All Stories

PROVINCETOWN — First of all, Mike Packard was not “gulped down” by a humpback whale, as the Boston Herald reported, nor was he “swallowed” by the whale, as the Cape […]

EASTHAM — At Nauset Light Beach, surfers show up in the early morning, chatting with each other as they paddle out into the surf. Riding the crests of the waves […]

WELLFLEET — Voters at the June 26 annual town meeting must prepare for a 53-article warrant that includes $3.3 million in Proposition 2½ overrides and debt exclusions. If all of […]

EASTHAM — The select board has agreed to a purchase price of $2.8 million for the Town Center Plaza at 4550 Route 6, and will ask town meeting voters on […]

TRURO — Three articles on the June 26 annual town meeting warrant, all submitted by citizens’ petition, call for changing the ways certain town board members are chosen. Each one […]

PROVINCETOWN — Kohi Coffee Co., at 199 Commercial St., set back from the sidewalk in a beachfront space, currently has a sign on its front door informing customers as they […]

WELLFLEET — The adoption of new accounting software and the turnover of personnel were blamed by auditors this week as the causes of their finding a “material weakness” in the […]

PROVINCETOWN — The planning board will again consider Patrick Patrick’s seasonal worker dormitory proposal at its meeting on Thursday, June 10 and could offer a final clearance that would allow […]

PROVINCETOWN — In the face of climate change and humans’ apparent inability to forestall what is becoming an increasingly irreversible disaster, drink water. Also, you’ll need to use more bug […]

TRURO — Lynne Ready says there is a sequence to teaching children how to use scissors. First, you must pick the right type of construction paper — not too floppy. […]

Henry Frederick Waldo was born at 7:28 a.m. on May 1, 2021 at Cape Cod Hospital, weighing in at 5 pounds, 10 ounces and measuring 19 inches tall. His parents […]

Gray Brown, left, and Jim Vesper prepare to raise the American flag in their Provincetown yard on June 8. When they do, it will fly above their Canadian and Pride […]

“We are a family of repurposers,” says Alicia Morgan. That’s how she explains the accidental beginnings of their doormat business. Alicia had studied interior decorating and was working freelance in […]

One advantage to being a gardener is that I don’t mind the rain. In fact, I spend most of the growing season in Truro worrying about drought and longing for […]

WELLFLEET — Imagine playing a golf course backwards. Or using a putter to drive the ball off the tee. How about using a driver to putt the ball into the […]

What a difference a week makes. We went from a November-like Memorial Day weekend storm to a blistering July-like heat wave. Fishing has improved somewhat. Striped bass are filtering in […]

With the move to remote work for so many, the already tenuous lines separating work and life have pretty well dissolved. One result is a thriving productivity industry. It seems […]

There will be a partial solar eclipse tonight, June 10, which people in the northern reaches of planet Earth will have the thrill of seeing as a ring of fire […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, June 8 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

TRURO — The fog was thick on Monday night, April 19, 1852 — what sailors call “pea soup.” Gale winds blew from the east. At midnight, after making Cape Ann […]

EASTHAM — Rock Harbor boat slip holders are asking if plans for the new harbormaster office will leave them and their guests high and dry with nowhere to park during […]

PROVINCETOWN — Admittance at the Crown & Anchor’s May 30 evening show was by ticket or by reservation only, North Truro’s Keith Davis, an assistant manager who was working the […]

Due to the pandemic, meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, June 10 Planning Board, 6 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, June 10 Climate […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

“Memory and how we remember, what it looks like … it’s very elusive, very fleeting,” says the artist Elise Kaufman. “So much of what I think about is light and […]

What does it mean to be — as the poet, essayist, and playwright Timothy DuWhite puts it — “hard to love”? It’s being seen as “an impossible partner for people,” […]

How do you tell the story of a movement without simply chronicling the lives of a few supposed leaders of that movement? Sarah Schulman tackles this question head-on in Let […]

“We all have loss,” says Paul Riccio, the director and co-writer of Give or Take, a new feature film shot here on Cape Cod — mostly in Orleans — that […]

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TIDE CHART

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FOR RENT Summer weekly rental in Provincetown. Waterfront efficiency/studio cottage, includes parking, deck, laundry onsite, near everything. Leave message at 860-739-8227. [7-1] Writing/art studio space. Good for small projects or […]

Juanita Rita (Michaud) Macara, retired nurse, World War II veteran, wife of the late Nobert N. Macara, mother of five, and grandmother of two, died peacefully at Cape Cod Hospital […]

Warren J Roderick, 72, of Truro died at his home on May 27, 2021. Born on Oct. 31, 1948 in Hyannis, he was the son of the late Warren and […]

Richard L. Haney of Provincetown died peacefully in his home with his family by his side on June 2, 2021. He was the spouse of Edward Criscuolo. Born in Syracuse, […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from June 1 to June 4, 2021. PROVINCETOWN June 1. Paul O. Groipen to VanBergen-Stumpe LLC [Catherine Van Bergen, manager]. 11 Bradford […]

An Independent reader who has been closely following news of the Covid-19 pandemic pointed out a strange fact some weeks ago: the federal Centers for Disease Control’s Covid Data Tracker […]

Buying the Plaza Is Smart To the editor: The Eastham T-Time Committee unanimously supports the purchase of 4550 State Highway, the Town Center Plaza, and urges Eastham residents to vote in […]

PROVINCETOWN — Visitors to MacMillan Pier this summer are guaranteed a sighting of a great white shark — 12 feet long and with plenty of teeth. But the toothed creature […]

EASTHAM — The final version of the annual town meeting warrant posted on May 28 has a surprising twist: voters at the June 12 meeting will be asked to authorize […]

One of the reasons so few developers are interested in building affordable housing on the Outer Cape is the extreme complexity of funding such projects. Another reason: the profits are […]

WELLFLEET — Gordon Kahn had spent an entire day searching online for an apartment for his daughter when he found a cute cottage on Craigslist. The 14 interior and exterior […]

PROVINCETOWN — For Outer Cape communities that have been relentlessly squeezed by the housing crisis, producing new housing has been a primary policy response.  In particular, affordable housing developments — […]

PROVINCETOWN — Someone in the Facebook group “Provincetown: Housing for Rent” called finding housing here “an impossible dream.” The page is a trove of tales of housing plans that have […]

TRURO — The town’s popular and affordable summer day camp will be able only to take children of Truro residents this year, the result of a failure to attract enough […]

BREWSTER — Sarah Harlow Sherman won a one-year term on the Brewster School Committee in the May 25 town election by defeating Rheanna Hastings. The vote was 1,675 to 839. […]

The Provincetown waterfront season certainly has gotten off to a less than auspicious start. We had a classic winter-like nor’easter for the holiday weekend. This one was in no hurry […]

PROVINCETOWN — The day before Beata Cook drew her last breath, her niece and caregiver asked her, “Auntie, are you getting ready to die?” To which Cook replied, “I don’t […]

Picture a plateful of little lemon and vanilla cakes, perfectly risen, and frosted with buttercream swirls strewn with sparkling sanding sugar. How can cupcakes not be the dessert of this […]

Maureen Leavenworth takes a pantsuit (black with white lapels that puff up from the coat like unfurled scrolls) off a rack in her Orleans bridal shop and, using her hands, […]

WELLFLEET — When she was at Nauset Regional High School, Allie Bezio didn’t pay much attention to lacrosse. Soccer was her game. Now finishing her sophomore year at Dean College […]

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

WELLFLEET — The Great White Realty Group has filed suit in Mass. Land Court to overturn recent decisions by the zoning board of appeals that stopped the development of 1.3 […]

My friend Liberty Schilpp has progressed from taking short jogs to becoming a devoted runner. She started just last year, following a run/walk program I wrote about in these pages. […]

Happily heralding the impending season, the Sun’s transit through Gemini stimulates the social senses. Short trips and casual encounters — staples of Gemini’s spontaneous nature — ease us into post-pandemic […]

Wellfleet resident Walter Dorrell atop dune grasses at Race Point on May 19. (Photo Elizabeth Brooke) Fishermen at Pamet Harbor on Tuesday, June 1. (Photo Nancy Bloom) This page is […]

Thursday, June 3 Coed sailing: The Nauset sailing team takes on Sandwich at Oakcrest Cove at 4 p.m. Friday, June 4 Softball: The Warriors host the Falmouth Clippers at 4 […]

ORLEANS — Had he arrived at his own bench trial on time, May 20 might have marked the end of Kevin Berry’s two-year boat odyssey. But arrive on time Berry […]

EASTHAM — Graduation will be held in person this year at Nauset Regional High School. The ceremony, scheduled for Saturday, June 5, will be held outdoors on campus at the […]

Due to the pandemic, meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, June 3 Scholarship & Trust Administration, 2 p.m. Zoning Board of […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, June 3 Climate […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

Brian Vines first learned to watch television — not just passively, but in an intellectually engaged way — from his grandmother who was blind. “I was her eyes,” he says. […]

If thunder could sing, it would sound like Alexis P. Suter. The big-voiced blues belter from Brooklyn is a singer whose power and presence bring to mind Ma Rainey and […]

For this fourth installment of the Indie Playlist, contributors were asked to pick songs that are imperfect in some way. Perhaps they were recorded live. Or the singer’s voice breaks […]

Much has been made of the Greatest Generation and World War II, mostly by Baby Boomers, looking back on the sacrifices of their parents. In the 1960s and ’70s, during […]

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Sometimes a day is more than a day. Sometimes the events and experiences of a single day transform it into something larger. I had such a day last week. First […]

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 A well-worn definition of insanity is repeating the same mistake and expecting a different outcome. Seems like our Mass. Army National Guard never heard that one. They have lately resurrected […]

“It’s the saddest thing,” said Jennifer Cabral to Paul Sullivan, our reporter working on a story about people looking for reasonably priced places to live. Cabral is the moderator of […]

High-Priced Movies To the editor: I was elated to see the recent email from the Provincetown Film Society with the roster of some of the most delightful movies of our time […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from May 24 to May 28, 2021. PROVINCETOWN May 26. Robert Canepa and Barry Murphy to Stephen M. Valocchi and Lazaros Papanikolaou. […]

FOR RENT Writing/art studio space. Good for small projects or as office space. For rent in a commercial building in Wellfleet. Space is 11 ft. x 10 ft.; heat and […]

A Funeral Mass for Carmela “Millie” Slattery will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 8 at St. Peter the Apostle Church in Provincetown. She died at age 90 […]

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated for Frank J. Pantano at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 18 at St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Church, 18 Belvedere St., Boston. Relatives and friends […]

Mark William Vincent of Eastham died peacefully at Cape Cod Hospital on May 27, 2021, surrounded by his family. He was 67. He had served Wellfleet as director of its […]

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TRURO — The board of health approved a series of updated regulations on May 18 governing cesspools, septic systems, and well-water testing. The most significant change is that all cesspools […]

The list of developers expressing interest in a handful of affordable housing initiatives now in the works on Outer Cape Cod will likely be short. Taking on such a project […]

WELLFLEET — The problems with the town’s financial management, which two temporary accountants are now trying to untangle, began years ago and mushroomed during former Town Administrator Dan Hoort’s tenure. […]

WELLFLEET — While the town’s June 30, 2020 financial statements somehow passed muster, receiving what is known as an unqualified opinion in the independent auditor’s report from Powers & Sullivan […]

WELLFLEET — When select board member Helen Miranda Wilson became the lone town resident to file election papers in April, she told the Independent that her unopposed status meant she’d […]

PROVINCETOWN — So, this is back in the early ’60s, down in Connecticut, in some kind of factory. A bunch of guys eat lunch every day at the same table. […]

EASTHAM — A new 4,800-square-foot storage unit building proposed by Barbara Niggel, the owner of Willy’s Gym, will be dropped from the project currently before the planning board after an […]

WELLFLEET — Chopper Young is waiting on a fish. He’s knee-deep in Sally’s Bottom (from him, this guarantees a smirk), two poles planted, a headwind niggling his lines. Six feet […]

JODY MELANDER / EXPLORER & MAKER / TRURO In the ’80s, when Jody Melander arrived in Provincetown, it was love at first sight. But over the decades, P’town has changed. […]

I strolled through the Gifford section of the Provincetown Cemetery recently, reading the inscriptions on headstones I found intriguing. Many of the people named on those stones are not in […]

There are some advantages to working in a vineyard. First, there’s the wine, though not until 5 p.m. Because I’m working. And, at this vineyard, there’s a food truck at […]

TRURO — There are catalogs full of gardening toys to consider at this time of year. You can start to imagine that, if only you had the right apron, swivel-headed […]

EASTHAM — The Nauset High baseball team’s first game this season was on May 12, nearly two years since it last took the field in June 2019. “The kids are […]

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

Over the winter, we’ve considered the Moon’s cataclysmic origins four billion years ago, its phases and visible surface features, and how it creates ocean tides. With a partial solar eclipse […]

Striped-bass fishing has gone from looking like it was going to develop earlier than usual to now looking like it will start a little later than usual. We are wondering […]

Baudelaire once famously counseled his readers on the need to enjoy life despite its pressures: “Whether it be with wine, poetry, or virtue — whatever suits you best, just get […]

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Thursday, May 27 Girls golf: The Warriors take to the course against the Barnstable Red Hawks at the Hyannis Golf Club at 3:30 p.m. The team is 3-1 this season. […]

WELLFLEET — Select board chair Michael DeVasto told the planning board at its recent hearing on zoning bylaw changes that the need to allow more accessory dwelling units (ADUs) by […]

PROVINCETOWN — Dispatched to the Cumberland Farms parking lot on Monday morning to deal with a man asleep at the wheel of his car, Patrol Officer Jason Sullivan found Frederick […]

Due to the pandemic, meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, May 27 Planning Board, 6 p.m. Public Pier Corp. Board, 3 […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, May 27 Climate […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

“I believe that art is an important vehicle for discussion and reflection,” says the Haitian-American artist and educator Chanel Thervil. “My goal is to encourage people to think new thoughts, […]

When actor and singer-songwriter Anne Stott first arrived in Provincetown in 2007, she wasn’t expecting to stay long. She had planned a four-month winter writing retreat as an escape from […]

As Covid began its roller-coaster ride of infection in early 2020, causing panic, sickness, and death, much of the art world came to a halt. “I read one article after […]

One of the pleasures of reading a memoir is witnessing a character make the same mistakes over and over again. Novels rarely leave room for this. By the last page, […]

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer and, with it, the gallery season. Opening Friday, May 28 at AMP Gallery is “these past few years,” a show of […]

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My relationship with my sister, my only sibling, may have ended as a result of the Trump presidency. She was always a little strange. My parents thought it was due […]

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A year ago, as we faced the lengthening shutdown and the disappearance of what we had thought would be our first big period of growth as a young newspaper, we […]

Something Missing To the editor: In the May 13 issue, on page A1, is an article about local fishermen who can’t afford housing in Wellfleet, thereby possibly imperiling their livelihood [“Select […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from May 17 to May 21, 2021. PROVINCETOWN May 17. Joseph D. Harris and Sandra C. Harris to Steven Joseph Zemo and […]

YARD & TAG SALES Yard sale. At 583 Commercial St., Provincetown, this Sat. 5/29 & Sun. 5/30. Starts 10 a.m. Antique & cottage furniture, antique artwork & frames, vintage fabrics & linens, […]

Joseph Bogdan Basine Jr., the renowned Provincetown whale watch captain and musician known as “Joe Bones,” died suddenly at his home in Haiti on May 19, 2021 due to complications […]

Brian Andrew Reardon of Provincetown and Boston died unexpectedly of a heart attack at Cape Cod Hospital on May 18, 2021. He was 71. Brian was born in Quincy to […]

Kenneth E. Ferreira, 88, of Provincetown and Wellfleet died peacefully on May 22, 2021. He was a barber for 65 years, owning and operating Mr. Ken’s Barbershop at 64 Main […]

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Harriet Frances Rubin, 83, died on May 10, 2021 at her home in Seminole, Fla., with her love of 53 years, Del Filardi, by her side. The cause was multiple […]

EASTHAM — The offshore waters of Outer Cape Cod, with their hidden sand bars, took so many vessels and lives that the stretch from Chatham to Provincetown came to be […]

EASTHAM — The select board has unanimously recommended Article 8 on the June 12 annual town meeting warrant, which would increase the short-term rental excise tax from 4 to 6 […]

WELLFLEET — The town’s “free cash” account has not been certified by the state Dept. of Revenue for the last three years. This is just one of the mind-bending problems […]

BREWSTER — Voters will have an array of school committee candidates to choose from at the May 25 town election, including one who wants to reduce the number of school-choice […]

PROVINCETOWN — Citing a first-in-the-nation vaccine rollout and a plummeting count of Covid-19 cases, Gov. Charlie Baker moved the state’s “end of restrictions” date from the previously announced Aug. 1 […]

EASTHAM — The select board voted on May 17 to sign the second memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Orleans on the Nauset Estuary Dredging Project, agreeing to continued coordination between […]

BREWSTER — The first of two citizen-petition articles seeking to reduce school choice enrollment in the Nauset Regional Schools was defeated by Brewster voters 144 to 75 at their May […]

EASTHAM — A weird and difficult and rarely-touched-upon part of being a young queer person is that, often, you have to take on the role of educator. Most obviously, there’s […]

If you’ve gotten your Covid-19 vaccine, give a nod of thanks to the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus). This animal is truly a “blue blood” — its blood contains copper instead […]

PROVINCETOWN — When Relish owner Frank Vasello opened his West End deli and bakery in 2001, attracting customers was his main concern. Now, it’s finding staff. The trouble, Vasello says, […]

There’s a so-called rule, popularized by Malcom Gladwell in his bestseller Outliers: The Story of Success, that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at something. The […]

