Latest Stories

DRESS REHEARSAL

The script might be about the first-ever musical, but this year’s performance of Something Rotten Jr. by Provincetown Schools middle-school students is definitely a story reflecting plenty of experience and […]

SEA LEVEL RISE

PROVINCETOWN — A near-final draft of the coastal resiliency plan that the town has been working on since last spring was unveiled at the select board meeting on April 28, […]

TRURO TOWN MEETING

TRURO — Beneath the spring sunshine and the vaguely Cirque du Soleil white tent under which Truro now holds its town meetings, a peaceful but unmistakable showdown unfolded on May […]

EASTHAM TOWN MEETING

EASTHAM — At a relatively brisk annual town meeting on May 5 — this one lasted less than three hours — voters approved 22 of 23 warrant articles. Article 9A […]

TRURO TOWN MEETING

TRURO — Staff don’t say much at town meetings here — even the town manager speaks only to answer questions. Instead, Moderator Paul Wisotzky cheerfully asks if anyone wants to […]

TRURO ELECTION: SELECT BOARD

TRURO — Candidates night at the Community Center on May 6 felt more like political speed dating, with familiar faces returning for another round and a few newcomers trying to […]

ENVIRONMENT

WELLFLEET — After a recent round of amendments, a strategy for removing nitrogen from the town’s wastewater over next 20 years — part of the Targeted Watershed Management Plan — […]

TRURO ELECTION: PLANNING BOARD

TRURO — Harlen Howard, 38, thinks it’s time for a change on the planning board and is making his first run for local office. He’s challenging longtime planning board members […]

TRURO ELECTION: PLANNING BOARD

TRURO — Planning board clerk Jack Riemer is running for re-election on May 13 against incumbent Paul Kiernan and challengers Harlen Howard and Eric Jansen. Riemer was one of three […]

TRURO ELECTION: PLANNING BOARD

TRURO — Eric Jansen, owner of the Blackfish Bistro in Truro and Local 186 in Provincetown, says that the beauty of running a restaurant is the sense of community it […]

TRURO ELECTION: PLANNING BOARD

TRURO — Planning board incumbent Paul Kiernan is in his 20th year on the board — from 1992 to 2002, then again starting in 2015. He sees himself as an […]

THIS WILD CAPE

Yes, we got through the winter here on Cape Cod, and we’ve been counting the days through March and April. Finally, the wind and the cold are pretty much behind […]

BAKE IT EASY

My aunt Mary Jane is here for a visit, which means there will be family stories over a Mother’s Day brunch — my mother’s side loves to reminisce. Even though […]

MOTHERS’ DAYS

To be a new mother is to disappear in plain sight. It’s cold coffee every morning and shirts damp with milk. It’s rocking a stroller with one foot, answering emails […]

THE SCUTTLEBUTT

The water temperatures off Cape Cod are only sluggishly increasing this spring, reaching the upper 40s and in some spots the low 50s last week. If all you’re thinking about […]

LEADERSHIP

EASTHAM — Coaches look to team captains to provide leadership that discourages disruptions and builds team unity. It can be a daunting task, and many captains are thrust into the […]

WARRIORS WATCH

ORLEANS — The Nauset Regional High School Warriors, trailing Duxbury by 11 runs in the fifth inning and down to their last strike in a game that would have been […]

NATURAL SELECTION

The fuzz-covered newborns that can be seen unrolling from their fetal positions near the cedar swamp in Wellfleet this week are the fresh fronds of cinnamon fern, Osmundastrum cinnamomeum, an […]

RARA AVIS

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, May 6 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

This week, the stars urge us to question tradition and routine. Not that we’re supposed to forget those things are important. As the Sun enters a conjunction with Uranus, we […]

PROVINCETOWN: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

Meetings Ahead Most meetings in Provincetown are held in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you want to attend on the calendar at provincetown-ma.gov for a […]

TRURO: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

Meetings Ahead Meetings in Truro are often held remotely. Go to Truro-ma.gov and click on the meeting you are interested in for an agenda and details on how to join. […]

WELLFLEET: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

Meetings Ahead  Most meetings in Wellfleet are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting that interests you on the calendar at wellfleet-ma.gov for details. All meetings […]

EASTHAM: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

Meetings Ahead  Most meetings in Eastham are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you are interested in on the calendar at eastham-ma.gov for details. All […]

