Latest Stories

PORTUGUESE FESTIVAL

PROVINCETOWN — The Sun came out for Provincetown’s 78th annual Blessing of the Fleet on June 29. Boats of all sizes mustered in the harbor, decked in festival flags, as […]

TOWN HALL

TRURO — The select board voted unanimously on July 1 to interview only one of 16 applicants for the job of town manager: current acting Town Manager Kelly Clark. She […]

PUBLIC HEALTH

PROVINCETOWN — There’s a newcomer on the Cape’s tick scene. It bites hard, reproduces fast, and, in some cases, leaves victims allergic to red meat. It’s the lone star tick. […]

SHERIFF’S DEPT.

PROVINCETOWN — When Barnstable County Sheriff Donna Buckley announced her campaign for that office in March 2022, she told the Independent that “the sheriff’s responsibility is not to do law […]

DEMOLITION WATCH

WELLFLEET — When Helen Miranda Wilson spent $900,000 to purchase the 3.7-acre property at 177 Peace Valley Road in late May, she hoped to restore at least part of the […]

PLANNING DEPT.

PROVINCETOWN — Every year in May, after town meeting and the annual town election, the select board scores the town manager’s progress and writes a new set of “goals and […]

PLANNING

WELLFLEET — After nearly two years of review, the planning board unanimously denied site plan approval for a 10-lot subdivision sandwiched between Dow Drive and Somerset Avenue. The 8-acre property, […]

GRACE GOUVEIA SERVICE AWARD

PROVINCETOWN — There were still 20 minutes left of the documentary, and Bruce Mason wanted to know if he could finish it before giving an interview. It was the day […]

I SCREAM

At the Independent, many things change every year: the headlines, the bylines, the deadlines, and, for a few, the hairlines. But some things never change. Independent writers are back in […]

THE SEASIDE GARDENER

Foxgloves have a sense of mystery about them — even their name is a subject of lore. They are, however, very easy to grow in a Cape Cod garden if […]

GOOD HUMOR

A jolly jingle electrifies the air in the parking lot at Thumpertown Beach in Eastham. Seconds later, Nicki Waite swings into view, driving her vintage ice cream truck: a 1973 […]

FOOD MEMORIES

I lived out in Oregon for more than a decade before moving home to the Cape in 2022. My husband and I often planned trips here around the Fourth of […]

CONSTITUTIONAL

Diane Midura is still flying her knitted Ukrainian flag outside Ocean Purls, her Eastham yarn shop. “I started knitting it days after the Russian invasion,” she says. She didn’t think […]

ON THE BEACH

I wait all winter for the precious June afternoons when the wind and sun are at my back, and the tide is low and incoming. These are perfect conditions for […]

THE SCUTTLEBUTT

The game of hide and seek we’re playing with our striped bass continues — they seem to be unwilling to settle into an area and stay put. It’s a daily […]

TRAP SHOOTING

EASTHAM — The story among members of the Nauset Rod & Gun Club is that their first trap house — the shelter from which clay pigeons were thrown — was […]

FASHION FORWARD

It’s a warm Tuesday morning in Provincetown and artist Paul Rizzo is wearing knee-high athletic socks with garters, a royal blue vintage speedo, a black leather chest harness, and a […]

RARA AVIS

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, July 1 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

STRANGE BIRD

ORLEANS — George Hoskey has a low, gravelly voice that draws strength from his diaphragm. If he pulls it taut, he can release a piercing squawk. A friend once measured […]

NATURAL SELECTION

There’s something kind of human about a mature patch of Opuntia humifusa, the Eastern prickly pear cactus. Maybe it’s the plant’s new growth and round fruits that attach along the […]

WEATHER

One of the busiest times of the year on Cape Cod — the Fourth of July — is upon us, and the weather looks to cooperate quite nicely through the […]

FOUND AT THE FARMERS MARKET

June 28-29, 2025 Wellfleet and Truro If you’ve just missed the farmers market, try exploring some of the local farm stands. Sea and Soil Botanical Designs (Pole Dike Road, Wellfleet) […]

DATE AND TIME

From the July 4, 1918 issue of the Provincetown Advocate, selected and edited by Kaimi Rose Lum To write an honest article about a patriotic poster show wants, as our […]

VIEWFINDER

  POLLEN NATION This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

The stars invite transition. Fine, you say: things are constantly shifting, changing, and creating friction in the cosmos. But sometimes the effects are subtle, and other times they come with […]

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.  Monday, July […]

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

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 […]

CIRCUS

The mosquito has a monologue. The bees perform synchronized aerials. And the praying mantises fight to the death. What’s the Buzz?, the latest production from Payomet’s Cirque by the Sea, […]

TRADITION

Kenny Neal can’t say for sure which was the first instrument he ever played. It seems to him he’s always been a musician — growing up in Baton Rouge, La., […]

COMEDY

The astonishing thing about the opening night of Judy Gold’s annual run at the Post Office Café & Cabaret wasn’t that she killed it. She did kill it, resoundingly, but […]