Thursday, May 20 Girls golf: The Warriors tee off against the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins at Blue Rock Golf Course in South Yarmouth at 3:30 p.m. The team is 3-1 so far […]

EASTHAM — At the Nauset Rod and Gun Clubhouse in the Cape Cod National Seashore, Jon Green unhooked his mask, uncrossed his arms, and welcomed 18 women to what he […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, May 18 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

Last summer our sweet Nigerian dwarf doe, Princess Buttercup, gave birth with remarkable ease, which is typical for her breed. I barely noticed that she was in labor before her […]

I’ve been thinking lately about the influence of the Southwest of the U.S. on my life. Having grown up in South Texas and spent tons of time in Southern Arizona, […]

WELLFLEET — For the past month, since the Cape Cod Cannabis dispensary opened its doors at the old South Wellfleet General Store on April 20, Allan Kronfeld, the manager of […]

When Victor Powell handed her the reins of his 50-year-old Provincetown leather shop, Florence Mauclère felt “gratefulness and immense pride,” and, because the moment wasn’t one she’d actually anticipated, there […]

After a long winter, especially this one, it just feels right to air out your car. The weather warms up, you roll down your windows, people can hear you singing […]

Due to the pandemic, meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, May 20 Board of Health, 4 p.m. Zoning Board of […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, May 20 Housing […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to learn how […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

When Jeffrey Yasuo Mansfield was eight years old, he “lost” his hearing aids — much to the chagrin of his parents. “They constantly buzzed whenever the batteries ran low,” he […]

Teaching English to G.I.s returning to peacetime America after World War II, Clara Park wrote her mother of her frustration with Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. Her students, she noted, “had […]

It was a strange Academy Awards in 2021. Diversity was the most visible change in the world of Oscar glitz, but the pandemic, with its enforced social distancing and lack […]

“I already have plans.” I hear myself allow that particular evasive phrase to slip out more as the weather warms and the squidding season arrives. Especially when someone tries to […]

Just when we were ready to resolve ourselves to an uncertain summer, the CDC’s announcement that fully vaccinated folks can look forward to a maskless future seems to have been […]

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A year of isolation and mask mandates has fostered a new appreciation for fresh air. Whether it’s to find peace and quiet or a place to safely reconnect with friends, […]

Sharing stories in a group of 15 friends and strangers on Mother’s Day revealed something to me about how we have been affected in different ways this past year. Let’s […]

In September 2000, I landed in Aspen as the first snow of the year dusted the Rockies and the Cape Cod Times was finishing a series on the Cape’s affordable […]

A Democracy Under Threat To the editor: Barbara Kennedy allowed, in her letter last week, that (1) “America is not a democracy but a republic,” and (2) that, whether you […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from May 10 to May 14, 2021. PROVINCETOWN May 10. Michael G. Powers and Judith M. Powers to Mikhail Glabets. 963 Commercial […]

YARD & TAG SALES Tag sale at Castle Hill. Stop by Castle Hill’s 10 Meetinghouse Rd. campus on Friday, May 21 to shop treasures of all kinds! Featuring homewares, artwork, furniture, […]

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Frances Frumin Weiner of West Hartford, Conn. and Truro died peacefully at home on May 9, 2021. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer. She was 77. Fran was born […]

Jean Pauline Rathgeber of Jersey City, N.J. died peacefully in her sleep on May 12, 2021 at the Center of Hope Hospice House in Elizabeth, N.J. She was 93. The […]

WELLFLEET — For seven weeks, a proposed exception to the Wellfleet Shellfish Regulations’ domicile requirement has pinballed from the shellfish advisory board (SAB) to the select board and back. But […]

EASTHAM — The arguments over where to locate the new harbormaster building at Rock Harbor remain unresolved. After asking the planning board for its advice, the Rock Harbor Improvements Committee […]

Town meeting voters this spring in Truro, Wellfleet, and Eastham will be asked to raise the short-term rental tax rate from 4 to 6 percent, to maximize what state law […]

PROVINCETOWN — The zoning board of appeals has approved both special permits and a height variance needed for a major mixed-use development on the former Old Reliable Fish House property, […]

PROVINCETOWN — There were only one race for town office and five questions on the annual election ballot this year, but 1,354 people turned out to vote in one of […]

PROVINCETOWN — Every spring, the Outer Cape’s population, and payrolls, swell, as about 5,000 people pick up seasonal jobs here, according to Cape Cod Commission data. Some of those 5,000 […]

WELLFLEET — The planning board sees nothing but trouble if the town adopts a proposed bylaw allowing more accessory dwelling units, judging from its reaction at a May 5 public […]

PROVINCETOWN — In 1997, Jay Critchley uncovered a backyard manhole, peered into a cesspool, and “discovered a new world.” He had always known about his property’s cesspit, a pre-Title 5 […]

My introduction to bonsai was an encounter with a collection of straggly little junipers in pots in a friend’s yard. The plants were root-bound and malnourished, and they had taken […]

We’re getting closer to our local waters being invaded by striped bass. An abundance of 20-to-24-inch bass have been in and around the Race, being caught on SP Swimmers, yellow […]

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

PROVINCETOWN — The Outer Cape community likes its own local vibe. But some out-of-town trends might be healthy ones. Case in point: pickleball. The sport, which is a mix of […]

Radishes used to bug me. Why were these harsh bitter discs arbitrarily added to my salad? What was the point of carving them into “roses” that would only be left […]

With the Sun and Uranus both in Taurus, you may be feeling the need to escape from the same old routine. No need to take out a personal ad, however. […]

Provincetown: Six Williams-Sonoma loaf pans, gently used; one 50-lb. bag of Sir Galahad Artisan Flour; and a 32-oz. bottle of commercial-grade vanilla extract. All items available for $35. Buyer may […]

Have you ever been in a yoga class and thought to yourself, “I don’t look like the teacher or the person next to me — I must be doing this […]

PROVINCETOWN — Good news for the technologically challenged and the bad-at-planning: three vaccination sites on the Outer Cape are now offering the Covid-19 vaccine to walk-in patients. All you need […]

Wellfleet’s Main Street. (Photo Marnie Crawford Samuelson) On Commercial Street, May 8, 2021. (Photo Nancy Bloom) This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

Nauset Regional High School spring sports teams are taking to the field, track, course, and water for the first time since 2019 after the 2020 spring season was lost due […]

PROVINCETOWN — Police Sgt. Kevan Spoor and Patrol Officer Michael McCauley went searching for a wanted man — Richard Neal II, 35, of Montana — on the morning of May […]

Due to the pandemic, meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, May 13 Water & Sewer Board, 2 p.m. Bicycle Committee, 2 […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, May 13 Climate […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

Closed since the Covid lockdown in March 2020, the Waters Edge Cinema in Provincetown is finally reopening. The reason: the 2021 Provincetown International Film Festival (PIFF), which will be running […]

“I like a well-turned story,” says Patrick Radden Keefe. “I try to write stories that are engaging, the kinds of stories that you might not have an interest in at […]

“The world is so based in capitalism now,” says artist Dani ReStack, speaking from Columbus, Ohio, where she lives with her wife, photographer Sheilah ReStack. “I think we need to […]

About a month ago, my husband Christopher and I were invited to dinner at my in-laws — our first dinner party since the world fell apart last year. While enjoying […]

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It’s spring, and the town comes more alive, with increasing numbers of visitors arriving. Perhaps, like me, you are coming out of the cloistered, monkish existence of the past six […]

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An article in the April 22 Independent reminded us that the Herring River Restoration Project has progressed to the phase of seeking state and federal approval. The project’s nearly completed […]

“What the hell is going on in Wellfleet?” is what we’ve heard in recent weeks from various readers. It’s a good question. We’ve tried to look into the town’s financial […]

‘America Is Not a Democracy’ To the editor: In a letter published in the Independent on Jan. 21, Mr. David Bernstein wrote that he will “never again” eat at Arnold’s […]

A Funeral Mass for Joan M. Roderick of Provincetown, who died on Dec. 9, 2020 at Seashore Pointe Wellness Center, will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 14 […]

Pamela Ann Hurley, 70, of Truro and Berlin, Mass. died peacefully at home on April 30, 2021, surrounded by loving family and friends. Pam was born in Marlborough, the daughter […]

JOBS THE red INN is looking to hire: Housekeeper/laundry attendant, front desk agent, line cooks and bussers. May through October, good pay, exciting work environment. Some experience required. Apply to [email protected] […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from May 3 to May 7, 2021. PROVINCETOWN May 5. Stephen K. Channell and William J. Poirier to Jason Loder and Kevin […]

Know when to hit the flats

A service for longtime Wellfleet resident Robert “Bobby” Menengas will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 7 at the Grace Chapel, Assembly of God, 25 Lieutenant Island Road […]

EASTHAM — The select board stopped short of withdrawing its support for the Nauset Estuary dredging project at its May 3 meeting, voting instead to meet for discussions with Orleans […]

TRURO — The school committee on April 29 approved a plan to expand the town’s free preschool program so that it can accommodate all the three- and four-year-old children of […]

PROVINCETOWN — Provincetown’s second outdoor, Covid-safe town meeting was held on Saturday, May 1 and it was relatively uncontentious, with nearly every article passing by large margins. Articles that added […]

About 1,000 miles separate Ontario, Canada, where Brooke Clenchy was born and raised, from the Outer Cape, where she will soon become the Nauset Regional School District’s interim superintendent. And […]

WELLFLEET — In three days last week, the select board held three meetings during which they delayed town meeting by three weeks, reviewed warrant articles, and decided to offer the […]

PROVINCETOWN — Criticism of the board of the Provincetown Public Pier Corp., which led to an unsuccessful bid to dissolve the corporation at Saturday’s annual town meeting, grew intense in […]

PROVINCETOWN — Hennep opened its doors at 246 Commercial St. on Monday, May 3, becoming the third retail marijuana shop in Provincetown. Owner Andrew Koudijs decided to go into the […]

TRURO — The owner of property at the top of Sylvan Lane has sued her neighbors in Land Court to settle once and for all her right to use a long […]

“My mom is a lover of plants,” says Sophie Yingling. Her own proclivity for floral design was born, she’s sure, in the “room full of plants and sunshine” her mother […]

This past week’s cooler weather has slowed down the striped bass migration a bit, as water temperatures have remained steady in the mid-40s, short of that 50-degree mark we need […]

As soon as we cross the Huey Long Bridge, I begin to scan for the rambling white clapboard building — some call it a shack — that houses Mosca’s. I’m […]

If you gained weight last year, you’re not alone. Studies show that, in America, more than half of us put on unwanted pounds. Chalk it up to a combination of […]

The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) released a two-word statement on April 22 that had local sports fans excited. It read, “We’re back.” The league is returning to action this […]

Princess Buttercup, here in her birthing suite, is in good company, in spite of being separated by a fence from the other goats. Goldie Hen has stayed close by her […]

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

Very slowly, our routines are becoming different from what they’ve been throughout this past year. We’re vaccinated, the summer season is approaching, and many of us are anticipating venturing out […]

Due to the pandemic, meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, May 6 Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. Monday, May 10 […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, May 6 Climate […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

Most anyone who spends time with a cat will ask what goes on behind the impenetrable stare of its almond-shaped eyes. The Boston-based comic artist and painter Karl Stevens posits […]

When the lockdown hit in March 2020, Twenty Summers, the popular program of talks, concerts, workshops, and artist residencies based at the historic Hawthorne Barn at the end of Miller […]

Just inside the front door of Bunny Pearlman’s Provincetown apartment are stacks of small square fresco panels that she has been assembling in preparation for “The Last Leopard — Avoiding […]

The problem, as most producers of live entertainment will tell you, is planning. Though everyone is expecting indoor entertainment to return to the Outer Cape in the next few months, […]

Saskia Maxwell Keller will succeed Howard Karren as arts editor of the Provincetown Independent, beginning with the issue of May 13, Publisher Teresa Parker announced this week. Karren is retiring […]

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The daily Covid updates from the Barnstable County Health and Environment Dept. epidemiologist Vaira Harik continue to trend very favorably, with a few exceptions, and give us a genuine basis […]

Viscosity etching by Linda Dujack. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

Taurus season is, on its own, a time for the slow and steady approach to life’s curious quandaries. Instead of rushing headlong like Aries, Taurus takes a step back and […]

Our friend Merrill sent us a kind note the other day about the things she enjoys in the Independent, including the obituaries. I’ve already written about why people shouldn’t have […]

The Case of the Canteen To the editor: I don’t know Rob Anderson or Loic Rossignon. I have eaten at Canteen, but they would not recognize me as a regular. What is […]

Mary Therese Feeley, who ran the Hutson Gallery in Provincetown, died on April 29, 2021 in Houston, Texas, at age 71. She had suffered a stroke in late March. Mary […]

Phyllis Elaine Schlosberg, of Provincetown and New York City, a larger-than-life figure who gave many young performers their start, died on April 21, 2021. She was 81. Phyllis was born […]

Know when to hit the flats

JOBS THE red INN is looking to hire: Housekeeper/laundry attendant, front desk agent, line cooks and bussers. May through October, good pay, exciting work environment. Some experience required. Apply to [email protected] […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from April 26 to April 30, 2021. PROVINCETOWN April 26. Terence J. O’Loughlin to Joshua Brock Butts. 29 Conant St., Unit 3. […]

PROVINCETOWN — Throughout April, a few hardy fishermen have been departing from MacMillan Pier most mornings not to haul in a bounty of fish but instead to haul in lost […]

EASTHAM — Responding to the planning board’s advice that the site of the proposed harbormaster building at Rock Harbor ought to be moved closer to the water, Town Administrator Jacqui […]

WELLFLEET — It’s been a stunning week at town hall following the sudden departures of both the town administrator and town accountant on April 23, while next year’s budget remains […]

EASTHAM — Twins Anders and Ella Grimm are, like many other juniors at Nauset Regional High School, just beginning the college admissions process — and they’re doing it as the […]

WELLFLEET — Candace Perry still has a sticker on her Subaru Forester that reads: “Pilgrim Blows: Bridges Close!” Perry first stuck it on her bumper when the Pilgrim Nuclear Power […]

PROVINCETOWN — The owners of the Canteen restaurant on Commercial Street had to pay $900 in fines and another $450, double the usual application fee, for putting in an underground propane […]

PROVINCETOWN — Voters at Provincetown’s annual town meeting on Saturday will be deciding a question with little precedent on the Outer Cape. Article 13, brought forward by a group of […]

BOSTON — A decade after he appeared in Orleans District Court for sexual conduct towards a teenaged boy, Kerry Adams, 61, of Provincetown pleaded guilty in federal court on April […]

PROVINCETOWN — The three candidates running for select board in the May 11 election named pathways to create more year-round housing and to push the long-delayed construction of a new […]

Striped bass continue to swim northward at an earlier than usual pace. Keeper-size bass have reportedly been caught at the Cape Cod Canal, on the south coast of Massachusetts, and […]

MIKE REGO / LOBSTERMAN / PROVINCETOWN Mike Rego sees the handwriting on the wall for lobstering out of Provincetown in the not too distant future. But for now, he’s in […]

BREWSTER — Archery, sailing, water skiing, wind surfing, kayaking, riflery, soccer, lacrosse, and tennis, as well as ceramics, copper enameling, woodworking, cooking, and science workshops — the list of sports […]

After a long absence, Venus has returned as the brilliant Evening Star. It spent some time this winter toughing it out in the frigid predawn sky in its other guise […]

A “born puzzler,” Anneliese King has always been drawn to design work that involves putting intricate pieces together. She loves the improvisational problem-solving nature of woodworking, she says. King has […]

The early morning APB comes by text from our friend Ingrid. A farm at nearby Ryder Beach has a surplus of fresh eggs and the farmer is offering them for […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, April 27 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

Hold your horses, star gazers. Last week we had Venus aligning with both Uranus and Mercury while all three were making a hard angle to stern Saturn. To top it […]

The solution to last week’s crossword puzzle, “All Wrapped Up,” by Sophia Maymudes. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

PROVINCETOWN — Town meeting on Saturday will include requests to use some of the town’s remaining Cape Cod Land Bank funds to buy two small pieces of land for $300,000 […]

PROVINCETOWN — A condominium development that initially faced significant resistance from neighbors got the go-ahead at an April 22 planning board meeting. The board granted a special permit to Jay […]

Due to the pandemic, most meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. This week, however, there is one exception. The Provincetown Town Meeting […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, April 29 Climate […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to find information […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

Like Robert Motherwell, Judith Rothschild was a member of Provincetown’s legendary Long Point Gallery. She lived part of the year in Wellfleet and studied with the modernist masters Hans Hofmann […]

Sometime in the last year, as one does in a pandemic, I began cleaning drawers. Among the items that I found were unopened packets of seeds. Columbines I’d bought when […]

From the start of her career 15 years ago, when she was just a 17-year-old with a cascade of blond curls writing her own lyrics about the pitfalls of high […]

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EASTHAM — I moved from Puerto Rico to New York City as an infant. My parents, like so many others, had made the difficult decision to leave their homeland and […]

In early May 1971, a year after six unarmed student war protestors were shot and killed by the National Guard (four at Kent State University and two at Jackson State […]

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At the April 13 meeting of the Wellfleet Select Board, after observing that Town Administrator Maria Broadbent’s summary of a financial audit was “very alarming,” the board’s chair, Michael DeVasto, […]

The Health of Nauset Estuary To the editor: I join Kait Logan and Harrison Swift, who wrote letters [March 25] expressing their significant concerns about the proposed dredging of the […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from April 20 to April 23, 2021. PROVINCETOWN April 21. Amy L. D’Allessandro to Anthony Lewis Brown and Jason Matthew Zellmer. 288B […]

Know when to hit the flats

JOBS THE red INN is looking to hire: Housekeeper/laundry attendant, front desk agent, line cooks and bussers. May through October, good pay, exciting work environment. Some experience required. Apply to [email protected] […]

