Latest Stories

REVELRY

Provincetown personalities Austin Tyler and Mackenzie hosted the town’s Pride celebration over the past weekend. On June 7, after a rally on the steps of town hall, revelers made the […]

RADIOACTIVITY

PLYMOUTH — The Dept. of Environmental Protection determined last July that the proposed discharge of over one million gallons of radioactive wastewater from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station into Cape […]

COMMUNITY

PROVINCETOWN — As legal protections for transgender people are stripped away at the federal level, the effects are being felt far beyond Washington. That is true even here in Provincetown […]

PROMISES, PROMISES

TRURO — The board of health is all too familiar with complaints about the Sandbars Inn at 570 Shore Road. Many of them stem from lack of oversight of the […]

HOUSING

PROVINCETOWN — The town’s effort to get 40 condos — 30 of which would be sold to town residents at below-market prices — built at the site of the former […]

IMMIGRATION

PROVINCETOWN — The Trump administration’s increased pressure on student visa holders nationwide — and its all-out campaign against Harvard — came into view in Provincetown last week when the Harvard […]

DOGE DISRUPTION

PROVINCETOWN — A federal judge in Maryland on June 5 blocked the Trump administration’s cuts to AmeriCorps, the community service agency, in 24 states including Massachusetts — reinstating, at least […]

HISTORIC

EASTHAM — With a new wing added over the winter, this town’s old yellow schoolhouse, which now serves as its museum, run by the local historical society, has been restored […]

TAXING

EASTHAM — Property taxes have been in the spotlight in Eastham this year. In the annual town election, two candidates for select board told the Independent that rising taxes were […]

SUMMER GEAR

Tony Muto grew up on Nauset’s outer beach. “I’ve been out there since I was in diapers,” he says, and he means that quite literally. Among his baby photos is […]

CLASS OF 2025

EASTHAM — Nauset Regional High School’s seniors — 203 of them — marched from the school’s new auditorium down a hall lined with applauding teachers and into the new gymnasium […]

GROWING WILD

“Right plant, right place.” This mantra, good for muttering to oneself at the nursery so as not to waste money on temptations that, though beautiful, have absolutely no business being […]

ONE FISH, TWO FISH

In her small, bright shop on Wellfleet’s Commercial Street, Nicole Gelinas holds up two thin pieces of wood: old shingles from Cape Cod houses. On one, a gold-and-black octopus sports […]

THE ESSENTIALS

It won’t be long now. Most anyone who keeps a vegetable garden is waiting and watching for the first peas, that fresh, green taste of springtime that means the weather […]

BIRDWATCHING

It wasn’t yet light out. This was the best time to get hands on the bird. This expert flier certainly wouldn’t allow capture if she could see me coming. My […]

RARA AVIS

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, June 10 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

THE SCUTTLEBUTT

We had another weekend washout with clouds and cool temperatures, but this time the weather didn’t stop the fish from biting. Striped bass moved north of Billingsgate Shoals and smack […]

BOYS LACROSSE

EASTHAM — Spurred by freshman attackman Jack Peno’s five-goal first-period outburst, the second-seeded Nauset Warriors (17-4) defeated Nashoba 16-10 to reach the Division 3 Final Four in boys lacrosse for […]

GIRLS LACROSSE

MEDFIELD — Medfield was seeded number one in Division 3 for a reason and its ranking was emphatically justified with a 22-3 victory over a determined but outgunned Nauset girls […]

TRACK

Ten Nauset students qualified for this year’s Mass. divisional track meet, held on May 30 and June 1 at Merrimack College. They joined top athletes from Falmouth, Scituate, and 40 […]

LOVEFEST

EASTHAM — Whoever coined the term “unified track” deserves an award for linguistic perfection. To view this sport, as practiced by the Nauset Regional High School Warriors, is to experience […]

NATURAL SELECTION

The pictured shrub, scientifically classified as Viburnum nudum — presumably for the smoothness of its shoots — has endured many a christening. Someone more focused on its fruit than its […]

