Latest Stories

STOREFRONTS

PROVINCETOWN — A property where a lively part of the East End’s commercial and cultural life has long unfolded is up for sale, generating interest from developers and concern from […]

TOWN MEETING

PROVINCETOWN — Town meetings here follow a fairly standard recipe — articles that fund town government at the beginning, housing measures in the middle, zoning articles at the end. It […]

NAUSET HOCKEY

BOURNE — Fans arriving late to the game at the John Gallo Arena on Sunday could hear the cheering from well beyond the hockey rink’s walls. The top-ranked, undefeated Nauset […]

PLANNING DEPT.

EASTHAM — The Cape Cod Commission unanimously endorsed a new zoning code for the North Eastham Business District on Feb. 27 — putting the town one step closer to realizing […]

TOWN ELECTIONS

WELLFLEET — When voters head to the polls on May 5 to fill two select board seats, they will find only two candidates on the ballot. Barbara Carboni, who has […]

STATE OF THE TOWN

WELLFLEET — In his “State of the Town” talk on March 6, Town Administrator Tom Guerino said that efforts to right the town’s finances, begun three years before he arrived in […]

MENTAL HEALTH

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey has put plans to close the Pocasset Mental Health Center in Bourne on hold after facing bipartisan opposition from families, local officials, mental health advocates, […]

AQUACULTURE

WELLFLEET — Oysters don’t hibernate, but when winter sets in and water temperatures dip below 48 degrees Fahrenheit, they enter something like a dormant state, which allows them to conserve […]

INSPIRED EATS

We are precipitously close to spring, but the season still lags. Looking out on gloomy weather and shuttered shops, one can feel caught in stasis. Perhaps you are yearning for […]

THE BURREN NOTEBOOK

I believe in the fairies. I do. It doesn’t hurt that science these days is talking about parallel universes and worm holes, and that particles are neither here nor there […]

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

You don’t need a TikTok influencer to tell you that it’s very now to push back against the forces of a consumerist culture that follows you online wherever you go. […]

THE SCUTTLEBUTT

We’ve been on quite the roller-coaster ride since the close of the 2024 fishing season, trying to follow rumors and meetings about what to do with striped bass regulations for […]

MORNING FLIGHT

The sound echoes from the marshes behind my house every morning, starting in late February: konk-a-REEE. It’s an alarm clock of sorts — it signals the start of a new […]

NATURAL SELECTION

The native shrub Lyonia ligustrina is a close relative of blueberries and huckleberries in the Ericaceae family that makes a name for itself by producing hard capsules around its seeds […]

RARA AVIS

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, March 11 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

The planets are affecting how we end old cycles and start new ones. This is the last week of Pisces season, and Pisces, being the last sign of the horoscope, […]

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 you are interested in on the calendar at wellfleet-ma.gov for details. All […]

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 […]

TIDE CHART

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

HANDMADE

There’s a big bowl on Provincetown artist Gail Browne’s dining table, but it’s not full of fruit. The dish contains marbled ceramic balls and horseshoe crabs — paperweights. “It’s what […]

PARALLELS

Kai Conradi shouldered the sky and looked down. The land expanded, color rushing in, taking on the contours of a relief map. Then, a strip of sand appeared, sea on […]

TRANSLATABILITY

Upon entering his studio at the Fine Arts Work Center, one might easily imagine that José De Sancristóbal is one of the writing fellows here for the winter. The walls […]

YOU’VE GOT MAIL

For this installment of Indie Reads, we asked Independent staff and contributors to write about some of their favorite Substack email newsletters. The mix we received includes a running invitation […]

TUNING UP

For Shane Hayes, playing traditional Irish music feels as natural as breathing. “You don’t think about it,” he says. “You just play.” Hayes was born and raised in Ennis, in […]

A Poet of Darkness and Light The Fine Arts Work Center’s 24PearlStreet online writing program will host “Dear Yusef,” a virtual event in honor of poet Yusef Komunyakaa, from 6 […]

VIGNETTE

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STEAMERS

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OP-ART

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BEEN THERE, DOGE THAT

I will now sheepishly admit that when it was first announced, I was jealous of the DOGE — President Trump’s so-called Dept. of Government Efficiency. When I worked for the […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

“People think news deserts are only in flyover country,” said veteran reporter Samuel Freedman, who was quoted in a 2023 article in The Nation. “Local news, local journalism, is disappearing […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Septic Rules in Wellfleet To the editor: I’m writing to clarify statements I made about Wellfleet’s new septic regulations and accessory dwelling units (ADUs), which were described as misleading in […]

OBITUARY

A member of the National Academy of Design since 1972, John Joseph Coughlin Jr. of Wellfleet, whose work graced the Golden Cod Gallery on East Commercial Street for decades, died […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from March 3 to March 7, 2025.  PROVINCETOWN March 6. Sanford R. Thigpen and Richard J. Dooley to John Samuel Waters Jr. […]

