striped bass population, and the news isn’t good. Samples of fish […]
ANTIFOGMATIC
A Punch From the Past
Uneasy times call for a strong beverage that can be made by the batch
This Halloween, the threat of ghouls, goblins, or ax murderers pales in comparison to the terror of the following week’s presidential election. For me, the key to sustaining, and hopefully […]
ON THE BEACH
The Emotional Comfort of a Go-To Lure
Even scruffy and worn, favorite lures create the confidence necessary for fishing success
Halfway through the upswing of my cast, I heard a snap and watched my silvery popper fly lazily overhead and plop in the fast-moving water a few dozen yards in […]
HOCUS POCUS
The Witch of the Wood
When certain shrubs are in the vicinity of fir trees, they can become infected with Pucciniastrum goeppertianum, a rust fungus that needs two different species to complete its life cycle. On […]