WHAT STICKS

For the past few years, Karen Cappotto and James Ryan, co-founders of the Modern Provincetown Collagists, have mounted an annual exhibition at the Commons on Bradford Street celebrating collage as […]

SERIOUS HUMOR

The comedy tour “Here to Pee,” which began in March, represents comedian Ren Q. Dawe’s most ambitious project to date: a tour through all 50 states, featuring an all trans […]

STUDIO VISIT

A group of ex-voto paintings line the wall of a hallway leading into Donna Flax’s studio at her home in Wellfleet. She collected the paintings in Mexico, which she began […]

OUTSIDERS

This spring marks the 20th anniversary of Provincetown singer and songwriter Billy Hough’s show “Scream Along With Billy,” in which he and his musical partner, Susan Goldberg, perform entire albums […]

BIG PICTURE

Dee Shippelhute, an artist living in Chatham, has twice traveled to China to study painting. In 2008, she had a residency at Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in Tianjin and […]

Taking It From the Top at Schoolhouse Gallery After a long winter filled with anxiety for many over current events, spring feels particularly welcome this year. The hopeful feelings of […]

VIGNETTE

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STEAMERS

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THE YEAR-ROUNDER

Our individual lives, so precious to us, are brief and then gone, like snow on the water, vanished utterly with barely a trace left behind. Those few throughout history who […]

ENCROACHMENT

I am grateful to the Provincetown Independent for its coverage of the development of 27 Cemetery Road and the encroachment on the Roach-Watkins family gravesite. It is troublesome not just […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

All our towns have now navigated through another annual town meeting cycle, and it’s worth stopping to consider the significance of this peculiar New England tradition. Wellfleet Town Moderator Dan […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Roach Family Graves To the editor: Two things jumped out at me in “House Construction Cuts Close to Burial Site” [May 1, front page]: Gregory Baldwin, the broker, states […]

OBITUARY

Linda B. Miller, a scholar of political science and a Wellfleet resident since 1976, died on Jan. 19, 2025 at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. She had a distinguished career […]

OBITUARY

Carolyn Daniels Sanger of Topsfield, the daughter of Eastham residents Edward and Nancy Daniels, died in a hiking accident on April 23, 2025 at Purgatory Chasm State Reservation in Sutton. […]

TIDE CHART

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Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from April 28 to May 2, 2025.  PROVINCETOWN April 28. G. Bruce Head III to Edward T. Connolly Jr. and Harvey E. […]

CLASSIFIEDS

WARMED UP AND READY TO PLAY New live music schedule for Irish, old time, and country music sessions ongoing at Mean Burgers, Wellfleet: 6:30-8:30 on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays […]

Better Angels (Thursday, May 8) Angels in America Part II: Perestroika, Tony Kushner’s 1993 Tony Award-winning play about the interconnected lives of six New Yorkers grappling with life and death […]

Town of Wellfleet SELECT BOARD Notice is hereby given that the Wellfleet Selectboard will hold a public hearing on TUESDAY MAY 13, 2025 AT 6:00 PM, virtually and in person […]

TOWN OF TRURO Eversource Energy and Verizon New England Incorporated Public Hearing for Joint or Identical Pole Locations The Truro Select Board in accordance with MGL Ch. 166 § 22 […]

Town of Provincetown Board of Health The Board rescheduled a public hearing originally posted for Thursday April 17, 2025 to MAY 15, 2025 AT 4:00 P.M. in the Judge Welsh […]

Town of Eastham Planning Board Pursuant to the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws, c.40A sec 5, the Eastham Planning Board will hold a Public Hearing at 5:00 PM ON WEDNESDAY, […]

TOWN MEETING

WELLFLEET — The 328 voters at the April 28 annual town meeting owed their first unexpected vote to resident Brian Stern, who moved to block a $225,000 capital budget item […]

DEVELOPMENT

PROVINCETOWN — Thom Cusack lives near the town’s Gifford and Hamilton cemeteries and walks daily through the rows of stones marking the final resting places of countless Provincetown residents. Those […]

EVERYTHING IN MODERATION

WELLFLEET — Monday was a perfect spring evening: warm sunshine lingered, and there was a nice breeze blowing off the bay. While the rest of the Cape was enjoying it, […]

RIGHT WHALES

PROVINCETOWN — Late April marks the peak of the North Atlantic right whale season in Cape Cod Bay. Since January, more than 180 of these endangered animals have made an […]