CLASSIFIEDS

MUSIC AND DANCE Swing into spring with Outermost Contra Dance on March 21, Wellfleet Preservation Hall, 6:30 p.m. Summer McCall will teach all dances; Rose Clancy and Jacqueline Schwab will […]

Emerging Artists (Thursday, March 13) Wellfleet Preservation Hall (335 Main St.) hosts a reception featuring portfolio work by honors art students from Nauset Regional High School on Thursday, March 13, […]

Town of Truro PLANNING BOARD NOTICE OF REMOTE PUBLIC HEARING WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2025 AT 5:00 PM View on television Channel 8 in Truro; or on the Homepage website (www.truro-ma.gov), […]

NOTICE OF HEARING A Public Hearing will be held on MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2025 AT 5:30 PM, in the Earle Mountain Meeting Room at the Eastham Town Hall, 2500 State […]

Town of Provincetown Finance Committee ANNUAL TOWN MEETING – FINANCE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS Public Hearing March 13, 2025 Per the Provincetown Charter 2-3-g, the Committee will hold a Public Hearing on […]

TERMINATION

EASTHAM — A yellow patch of grass opposite the Lobster Shanty on Route 6 became the site of a 100-person protest on Saturday, March 1, as it was the nearest […]

TOWN MEETING

EASTHAM — At this year’s town meeting, voters will be asked to approve the creation of a special education stabilization fund to help support expenses at the town’s elementary school. […]

ERAS TOUR

EASTHAM — For more than 100 years, five generations of Collinses have cared for a collection of six rental cottages along with a main house built along the shore of […]

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

WELLFLEET — The historical commission has urged the owners of a 75-year-old cottage that is an important example of mid-century modern architecture to consider alternatives to its demolition. The house […]

HEALTH CARE ACCESS

PROVINCETOWN — Despite Massachusetts laws protecting access to abortion, logistical and institutional barriers persist for Outer Cape residents seeking care. Most abortions in the U.S. today are early in pregnancy: […]

FRESH BROOK HISTORY

It’s hard to imagine what Wellfleet’s Fresh Brook — or Trout Brook, as it is labeled on some old maps — looked like a half millennium ago, when it was […]

HISTORY

PROVINCETOWN — The four towns of the Nauset Regional School District — Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, and Brewster — are embarking this year on a state-supported study of whether two or […]

HOEDOWN

Music drifts out of the Wilde Playhouse room at the Gifford House in Provincetown, but it’s somehow not what you’re expecting. It’s the twang of the “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” by […]

THE ESSENTIALS

What can you do with four carrots, three sausages, two potatoes, a cup of leftover marinara sauce, some chicken broth, and a takeout box of steamed rice? I checked the […]

CULTIVATION

Six bonsai trees in clay pots stand in a lineup under the fluorescent lights of the cafeteria at the Truro Central School, awaiting critique. The bonsai, all larches and junipers, […]

THE SCUTTLEBUTT

As we wait for the weather to warm and trigger the striped bass spring migration, there are some interesting — albeit troubling — issues to follow regarding the effects of […]

GIRLS HOCKEY

WOBURN — Time ran out on the Nauset-Monomoy girls hockey season Saturday afternoon at O’Brien Rink but not before another gutsy, entertaining effort by the Warriors. The girls lost to […]

BOYS HOCKEY

ORLEANS — The Nauset Warriors made it look easy on Saturday, cruising to their second playoff hockey win, 9-0, over the Danvers Falcons and advancing to the Mass. Div. 3 […]

WILD THINGS

Wampanoag people across southeastern Massachusetts have appreciated the astringent qualities of the native Vaccinium macrocarpon for thousands of years. Europeans were not entirely unfamiliar with this plant either when they […]

RARA AVIS

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, March 4 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

This week is all about relationality and connectedness, a view of the world in which existence means being in relationship with others. Astrology always takes this view, I think. Or […]

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 you are interested in on the calendar at wellfleet-ma.gov for details. All […]

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 […]

LOST AND FOUND

After the legendary blizzard of 1978, Nicolas Nobili went with his family to Eastham’s Coast Guard Beach and scavenged for scraps of their summer house, which had been washed away. […]

BOOKS

The official policy of the Trump administration is essentially that transgender citizens do not exist and will not be recognized by the federal government. The publication last month by the […]

RADIO

Eric Auger doesn’t always wear his horned helmet. On air, Auger is Erik the Red, the Viking skipper of his WOMR show, The Reminiscence Bump, every other Thursday from 9 […]

STORIES

Starting a short story, Jason Ferris writes the first sentence, then rearranges the words. “I’ll stare at it and stare at it,” he says, “until finally it has enough of […]

ARTISTS

About six weeks into Edd Ravn’s fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in the fall, he decided to smear his studio wall with mud. “I was thinking about the […]

BIG PICTURE

Rosalie Acinapura, a photographer who lives in Wellfleet, has been taking photographs most of her life. She’s prolific, and her vision is wide-ranging. She takes photographs wherever she is, on […]

Listening to Women at WOMR WOMR has celebrated International Women’s Day since 1988, and for the past 14 years, that celebration has included featuring the station’s women DJs for the […]