ROAD TRIP

I didn’t think I needed the potato clock. I mean, everything I really need is close by: I can buy my printer paper across the street from here. If I […]

ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

No matter what your sign, you’ll find yourself assessing your social circle. Now’s a time for asking yourself who you’ll allow in — and whom you should keep at arm’s […]

PROVINCETOWN: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

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 link to […]

TRURO: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

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. Thursday, June […]

WELLFLEET: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

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 are at […]

EASTHAM: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

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 meetings are […]

FIELD WORK

It is not uncommon in Provincetown to come across artists with their easels and paints set up along Commercial Street or out in the dunes. Painting en plein air — […]

JAMBALAYA

When David Eure plays his violin, its fingerboard dusted with rosin, he’s constructing a masterpiece of texture and inflection. In performance, he says, “Your audience is your canvas, and you’re […]

THE DRAG BUG

Mackenzie Miller, Provincetown’s self-declared “neon hype girl,” was born in the great state of Alaska, in Big Lake, an hour north of Anchorage. There, in the “arctic tundra,” she says, […]

ARTISTS

“Crossroads,” the name of André van der Wende’s current exhibition at Wellfleet Preservation Hall, alludes to a creative journey that offers resolution but also a continuous sense of possibility. The […]

FILM FESTIVAL

Murray Bartlett has won or been nominated for more than a dozen acting awards, but the one he’ll receive Saturday hits closest to home. Six years after moving to the […]

FILM FESTIVAL

Ari Aster, 38, represents a new generation of filmmakers unafraid to plunge into the darkest corners of human experience. He will receive the Filmmaker on the Edge Award at this […]

Art That Celebrates Power and Resilience Izzy Berdan, curator of an exhibition at the Provincetown Commons this month commemorating Juneteenth, has strong opinions about “America’s second Independence Day.” The Texas […]

VIGNETTE

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STEAMERS

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WATERCOLOR

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THE YEAR-ROUNDER

On a cold night in October more than 50 years ago, the staff at Ciro & Sal’s restaurant was getting ready to close. It was after nine o’clock, there had […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

The alert about a last-minute concert at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House came too late for an announcement in the newspaper. Jennifer Shannon, president of the congregation, emailed on Friday […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Eastham’s Water To the editor: At the June 2 meeting on the Eastham wastewater project, the select board and other town officials presented a thorough and cogent explanation of the […]

OBITUARY

A Funeral Mass for Maria Andrews of Provincetown, who died on June 2, 2025 at 67, will be held at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 at St. Peter […]

OBITUARY

Donna Marie Thomas died at her home in Yarmouth on May 8, 2025, surrounded by loved ones. She was 67. Donna was born on March 5, 1958 at Cape Cod […]

OBITUARY

Joan Muriel (Dutra) Russell died on May 29, 2025 at Seashore Point Wellness Center in Provincetown after a long, courageous fight against cancer. Having survived squamous cell cancer and then […]

OBITUARY

A celebration of the life of Phil Cole, who died on March 6, 2025 at 77 of complications from a brain aneurism, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. […]

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 June 2 to June 6, 2025.  PROVINCETOWN June 2. 139 Bradford Realty Trust and 139B Bradford Realty Trust (Scott Caldwell, trustee) […]

CLASSIFIEDS

EVENTS  Last Outermost Contra Dance before summer break is June 20 at 6:30 p.m. Eastham caller Pat Nash will be teaching all dances to the tunes of Billy Hardy on […]

Trans Lives (Thursday-Saturday, June 12-14) Playwright, author, journalist, and filmmaker Joshua Irving Gershick presents TRANScripts, a work exploring his identity journey and its connection to the larger legacy of transgendered […]

ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS NOTICE OF REMOTE PUBLIC HEARING THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2025 AT 7:00 PM Pursuant to Massachusetts General Wellfleet Section 235, the ZBA will hold public hearings on […]