BOOKS

Susannah Cahalan writes that Rosemary Woodruff Leary is “everywhere and nowhere.” Her point is that the woman who was the fourth of five wives of Timothy Leary — the Harvard […]

THEATER

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were Italian immigrants who joined the early-20th-century anarchist and labor movements in Massachusetts. In 1921, they were convicted of killing a paymaster and a guard […]

POETRY

Open my eyes with the sun,                 bright over my shoulder,                 and uniform clear blue […]

POETRY

The air felt like May, but the water said it would rather be March. They negotiated through a fog that rose from the moors and burned off in my lungs. […]

An Artistic Dialogue at Seashore Point Gallery Anne Flash and John Koch met in a class at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill around 10 years ago. The […]

VIGNETTE

This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

STEAMERS

This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

WATERCOLOR

This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Ben Franklin and others admired the founding document that unified the Haudenosaunee peoples (who were called the “Iroquois” by the colonists), which some said had influenced the founding of this […]

WELLFLEET HOUSING AND TAXES

An article directing Wellfleet to dedicate 80 percent of its rooms tax revenue to affordable housing was narrowly defeated — the vote was 90 to 101 — at this year’s […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

A few weeks ago in this column, I mentioned that I grew up in New Jersey as a red diaper baby, that is, the child of Communists. As my sister, […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Lawrence Hill Oversight To the editor: Re “Wastewater Could Delay Move-In at Lawrence Hill” [June 26, front page]: In his last meeting with the Wellfleet Select Board in February 2024, […]

OBITUARY

Kenneth Boynton Oxtoby of Truro died on June 21, 2025 after suffering a stroke. He was 69. Ken was born on June 7, 1956 in New York City to the […]

OBITUARY

Artist, athlete, and financial adviser Mallory A. White, a Provincetown part-timer for 30 years, died on Feb. 26, 2025 at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Fla. The cause was pulmonary […]

OBITUARY

A memorial service for Amy Jo Paine of Wellfleet and Orleans, who died at 62 on June 24, will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 9 […]

OBITUARY

John Malachy Dooley of Wellfleet, a bagpipe player, avid fisherman, and former Provincetown High School guidance counselor, died of congestive heart failure on June 17, 2025 at the Liberty Commons […]

ROFLMAO (Thursday-Sunday, July 3-6) Los Angeles-based transgender comedian Roz Hernandez brings her blend of the silly and the scary back to Provincetown in “JK ROFLing” at Pilgrim House (336 Commercial […]

Learning to Laugh (Thursday, July 3) Improvincetown presents a free afternoon of improv activities for kids at Wellfleet Public Library (55 West Main St.) on Thursday, July 3. Participants will […]

A Woman Named Carlos: New Girl in Town Post Office Café & Cabaret Thurs., July 3 and Thurs, July 10, 10 p.m. $35-$45 plus fees at postofficecafe.net   Anita Cocktail’s […]

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 23 to June 27, 2025.  PROVINCETOWN June 24. Kathryn Kacergis to Four Tails LLC [Randall L. Sell and Edward T. […]

HISTORICAL COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING Notice is hereby filed that the Wellfleet Historical Commission will hold a remote Public Hearing on WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2025 AT 5:00 PM to review a […]

CLASSIFIEDS

MUSIC New Schedule. Music every other Tuesday (July 15, July 29, Aug. 12 and 26) at Mean Burgers, Wellfleet, 6:30-8:30 p.m.: Irish, old time, folk, and country music sessions hosted […]

LICENSING DEPARTMENT PUBLIC HEARING NEW ANNUAL ALL ALCOHOL ON-PREMISE POURING LICENSE And NEW BUSINESS LICENSE COMMON VICTUALER The Truro Select Board will hold a Public Hearing on TUESDAY, JULY 22, […]

HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION The Commission will hold a Public Hearing at 3:30 P.M. ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2025, in the Judge Welsh Room at Town Hall, 260 Commercial Street, Provincetown, […]

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, JULY 16, 2025, […]

HERRING RIVER RESTORATION

WELLFLEET — Five hundred yards upstream of the Chequessett Neck bridge, sequestered on a maintenance access road, a $7-million dike designed to prevent flooding in the Mill Creek sub-basin is nearing […]

HOUSING

WELLFLEET — When tenants get the keys to their new apartments at Wellfleet’s Lawrence Hill affordable housing complex next year, their drains may lead to holding tanks rather than the […]

PROVINCETOWN CHILD CARE

PROVINCETOWN — The infant and toddler child-care program in Provincetown — which is unique in Massachusetts in providing free full-day, year-round care for the children of town residents and town […]

TWO DEMOLITIONS DELAYED

WELLFLEET — The historical commission on June 11 grappled with two cases in which owners of historic properties want to destroy the houses’ historic elements. In one, the damage had […]

TOWN MEETING

EASTHAM — Voters overwhelmingly approved the construction of a sewer system around the Salt Pond watershed at the special town meeting held on Monday, June 23 at Nauset Regional High […]

PREDICTIONS

PROVINCETOWN — As the sun crept over Provincetown Harbor, Capt. Mike Rathgeber was at the dock, getting ready for another day on the water. He packed the boat, checked his […]