“It sounds like I’m singing in the bathroom and you’re singing way over in the kitchen,” says Scott Townsend — better known as the drag queen and Cher impersonator Thirsty […]

EASTHAM — Plans to build a harbormaster office at Rock Harbor were met with suspicion by abutters at the project’s first regulatory hearing before the conservation commission last week, as […]

To a large degree, historic buildings define the beauty and charm of the Outer Cape’s villages and scenic roads. Yet a Cape Cod Commission study found that 691 of the […]

TRURO — Christine Maxwell says she should have been the first, not the last, to sign onto a lawsuit appealing the zoning board’s granting of a comprehensive permit for an […]

WELLFLEET — The town and the Chequessett Yacht & Country Club have reached an agreement that will allow the Herring River Restoration Project, the largest wetland restoration in New England, […]

WELLFLEET — A new cannabis dispensary called Terps is expected to open next month at the intersection of Route 6 and Cove Road in the Cove Corner building, right next […]

PROVINCETOWN — The state’s April 15 Covid vaccination report has great news for the Outer Cape. The top-line numbers show that the four outermost towns have among the highest Covid […]

EASTHAM — Cheerleading helped Lara Rouillard fulfill a dream — it brought her back to Nauset Regional High School. Rouillard graduated from Nauset in 2009 — back then, she was […]

PROVINCETOWN — After last summer’s shutdowns and shifts, Camp Lightbulb and Summer of Sass are both coming back to town this summer. For both programs, the hope is to provide […]

WELLFLEET — Mac Hay was standing at the sushi bar in his restaurant, Mac’s Shack, on Duck Creek. In the quiet of a preseason day, he paused to run his […]

When they released their first pipe, designers Jess Baer and Zach Hastings were surprised to find it was a controversial object. Two years ago, noticing marijuana’s progress toward legalization, they […]

At first, it can be hard to tell whether your doe — your female goat, that is — has gotten pregnant. For those new to animal husbandry: don’t expect a […]

I spent a good part of my late teens and early 20s traveling and surfing in Central America. I followed word-of-mouth suggestions on where to find the next good wave […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, April 20 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

Spring in New England has come upon us in its usual manic fashion, vacillating between howling, cold, damp nor’easters and beautiful, warm, summer-like days. But the trend this spring has […]

The mental and emotional thaw after a long, hard winter is always a relief, though it isn’t without its intricacies. Mainly, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by so much possibility […]

In contrast to the nonstop rush of Aries, Taurus prioritizes taking pleasure while also working mindfully toward goals. Taurus, symbolized by the bull, is a sensual sign, both grounded and […]

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Find the solution to Mary DeAngelis’s Olde Townie Crossword here. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

TRURO — Could a potato salad, lap-bound on the passenger’s side of a Lincoln Navigator speeding south on Route 6 at 65 miles per hour, really have “accidentally” flown out the […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, April 22 Public Pier Corp. Board, 2 p.m. Planning Board, 6 p.m. Monday, April 26 […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, April 22 Climate […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in for its agenda […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

“I owe Provincetown a great creative debt,” says the poet and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib. He wrote most of his second book, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, […]

“This is not political,” the painting proclaims. Its flowing script, on an orangey background, is surrounded by a rectangular black frame, anchored by a vertical post. At first glance, the […]

Few things in the life of the Outer Cape have been hit harder by Covid than theater. Live outdoor cabaret performances resumed after the lockdown, and the Provincetown Tennessee Williams […]

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On an overcast spring afternoon in 1968, I stood on the shoulder of Route 6, outside Hyannis, with my thumb out. After about 20 minutes, the drizzle began, the sparse […]

There is an electric car in your future, and you’re going to buy it sooner than you may realize. How do I know this? I just bought one, after saying […]

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One of the Independent’s contributors whose work is especially enlightening is Amy Whorf McGuiggan, who writes the Graveyard Shift column. She never fails to come up with a good story […]

Lise King’s Experience To the editor: Local newspapers sometimes endorse candidates for elected positions based on their qualifications, experience, and demonstrated desire to work for the good of the community. […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from April 12 to April 16, 2021. PROVINCETOWN April 14. Richard L. Wein and Brian Cummings to Adam J. Stump. 244 Bradford […]

Nancy L. (Salvador) Stefani died on April 13, 2021 at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth. She was 83. Born and raised in Provincetown, she was the daughter of the […]

Peter Alan Blanchard died peacefully at age 66 on April 17, 2021 in his Provincetown home. He was born in Weymouth on March 10, 1955 and was a practicing dentist […]

John Michael Kelley, who was known as Mike, died on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021, in his Wellfleet home, surrounded by his loving family. He was the husband of Evelyn […]

Patricia “Patti” Mellow of Forest City, Pa. died on April 17, 2021 at age 61 in the loving arms of her wife of 29 years, Patricia McCabe. The cause was […]

JOBS THE red INN is looking to hire: Housekeeper/laundry attendant, front desk agent, line cooks and bussers. May through October, good pay, exciting work environment. Some experience required. Apply to [email protected] […]

PROVINCETOWN — The last year has hit the restaurant world hard. “I’m not sure other people can really grasp what it has meant for those of us in it,” says […]

WELLFLEET — With seven weeks until this year’s annual town meeting, the fiscal 2022 operating budget proposed by Town Administrator Maria Broadbent and Town Accountant Heather Michaud shows a $331,000 […]

PROVINCETOWN — The future of the disintegrating Old Reliable Fish House property on the Commercial Street waterfront will once again be in the hands of the planning and zoning boards, […]

PROVINCETOWN — The lack of affordable and available year-round housing is a crisis on the Outer Cape, but at least it’s one for which communities have tools — from federal […]

EASTHAM — A two-acre aquaculture grant in Nauset Marsh that has gone largely untended for several years will be offered to new stewards. At its April 5 meeting, the select […]

PROVINCETOWN — Dept. of Public Works Director Rich Waldo said it is possible to fix the flooding that has for decades impeded pedestrians, harmed businesses, and damaged cars at the […]

WELLFLEET — “The zoning board is a good board,” said attorney Ben Zehnder in an April 6 interview with the Independent. “Next meeting, I’m sure the board will do the […]

Chris Nagle met Derek Oliver the same way a lot of people do — the two were standing in an unfinished kitchen where unconventional countertops were under discussion. Outside his […]

PROVINCETOWN — Mike Flanagan has spent this pandemic year doing what he loves. Lifting weights five days a week, performing cardio exercises seven days a week, and eating a precisely […]

Peter Manso, 80, author of best-selling biographies of Norman Mailer and Marlon Brando, died of an apparent heart attack that he suffered at home in Truro on April 7, 2021. […]

Warriors Watch Thursday, April 15  Boys and girls indoor track: Both teams will travel to compete in a meet against Barnstable at 4 p.m. Cheerleading: The Warriors cheerleading squad will […]

When Venus enters a new sign, especially one that she rules such as Taurus or Libra, the moment usually has the feel of Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. Venus, arriving on […]

Western culture urges us to create lives that are outward facing. We measure the progress of our existence by external gains. We work, attain promotions, have families, perform chores; we […]

PROVINCETOWN — Oriana Conklin, 30, is running as a first-time candidate for select board. She believes she can bring some much-needed perspective: if elected, she said, she would be the […]

PROVINCETOWN — Leslie Sandberg has ideas to address the town’s housing crisis: dedicate to housing a portion of the short-term rental tax that currently goes into the general fund and […]

PROVINCETOWN — In the three-way race for a single seat on Provincetown’s select board, Lise King, 56, is the incumbent. Her argument for a second term is that she loves […]

The Provincetown Independent won 14 awards for journalism, design, and photography in the annual Better Newspaper competition of the New England Newspaper and Press Association, announced in Boston last week. […]

Interim Superintendent Chosen After a four-hour joint meeting of the Nauset school committees on April 12, Brooke Clenchy, 62, was named Nauset’s interim superintendent to replace Tom Conrad, who is […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, April 15 Public Pier Corp. Board, 2 p.m. Finance Committee, 2 p.m. Wednesday, […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, April 15 Climate […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

“In the Jewish tradition, the most harm one person can do to another is through lashon hara, which means ‘evil tongue or speech’ in Hebrew,” says Jonathan Gershon Stark, who […]

Last December, the Independent published the first in a series of articles on town seals of the Outer Cape. The iconography on these seals, created more than a century ago, […]

Until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Japanese government made it difficult for outsiders to explore the country. Even with rapid industrialization and modernization, Japan remained a hard place for […]

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Vaccine passports are engendering a wide range of emotions and opinions. Gov. Cuomo has embraced them in New York. Gov. DeSantis has banned them in Florida. Gov. Charlie Baker has […]

Ben Zehnder is mad at me. He’s well known as the go-to lawyer around here if you need a variance, or if you have gotten into a fight with a […]

The Housing Crisis Affects All To the editor: Thank you for your many articles highlighting the very difficult housing situation on the Outer Cape. I read with great interest last […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from April 5 to April 9, 2021 PROVINCETOWN April 5. Randy DeFazio and Sherri Hayes to Todd J. Meier. 616 Commercial St., […]

JOBS Babysitting. We’re looking for a babysitter for our two children (4 and 6) for July, during business hours (Monday-Friday, 35-40 hours/wk, no nights or weekends expected). Ideally, you have […]

Geraldine Anne Virginia Coniff Kellogg, an artist and gallerist in St. Augustine, Fla., died there on April 6, 2021 after a long struggle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She was […]

Know when to hit the flats

HARWICH — They arrived rusty, dirty, and tired, but thanks to the efforts of a group of students, a fleet of buffed-up bicycles will soon roll off the campus at […]

Communities across the state — and on the Outer Cape — are beginning mandatory testing of their public water supplies for PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), a group of compounds […]

PROVINCETOWN — Cape Cod’s business and political leaders say the stars are aligning for a record-breaking “biggest season ever” for summer tourism. A third of Americans have already received one […]

TRURO — When the drawn-out legal battle over a modern mansion on Stephens Way ended in 2016 with a settlement giving the town $3 million, it was called “dirty money” […]

WELLFLEET — Not since the Dunkin’ Donuts brouhaha of 2012, said zoning board of appeals chair Sharon Inger, had she seen a ZBA audience so large or so passionate as […]

PROVINCETOWN — Two citizen-petitioned articles were added to the annual town meeting warrant before it closed on April 1. One is aimed at closing “equity gaps,” and the other proposes […]

EASTHAM — What began as an effort to improve safety in tidal creek areas by revising boating bylaws has churned up discord among residents over water skiing and motorboat use […]

EASTHAM — On a windy Wednesday afternoon, the last day of March, the Nauset football team practiced on its home turf. Head Coach Bruce Strunk was firm when he said […]

The earth is coming alive. Beneath the oak leaves that I pile on my garden plot every fall, I am beginning to see the first sprouts of green. Garlic is […]

TRURO — Dunes 102.3 FM is under new ownership, now that restaurateur and radio personality Ron Robin has sold the 5,000-watt classic rock radio station to Gary Hanna, owner of […]

Excitement rippled through Eastham with the recent rediscovery in the archives of the historical society of a document signed by Samuel Adams. Adams, born in 1722, was one of the […]

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

“We’re bringing the sbrisolona,” our friend Brian told me. “Yes, the very same one. And it doesn’t look half bad, actually.” Spring cleaning is so important. Especially if your microwave […]

The new Moon in the first sign of the zodiac sets the tone for the year ahead. It is an invitation to begin again by refreshing your routine and cultivating […]

@heyfromptown asks: Sooo, I’m in my 20s, and it’s going to be forever until I’m, like, fully vaccinated. I heard young people are getting trounced by side effects because we […]

The witch hazel is in bloom. (Photo Edwin Butter) Front row seats are now ready for sunset worshippers at Great Hollow Beach in Truro. Left to right: Lee Russell, Jeff […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, April 8 Bicycle Committee, 2 p.m. Public Pier Corp., 2 p.m. Finance Committee, […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, April 8 School […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

At the end of Bob Gasoi Memorial Art Alley, at 290 Commercial St. in Provincetown, as you descend the stairs to Coastline Tattoo’s small, underground shop, you enter an otherworld […]

“Enough is enough, and it’s time for us to take action,” said U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse after the March 22 shooting at the King Soopers grocery in Boulder, Colo. At […]

For this spring edition of the Indie Playlist, contributors chose songs traversing the genres of country, rap, disco, funk, blues, and rock. Many of them, though undeniably feel-good, express something […]

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A tourist here in early April is like a Christmas tree in July: nice looking, but oddly out of place. I am writing this during a spring school vacation week, […]

Four years ago, the Barnstable County Human Rights Commission appeared to be down for the count. Its proposed operating budget was simply missing from the budget book that the Assembly […]

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After we sent the paper off to the printer last week, I picked up the April issue of The Atlantic that somebody left on the kitchen counter. It was folded […]

Failed Oversight at Pilgrim To the editor: Christine Legere’s article on dangerous waste stored at Pilgrim provided citizens with important information [“United on Shutting Pilgrim, Advocates Differ on Nuclear Waste,” […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from March 29 to April 2, 2021 PROVINCETOWN March 29. Matthew L. Marcotte and Mario D. Pinho to Roswell C. Bottum. 8 […]

JOBS Weekly cleaning. We are looking for an experienced housekeeper to clean two small weekly rental cottages in Provincetown. Cleanings are mostly on Saturdays. Call Maryanne, 860-739-8227. [4-8] Dishwashers needed. […]

Know when to hit the flats

Services for Bertha L. Adams, a lifelong Provincetown resident who died on Jan. 31, have been scheduled for next week. Calling hours will be Wednesday, April 14 from 4 to […]

Crystal Lee Russell, 40, of Provincetown died on March 23, 2021 at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. No cause of death was reported. Born in Hyannis, Crystal was the daughter […]

Vida Ritchie DeMale, who for 28 years managed the Eastham Friendly Flower Islands with her husband, Dan, died on March 30, 2021. She was 94. Vida was born in Hartford, […]

They came from New York — 37 of them, trapped with a cannon-net set by Massachusetts wildlife biologists — to the Berkshires, at first. Then new generations spread statewide. Some […]

PLYMOUTH — The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station has been shut down, but the arguments over what to do with its highly radioactive spent fuel are heating up. A Navajo activist […]

EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional High School building project will move forward after winning approval from more than two-thirds of the voters in Tuesday’s district-wide election. Based on figures reported […]

WELLFLEET — For the first time in recent memory, the ballot for this year’s town election lists fewer candidates for the town’s most important board than there are seats to […]

WELLFLEET — Richard Blakeley said he’s ashamed of his behavior, which led to him being arrested for disturbing the peace and malicious destruction of property on Friday, March 26. “I […]

EASTHAM — The Water Dept. has reached a milestone of sorts, with 1,500 completed or pending connections to the town water system — enough hookups to cover the department’s annual […]

TRURO — The owners of two planned cannabis retail shops, the Piping Plover in Wellfleet and the Salty Farmers in Eastham, are negotiating a community host agreement to grow and […]

PROVINCETOWN — Floodwaters are a primal force, invading the landscape, insisting that things must change. In the January 2018 flood, for example, seawater coursed down Gosnold Street and filled a […]

Though our “Cogsie,” a.k.a. Rooster Cogburn, has been proudly prancing and mounting, he and our hens have not yet succeeded in producing any new chicks. I know they’ll get there, […]

Price of Turnips Skyrockets EASTHAM — The celebrated Eastham turnip has always been a lucrative crop. Weighing about eight pounds each — the same as a golden retriever puppy — […]

BREWSTER — Little League baseball is back on the Lower and Outer Cape, as the Nauset Little League will be operating for the first time under its new name this […]

WELLFLEET — Gov. Charlie Baker announced last month that day camps and overnight camps will be allowed to reopen this summer, but with significantly reduced capacity and in compliance with […]

WELLFLEET — One of the few people you’ll see on Wellfleet’s Main Street in the early morning hours, pandemic included, is Kevin Carroll. Chances are he’ll have a backpack strapped […]

I recently bought my first-ever brand-new piece of furniture. It is a chartreuse sectional couch and I love it an unreasonable amount. I sit on it, I lie on it, […]

I am not sure which is easier, to be a fool or make one. I’ll admit to my share of being one. The other kind of fool is a cloud-like […]

Every Saturday afternoon, my mother used to make the dessert for Sunday — a ritual I enjoyed helping with. I grew up in the south west of France, in Bordeaux. […]

When was the last time you checked under the hood? More and more of my customers don’t even know how to open theirs. That’s not just because they’re not mechanically […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, March 30 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

Rotator cuff troubles. We hear about them all the time — everyone from famous pitchers, to house painters, to Aunt Myrtle seems to have them. What is the rotator cuff, […]

The history of Aries, which begins the zodiacal year, as a symbol of creation and sacrifice extends thousands of years into the past. The constellation of Aries (not to be […]

Three male common dolphins that stranded at Chipman’s Cove in Wellfleet on March 30 were transported and released at Herring Cove in Provincetown by the IFAW Stranding Team. IFAW volunteer […]

EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional High School football team took the field last Saturday, March 27, to play its first game in more than a year against the Falmouth Clippers […]

PROVINCETOWN — The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which President Biden signed into law on March 11, will siphon a lot of money to Cape Cod’s local governments in the […]

PROVINCETOWN — Funeral home directors are the last responders on the frontline of the pandemic. And the national news has brought troubling images of overburdened funeral homes in the hardest-hit […]

WELLFLEET — The select board voted 4-0 on March 23 to approve Chair Michael DeVasto’s request that his two-acre aquaculture grant be enlarged by 1.3 acres, on two conditions: that […]

Beach fires will be returning to the Cape Cod National Seashore this summer, according to park Supt. Brian Carlstrom. “We anticipate standing up our fire permits program again this year […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, April 1 Select Board, 3:30 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. Wednesday, April […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Monday, April 5 Conservation […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