INVITATION FOR BIDS GREAT HOLLOW BEACH ACCESS IMPROVEMENTS The Town of Truro invites sealed Bids for the proposed construction of a new public access structure at the Great Hollow Beach […]

SELECT BOARD 7 RACE ROAD CURB CUT The Provincetown Select Board will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, June 23, 2025 in the Judge Welsh Room, Town Hall, 260 Commercial […]

Commonwealth of Massachusetts PUBLIC NOTICE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION WATERWAYS REGULATION PROGRAM Notice of Simplified License Application pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 91 25-WW-PRE-0048-APP. NOTIFICATION DATE: June 12, 2025 PERMITTEE: Angela […]

CLASS OF 2025

TRURO — The mood among the members of the Class of 2025 at Nauset Regional High School gathered at Truro Vineyards for the senior banquet on May 30 was, by […]

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

PROVINCETOWN — The hundreds of international students who come to the Outer Cape through the U.S. State Dept.’s Summer Work Travel program will still be here this year, despite a […]

PUBLIC HEALTH

EASTHAM — For the past month, clinics across Cape Cod have been offering free measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccinations. Measles — which had been eliminated in the U.S. in […]

REGIONAL RESPONSE

PROVINCETOWN — On an unseasonably hot Friday in May, local leaders from Cape Cod, the Islands, and the Berkshires gathered at town hall to discuss the state’s newest response to […]

DISAPPEARING IMMIGRANTS

This article includes excerpts from published reports in the Vineyard Gazette, the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, and the Falmouth Enterprise, reprinted with permission. A series of immigration operations in Massachusetts […]

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

TRURO — A 220-year-old house peeks out from behind a wall of foliage on land wedged between Castle and Truro Center roads. The house at 3 Castle Road is a piece […]

ART CLASS

PROVINCETOWN — The newest work from comic artist Phil Jimenez isn’t another issue of Spider-Man or Wonder Woman. It’s a horror story with the ominous title It Never Ends Well, […]

THE COUNT

WELLFLEET — The alewives — also known as river herring — are coming home, though they’re not here to stay. They come to the Cape every spring and stay for […]

AQUACULTURE

PROVINCETOWN — Michael and Kalliope Chute, who have operated the Mermaid Menu oyster farm on the flats in Provincetown Harbor for several years, hope to expand their business this summer […]

ROAD TRIP

I didn’t think I needed the potato clock. I mean, everything I really need is close by: I can buy my printer paper across the street from here. If I […]

FOOD REVOLUTION

I miss the things I used to worry about. Those anxieties seem so pleasant in retrospect. One of the main things I used to like to mull in the years […]

MEET THE MAKER

When David Smith steps hard on the treadle of his Chandler & Price 10-by-15-inch platen press, it begins to churn energetically, like a many-appendaged ocean animal. The press, built in […]

THE SCUTTLEBUTT

Another weekend storm has hampered our efforts to get out there and go fishing. This time, south to southwest winds gusting to 35 m.p.h. and rain stifled any idea of […]

CONNECTIONS

Every Wednesday morning and Thursday evening, Orleans artist Taylor Fox breaks down his studio at The 204 — the cultural center in Harwich — pushing furniture and supplies to the […]

THIS WILD CAPE

It’s June, and everybody’s nesting. Or at least everybody who’s here for the season. If you’ve been watching birds, you’ve been busy keeping track of what birds are around and […]

RARA AVIS

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, June 3 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

GIRLS LACROSSE

EASTHAM — At halftime of Nauset’s first round Division 3 game with Archbishop Williams on May 29, it was clear that the Archies were going to have to find a […]

BOYS LACROSSE

EASTHAM — Nauset’s first-round Division 3 state tournament game looked to be a mismatch on paper, and it turned out to be one in reality. The 2nd-seeded Warriors began what […]

NATURAL SELECTION

Prunus, the cherry genus, is second only to Quercus, the oaks, when it comes to providing essential wildlife services, as they say, to birds and insects. (Photo by Joe Beuerlein)Prunus […]