ECONOMY

PROVINCETOWN — The seasonal economy of the Outer Cape relies heavily on a workforce that many tourists seldom see: the chefs, dishwashers, and housekeepers who keep hotels looking pristine and […]

REMAINS OF THE DAY

WELLFLEET — The formerly grand 19th-century house on Peace Valley Road sat empty and open to the elements all winter despite the town’s efforts, a state program aimed at saving […]

TOWN MEETING PREVIEW

TRURO — When voters arrive at this Saturday’s annual town meeting, they’ll find a confusing new wrinkle in Truro’s years-long effort to replace its aging Dept. of Public Works facility: […]

TOWN MEETING

EASTHAM — The comments at an April 22 select board session on this year’s warrant articles had Town Moderator Scott Kerry looking forward to Monday’s town meeting. “It sounds like […]

TAX POLICY

EASTHAM — Ever since the select board voted in January to begin planning for a residential tax exemption (RTE) in the upcoming fiscal year, opposition to the policy from part-time […]

MORNING FLIGHT

This is the story of seeing the rarest bird I’ve ever seen on Cape Cod. It was a few days before Christmas when I got an email from Provincetown resident […]

THE WHOLE TABLE

You know how it is with cookbooks. There are certain ones you delve into over and over again, becoming friends with the authors as they tell you about their favorite […]

NOISE-MAKER

Walter Buckingham’s first job after college was as a drummer for a musket squad. It was 1975, and he had just graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, so […]

FASHION MAYDAY

May is peeking out from every corner — neon pink tulips, verdant leaf buds, and deep purple grape hyancinths. But what about me? I’ll admit I’ve been feeling a little […]

WARRIORS WATCH

EASTHAM — When the five boys competing in the 110-meter hurdles lined up at Nauset High School’s track on Tuesday, April 29, the rest of Nauset’s team crowded around the […]

WARRIORS WATCH

BREWSTER — The Nauset Warriors girls golf team ignored challenging conditions and put on an entertaining show on Tuesday afternoon at the Captains Golf Course, defeating an undermanned Dennis-Yarmouth squad […]

THE SCUTTLEBUTT

It’s strange, given our warming climate, but the ocean water temperatures off our shores are still running in the low to mid 40s — that’s cold for this time of […]

NATURAL SELECTION

Rising (relatively) high on triangular stalks, the male flowers of Carex pensylvanica, a grass-like sedge that can be found softening the Outer Cape’s oak-pine forest floors, are jutting out their pale-yellow stamens […]

RARA AVIS

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, April 29 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

RIDING THE RAILS

At one time, before they ripped up the rails in northwest Wellfleet, I might have hopped on a red caboose to visit Otis. I had this thought as Otis and […]

CROSSWORD #62

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ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

Taurean energy continues to fuel our ambitions and goals. And with Mercury and Venus in Aries, those goals become all the more attractive. We’re given a burst of inspiration to […]

PROVINCETOWN: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

Meetings Ahead Most meetings in Provincetown are held in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you want to attend on the calendar at provincetown-ma.gov for a […]

TRURO: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

Meetings Ahead Meetings in Truro are often held remotely. Go to Truro-ma.gov and click on the meeting you are interested in for an agenda and details on how to join. […]

WELLFLEET: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

Meetings Ahead  Most meetings in Wellfleet are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting that interests you on the calendar at wellfleet-ma.gov for details. All meetings […]

EASTHAM: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

Meetings Ahead  Most meetings in Eastham are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you are interested in on the calendar at eastham-ma.gov for details. All […]

VIGNETTES

Gene Tartaglia recalls a 2022 exhibition of Salvatore Del Deo’s artwork at the Mary Heaton Vorse house as revelatory. “It kind of shook the art community up a bit,” he […]

HER STORY

The obituary of Clara Schumann, who died on May 20, 1896 at age 76, was published on June 1 of that year in The Musical Times and Singing-Class Circular. The […]

ART AND ACCESS

Katie Castagno of Eastham has finished the last bits of recording for her album, Our Queer Elders, to be released this summer. The songs are about people in history who […]

FICTION

It’s just that I was missing my father. His guilty-yet-triumphant toddler smile when he finished off a brand-new pack of the Circus Peanuts we both loved and were supposed to […]