VIGNETTE

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STEAMERS

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OP-ART

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WATERCOLOR

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

This Saturday, March 8, is International Women’s Day, and while we listen to the 19 women DJs on WOMR (see page C9), I’ll be thinking about the women on the […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

‘A Dangerous Precedent’ To the editor: I am writing as an alumna of Provincetown High School, Class of 2007, in response to the recent firing of employees of the Cape […]

OBITUARY

Joan Ann Williams Marshall, who lived in Truro, died at her home in Melbourne Beach, Fla. on Feb. 19, 2025 of ovarian cancer. She had turned 90 five days before. […]

OBITUARY

Steven Kent Roda died unexpectedly at his home in Harwich on Feb. 19, 2025. The cause, confirmed by his stepdaughter Beth Federico, was cardiac arrest. He was 76. Stevie was […]

OBITUARY

Joy Farina Downey of North Truro died peacefully at Cape Cod Hospital on Feb. 17, 2025, hours after saying goodbye to her family. The cause was heart failure. She was […]

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 Feb. 24 to Feb. 28, 2025.  PROVINCETOWN Feb. 26. Provincetown HoldCo LLC [Caterina Mina Labella, agent] to Shady Acres LLC [Lauren […]

CLASSIFIEDS

TUESDAY TUNES Schedule Change: Starting in March, Irish, old time, country music sessions will be 6:30-8:30 p.m. on the 2nd, 4th (and 5th) Tuesdays of the month. Hosted by Denya […]

Fur Real (Thursday-Sunday, March 6-9) Northeast Ursamen’s annual Out of Hibernation weekend produced in conjunction with the Crown & Anchor (247 Commercial St., Provincetown) from Thursday, March 8 through Sunday, […]

Town of Wellfleet Conservation Commission Public Hearing March 19, 2025 Please take notice that the Wellfleet Conservation Commission, in accordance with M.G.L. Chapter 131, Section 40, and the Wellfleet Environmental […]

Town of Truro Truro Central School TRURO PRESCHOOL REGISTRATION We are excited to continue to offer tuition-free preschool for Truro residents and children of Truro town employees. We greatly appreciate […]

NOTICE OF HEARING A Public Hearing will be held on MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2025 AT 5:30 PM, in the Earle Mountain Meeting Room at the Eastham Town Hall, 2500 State […]

Town of Provincetown REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS The Town is seeking proposals for the Following project MOTTA FIELD REDEVELOPMENT Bids will be opened in the DPW Conference room at Veterans Memorial […]

LOCAL IMPACT

WELLFLEET — A nationwide mass firing of federal employees who were in their “probationary” first year on the job included three full-time staff at the Cape Cod National Seashore: archaeologist […]

RESIGNATION

TRURO — Town Manager Darrin Tangeman will receive a $237,370 lump-sum severance payment from the town after his resignation takes effect on April 8, according to a signed copy of […]

WASTEWATER

WELLFLEET — The town’s long-awaited targeted watershed management plan, which involves building a sewer system for the central district and applying new septic system rules to most other properties, was […]

TOWN MEETING

PROVINCETOWN — Voters here are likely to be glad about their 2021 vote to add cushions to the seats in town hall auditorium — because the warrant for town meeting […]

HOUSING

This article was updated on March 4. ORLEANS — Applications are now open for a new affordable housing development at the site of the old Cape Cod 5 Bank headquarters […]

SHELLFISHING

WELLFLEET — When Dave Seitler got up at 5 a.m. on Sunday, the first thing he checked was the temperature. Through nearly all of February, low temperatures had stymied his attempts […]

MORNING FLIGHT

I was driving past Old North Cemetery in Truro a couple of weeks ago when I saw a bird flying upside down. It soon flipped back over, completing an awkward […]

NEW ORLEANS DISPATCH

It’s a bright and cool late morning in New Orleans and we’re lingering over the last of our coffee (me) and tea (Christopher) on the little front porch of our […]

CIRCLE GAME

Capoeira begins in a circle. And it always comes back to a circle. But at nine o’clock on a cold Saturday morning, six children (along with a couple of their […]

THE SCUTTLEBUTT

Last weekend’s sunny break in the long February cold wave was a reminder that with the chilly March wind comes the dawn of another spring on the Outer Cape. And […]

TO THE MAT

I’ve been thinking lately about what it was that got me interested in yoga in the first place. I remember the first time I went to a yoga class: I […]

THE MAGICAL YET

TRURO — Warm white light outlines the rectangular room, its glow emanating from battery-operated mushroom puffs and flickering electric votives. At the center of the room is a small circle […]

WILD THINGS

The chance to look closely at the zig-zag branching habit of several old wild highbush blueberries is one good reason to walk around Great Pond in Wellfleet on a cold […]

RARA AVIS

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Feb. 25 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

With the Sun in Pisces, all play and no work will not fly. While the desire to avoid work will be strong in the days ahead, the need for it […]

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 […]