On an early spring day, Neal Nichols Jr. stands on Hamblen Island in Wellfleet, overlooking Duck Creek and Wellfleet Harbor. “I have a photographic memory,” he says, tracing the view […]

I don’t know what I was expecting when I requested a reviewer’s copy of Oliver Linton’s Fractals: On the Edge of Chaos. The pocket-sized book, published in February, appeared to […]

The testimony of Christine Blasey Ford during Congressional hearings for the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 was devastating. She was as believable as a victim of […]

On March 13, 2021, the irreverent Mad magazine artist , a part-time Provincetown resident, turned 100 years old. Jaffee is best known for his “fold-in” comic illustrations, which transformed one […]

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Hi Ellen, You probably don’t remember me. We attended Camp Amik together back in the summer of 1968 or 1969. I was working as an au pair and you were […]

Elected Vs. Appointed Boards To the editor: I was troubled by your March 18 front-page article on petitions that seek to empower Truro voters to elect the town’s health board […]

Our once-a-month crossword, by the talented Sophia Maymudes, is very popular. And so, I have begun looking into the possibility of finding some new types of puzzles or word games […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from March 22 to March 26, 2021. PROVINCETOWN March 22. J&T Belle Realty Inc. [James Turner, agent] to Kris E. McMurray. 4 […]

JOBS Weekly cleaning. We are looking for an experienced housekeeper to clean two small weekly rental cottages in Provincetown. Cleanings are mostly on Saturdays. Call Maryanne, 860-739-8227. [4-8] Dishwashers needed. […]

Know when to hit the flats

Davina Parmet died on March 25, 2021 at her home in Williamsburg, Va. after a courageous 10-year battle with lung cancer. She was 62. Davina was born on July 28, […]

Charles W. Zimmer of Truro died on March 3, 2021 at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis. Known as Chuck, he was the husband of Janice (Cosker) Zimmer. He was 76. […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) March 3 sighting of Millipede, a 16-year-old North Atlantic right whale, and her newborn calf — the season’s first — in Cape Cod […]

Wellfleet and Eastham are among a dozen towns on the Cape and Martha’s Vineyard scheduled for herbicide application this year by Eversource along the company’s rights-of-way. Workers will be out […]

PROVINCETOWN — Select board member Lise King, 56, will have two challengers in the May 11 annual town election. Leslie Sandberg, 58, a partner in the communications firm Rose, Sandberg […]

TRURO — Before the pandemic, housing and child-care access and affordability were concurrent crises for young families on the Outer Cape. The Truro Central School’s free preschool has been oversubscribed […]

PROVINCETOWN — The select board has appointed the owner of a fishing business and a former town administrator now living in Provincetown to the board of the Public Pier Corp., […]

TRURO — There are no contested races for the 11 town board seats up for election this spring, and no candidates on the ballot at all for two of those […]

Everyone age 60 to 64 and many who work in public are now eligible for Covid vaccinations, including restaurant, retail, grocery, public works, transportation, and sanitation workers. There are several […]

PROVINCETOWN — A sleeper project since 2016, the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center burst into the limelight on March 8 when the select board recommended a 9,500-square-foot building […]

EASTHAM — A scout was spotted by a natural resources dept. officer at the Bridge Pond run on March 12. A herring scout, that is — one of the individual […]

PROVINCETOWN — Alex Morse will have been mayor of Holyoke for just over nine years when he resigns at the end of March to take up his new job as […]

PROVINCETOWN — An early and persistent fear about the pandemic was that small businesses in town would tumble, and Commercial Street would end up lined with shuttered storefronts. Another worry […]

She had me with oyster banh mi. If that’s what chef Bethany Gregory was making for lunch at the Soup Kitchen in Provincetown (SKIP), I wanted to meet her. From […]

PROVINCETOWN — Marvelous Marvin Hagler, the legendary middleweight champion boxer, died unexpectedly on March 13 at age 66 at his home in New Hampshire. Hagler was originally from Newark, N.J., […]

We all have at least one piece of clothing that we can’t bear to let go of, even though its state of repair limits its public appearances. Mine is a […]

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Last month, I encouraged you to venture outside just before sunrise to see the planet Mercury. By way of apology for such an outrageous suggestion about how to spend your […]

I heard someone say once that people on the West Coast are nice but not kind, while people on the East Coast are kind but not nice. Having lived on […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, March 23 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

Thursday, March 25 Girls volleyball: The Nauset Warriors host the Barnstable Raiders at 5:15 p.m. Friday, March 26 Girls volleyball: Sturgis East Charter School takes on the Warriors at the […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, March 25 Water & Sewer Board, 1 p.m. Pier Corp., 2 p.m. Select Board, 5 […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online.  Thursday, March 25 Climate […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

If you were to walk down Tremont Street in Boston, you’d come upon a digital show of photographs of women musicians on the marquee of the Boch Center. They’re by […]

“Intimacy is about the experience of saying to another person — not necessarily in words — ‘This is who truly I am and what I want. Who are you? What […]

TONY KAHN / STORYTELLER / TRURO Tony Kahn worked in public TV and radio for more than 40 years. He hosted a news program, pioneered podcasts, and told stories of […]

Michelle Alexander changed conversations about race-based discrimination in 2010 when she published The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Alexander explained that four in five Black […]

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“Shouldn’t the wreath come down now?” asks one voice inside my head each time I pull in the drive. “No, it still looks pretty,” says the other voice. The berries […]

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My cousin David is a professional gambler. He fervently believes that every human problem can be expressed in mathematical terms, and thus solved with mathematical logic. He has been wildly […]

Volunteers Got Expert Help To the editor: I appreciate Tessera Knowles-Thompson’s article on the 95 Lawrence Road project to create affordable homes in Wellfleet as it makes its way through […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from March 15 to March 19, 2021. PROVINCETOWN March 15. James D. Russo Revocable Living Trust (James D. Russo, trustee) to Douglas […]

Kathleen Bernice White, a lifelong Provincetown resident, died on March 17, 2021 at the Windsor Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Yarmouth. She was 86. She was the wife of […]

Philip Clay Wolf of Truro died on March 16, 2021 surrounded by family at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston after a brief illness. He was 64. Born on July […]

JOBS Dishwashers needed. Jimmy’s Hideaway at 179 Commercial St. in Provincetown. Nights, Thursdays through Sundays. Call Jimmy at 508-237-6362. Farmhand needed for spring “kidding” season, April-May (starting ASAP — 20 […]

WELLFLEET — The largest affordable housing initiative in the town’s history reached a milestone last week with the select board’s unanimous approval on March 9 of a request for proposals […]

Barnstable County Sheriff James Cummings continues to defend his partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as political and legal moves to overturn the controversial agreements, which deputize local […]

TRURO — The signers of two petitioned articles that will be on the June 26 annual town meeting warrant want the zoning board of appeals and the board of health […]

EASTHAM — The plan for a new harbormaster’s office and site improvements at Rock Harbor is scheduled to begin the permitting process next month, with hearings set for April 13 […]

TRURO — The attorney for property owners suing the developer of the 39-unit Cloverleaf project and the Truro Zoning Board of Appeals has added 13 plaintiffs to the suit filed […]

People who are currently eligible for a vaccine, or who will be eligible later in phase two, can now put their names and contact information into a statewide pre-registration system […]

WELLFLEET — Auditors have discovered “several major deficiencies in the town’s financial and accounting activities which will require immediate mitigation measures to correct,” Town Administrator Maria Broadbent reported to the […]

The days are getting longer and lighter at last, heralding the season of birds and bees. When it comes to those of us with yard birds, it is time to […]

WELLFLEET — Marina mooring and slip fees will increase by 15 percent over the next three years, but commercial slip holders will get an additional year to prepare for the […]

TRURO — Truro Central School (TCS) head second-grade teacher Amelia Rose feels, she announces, as she hurries from teaching remote addition class in the library to delivering an in-person version […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, March 16 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

“Meet me at 517 Commercial St.,” we say, or “I work at 186,” without a second thought about the complexity behind the system of numbers that guides us though our […]

The first official day of spring arrives this weekend. It took me many years of living in New England to realize that this is nature’s favorite joke. Here it’s picnic […]

Spring is on the way. Covid is on the way out. And many people I know are in the grip of a tense kind of anticipation that is equal parts […]

EASTHAM — The arrival of the long-awaited high school football season, now one of the state’s “Fall II” sports, has been delayed a week as the Nauset Regional High team […]

There is a certain tier of athletes I like to classify as “one-namers.” That means they’re recognizable by their first or last name only. LeBron, Brady, Jordan, Serena, Babe, and […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, March 18 Board of Health, 4 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. Monday, March […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, March 18 Climate […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

“I paint like a child,” says John Choly with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. “And I own that.” In his Provincetown studio, he is surrounded by shelves […]

It’s a Sin Streaming on HBO Max (miniseries; 5 episodes) The British television import It’s a Sin follows a group of friends — four gay boys and a girl, Jill, […]

In most biographies, the subject begins as a larger-than-life figure. Then, after we learn about imperfect relationships and personal quirks, he or she becomes more human. That’s not the case […]

Happy astrological new year! The Sun enters Aries this week on the day of the Spring Equinox. Light will overcome shadow, at last, and summer herself is no longer just […]

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I hereby make a shameful confession: I don’t know which end of a hammer to pick up in order to use one. This leaves me in a predicament any time […]

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

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Two months ago, I wrote about a flap we had with the new Wellfleet town administrator, Maria Broadbent. She had given one of our reporters a hard time about releasing […]

‘L.A. Would Be Amazed’ To the editor: The tone of last week’s Letter From the Arts Editor about the recent American Horror Story filming in Provincetown was unnecessarily dismissive. I’ll […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from March 8 to March 12, 2021. PROVINCETOWN March 9. Paul Cronin Swalboski and Jon Swalboski to Mehri Badizadegan and Mohammad Moallem. […]

Know when to hit the flats

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There […]

Carmela “Millie” Slattery died on Feb. 28, 2021 at Seashore Point Wellness and Rehabilitation Center in Provincetown. She was 90. One of five sisters, she was born in Ozone Park, […]

“A life is not captured by a list of a person’s activities and accomplishments,” wrote Dennis Minsky of his old friend Paul Endich, who died at home in Eastham on […]

Sally Hamilton Jennings of Londonderry, Vt. died unexpectedly of apparent heart failure on March 7, 2021. She was 77. Fiercely independent, Sally led a rich, varied life by following her […]

JOBS Weekly cleaning. We are looking for an experienced housekeeper to clean two small weekly rental cottages in Provincetown. Cleanings are mostly on Saturdays. Call Maryanne, 860-739-8227. [4-8] Assistant manager […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from March 1 to March 5, 2021. PROVINCETOWN March 1. 3 Harbor Hill Land Trust (James M. McClure, trustee) to John A. […]

EASTHAM — The Chapel in the Pines renovation was completed last Saturday as George Koeber and Paul Collins installed the final piece of the project — a copper steeple cap. […]

PROVINCETOWN — In the wake of unpopular fee hikes by the board of the Provincetown Public Pier Corp., which manages MacMillan Pier, two members of that board have been forced […]

Two years after they began, cable license renewal negotiations between five Lower Cape towns and Comcast have come to a close. On Feb. 23, the Truro and Wellfleet select boards […]

Scoring an appointment for a Covid-19 vaccination has become a little easier due to tweaks to the state registration sites, but it remains a time-consuming and frustrating task. And for […]

PROVINCETOWN — Unemployment insurance dates back to the New Deal, but it played a starring role in keeping Americans solvent during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Century Foundation, more […]

WELLFLEET — A three-month investigation into a Wellfleet narcotics operation came to a head late last week with the coordinated arrests of three Outer Cape residents. Wellfleet Police Sgt. Paul […]

PROVINCETOWN — Pilgrim House events manager David Burbank would usually be booking talent for the summer season by now. But he can’t do that, because he still has no idea […]

EASTHAM — The grave marker in the Cove Burying Ground is plain: “Rev. Samuel Treat died Mar. 18, 1716, aged 69 years,” it reads. But the story of Eastham’s first […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Provincetown Portuguese Bakery has changed hands, but the same name and traditional Old World fare will remain as baked into Commercial Street as it has been for […]

EASTHAM — During her four years as a varsity lacrosse player, Nauset Regional High School senior Paige Flanagan, 18, has had plenty of experience with the infamous brown shower water […]

PROVINCETOWN — Cape Cod and, for that matter, New England are perhaps not the first places one thinks of when one hears the words “plastic surgery.” We value our old […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, March 9 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

People have collected sports cards for 135 years. The first set of baseball cards was released in 1886 by the Goodwin Tobacco Company. A Honus Wagner card from that set […]

EASTHAM — Nine Nauset Regional High School winter athletes were named Cape & Islands League All-Stars this season. Nauset boys basketball was represented by juniors Seth Asiimwe and Keleb Daniels. […]

Though wood craftspeople often finish their handmade work with oils made from plants or seeds — linseed or tung — mineral oil is often recommended for ordinary people to use […]

I have learned not to take anything for granted. Not even simple things, like seeing a stranger’s smile, having a relaxed drink with a friend at a bar, or sitting […]

Flip the switch on your self-expression, star gazers. A planetary mashup of Sun, Moon, Venus, and Neptune in imaginative Pisces illuminates your sectors of creativity and compassion. Such an orgiastic […]

“The annual Mass. Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests, required of all students in public schools, will be administered this year, despite concerns from school administrators about what exactly the data […]

MacMillan Pier, Provincetown. (Photo Nancy Bloom) Crowds gathered in hopes of a glimpse of the cast, or maybe a chance to walk on, while the film crew for the television […]

EASTHAM — The OpenCape Corporation’s high-speed internet service has been tantalizingly close and yet out of reach for most Outer Cape residents since 2013, when the nonprofit technology company used […]

PROVINCETOWN — After more than a year of telling town officials that it could not be done, the Mass. Dept. of Revenue has released data on the new tax on […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, March 11 Finance Committee, 10 a.m. Public Pier Corp., 3 p.m. Open Space […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, March 11 […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to read it’s agenda and find information on how to view and take part […]

By Susannah Elisabeth Fulcher “When will this end? When will we go back to normal? When will we see each other again? These are questions we’ve been asking ourselves since […]

If you want to see Dorothy Loeb’s paintings, the best place to go is not a museum but the Residences at Seashore Point, at 100 Alden St. in Provincetown. Specifically, […]

Although it has much to recommend it, the film Nomadland, which is playing in theaters (not locally) and streaming on Hulu (free to subscribers), can attribute its extraordinary success, including […]

In the book of Joshua, the ancient Israelites settle upon the land that God had promised them, a land called Canaan, and they do so without slaughtering any of the […]

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We’re coming up on a year, now — a year of confusion, isolation, sadness, and readjustment. Anniversaries are a time of reflection. What does this one mean? There has been […]

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With strident voices and violent clashes in the news at the highest levels of government, recent weeks brought a welcome dose of collaborative and functional governance on Cape Cod. The […]

Perhaps the biggest illusion perpetuated by the movie business is that film shoots — the nuts and bolts of producing movies and television — are glamorous and fascinating. In fact, […]

Obstructed View of Harbor Hill To the editor: Thank you for Paul Benson’s piece on “The View From Harbor Hill” [March 4, front page]. It was wonderful to read the […]

Know when to hit the flats

William Arthur von der Heydt, a painter who came to Provincetown over 40 years ago, died on Feb. 22, 2021 at home. He was 78. Born in Belleville, N.J., in […]

Richard McCann, a beloved writer long associated with the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, died on Jan. 25, 2021 in Washington, D.C. He was 71. Richard was born on […]

Vivian Bower, a long-time resident of New York City and Cape Cod, died peacefully at age 79 on Feb. 21, 2021 at her home in Truro. The cause of death […]

JOBS Assistant manager for art gallery. 40K to 50K. Year-round position with 3 weeks time off. Flexible hours during off season. Sales and supervisor experience preferred. Experience with picture framing a […]

JOBS Assistant manager for art gallery. 40K to 50K. Year-round position with 3 weeks time off. Flexible hours during off season. Sales and supervisor experience preferred. Experience with picture framing a […]

PROVINCETOWN — If negotiations are successful, Alex B. Morse, 32, a native son of Holyoke, the working-class city where he has been the mayor for 10 years, will become the […]

PROVINCETOWN — When much of the American economy was forced to shut down last March due to Covid, Congress passed trillions of dollars of relief spending in just weeks. There […]

TRURO — Two residents are appealing the town’s approval of the Cloverleaf, a 39-unit affordable housing development at 22 Highland Road. The legal challenge was filed in Barnstable Superior Court […]

PROVINCETOWN — Last year’s Fine Arts Work Center (FAWC) resident fellows accused the nonprofit that hosted them of racism. Then the pandemic hit, and several of those fellows had nowhere […]

EASTHAM — Eastham could have a surplus of energy should four new solar projects move forward. “The town of Eastham, with the completion of these projects — if they were […]

WELLFLEET — With a minus-0.6-foot low tide at 5:11 p.m. and the sun setting at 5:26, Bob Wallace and Mattias Christensen have no time to lose. Their oysters have been […]

PROVINCETOWN — Mike Dubour was in the process of converting to Judaism. He was tired of the lousy version of Catholicism he kept receiving — what he described as “hatred […]

PROVINCETOWN — Harbor Hill was built as a time-share complex, to host people enjoying a week or two of vacation. After sitting vacant for years, then being bought by Provincetown’s […]

A home speaks to its visitors before they even cross the threshold. Coming around the corner or reaching for the front gate, we take in a multitude of details, the […]

I have a pile of dog-eared seed catalogs marked with checks and circles — a paper hope chest filled with my garden aspirations. They sit in a growing pile on […]

WELLFLEET — A 9th Street property was advertised as an “ideal building lot at the outermost area of majestic Lieutenant Island,” offering prospective buyers a vision of glorious sunsets with […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, March 2 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