DREAM STATE

As a child, reared close to the Atlantic Ocean in Brittany, the westernmost region of France, Monique Brunet-Weinmann excelled at reciting poetry from memory. “Pretty soon,” she says, “I started […]

BIG PICTURE

Wellfleet’s Bob Henry has been painting and drawing for 70 years, but he’s not the kind of artist who makes the same painting over and over again. There are some […]

What Dreams Are Made Of Currently on view at the Cape Cod Museum of Art (60 Hope Lane, Dennis), “Dreamscapes and Inner Worlds” includes 81 works chosen by curator Joe […]

VIGNETTE

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STEAMERS

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OP-ART

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ORGANIZING CHAOS

Libraries organize chaos. So wrote Nancy Kalikow Maxwell in her book, Sacred Stacks: The Higher Purpose of Libraries. And lately, or maybe always, there is plenty of chaos to organize. […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Conservative columnist David French writes in the New York Times this week that he has “a complicated relationship with Harvard.” So do I. French grew up in a small town […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Vitality and Synergy To the editor: I encourage Truro town meeting voters to approve the Walsh district zoning overlay. This overlay would provide a foundation for thoughtful development of the […]

OBITUARY

Star Chicaderis, a celebrated vegetarian chef, dog park regular, and familiar face about town, died on April 18, 2025 at Seashore Point Wellness and Rehab Center in Provincetown. The cause […]

TIDE CHART

Know when to hit the flats. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from April 21 to April 25, 2025.  PROVINCETOWN April 22. Robert A. Strati and David P. Strati to David T. Krohn. 16R […]

CLASSIFIEDS

SERVICES  Grass mowing. Sign up now for the 2025 season. Reasonable rates and good service. Contact Luther at 508-400-7813. Serving Provincetown to Eastham. [6-5]  Ian’s Landscaping. Spring clean-ups, planting, mulching, […]

Tea Time (Friday, May 2) The first Tea Dance of the season at the Boatslip (161 Commercial St., Provincetown) on Friday, May 2, 4 p.m. features music by DJ Maryalice […]

PUBLIC NOTICE TRURO ANNUAL TOWN MEETING: SATURDAY, MAY 3, 2025 Check-in 8:30 am Start time-10:00 am Truro Central School TRURO ANNUAL TOWN ELECTION: TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2025 Open 7:00 am […]

Town of Provincetown POSITION OPENING ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT DPW / WATER DEPT. The Town of Provincetown is accepting applications for an opening in the DPW Water Department for Administrative Assistant. This […]

Town of Eastham TOWN WARRANT SPECIAL TOWN MEETING PUBLIC NOTICE The Warrant for the Eastham Special Town Meeting to be held on Monday, June 23, 2025, opens Monday, May 5, […]

RUNS TO REMEMBER

BOSTON — On a beautiful, sun-drenched Patriots Day, 28,384 runners completed the 26.2-mile marathon course from Hopkinton to Boston. A women’s record of 2:17:22 was set by Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi. […]

ON THE WARRANT

TRURO — The tent is back in town. Not a red-and-yellow tent with elephants — but an enormous, unevenly heated white tent that was set up for the first time […]

TOWN MEETING PREVIEW

WELLFLEET — For the second year in a row, the annual town meeting warrant does not propose any Proposition 2½ overrides to raise local taxes above the state’s statutory limit, […]

TRANSPORTATION

PROVINCETOWN — In three weeks, commercial flights between Provincetown and Boston will resume after a six-month hiatus. Cape Air — the only carrier to offer scheduled flights to Provincetown since […]

EASTHAM WASTEWATER

EASTHAM — A special meeting of the select board on Thursday, April 17 had a limited agenda: “administrative matters — wastewater project.” That brief description packed a big punch, however: […]

HISTORY

BREWSTER — Researching the history of the Nauset people for his 2024 history-memoir, After Aspinet, made Noogaahz Wixon feel like he was walking through a ghost town. Learning about colonial […]

ENVIRONMENT

WELLFLEET — If there’s one thing Cape Codders can be proud of, it’s being good recyclers. That’s according to Kari Parcell, whose job is to be picky. Parcell is the […]

GLAD HATTERS

PROVINCETOWN — From early Beachcombers’ Balls to the Carnival Parade, people here have never been shy about dressing in costume. One of the latest opportunities, the Provincetown Arts Society’s annual […]