MEET THE MAKERS

Jessica Abernethy endeavors to be a good listener — at least, when it’s textiles that are doing the talking. “I always let the fabric talk to me,” she says. In […]

ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

The pressure valve gets a much-needed release with several transits underway this week. Venus leaves Aries and enters its home sign of Taurus, and both Mercury and Jupiter move from […]

PROVINCETOWN: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

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 link to […]

TRURO: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

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. Thursday, June […]

WELLFLEET: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

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 are at […]

EASTHAM: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

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 meetings are […]

INDIE SCREEN

In the opening scene of the documentary Everything Moves, which is having its world premiere at the Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF) next week, a ladybug finds its way from […]

PHOTOGRAPHY

Provincetown photographer William P. Hamlin uses weaving, an ancient artisan technique, to create his photographic prints. While studying at New York University in the 1980s, Hamlin had the idea to […]

MUSIC

Few places in the world have as high a residents-and-visitors-to-musical-performers ratio as does the Outer Cape between Memorial Day and Labor Day. But how best to plan your schedule with […]

FILM HISTORY

“Golden ages” are rarely golden for everyone, especially in film history. The era referred to as “classic Hollywood” roughly coincided with the Production Code, a set of guidelines developed by […]

RETREAT

In her new memoir, Memorial Days (Viking, 2025), Geraldine Brooks with matter-of-fact and elegant prose delves into a universal experience that, as a culture, we try our best to push […]

Diving Into a Summer of Free Movies The Provincetown Film Society is teaming up with the Crown & Anchor for free poolside movie screenings every Tuesday night this summer. The […]

VIGNETTE

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STEAMERS

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LONG NIGHT’S END

The loveliest thing about periodic cicadas is their red eyes. Their wings are mottled in golden brown, like precious metal, lace over ebony. Certain insects become jewelry: scarab beetles, dragonflies, […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Every summer, the Provincetown Independent, with funding from the Local Journalism Project, welcomes four college students who spend 10 weeks researching and writing articles for the newspaper. This summer’s group […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A Voice From the Pit To the editor: I had the pleasure recently of having been hired by the Nauset High School Theater Dept. to play trombone with the student […]

OBITUARY

Dino Anthony Galiano died on May 22, 2025 surrounded by family at his home in Provincetown with the Tchaikovsky violin concerto, his favorite, playing softly in the background. The cause […]

OBITUARY

Evelyn Eleanor Currier, who founded the North of Highland Camping Area in Truro in 1954 with her husband, Malcolm, and ran the office before it was passed down to a […]

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 May 27 to May 30, 2025.  PROVINCETOWN May 28. Charles Jordan to Ronald Degen and Christopher Hannegan. 3 Race Rd., Unit […]

CLASSIFIEDS

EVENTS  Lower Cape Pride Weekend is June 13-15. Come support our local LGBTQ+ community and celebrate our theme, “Unity in Community.” Join our People-Powered Pride Parade in Orleans on Saturday […]

Coming Together (Thursday-Sunday, June 5-8) The annual Womxn of Color Weekend — featuring workshops, film screenings, dance parties, and other events — takes place at various venues throughout Provincetown from […]

  HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION The Commission will hold a Public Hearing at 3:30 P.M. ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2025, in the Judge Welsh Room at Town Hall, 260 Commercial Street, […]

HISTORICAL COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby filed that the Wellfleet Historical Commission will hold a remote Public Hearing on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 2025 AT 5:00 PM to review a […]

WISDOM

Over the course of four months, I sat with seven women — artists, caregivers, organizers, and revolutionaries — who have spent years living on the Outer Cape. They range in […]

PUBLIC HEALTH

This article was updated on May 29, 2025. PROVINCETOWN — On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, the traditional kickoff of summer on Cape Cod, an alert went out from […]

GREEN ECONOMY

PROVINCETOWN — The Massachusetts branch of Curaleaf, the world’s largest cannabis company by revenue, is suing the town over claims that it improperly collected community impact fees from the company’s […]