Ice fishing? That was everyone’s first question. And then, in varied order: Won’t you fall through? But what if you do? Won’t you be cold? Will you catch anything? Or, […]

EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional High School girls basketball season didn’t end the way the team wanted it to, but senior leader Avery Burns feels good knowing that she and […]

Truly, our shoulders are overworked. They bear burdens, carry chips, and provide places upon which others may cry. If you have, at any point this winter, looked in the mirror […]

Have you been having vivid dreams? Some so intense you could call them visions? The Sun’s approach toward Neptune climaxes this week with their conjunction — meaning they cross paths […]

A film crew for the television series with the as-yet-unconfirmed-but-it’s-gotta-be American Horror Story, for which part-time Provincetown resident Ryan Murphy is executive producer, deals with drizzle in front of town […]

Residents of Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet who wish to claim the residential tax exemption (RTE) on their fiscal 2021 property tax bills must submit applications with supporting documents to their […]

PROVINCETOWN — In his 20 weeks of state-standardized training at the Plymouth Police Academy, Sgt. Kevan Spoor, now a 14-year veteran of the Provincetown P.D., broke down doors. He shot […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, March 4 Select Board, 4 p.m. Monday, March 8 Select Board, 7 p.m. Tuesday, March […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, March […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda and find out how to view and take part remotely. Thursday, March 4 […]

“I think of painting as capturing time,” says artist Erna Partoll. In the sunny kitchen of her Provincetown home, where she has been holed up during the pandemic, Partoll points […]

WOMR’s International Women’s Day celebration began in 1988, says Denya LeVine, one of its “founding mothers.” But only in the last 10 years has the station been doing it consistently, […]

It is easy to pan Anna Malaika Tubbs’s The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation, released last month […]

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…I am waiting to get some intimations of immortality by recollecting my early childhood and I am waiting for the green mornings to come again youth’s dumb green fields come […]

Provincetown was where you went to die. That was what everyone kept saying when Rob Phelps told them he was moving here in the mid ’90s. And, in fact, gay […]

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The saddest story to appear in these pages in many weeks was Jan. 28th’s “A ‘Sextortion’ Case Reveals Silent Crisis for Teens.” If you missed it, here is a brief […]

The Independent’s mission is to produce truth-seeking reporting on the Outer Cape. But we have another purpose that extends beyond the Orleans rotary: to help change what is happening to […]

Spending the Pot Tax Bounty To the editor: The pot shop owners have been granted a license to coin money from the town, which they have clearly done very handsomely. […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Feb. 22 to Feb. 26, 2021. PROVINCETOWN Feb. 22. Sebastian and Kelly E. Grasso to Francisco Adrian and Julie Ann Gavigan. […]

Diane Alexis Brown Rose died peacefully at her home on Atwood Road in Truro on Feb. 26, 2021 following a battle with cancer, in the company of her loving family […]

James Arlin Hildreth of Eastham died peacefully on Feb. 23, 2021 at the McCarthy Care Center in East Sandwich after a battle with cancer and related complications that he fought […]

Mary A. Rose of Wellfleet died on Feb. 15, 2021 at Cape Cod Hospital, 12 hours after her 95th birthday, with the grace and dignity with which she lived her […]

TRURO — When Anne Peretz walked into her newly built home near Ballston Beach on North Pamet Road in 1991, there was 175 feet between the back porch and the […]

PROVINCETOWN — None of the three finalists named this week for the job of town manager lives here, but all three say they love Provincetown. They are the 32-year-old mayor […]

EASTHAM — The Nauset High School renovation gained the unanimous support of Eastham’s finance committee and select board when they voted on Feb. 17 and Feb. 22, respectively, to recommend […]

PROVINCETOWN — When it comes to Covid, Massachusetts is pro-data. The Dept. of Public Health (DPH) publishes a weekly Covid report, daily Covid updates, and a weekly report on vaccinations. […]

WELLFLEET — The conservation commission has again denied permission for the construction of a 241-foot rock revetment in front of the Blasch house on Chequessett Neck Road. The 5,817-square-foot house, […]

WELLFLEET — Citing what board member Beth Singer called “insurmountable” obstacles, the planning board officially ended its three-month effort to draft a joint bylaw regulating accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and […]

PROVINCETOWN — As the deadline for filing legislation came into view last Friday, state Rep. Sarah Peake had turned in a number of bills to be considered by the Mass. […]

PROVINCETOWN — When it comes to allocating Covid resources, Cape Cod has been treated like a distant afterthought. The state hasn’t opened a free Stop the Spread testing site here, […]

PROVINCETOWN — The historic district commission and the zoning board of appeals have approved the demolition of a 140-year-old cottage in the historic district and its replacement with a new […]

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There’s a bend in the road on the way to the dump in Wellfleet. The road winds through a low, wet area, a tributary of the Herring River. As far […]

It is mid-February of the pandemic winter, but even this one won’t last forever. It’s time for us to face a cold, hard fact: most of those dried beans we […]

While summer vegetable gardens lie in wait under mulch and snow, some people are busy planting and harvesting miniature crops indoors. It doesn’t take much effort, say the devotees, to […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Feb. 23 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

Right now is a good time for seeing the planet Mercury, especially if you’re on the Outer Cape, with its wonderful unobstructed views to east on the ocean side. Astronomy […]

EASTHAM — Most high-school sports have struggled to maintain a playable season this year, due to strict safety regulations and rescheduled games in a shortened season. But one club sport […]

Ever get the feeling that things might actually go your way if you could just let go and trust in the process of life? Well, now would be a good […]

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EASTHAM — The Nauset Warriors boys basketball team came away with a win at the buzzer against Barnstable on Monday in the first round of the Cape and Islands League […]

As food insecurity has continued to grow across Cape Cod during the pandemic, a hidden issue has come into view alongside it. Sometimes, people go hungry not because there is […]

PROVINCETOWN — The community preservation committee (CPC) voted down the Schooner Hindu’s application for $100,000 in Community Preservation Act funds at its meeting on Feb. 22. Had it been approved, […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Feb. 25 Select Board town manager interviews, 5 p.m. Joint meeting, Harbor and […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested in to read its agenda and find information on how to view and take part remotely.  […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

“Water touches us in so many ways,” says painter Marianne A. Kinzer. “It travels around the globe in the form of oceans, clouds, and rain. It moves through the stems […]

It starts with long drawn-out notes forming a simple melody. The sound of the alto saxophone is warm and reedy. At first, you might wonder, where is this going? But […]

Sixteen years ago, a nightmare Liza Rodman had been having for months suddenly got real. She finally recognized the face of the man who approached her in the dream — […]

Dana Franchitto loves going to work as a substitute teacher at the Nauset Regional Middle School in Orleans. Even if he won $10 million in the lottery, he’d still want […]

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A riot of culture spills forth from that hook at the end of the Cape. Provincetown is like no other place, and it seems incapable of containing itself. It expands, like […]

The opposition to the proposed Nauset Regional High School renovation is relying on a confusing series of calculations based on questionable assumptions. Their main argument is that we can save […]

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Our world is built on streams of data, beaming into headsets and printers and our ever-present phones. Twitter can predict what I will read; TikTok knows how to make me […]

The Vaccine Lottery To the editor: Here are some points that Cape Cod residents may wish to convey to Gov. Charlie Baker and his Covid-19 advisers: 1. Cape Cod residents […]

Joann Merrell Coats of Harwich died peacefully on Feb. 13, 2021 at the Wingate at Harwich Nursing Home. She was 88. Joann was born on April 28, 1932 in Provincetown, […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Feb. 16 to Feb. 19, 2021. PROVINCETOWN Feb. 16. Kevin R. Kennedy and Edward H. Walsh to Bret A. Austhof. 4 […]

HELP WANTED Woodcutter. Woman or man with a chainsaw and skills wanted to cut up downed trees and logs into firewood at my property in Truro. Work the hours that […]

PROVINCETOWN — A $100,000 grant request to help pay for the ambitious restoration of the Schooner Hindu is one of a handful of applications that will be up for discussion […]

The annual Mass. Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests, required of all students in public schools, will be administered this year, despite concerns from school administrators about what exactly the data […]

PROVINCETOWN — Gov. Charlie Baker’s decision to prioritize six mass Covid-19 vaccination sites around the state, while sending hardly any vaccine at all to Cape Cod, has people here feeling […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Covid testing program at Outer Cape Health Services (OCHS), which relies on rapid BinaxNOW tests provided by the state, has been a local success story. The tests […]

EASTHAM — Members of the Nauset Regional School Committee have taken issue with a report on the high school building project that asserts that eliminating — or substantially reducing — […]

PROVINCETOWN — Vernon Porter, the irrepressible “Lady Di” of WOMR-FM’s most popular show, Friday night’s Leggs Up and Dancing, has been forced to give up his home in Provincetown. It’s […]

EATS Deep Winter Dining A surprising number of restaurants (and markets that offer prepared meals) have kept on cooking this winter, some with well-spaced or outdoor-heated dining (B.Y.O. Blanket), others […]

PROVINCETOWN — Within the silence of the snowstorm, I walk the frozen beach, boot-crunch the only sound accompanying me. The muffled white air swirls and eddies. And then I hear […]

PROVINCETOWN — After years of planning and delays, the “inclined elevator” (which is close to, but not the same as, a funicular), arrived on Feb. 12 from Switzerland, following a […]

I took a luxurious vacation last week into a world filled with lapis lazuli, burnt sienna, and yellow ochre paints; hake, dagger striper, and mop brushes; flat, graded, and variegated […]

It’s a Sunday morning and we’ve logged onto Zoom for “Using Color With the Figure,” taught by Laura Shabott and Alana Barrett, via the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Introducing […]

Over the course of just two hours last Friday night, I used more pots and pans than I knew my kitchen had — more pots and pans than I think […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Public Pier Corp. has decided to raise the dockage rates at MacMillan Pier by 50 percent for commercial vessels over the next two years. At the second […]

PROVINCETOWN — A federal judge ruled on Jan. 22 that the collection of fees by the National Park Service (NPS) for commercial filming is a violation of free speech. This […]

Snow sports are not my forte. I don’t ice skate, and I went snowboarding a couple of times on some golf course hills, but that’s about it. I’d never been […]

TRURO — Over four decades ago, Michael Gradone III accepted a job as the Wellfleet Elementary School principal. In June, Gradone, 73, will retire as superintendent of Truro’s one-school district. […]

February is a gray month — there’s no doubt about it. As the thrill of the first truly cold snap, complete with snow flurries, begins to fade, it can be […]

EASTHAM — Nauset High School’s basketball players kept their success rolling on Saturday, Feb. 13, as both the boys and girls teams defeated the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins. The boys team made […]

Thursday, Feb. 18 Girls basketball: The undefeated Warriors (9-0) travel to play the Falmouth Clippers (7-4) at 2:30 p.m. Girls ice hockey: The Cape Cod Furies (2-2-4) will play the […]

The Sun enters the watery sign of Pisces, the final sign of the zodiac before the cycle begins again with Aries, herald of spring. Pisces is the culmination of all […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Feb. 16 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

There’s a funny thing about kids and food combinations. At our house, olives are good, and bread is good. But olive bread might as well be poison. Why? I have […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Feb. 18 Board of Health, 4 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested in to read its agenda, and for information about how to view and take part remotely.  […]

On a sunny winter’s day, SunMi Scheinler leans against a weathered wood fence at Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet. Behind her, a calm ocean stretches to the horizon. She takes […]

Sophie — self-styled in all capital letters — a trans DJ and producer who died on Jan. 30, 2021 at age 34 from an accidental fall in Greece, sculpted and […]

If you are in need of a particularly good escape that requires no travel this pandemic February, look no further than Australian crime writer Jane Harper’s latest whodunit, The Survivors, […]

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Clear-Cutting in Wellfleet To the editor: The unpermitted clear-cutting at 1065 State Highway in Wellfleet is a shocking story of entitlement run amok [“Town Orders DiGiovannis to Cease and Desist,” […]

Twenty-three years ago, I spent a memorable long weekend at the J. Erik Jonsson Center in Woods Hole, a classic old Cape Cod mansion with commanding views of Quissett Harbor […]

Catherine Ann Spiegel died peacefully on Jan. 29, 2021 at St. John Paul II nursing home in Danbury, Conn. She was 85. She was born on June 7, 1935 in […]

Christina Nestor Pappas Davidson, former Time Life reporter and leading figure in Provincetown in the 1970s and 1980s, died at her home in Los Angeles on Jan. 31, 2021. She […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Feb. 8 to Feb. 12, 2021 PROVINCETOWN Feb. 8. 100 Bayberry LLC [Lester J. Murphy Jr., agent] to April Callahan. 417 […]

ONE LOVE RG— … to hear the quiet breathing that says/ I am alive, that means also/ you are alive, because you hear me… —HG [2-18] CLASSES Online: Painting Techniques […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Public Pier Corp., which operates MacMillan Pier, is proposing fee hikes for this year of around 50 percent to commercial fishermen and recreational businesses like whale watch […]

WELLFLEET — On the same day almost a year ago that Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency, March 10, the select board, state officials, and more than 50 […]

PROVINCETOWN — A long-anticipated source of new tax revenue was confirmed last week when Provincetown reported fourth-quarter payments from Curaleaf and b/well, the two cannabis dispensaries that opened here in […]

PROVINCETOWN — Health Director Morgan Clark presented a five-year plan to the select board last month that aims to dramatically increase access to mental health and substance abuse treatment. The […]

School administrators and teachers’ unions are often at odds with each other, but on Cape Cod, both sides agree on the need for educators to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as […]

EASTHAM — Nauset Regional School District Supt. Thomas Conrad announced on Feb. 3 that he will retire at the end of June after 29 years. “I have been truly blessed […]

EASTHAM — Drew Locke secured his first victory as head coach of Nauset Regional High School boys hockey when the team beat Barnstable 4-3 at the Charles Moore Arena on […]

How do you measure your love for a chicken? Or describe that warm-fuzzy you feel when your goat greets you with a headbutt? I’m not sure. But I want to […]

Reader, I swiped. Call it scholarship, sacrifice, pure self-indulgence. What matters is this: for nine days and eight nights, I swiped. Of the Outer Cape’s 12,370 residents, just over a […]

In 2002, Jennifer Smith had four children to raise, a full-time job as an Eastham firefighter, and a slew of volunteer responsibilities. There were Fresh Air Fund children to host […]

The 1840s saw the introduction of the mass-produced valentine in the U.S. We can thank Esther A. Howland, known as the “mother of the valentine,” for that. But even with […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Feb. 9 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

I am a New York Jets fan. I don’t know why it happened. My family is from New York and my dad is a huge Giants fan. Even though I […]

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I am the first to admit to having mixed feelings about Valentine’s Day. This year, they may be more mixed than ever. The last time we raised a glass to […]

PROVINCETOWN — Buying flowers this Valentine’s Day? They’ll wilt. Chocolates melt; jewelry dulls; teddy bears de-plush. Here’s another idea. Each February, salespeople at certain specialty stores see a run on […]

There is much that we can’t control. This has always been true, of course, but it’s never been more apparent than now, in both our personal sphere and in the […]

The Quarrel: Maggie and Nora are currently single-ish former college roommates. In May 2019, the roommates had a Category Five argument over the Game of Thrones finale. They haven’t texted […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Feb. 11 Other Post-Employment Benefits meeting, 2:30 p.m. Planning Board, 6 p.m. Public Pier Corp., […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to www.truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, Feb. […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested in to read its agenda and for information on how to view and take part remotely.  […]

“Flowers and love are both timeless and fleeting,” says Jesse Ceraldi. “A flower is an emblem of nature’s continuity, yet a beautiful bouquet dies in front of your eyes. In […]

The thing that reassures Sallie Tighe the most about “The 24 Hour Plays” — the annual Presidents Day tradition at the Provincetown Theater — is that she doesn’t have to […]

Beginning next week, writer Karen Dukess is hosting a series of virtual talks with authors of new fiction and nonfiction via Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. On […]

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After the riot at the Capitol, we were told on the one hand that now is the time for peace and unity, and, on the other, that the violence carried […]

The Independent’s Feb. 4 article on the proposed Nauset Regional High School reconstruction [“Supt. Claims School Choice Doesn’t Raise Costs,” page A6] contains inaccurate statements by Supt. Thomas Conrad and […]

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Venus, the planet of pleasure and beauty, floats freely through humanitarian Aquarius this month. What that means is that, while romance is certainly afoot, the overall feeling of love will […]

Every year, each of our select boards is required to conduct a tax classification hearing and decide how to allocate the town’s property tax burden. And every year, these hearings […]

‘Ashamed and Angry’ To the editor: I have spent the past two days assisting older Eastham residents with the upcoming vaccine clinic here in conjunction with our local council on […]

Bertha Louise Adams died peacefully in her sleep on Jan. 31, 2021 at Seashore Point Wellness Center in Provincetown, where she had been residing for the past year. She was […]

Susan Brown Goldsmith, a fighter for women’s rights and equal opportunity, died in San Francisco on Jan. 23, 2021. She succumbed to Parkinson’s disease and dementia at age 89. Susan […]

William Clarke Brewer Jr. died peacefully at Cape Cod Hospital on Feb. 4, 2021 at age 88. Billy — that’s what everyone called him — lived a good, fun-filled life. […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Feb. 1 to Feb. 5, 2021. PROVINCETOWN Feb. 1. Building Block Realty Trust (Silvestro S. and Margaret E. Schiavone, trustees) to […]

DEAR VALENTINE Who loves you baby? I do! Now and always, Mr. Guy. To my darling Adam — I love you a bushel and a peck! Happy Valentine’s Day! Xo, M […]

Being a surfer on Cape Cod in the winter invites a lot of questions. Willingly jumping into the ocean when the temperature dips below freezing and the waves are big […]