WASTEWATER

This article was updated on June 27, 2025. WELLFLEET — Just over six months after the town adopted new septic system regulations in January — passed in part to help […]

TIDYING UP

I live in one of those 1800s Cape houses that shows its age with an absolute lack of repositories for the stuff of life, save for a solitary cupboard tucked […]

FROM THE LARDER

In food, as in art, one never quite knows where inspiration will come from. Sometimes the fruits of the season demand attention, such as when the peas come in, or […]

NATURE

For six months, from the summer solstice last June to the winter solstice in December, Grace Emmet walked through Beech Forest in Provincetown every week — 27 times in all. […]

PROVINCETOWN, JUNE 19

PROVINCETOWN — More than 100 people gathered under clear skies at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House for the annual Juneteenth cookout on Thursday — an afternoon that served up burgers […]

WELLFLEET, JUNE 19

WELLFLEET — When the First Congregational Church and a local group, ArtPeaceMakers, hosted the town’s first public Juneteenth celebration last Thursday, they wanted it to be fun. That meant “bouncy […]

BIRDWATCHING

It was such a soft note, a faint lisping sound from nearby, I wasn’t sure I’d heard it at first. It called again. I scanned the wet leaves of the […]

THE SCUTTLEBUTT

As the song goes, “Happy days are here again” — at least on the local fishing front. First, we got a nice bump-up in water temperatures, which are now pretty […]

RARA AVIS

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, June 24 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

CAPE COD SOCCER LEAGUE

EASTHAM — When the Wellfleet Breakers took the field against Cape Cod Soccer League newcomers Napoli Hyannis on June 22, the difference between the two teams was stark. Napoli’s blue-striped […]

NATURAL SELECTION

Perhaps the kookiest character yet from the storied Camelot Court is currently in charge of the nation’s health and perhaps out to kill it with a thousand cuts. So maybe […]

WEATHER

Temperatures rose into the 80s and 90s during the first part of the work week with Tuesday’s temperatures approaching record levels — including an astonishing 97° F in Provincetown. Those […]

FOUND AT THE FARMERS MARKET

June 23, 2025, 8:02 a.m., Truro   The first carrots and beets of the season have made an appearance, but it’s the garlic scapes that are really having their moment. […]

VIEWFINDER

This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

DATE AND TIME

From the July 1, 1856 issue of the Provincetown Banner, selected and edited by Kaimi Rose Lum Wharves Opposite to almost every man’s estate, in town, and extending more or […]

ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

With the Sun, Jupiter, Mercury, and the Moon transiting the waters of Cancer at the beginning of this week, we’ll all be exploring our emotional depths, though this is especially […]

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 […]

DANCE

In the golden evening light at Race Point Beach, an audience assembled on towels and blankets. Nearby, a group of dancers in white swayed gently back and forth, stretching and […]

SPEECHLESS

In the quiet valley town of Missoula, Mont., sprawled at the feet of five mountain ranges, Bill Bowers’s parents — both descended from generations of ranchers and farmers — did […]

ARTISTS

Linda Reedy grew up in Connecticut and Boston and first came to Provincetown when she was seven. For her parents, it was the nearest far-away place. The briny breezes, scrub-pine […]

ARTIFICE

Nature isn’t always natural, suggests the Fine Arts Work Center’s summer exhibition, “To Move a Mountain.” Coady Brown, an artist who curated the work by nine former FAWC fellows, writes […]

PORTUGUESE FESTIVAL

At her home in South Dartmouth, Celia Maria recalls the fado singers who have inspired her. She opens the doors to her media center to reveal hundreds of LPs, 45s, […]

THE STROLL

On Center Gallery (352 Commercial St.) Nathaniel Meyer grew up in Maine near the Schoodic Peninsula of Acadia National Park. That’s where, as a child toting a French easel, he […]

Art, Music, and Food for a Cause Art for the Border, an Outer Cape collective of artists and activists, will host an art giveaway and Latin dance party at the […]

VIGNETTE

This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

STEAMERS

This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

OP-ART

This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

THE YEAR-ROUNDER

Many years ago, I attended a reading by Michael Cunningham at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. I think he was reading from his then-just-published book, Land’s End. In […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Louis DeJoy is no longer postmaster general, but his five years at the head of the U.S. Postal Service wreaked havoc on its essential mission. One of the few things […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Old Tools To the editor: Re “The Type That Lasts” (June 5, page B1): My family had an antique tools shop for 30 years where letterpress equipment was a core […]

OBITUARY

Joan Elizabeth Walter of Wellfleet died peacefully at the Meadows in Fulton, Miss. on June 17, 2025 after a courageous struggle with dementia. She was 86. Joan was born on […]

OBITUARY

Lyle B. Butts of Wellfleet, the founder of Bay Sales Marine, died on May 28, 2025 after being in hospice care at home since mid-April. The cause was congestive heart […]

IN MEMORIAM

A memorial gathering for printmaker Jack Coughlin, who died at 93 on Feb. 26, 2025, will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, July 9 at the Golden […]