PROVINCETOWN — Massachusetts had a plan for rolling out the Covid vaccine. First up would be the entire health-care industry, police and fire depts., and congregate living facilities where large […]

EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional High School building project committee has scheduled a series of Zoom meetings leading up to the March 30 district-wide vote on the renovation project. The […]

EASTHAM — The controversial residential tax exemption (RTE) is off the table for fiscal year 2022. Eastham’s select board voted at its Jan. 25 meeting not to adopt the exemption […]

PROVINCETOWN — Developer Christine Barker will return to the town’s permitting boards with a reconfigured plan for the Old Reliable Fish House property. It will have to proceed anew through […]

PROVINCETOWN — A 140-year-old cottage on Commercial Street overlooking the harbor won’t make it to its 141st birthday if the new owner is given the go-ahead to knock it down […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Cape Cod Commission plays an unusual role in the life of the Cape.  It’s a kind of hybrid — part technical adviser, part regulator, part community planning […]

TRURO — Nick Minnerath was almost two years beyond high school when he and his dad, Michael Minnerath, drove from Truro to Nebraska to help his sister move in late […]

For those of us who are pretty much swamped during the summer season, but not the kind to close up shop in the winter, this is no time to kick […]

PROVINCETOWN — Long story short: Dougie Freeman, who since 1982 has cut, colored, and charmed the Outer Cape, who was, he says, once young and gorgeous and 127 pounds and […]

EASTHAM — High school football will be played in Massachusetts this year. The Mass. Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) voted on Jan. 29 to adopt sport-specific modifications to the “Fall II” […]

The drifts of snow last week confirmed the reality that is winter. And if there ever were a winter to dive under the covers and not come out until mid-May, […]

Since nearly a year ago, I’ve been cultivating a small, dedicated, cautious band of creative weirdos. We are, as they say, a “pod.” Keeping each other safe, (reasonably) calm, fed, […]

Caitlin Townsend of Truro, a senior in the Marine Science, Safety, and Environmental Protection Program at Mass Maritime Academy, has been walking the back shore as part of her research […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Feb. 2 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

We tend to think of the skeleton as an inert frame, but it is actually dynamic, living tissue. Bone cells are constantly breaking down the old and building up the […]

PROVINCETOWN — Students in pre-kindergarten through 8th grade are on track to return to school on Monday, after a staff member’s positive Covid test prompted a 14-day switch to remote […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Feb. 4 Public Pier Corp, 3:30 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to www.truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, Feb. […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely. […]

“I moved here in the summer of 2019,” says Eric Maul, a Provincetown-based, classically trained flutist. “I’d been living in Boston for five years, and I just wasn’t getting what […]

A storm rolls toward the Outer Cape, stirring the ocean’s waves and sending shivers through the pine forest. Unperturbed, a lone figure dances on the deck of the Kugel/Gips House, […]

How odd in an era of “fake news” accusations — usually a case of childish denial, or a con artist’s switcheroo — to see a movie called News of the […]

Perhaps you are turned off by standard American histories, from expensive textbooks to doorstop-sized biographies of Important Men. You might find descriptions of the conflict between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander […]

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Only one of Donald Trump’s many actions in the four years of his presidency got my approval: his pardon for the Thanksgiving turkey. A local turkey was pardoned last year, […]

PROVINCETOWN — Recent events have made clear the deep well of discontent in our society, and what appears to be a yawning, unbridgeable division among us. The new president has […]

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This week’s column is brought to you by Mercury retrograde in Aquarius. While we usually associate this event with interrupted travel plans, issues with technology, and communication breakdowns (Mercury rules […]

Truro’s new town manager, Darrin Tangeman, started work last month, having arrived here from his previous home in Woodland Park, Colo., where he was the city manager. We’re looking forward […]

A View From the Right To the editor: Those on the far left speak endlessly about diversity. Ironically, those are often the same people shutting down or censoring those with […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Jan. 25 to Jan. 29, 2021. PROVINCETOWN Jan. 25. Francis X. and Margaret T. Neylon to Cavalier Donkey LLC [Karen A. […]

Ernest Newton Dickinson, a journalist, saxophone player, and fisherman who hit the Cape Cod beaches at 4 a.m., died on Jan. 16, 2021 at Seashore Point in Provincetown, his home […]

Guillermo Chang of North Truro died on Jan. 27, 2021 at age 60. He was born in Havana, Cuba on July 16, 1960. His parents, the late Guillermo and Muy […]

Janis T. Johnson, 91, died peacefully at her home in Eastham of natural causes on Jan. 25, 2021, her 91st birthday. She had just enjoyed a morning nap. Born in […]

Joann D. Eldridge, 81, of Wellfleet died on Jan. 26, 2021 of Merkel cell carcinoma. She was born on Aug. 31, 1939 in Milford to Joe and Ethel Eldridge, and […]

Robert J. Silva, a lifelong Provincetown resident, died on Jan. 3, 2021 at the Briarwood Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Needham. He was 88. Born in Provincetown, he was the […]

Anthony Jackman of Provincetown died at Cape Cod Hospital on Jan. 22, 2021. He was 70. The cause of death was pneumonia, said Phoebe Otis, his best friend. Tony arrived […]

Catherine R. Myers, 87, a professor of English literature who retired to Wellfleet for a second act as a volunteer and grandmother, died at home on Jan. 27, 2021 of […]

HELP WANTED Woodcutter. Woman or man with a chainsaw and skills wanted to cut up downed trees and logs into firewood at my property in Truro. Work the hours that […]

Drew Carnelli sets off down the beach, a stick to ward off coyotes in one hand, a bait bag for collecting trash in the other. He wanders the Outer Cape […]

EASTHAM — On Nov. 6, 2020, a girl walked into Eastham’s police station, alone. Like a growing share of her generation, she was facing a new digital form of sexual […]

PROVINCETOWN — State Rep. Sarah Peake won’t support rule changes being urged by a statewide activist movement as a way to bring more transparency to Beacon Hill. The measures would […]

WELLFLEET — The Great White Realty Group LLC closed on the purchase of the 1.38-acre lot at the corner of Route 6 and Old Wharf Road on Friday, Jan. 8. […]

WELLFLEET — The global pandemic has rained down calamities at every street corner, but residents of three rural roads in Wellfleet may see a nugget of gold from it. The […]

Along the American coastline, historic fishing communities — from the tip of Cape Cod to Alaska’s Bristol Bay — are plagued with a problem. This time, it’s not overfishing, complex […]

WELLFLEET — The array of 2,400 solar panels on Wellfleet’s capped landfill, which was installed by the renewable energy company Ameresco more than a year ago in December 2019, is […]

The editor of the Independent noted in his Jan. 14 editorial page column “that 2,144 citizens of Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown voted for Trump on Nov. 3.” He didn’t […]

Every backyard chicken farmer must face the fact that some animals around us see those friendly hens as prey. On the Outer Cape, our flocks are up against a long […]

Sports radio has gotten boring. But sports podcasts have taken its place, offering refreshing, serious, and educational listening. Here are some favorites: The Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz Dan […]

Those who work in professional kitchens have a multitude of tools to get them through the daily grind. Some are workhorses — a heavy-duty mixer or a deep stack of […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Jan. 26 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

EASTHAM — The Nauset boys ice hockey team was on the verge of losing its third game to start the season against the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins on Jan. 23. The Warriors […]

Last year may have been the-year-that-cannot-be-named, but for Robert and me it was not entirely bad. It was the year we got our oyster mojo going. We became rookie recreational […]

Gov. Charlie Baker announced that Phase Two Covid-19 vaccinations would begin next week.  Starting Wednesday, Jan. 27, those 75 years old and older could book vaccination appointments online at maimmunizations.org. […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.  Thursday, Jan. 28 Public Pier Corp., 3 p.m. Planning Board, 6 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to www.truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, Jan. […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested in to read its agenda and find out how to view and take part remotely.  Thursday, […]

An exhibition of artworks from the collection of Napi and Helen Van Dereck opened last Friday at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. The first installment of this show took […]

WELLFLEET — Deep in the woods of Wellfleet’s Bound Brook Island, a path padded with pine needles and slashed with filtered sunlight rises and dips, showing the way to a […]

The tide comes in and out twice a day, sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower. It’s so much a part of our daily lives that it’s easy to […]

The last time the Moon was full in Leo was in February of last year. Remember those days? How blissfully ignorant we were back then to the imminent and significant […]

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Over the past two decades, year-round rental apartments have all but vanished on the Outer Cape as their owners have discovered how much more lucrative it is to rent their […]

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EASTHAM — Before the pandemic, I often led classes for the Registry of Motor Vehicles. The students had been cited for speeding and other infractions. The curriculum was supposed to […]

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Please Vaccinate To the editor: I implore my neighbors to get a Covid-19 vaccination as soon as one becomes available. The reasons given to abstain range from “The pandemic is […]

The pages of this newspaper are, as I write this, being assembled from various locations, including an Eastham basement, various Provincetown and Truro bedrooms, and our dining room table in […]

Abby Mary Orton, 74, of Truro died on Jan. 17, 2021 at Pleasant Bay Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in Brewster. No cause of death has been reported. Abby was […]

Bonnie Gae Steele McGhee, a lifelong resident of Provincetown, died on Christmas Eve morning, Dec. 24, 2020, at Cape Cod Hospital following a lengthy battle with diabetes. She was 75 […]

Hilary H. Bamford of Provincetown died at home on Jan. 19, 2021 at age 83 after a lengthy illness. She was the widow of Sidney W. Bamford, who died in […]

Know when to hit the flats

HELP WANTED Carpenters needed, skilled or semi-skilled. Own transportation and basic hand tools a must. If interested, call Winard Construction, 508-487-2538 or 508-789-8089. [2-18] Experienced editorial assistant needed. This newspaper needs […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Jan. 18 to Jan. 22, 2021. PROVINCETOWN Jan. 19. Property of Laurence De Freitas (Alissa Allen, conservator) to Betty Krier. 14 […]

WELLFLEET — Agnes Mittermayr, a marine ecologist at the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) in Provincetown, has coined a new term to describe the dark, sludgy material that fills Wellfleet […]

At the start of each legislative session, Mass. State House lawmakers write their own rules for how bills will be introduced, studied, debated, and voted on over the next two […]

PROVINCETOWN — Massachusetts’s new police reform bill will change many aspects of policing, including training and certification, with new use-of-force rules, a duty to intervene and stop other officers from […]

TRURO — After more than a year of hearings, on Jan. 14, the Cloverleaf — which will give Truro 39 units of mostly affordable rental housing at 22 Highland Road […]

EASTHAM — The Mass. School Building Authority (MSBA) has confirmed that the Nauset Regional High School renovation is eligible for a third extension of the deadline for qualifying for a […]

PROVINCETOWN — Even during the pandemic, the short-term rental tax is bringing in serious money to the four Outer Cape towns. The long-awaited tax — technically, an expansion of the […]

TRURO — The 100 Truro residents who have cesspools will have three years to hire engineers, get permits, and install new Title 5 septic systems if a proposed board of […]

EASTHAM — John Piemontese, head coach of the Nauset girls basketball team, said before the season started that the team’s goal was to win the Cape and Islands League championship. […]

The quiet winter months on the Outer Cape call many to their desks to tell their stories in writing. And in this particularly dark winter, that call can seem more […]

PROVINCETOWN — Kate Wilkinson is tired. Which is no surprise. Who isn’t? It’s hardly controversial to write that hardly anything is going well right now. (I ask Tom Ryan, former […]

Friday, Jan. 22 Boys and girls swimming: Nauset hosts a virtual swim meet against the Barnstable Red Raiders at 4 p.m. Girls basketball: The Warriors are scheduled to play an […]

Odds are, you have a favorite mug. The one at the front of your cabinet or always on your drying rack, waiting to be picked up again. It fits your […]

TRURO — Philosophy trains the mind to take the long view of things. You try to take yourself out of the picture and see things as they truly are, undistorted […]

The Sun enters the sign of Aquarius this week. Aquarius is the realm of brotherhood, of breaking boundaries, and of a bohemian approach to this bothersome thing called life. Even […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Jan. 19 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

It is easy to forget how special it is to be able to find free seafood across the street. I’m a washashore from a landlocked desert state, so it still […]

EASTHAM — The Rock Harbor Capital Projects Committee voted on Jan. 11 to accept “design number two” for a harbormaster’s office, a shed-like, 563-square-foot building on eight-foot pilings. “I like […]

TRURO — Ron Singer, a local plumber who admitted clear-cutting a swath of conservation land by his house on Francis Farm Road, has paid the Truro Conservation Trust to restore […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.  Thursday, Jan. 21 Economic Development Committee, 1 p.m. Board of Health, 4 p.m. Zoning Board of […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to www.truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, Jan. […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely. […]

“Clear mind, tabula rasa, the four corners of the frame, calm breath,” photographer Lew Schwartz says as he prepares to shoot. “Someone on the street brushes away a mosquito, waves […]

A red sky is bisected by a darker red column, shadowed in black. Affixed are three paper fragments. The one at left is sheet music from Arthur Berger’s Trio for […]

Under no circumstances should you crack the covers of Amber Ruffin’s and Lacey Lamar’s You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey in a place you need to be quiet — […]

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Should I be so lucky as to reach old age, I imagine I will be asked what I did during the pandemic year, when a virus set fire to the […]

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My last column (“The Bradford Street Wave”) came out on Jan. 7. In it, I decried the threat of violence that hung in the air and pled for reaching out […]

‘A Pitiful Display’ To the editor: My heart almost broke for the much maligned and persecuted Nick Nickerson and his “wife of two weeks” [“Nick Nickerson’s Day of Infamy,” Jan. […]

I’ve been thinking about the relationship between local newspapers and town leaders and wondering if what happens in small towns bears any resemblance to what’s been going on (and not […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Jan. 11 to Jan. 15, 2021. PROVINCETOWN Jan. 11. Allan P. Dillabough and Jonathan Runge to William Clay Faquin. 93 Commercial […]

John Burgess of Orleans died at Cape Cod Hospital on Jan. 8, 2021 following a stroke. He was 74 years old. A newspaper writer and editor in Boston for more […]

Peter Strom Goldstein of New York City and Truro died on Jan. 8, 2021 in New York. He was 91. Peter was born in Passaic, N.J. in 1929. After graduating […]

CONNECTIONS Let’s Correspond. Conservative, unattached, financially secure widower seeks lady with similar qualities as pen pal friend. I can best be reached via phone at 716-652-0142. [3-11] ART CLASSES Online: […]

PROVINCETOWN — Michael Cestaro’s short film White Space will screen on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 3 p.m. on Zoom. In it, four women of color — Mozelle Andrulot, Alejandra Cuadra, […]

TRURO — On the eve of the expected approval of what would be the town’s largest affordable housing development, a group calling itself Concerned Members of the Pond Village Watershed […]

EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional School Committee voted 6 to 1 on Jan. 7 to set March 30 as the date for a district-wide vote on the $131.8-million renovation of […]

EASTHAM — Nathan “Nick” Nickerson III doesn’t regret going to the “rally” on Jan. 6 that turned into a violent storming of the U.S. Capitol, but he does wish that […]

PROVINCETOWN — Free asymptomatic coronavirus testing will continue on the Outer Cape. The free rapid-testing program that began here on Dec. 23 was scheduled to end on Jan. 10 and […]

WELLFLEET — The planning board voted 5 to 1 at its Jan. 6 meeting to draft a new umbrella bylaw regulating both accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and affordable accessory dwelling […]

WELLFLEET — On March 4 last year, the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission hit another roadblock on the road to reauthorization. The acting deputy director of the National Park […]

WELLFLEET — On March 4 last year, the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission hit another roadblock on the road to reauthorization. The acting deputy director of the National Park […]

EASTHAM — Last season, as a junior at Nauset Regional High School, Monique Malcolm placed first in both the 55-meter dash and 300-meter dash at the MIAA Division 4 track […]

Annie Longley and Erik Hamnquist are delighted to introduce Eva Rose and Thora Lillian Longley Hamnquist. Thora is above at left; Eva is on the right. Born at 8:30 a.m. […]

Tracks left by marine mammal rescuers were visible from the air after three common dolphins were found stranded at Bee’s River Marsh, near First Encounter Beach in Eastham on January […]

As each new year begins, many people are motivated to purge their homes of clutter. “Everyone wants a fresh start,” says Diana Morgan, a professional organizer based in Brewster. But […]

There is a stillness that lays itself over our gardens during the winter months. Without the vibrant greens of leaves and pops of color from flowering plants, we are reminded […]

Life in the upside down has pushed me into some kitchen adventures I might not otherwise have entertained. One of them is membership in an “ugly” fruit and vegetable delivery […]

Recalling the horoscope from the week of America’s national election, we knew even then that Uranus would play a disruptive role until just before Inauguration Day, when it will station […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Jan. 12, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

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WELLFLEET ­— Nearly three months after the abrupt dismissal of the town accountant, the town has filled the position. The new accountant, Heather Michaud, began work on Dec. 14, Town […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.   Thursday, Jan. 14 Water & Sewer Board, 1 p.m. Public Pier Corp., 3 p.m. Planning Board, […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to www.truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, Jan. […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested in to read its agenda and find out how to view and take part remotely.  Thursday, […]

“Community television is about telling the story of a community directly through the voice of the residents,” says Amy Davies. “And that is very appealing to me.” Davies is executive […]

For this new edition of the Indie Playlist, the focus was specifically on music videos and filmed performances. The result? “Radiated country music,” Dante pop, psychedelic Baroque, three harpists with […]

Watching the superhero movie Wonder Woman 1984 in my living room was a decidedly underwhelming experience. It has big-budget action set pieces and a surfeit of CGI magic, but they […]

In the fall, after finishing a summer fellowship at this newspaper, I began a pandemic-induced leave of absence from college. I dreamed of a normal gap year, in which I’d […]

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TRURO — By fomenting a violent uprising against democratic rule last week, President Trump did something unique in American history. He unleashed terror in his own country. Previous presidents have […]

Living in Provincetown is a unique experience. It seems as if we are at the end of the world, tucked away on a beautiful spit of land, surrounded by glorious […]

Mistakes were made, as they say. When newspapers make them (as we did last week, including getting the sponsor of the annual Martin Luther King Day breakfast wrong), we print […]

Truro Tempers To the editor: Off-season Cape Cod has always been my favorite time. People wave to each other on the roads, the traffic lessens, and the pace of things […]

Estelle Rose White Nadel died peacefully at home in Wellfleet on Dec. 18, 2020, just a few weeks shy of her 95th birthday. Her family was at her side. Every […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Jan. 4 to Jan. 8, 2021. PROVINCETOWN Jan. 4. Ben S. and Patricia F. Stone to Kyoko and David Gelber. 19 […]

THANK YOU On behalf of the Welsh family, thank you for your love and sympathy after the passing of our dear Charlie. He was truly a prince among men. We […]

Garbage. It’s a story ripe with complexity. The Independent is dumpster diving into the subject to better understand where the Outer Cape’s garbage goes. In this second installment, we look […]

ORLEANS — The financial challenges that prompted Cape Cod Healthcare to temporarily shelve its $180-million hospital expansion plan last year and lay off more than 100 employees in late summer […]

PROVINCETOWN — Spudded just east of MacMillan Wharf, the Codfish II is crabbing. Behind her, her pipe threads beneath two piers and floats. Ahead, her cutterhead sinks, spins. Her depth […]

EASTHAM — The select board voted four to one on Jan. 4 not to renew Willy’s World’s all-alcohol retail license and common victualer’s license, saying 2018 changes at the facility […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Outer Cape is getting vaccinated for Covid. Outer Cape Health Services has been inoculating its staff here and in Wellfleet with the Moderna vaccine. Seashore Point Wellness […]

WELLFLEET — Throwing its weight behind the Balaenidae of Cape Cod Bay, the Army Corps of Engineers on Dec. 30 rejected the town’s last-ditch request for a two-week extension of […]

EASTHAM — Though there are still some moving parts, as Finance Director Richard Bienvenue called them, the town’s 2022 operating budget of $36,364,711, presented at the select board’s Jan. 4 […]

EASTHAM — Firefighters get trucks and hoses; police officers, cuffs; EMTs, those screaming sirens. But 911 dispatchers? To them goes little glitz, little drama, still less recognition. The job may […]

WELLFLEET — Following months of racial reckoning inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this was supposed to be a big year for Wellfleet’s 18-year-old Martin Luther King Day observance […]

PROVINCETOWN — Dr. Andrew Jorgensen received a much-hoped-for gift just before Christmas this year, in the form of an initial dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. He’s on track for […]

“Gratitude.” I feel like this word has taken on such power in recent times. I know I am not alone in trying to make being mindfully thankful a daily practice. […]

Last fall, I taught a foraging class for Wellfleet Elementary School students. We gathered once a week, after school, rain or shine, and headed out into the woods with no […]

EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional High School boys ice hockey team lost its first game of the season to the Nantucket Whalers 3-0 on Saturday, Jan. 2. Though it was […]

The Sun and Moon meet in Capricorn this week for the first new Moon of the new year. When setting intentions for a new Moon, consider the qualities of the […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Jan. 5, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

For some people, chickens are a gateway farm animal. You start out with a backyard flock. The fresh eggs are nice. So, you start thinking about producing something else, maybe […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.   Thursday, Jan. 7 Town Manager Search Committee, 5 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. Monday, […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to www.truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Thursday, Jan. […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely.  […]

Felipe Ortiz stands on the deck of Wellfleet’s Lechay House, the modernist former home of the late painter James Lechay. The view stretches across the pine forest all the way […]

Editor’s note: Truro poet Brendan Galvin’s 19th volume of poems, titled Partway to Geophany, was published by Louisiana State University Press in November 2020. Galvin’s many awards include a Guggenheim […]

Alexis Pauline Gumbs describes herself as a “queer Black feminist love evangelist and marine mammal apprentice” in Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons From Marine Mammals, published this past November. The description […]

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PROVINCETOWN — Walking along Bradford Street with my dog, I see the DPW truck coming down the hill. I know many of the DPW guys, and one of them, Paul, […]

Cheers, community, from the Lower Cape Outdoor Winter Activities Council! Oh, what a year we’ve wassailed! We hope your holidays were abundant, yet realistic, and that you rejoiced in a […]

                      Who hung this here I do not know. He must be from the village, though, And must have brought […]

Late on a Tuesday night, with the paper close to being finished, I’m doing the final top edit — the last review, to find any gaffes that have gotten by […]

Ruth Trewhella, a former resident of Provincetown, died on Dec. 29, 2020 in Tucson, Ariz. from complications related to Covid-19. She was 65. Ruth was born on Sept. 19, 1955 […]

The Rev. Robert Keith Dixon, who was known as Tim, died on Dec. 30, 2020 at the University of Connecticut John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington, Conn. He was 84. After […]

Parking Lot Relief To the editor: Regarding the plan for solar panels in Provincetown’s historic district that Michael Rodgers referred to in his letter in last week’s Independent: If not […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Dec. 28 to Dec. 31, 2020.   PROVINCETOWN   Dec. 28. Carol Pineo to Kevin Buonaiuto Alcaraz. 501 Commercial St., Unit 16. $549,000. […]

We are grateful to the artists and photographers included here who have helped us create a New Year’s greeting card to the Independent’s readers. This page is available to subscribers. […]

PROVINCETOWN — A long-running legislative effort to secure free asymptomatic Covid testing for many classes of frontline workers — particularly those employed in health care, restaurants, and retail and hospitality […]

PROVINCETOWN — With a real estate market rocket-fueled by the pandemic, housing officials here are calling for action and leadership to secure a larger supply of affordable homes for year-round […]

TRURO — Since purchasing their beachfront property at 42 Great Hollow Road in 2018, Susan and Wesley Chapman have sent out an annual email inviting their neighbors to be guests […]

EASTHAM — The Rock Harbor Improvements Capital Project Committee unveiled a new design concept for the harbormaster’s office at its Dec. 28 meeting. It involved a smaller footprint, lower roofline, […]

PROVINCETOWN — “We don’t sugarcoat anything,” said Dave Consalvi of the horticulture program at the Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich. When freshmen explore their options for career […]

PROVINCETOWN — For some who move off Cape, it’s a challenge to stay away. Like a full-moon tide, the lure of the place pulls them back. This was true for […]

  EASTHAM — The town and a volunteer property owner, Peter Dobyns, are participating in a wastewater treatment experiment that could alter the finances of controlling nitrogen contamination. The experimental […]

Following the roads and paths of Wellfleet’s Bound Brook Island, you’ll find hillsides covered with bearberry and stands of winterberry along the now-still tidal brook below. There are houses, too […]

It seems fitting at the end of this year to find oneself humming “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” “Don’t let the past remind us of what we are not now….” Stephen […]

PROVINCETOWN — As statewide Covid-19 rates spiked last week, Gov. Charlie Baker tightened pandemic restrictions from the Boston State House. Designed to tamp down the carnage of the holiday season, […]

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

The mussel stew we’ve been enjoying forever is a good one: Portuguese-style with linguiça, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. A Cape Cod staple. But over the years we’ve tinkered with the […]

Surprise, surprise: working out at home is predicted to be one of the biggest fitness trends of 2021. Already in this year, finding strength training equipment has been a challenge. […]

Finally, this year of folly finishes with a full Moon in the watery sign of Cancer, the Moon’s zodiacal domicile. Ruler of the realms of home and family, Cancer is […]

PROVINCETOWN — In January 1868, during the heyday of Provincetown’s whaling era, the Barnstable Patriot noted in a small item, halfway down column two on page two, that four whaling […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.  Tuesday, Jan. 5 Conservation Commission, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6 Council on Aging, 5 […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to www.truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online. Monday, […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you are interested in to open its […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested in to read its agenda and learn how to view and take part remotely. Tuesday, Jan. […]

August Wilson’s Pittsburgh cycle of 10 plays, one for each decade of the 20th century, is a towering achievement, chronicling the history of African-American life through powerful, personal storytelling. Now, […]

“It’s a new year/ or about to be/ I wanna forgive/ everything that has harmed me.” These are the opening lyrics of the song “New Year,” by Bitch, formerly half […]

As more and more music making goes online — with YouTube videos, pre-recorded concerts, and live-streams — music critics are having to become more like film critics. They are having […]

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This fall, I designed four weddings and my best friend’s funeral. Planning a memorable gathering in a pandemic may sound impossible. In reality, all five events were experiences I will […]

The administration of the first safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines is reason for hope and celebration. The pandemic is global and the effort to combat its devastation must be international. […]

In the same week that we were gathering the work of local artists for this special Art & Photography issue to kick off 2021, an article in the New York […]

Are More Hotel Rooms Needed? To the editor: I am writing in support of Mr. Scott Ravelson’s, Mr. Robert Anderson’s, and Mr. Patrick Patrick’s effort “to annul the variances and […]

Know when to hit the flats

Part-time Provincetown resident Frank J. Pantano died suddenly on Dec. 20, 2020 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The cause was still unknown at press time. He was 65. Born […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Dec. 21 to Dec. 24, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Dec. 21. Sebastian J. and Dawn Snow to William Peter Forni Jr. 29 Alden […]

HELP WANTED Carpenters needed, skilled or semi-skilled. Own transportation and basic hand tools a must. If interested, call Winard Construction, 508-487-2538 or 508-789-8089. [1-7] Experienced editor needed. The Independent is ready […]

WELLFLEET — For local shellfishermen, good news this fall was in short supply. Covid’s shuttering of restaurants across the country had wreaked havoc on the wholesale distribution chain, usually a […]

PROVINCETOWN — Until this week, only people with symptoms of Covid-19 and those who have had direct contact with infected people have been able to get tested for the coronavirus […]

EASTHAM — The marijuana dispensary Emerald Grove is anticipating a February opening for adult-use retail sales, but it may have to delay launching its medical marijuana dispensary until later in […]

TRURO — The development of the affordable housing project known as the Cloverleaf hit a snag on Dec. 17 that has delayed the approval of the 39-unit plan by the […]

PROVINCETOWN — The multi-million-dollar mixed-use development proposed for the site of the former Old Reliable Fish House off Commercial Street, which sailed smoothly through the town’s permitting process last winter […]

WELLFLEET — The long-running drama of the Blasch house continues, as the structure is now just 12 to 14 feet from the edge of the coastal bank high above Cape […]

PROVINCETOWN — A review of records released by the Small Business Administration (SBA) on Dec. 1 shows that small businesses and independent contractors on the Outer Cape received $37 million […]

On Christmas Eve, it will have been 286 days since social distancing became our new normal and our school, work, and home lives merged into one, sometimes overly close, space. […]

In winters past, Rudelle Falkenburg’s Storybook School was a regular Santa’s workshop of handmade ornaments. Many families still lovingly unpack these decorations each year, and, with them, sweet memories. “We […]

TRURO — Santa Claus is used to tough questions. How, demanded one junior superfan, did Santa know to bequeath him a Star Wars figurine? Well, said Glenn Enos, a sergeant […]

In a reality check for fans, the New England Patriots face an uncertain future. The Pats lost this past Sunday to the Miami Dolphins, 22-12, bringing the team’s record to […]

If you were to stop by my kitchen (were stopping by still allowed), you’d likely find a pot of stock murmuring gently on a back burner. Last spring, when everyone […]

Was it just last year at this time that I wrote about that frisson that comes with the first sip of a cocktail enjoyed while flying home for the holidays? […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape for the week came in on Monday, Dec. 21, a day ahead of the usual report, which is prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

“The fact that ‘hearth’ is synonymous with ‘home’ in so many tongues is sufficient argument for a fireplace,” writes Bradford Angier in his 1952 book How to Build Your Home […]

Did you see the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn? The two planets were also conjunct (close together in the sky from our Earthly perspective) three times in the year […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Town Hall will close at noon on Thursday, Dec. 24, and be closed all day Friday, […]

Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Town Hall will be closed Thursday, Dec. 24 and Friday, Dec. 25 and […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested in. The agenda provides provide information about how to view and take part remotely. Monday, Dec. […]

“There are far more similarities to human touch than there are differences, regardless of who you love,” says artist Cameron Barker. “Because of the need many people feel to reject […]

This article is the first in a series on town seals. Massachusetts is finally close to changing its state flag and state seal, with its problematic image of a sword […]

The cover of Toshimitsu Matsuhashi’s How to Hold Animals features an adorable sugar glider, a bug-eyed mouse-like creature, gently cupped between two human hands. Readers might therefore expect the book […]

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

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PROVINCETOWN — Once upon a time there was come unto the land a plague of broad proportions, a pestilence that brought death, desolation, and disruption, and caused many in the […]

With so many holiday traditions curtailed this year, the importance of memory and resilience has grown. And so, as we stay home, put up lights, and decorate the tree (if […]

A Disservice To the editor: I appreciate the Independent for the in-depth stories that are important to those of us who live on the Outer Cape. It is thoughtful, well-written, and […]

Joan M. Roderick, 89, of Provincetown died on Dec. 19, 2020 at Seashore Point Wellness Center in Provincetown. She was the widow of James J. Roderick Sr., who died in […]

The death of Katherine Stillman of Wellfleet on July 20, 2020 at Cape Cod Hospital was reported to the Independent this week. She was 76. She was born on Oct. 5, […]

Margaret Elizabeth Ward of Wellfleet died on Dec. 11, 2020 at age 81. The cause was complications of lung cancer, said her son, Sean. Margaret was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Dec. 14 to Dec. 18, 2020. PROVINCETOWN  Dec. 15. 2 Commercial Street Realty Trust (Clifford J. Schorer, trustee) to Miren Etcheverry […]

EASTHAM — The board of health wanted to tighten the town’s regulations on the keeping of noncommercial farm animals. But blowback from the public has made the board think again. […]

Among all the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, perhaps the greatest is not being able to visit elderly loved ones. In some cases, Covid patients have died in health-care facilities […]

EASTHAM — In an effort not to lose a Mass. School Building Authority (MSBA) grant of $35.6 million that’s contingent on voter approval of the proposed $131.8-million renovation of Nauset […]

WELLFLEET — The planning board is discussing a new zoning bylaw that would loosen the rules governing accessory dwelling units by removing the requirement that they be “affordable.” The town’s […]

TRURO — The 40-page “Report on Private Wells and Truro Safe Water” released in September by a group calling themselves Docs for Truro Safe Water has been promoted by critics […]

The holiday season is upon us and, for many, this is a time when grief hits hard. This year, as we continue to isolate from one another because of the […]

Beginning around mid-month, Earth’s one and only natural satellite will appear in the evening sky. Then, as the days run down to the end of the year, the Moon will […]

Provincetown For assistance accessing programs in Provincetown, contact Alex, the Provincetown community support liaison, at 508-237-7042 or [email protected] Food Pantry, Council on Aging What: Pick up/delivery of nonperishables and personal […]

EASTHAM — Dolls are a special holiday gift many children hope for. But dolls really had their heyday about 150 years ago. Those who are intrigued by antique dolls know […]

There’s talk of the first big winter storm, so it’s a pretty good bet someone in your pod just told you to get your snow tires on for the season. […]

I spent this past Sunday in front of a television, laughing, cheering, complaining, and getting emotional. No, I wasn’t watching a rom-com. I was watching football. It was an important […]

We may have come around to Aquarius again, but the Moon is not in the Seventh House and Jupiter is definitely not aligned with Mars. Still, the winter solstice on Dec. 21 […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Dec. 15, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

Of all the things I inherited from my mother, including her special silver and the family china, the thing I cherish most is her waffle iron. It has no special […]

WELLFLEET — Dan Silverman’s years of responding to local emergencies with Wellfleet’s Fire and Rescue Dept. gave him a unique perspective on the town’s population, which barely tops 3,000. “You’re […]

Judy Brubaker, a cabaret performer and actress whose singing voice thrilled Provincetown audiences for many years, died in Bath, Maine on Nov. 15, 2020. She was 96. Judy was born […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Dec. 17 Public Pier Corp., 4 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. Conversation Starters  […]

Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Dec. 17 Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 18 Board […]

Meetings are held remotely. From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested in. The agenda provides information about how to view and take part remotely. Thursday, Dec. 17 […]

There’s an obsessiveness to the art of Siân Robertson — multiple objects are organized, following rules and patterns. But an opposite impulse is also manifest — a relentless creativity. It’s […]

The idea for Wake Up! In Provincetown, a talk show hosted by Harrison Fish and Bob Keary that streams on YouTube on Fridays at 9 a.m., started as an inside […]

Hilary Holladay’s The Power of Adrienne Rich is an accessible biography of the celebrated American poet. Published last month, it is the first comprehensive exploration of both the person and […]

It’s a sign of the times that in more and more movies with LGBTQ main characters, their queerness is just one of the things that define them. Monsoon, about a […]

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Hey, Bro. We need to talk. It’s about the elves. I ran into Jingles last week. No, not the guy in Provincetown. The elf. It was all shop talk until, […]

Joyous Season’s Greetings and Hello From the Durgans!. We hope our annual holiday newsletter finds our friends & family in great spirits alive. What a truly wonderful year it has […]

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When I was a child, my family relied on SNAP at different times, but I was completely oblivious to this fact. We always had good, healthy food available. We purchased […]

A More Engaged America To the editor: To say that I was disappointed with the 2000 election, Bush vs. Gore, would be an understatement of epic proportions. But we survived […]

Calling hours have been set for Charles F. Welsh, former first assistant clerk magistrate of the Orleans District Court, who died at home on Dec. 5 of cancer at age […]

Constance de Smet of Brewster, who was known as Dakota, died at Cape Cod Hospital on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, 2020, having just passed her 86th birthday. Dakota was a […]

Gregory W. Curtis of Provincetown and Vieques, Puerto Rico died on Dec. 1, 2020 at his home in Provincetown. He was 55. No cause of death was named. Gregg, known […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Dec. 7 to Dec. 11, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Dec. 7. Deborah V. Brome to Howard R. Hernandez and Eric S. Brown. 104A […]

SEEKING Garage needed. Looking to rent garage space for my 1972 Citroen. Preferably in Wellfleet. Call Cathy, 339-227-0874. [12-31] A good dog (though puppies need not apply). I would like […]

TRURO — “The ranking goes: New York bagels,” said Claire Adams, chef and owner of North Truro’s Salty Market, “and then Montreal bagels. And then….” Here, Ellery Althaus, Salty’s manager […]

WELLFLEET — The owners of the Route 6 doughnut emporium called Dunkin’ (“Donuts” was dropped from the name in January 2019) say they will revive a plan to add a […]

TRURO — Approval of a comprehensive permit for the 39-unit rental housing development known as the Cloverleaf on Highland Road in North Truro seems almost guaranteed. Counsel for the zoning […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Covid-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program was so bedraggled in its rollout and early execution, it’s hard to pick which sadsack metaphor to use for it. […]

EASTHAM — The select board began its annual deliberations on whether to adopt a residential tax exemption for the next fiscal year at its Monday, Dec. 7 meeting, and division […]

EASTHAM — The Eastham Historical Society made a rare find last month while dusting and sorting items at the 1869 Schoolhouse Museum: a document signed by Samuel Adams. “Joe [Mistretta, […]

PROVINCETOWN — Jennifer Cortes is just the type of person policymakers have been trying to get to live in town for years: she’s a 2003 Provincetown High School graduate who […]

Photos by Nancy Bloom; text by K.C. Myers HARWICH — The newly renovated Cape Cod Regional Technical High School opened to students in September, but, because of the pandemic, even […]

PROVINCETOWN — Charlie Welsh, who worked in Orleans District Court as an assistant clerk magistrate during the half century that his father, brother, and nephew all presided as first justices, […]

PROVINCETOWN — Cape Cod’s struggle to get expanded access to Covid testing took a big step forward this week. Legislators and county leaders announced that drive-through testing sites will open […]

Retired attorney Buddy Perkel remembers where he first learned to negotiate — on the basketball courts of New York City in the 1930s. “Pickup basketball taught me how to give […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Dec. 8, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

Flower designer Kate Formichella is known for making bouquets and installations that are naturally beautiful. She uses local flowers and plants, mostly from her own flower farm in Orleans. She […]

I didn’t grow up eating salmon, although when we were kids, my grandfather did teach us how to smoke it. That was something he learned on his fishing trips to […]

Getting a new puppy might sound like a great idea. But a puppy can suck everything out of you — they are adorable but exhausting. We are wiped out after […]

We’re bundling up and our furry friends are growing thick coats, but what about our feathery flocks? How do domestic chickens get through the freezing winter months? I became a […]

Wrist pain. Every yoga teacher hears about it, and from all kinds of students — seasoned athletes and deskbound writers alike. I’ve had it, too. I think we’ve all paid […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Dec. 10 OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits) Meeting, 10:30 a.m. Public Pier Corp., 2 p.m. Planning […]

Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Dec. 10 Human Services Committee, 1 p.m. Housing Authority, 4:15 p.m. Friday, […]

From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That document will provide […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested in. The agenda provides information about how to view and take part remotely. Thursday, Dec. 10 […]

The first light of dawn casts shadows on the white walls of an Outer Cape home. At low tide on Wellfleet Bay, shimmering mudflats mirror the image of a moored […]

Preparing for my phone call with actor, playwright, and director André Gregory, I felt a bit like the socially anxious Wallace Shawn at the beginning of My Dinner With André. […]

The concept behind Dan Moller’s recently published The Way of Bach: Three Years With the Man, the Music, and the Piano, is a good one. It tells of the author’s […]

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PROVINCETOWN — What a gorgeous monster! First, its size: over nine feet long and over 700 pounds. Then, its unreal color: dark steel blue with green reflections, merging into gun-metal […]

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This week’s solar eclipse energy overshadows the new Moon’s presence in Sagittarius. Normally, a new Moon would be a time for setting intentions. Considering the intensity of an eclipse, however, […]

The pandemic has raised questions about certain words and what exactly is meant when they are used. Take “small business.” When I think of small businesses, what comes to mind […]

Ways to Save the Planet To the editor: Today (11/23) my wife and I walked from the Salt Pond Visitor Center to Coast Guard Beach. Along the way, we saw […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Nov. 30. Kris E. McMurray and Barbara Norman to Kris E. McMurray. 368 Commercial […]

SEEKING Garage needed. Looking to rent garage space for my 1972 Citroen. Preferably in Wellfleet. Cathy, 339-227-0874. [12-31] ART CLASSES Sometimes, we just have to make art that feels larger […]

PROVINCETOWN — On a Sunday morning in November, the low tide and lure of fresh foraged food drew many recreational shellfishermen to this season’s designated clamming area, the west side […]

PROVINCETOWN — Testing wastewater for Covid was an unproved idea at the start of this pandemic. If it worked, it would be a way to cheaply test entire communities at […]

HARWICH — With isolation, possible illness, and family economic crises looming, the counselors at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School had every reason to believe the 626 students enrolled at […]

PROVINCETOWN — For Christina Reid, 18 — a freshman at Boston’s Suffolk University, a 2020 graduate of Nauset Regional High School, and a third-through-eighth-grade alumna of Provincetown Schools — receiving […]

In a decision being watched closely by Cape Cod fishermen, the U.S. is rejecting a proposal that calls for a reduction in the total catch limit of the Western Atlantic […]

PROVINCETOWN — Police Officer Thomas Radzik was parked at the CVS on Oct. 17 when a man — Brandon Czyoski, 39, of Truro — asked him for help. Czyoski said […]

This year’s Cape and Islands League All-Stars for the fall sports season were announced last week. Nauset High was well represented with a total of 30 players on the All-Star […]

WELLFLEET — When Hanna Morse, Emer Valdez, Charlotte Goldberg, and Leah Puffer were kids in Wellfleet, they spent as much time together as they could. They made crafts, played dress-up, […]

PROVINCETOWN — Two things Provincetown’s Cheryl Andrews disliked as a child: history and Thanksgiving. History, she said, was “boring as dust” — with its rote memorization of dates, wars, and […]

In a year that seems to have brought as many visitors as ever to the Outer Cape, including some who say they’ve come to stay, we also heard from people […]

While we won’t warm up shoulder-to-shoulder at artisan fairs as we have in holidays past, there are plenty of opportunities to support local shop owners, artists, and the creative community […]

EASTHAM — The Mass. Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) on Nov. 20 approved modified winter seasons for basketball, ice hockey, swimming and diving, alpine and Nordic skiing, and gymnastics. That means […]

It is such a strange feeling to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, take a triumphant inhale, and realize that — big exhale — everything around you is still […]

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

The Big Cc, a 350-pound loggerhead sea turtle who washed ashore — upside-down and cold-stunned — near Truro’s Great Hollow Beach on Nov. 20, died four days later in the […]

The Sun has entered the fiery sign of Sagittarius the Archer, ruled by Jupiter. Unlike emotional, internally focused Scorpio, Sagittarius tends toward self-expression and expansion. The motto, as it were, […]

Calie Wotherspoon, Marla Rice, Anne Suggs, and Janet Lesniak (left to right) baked about 75 apple pies in the Wellfleet Preservation Hall kitchen to deliver to those in need over […]

Winter winds and cold temperatures might keep mere mortals inside, but the demand for seafood keeps our commercial fishermen offshore, working to provide for an insatiable market. Working at sea […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Dec. 3 Public Pier Corp., 2 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. […]

Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Dec. 3 Zoning Board of Appeals, 5 p.m. Truro School Committee, 5:15 […]

From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda and find out how […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on any meeting to read its agenda and learn how to view and take part remotely. Thursday, Dec. 3 Council on […]

“The ocean is both beautiful and terrifying to me,” says Colin McGuire. An emerging local artist, he finds “limitless inspiration” in the seascapes of the Outer Cape and their “variety […]

Provincetown first welcomed critically acclaimed actor Lili Taylor, best known for her work in independent films and on TV in Six Feet Under and American Crime, in the 1990s, when […]

Compiled and edited by Saskia Maxwell Keller Contributors to our first-ever Indie Playlist were given minimal instructions: choose a song or music video that you love and tell us about […]

Dr. Paul Farmer and three friends toured an Ebola treatment unit (E.T.U.) in Monrovia, Liberia, in October 2014. They watched as two brothers vomited and soiled themselves with diarrhea as […]

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When I was in my early teens, in Pennsylvania, I worked: I had a paper route, was a stable boy, did door-to-door sales, and I saved my money. Finally, I […]

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From a Mayflower Descendant To the editor: In regard to your Nov. 12 front-page article on Mayflower history, yes, the Wampanoag tribe did help the Pilgrims with hunting, fishing, and […]

Here at the Independent, we are diverse, age-wise. But we have some old-fashioned ideas. We’re serious about proofreading and fact-checking. We think classified ads are fun. We want our website […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Nov. 23 to Nov. 27. PROVINCETOWN Nov. 23. AR Franklin LLC [Ronald L. Reil, manager] to Steven James Hatch. 65 Franklin […]

Barbara Lacombe Grant, who blazed a trail of friendships throughout her long life, died on Nov. 19, 2020 at Rosewood Manor in Harwich. Her death at 92 was caused by […]

The Rev. Henry J. Dahl died on Nov. 22, 2020 in Sun City, Ariz. a week after suffering severe brain injuries in an auto accident, said his friend Pat Pichette, […]

Anthony Paul Filiberto, of Provincetown and Jacksonville Beach, Fla., died on Nov. 25, 2020, after an 11-month battle with glioblastoma brain cancer. He was 72. Born on Sept. 22, 1948 […]

Beverly A. Brazil of North Truro died peacefully on Nov. 25, 2020 at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis after an illness. She was 82 and was the partner of Edgar […]

Dan Mullin, a Boston real estate broker who hosted fundraisers for major political figures at his waterfront home in Provincetown’s West End, died on Nov. 26, 2020, at age 78. […]

ART CLASSES Sometimes, we just have to make art that feels larger than life. Please join Laura Shabott and Alana Barrett for “Online: Creating Volume and Monumentality through the Figure” […]

Thanksgiving week is a busy time for the sea turtle team at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and some 200 volunteers who work to rescue cold-stunned turtles on the Outer […]

WELLFLEET — After a four-and-a-half-month delay in the annual town meeting and the still unexplained dismissal of the town accountant, Wellfleet has finally set its property tax rate for fiscal […]

TRURO — The select board has sent a letter of censure to planning board member Peter Herridge for violating town policies on honesty, integrity, and civility, suggesting that his actions […]

PROVINCETOWN — A member of the finance committee has resigned because of the behavior of the chair, Mark Hatch, which she described as “condescending, dismissive, and even shaming.” Dorie Seavey […]

PROVINCETOWN — Resources are arriving to expand Covid testing on Cape Cod — at about the same time as the coronavirus itself is arriving. The timing wasn’t exactly planned, but […]

PROVINCETOWN — Alice Brock came of age in the 1960s, which everyone knows because one of the most famous songs of that era was named after her. The song, of […]

Goodness, there are turkeys everywhere! We Outer Cape dwellers watch as ever-growing flocks, or rafters, of these wild birds boldly wander across our lawns and streets. We are also surrounded […]

EASTHAM — It’s an unusually warm Saturday in November. The noontime sun shines, and the air is still, when Jim McGrath lets out a turkey call in a remote, wooded […]

As winter draws near, we lose more leaves to the wind each day. The ones that remain give the landscape a patina of russet, sienna, ochre. The ground is covered […]

When we first moved into our cottage in Truro several years ago, one of my first acts (after setting a great many mousetraps) was to scout out a place for […]

WELLFLEET — For a few days of each week this summer, Will Barrio hung up his waders and went out to wire electrics. Normally, Barrio would wait to grab his […]

November ends with a lunar celebration, marked by a full Moon and lunar eclipse in the sign of Gemini. The Moon, of course, is the second most influential celestial body […]

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Feet are unsung heroes. They carry you for thousands of steps a day. And when you walk or run, every time your foot hits the ground, it’s loaded with an […]

The weekly Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, owned by a series of corporate chains for the last 30 years, has returned to the ranks of independent and locally owned newspapers. A […]

EASTHAM — Town officials are looking to create a zoning task force to examine and make recommendations on residential zoning and regulation issues, including the protection of historic homes and […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Wednesday, Dec. 2 Historic District Commission, 4 p.m. Conversation Starters Covid-19 Update As of Nov. 23, […]

Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Tuesday, Dec. 1 Board of Health, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2 Planning Board, […]

Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a meeting to read its agenda and get information about how to view and take part remotely.  Monday, Nov. 30 Eastham 400 Commemoration Committee, […]

Imagine traveling in a Cinderella carriage made of crystalized rock sugar. Or dancing under a translucent silicone chandelier, nine feet wide, in the shape of an enormous glowing jellyfish. These […]

A Far Cry may be one of the most democratic ensembles out there. This Boston-based orchestra is “self-conducted,” meaning that the players, who call themselves “criers,” take turns leading the […]

It might have been called Vietnam, Mon Amour. Those of us who lived through the Vietnam War era and its political upheaval — government lies and repression, youth rebellion and […]

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One story surfacing this Thanksgiving tells of a search party from the Mayflower, anchored in Provincetown Harbor, raiding a gravesite near Corn Hill in Truro. About 10 bushels of corn […]

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The death of Peter H. Rich of Colchester, Conn., on April 4, 2020, after an extended illness complicated by Covid-19, has been reported to the Independent. He was 80. Peter […]

Kathleen Marie (McCarthy) Sullivan, 66, died on Oct. 31, 2020, while holding hands with her devoted husband, Richard, of 41 years. They lived year-round in Truro. Kathy, as she was […]

BASKETS OF LOVE The Wellfleet Farmers Market is holding our 1st Annual Baskets of Love online auction. Bidding will start Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. and end Dec. 7 at […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Nov. 16 to Nov. 20, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Nov. 16. Michael B. Ekman to Douglas M. Sherk and Michael C. Goins Sherk. […]

Know when to hit the flats

On Town Managers’ Leaving To the editor: I have thoroughly enjoyed my subscription to the Independent and look forward to all the interesting subjects and news that it covers. The […]

Everyone must be thinking about the things they will miss this year on Thanksgiving. At our house, it’s a weekend-long gathering of old friends who come here from the city […]

From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda and see how to […]

EASTHAM — The Rock Harbor Improvements Committee will not recommend moving an antique half Cape from 60 Dyer Prince Road and turning it into the harbormaster’s new office. Instead, the […]

The smallest town on Cape Cod, Truro, with 2,000 residents, will be paying its new town manager $172,000 a year, about the same as the Barnstable County district attorney’s $175,000 […]

PROVINCETOWN — In the popular children’s book Stone Soup, the soup is started with no great resources — in fact, it’s just a large pot of water with one stone […]

Since late May, the state has provided detailed reports on fatalities from Covid-19 in nursing homes, but for assisted living facilities, the same information is hard to come by. The […]

PROVINCETOWN — The former Provincetown Medical Group building on Shank Painter Road has been sold and will be redeveloped into a three-story building with eight condominiums. This story would not […]

“It was so loud I could not hear myself think,” said Elena Ruehr, a composer who splits her time between Brookline and Wellfleet. “I felt like there was a giant […]

On Nov. 11, 1620, the Mayflower arrived in Provincetown Harbor. Four hundred years later, we — most of us, anyway, on the Outer Cape and all across the nation — […]

PROVINCETOWN — Jeff Souza came in hot one quiet November evening at MacMillan Pier. He was at the helm of his brand-new lobster boat, Crash, a custom-made Provincial 45’, which […]

WELLFLEET — I am an artist who “paints” with fiber. Inspired by my grandmother’s skilled needlework and embroidery and a lifelong desire to paint, I developed my own technique by […]

Just because we can’t hang out in person to taste treats like the famous (or infamous) turnip whoopie pie doesn’t mean we have to miss a day of celebrating Eastham’s […]

EASTHAM — After finishing the regular season first in its conference with an impressive 7-1-2 record, the Nauset Regional High School girls soccer team felt like they still had something […]

When I was a kid, and my mother set out her oval cut-glass platter and assembled a relish tray, we knew a celebration was at hand. Arranged artfully on the […]

In the early ’80s, the local Hamptons farmers around the restaurant where I was cooking used to pay us for our used cooking grease. This was before biodiesel was a […]

Thanksgiving’s indulgent dishes — stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, and cranberry — might feel like well-earned rewards after this crazy year. But all the rich and sweet sides weighing down […]

In the shadow of last week’s new Moon in Scorpio, truth’s clarion call rises from the depths of our hearts — in animus veritas. Scorpio energy doesn’t tolerate shallow anything, especially […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Nov. 17, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

For many in Wellfleet, the sound of bells from the First Congregational Church, at 200 Main St., from around 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., frames their day. It is part […]

WELLFLEET — Myya Beck-Baum and Thor Baum are going through the town’s permitting process to demolish a historic downtown home and rebuild it to house a fitness studio with three […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Nov. 19 Board of Health, 4 p.m. Licensing Board, 5:15 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, […]

Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Nov. 19 Historical Commission, 2 p.m. School Committee, 5:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. […]

From wellfleet-ma.gov, on the calendar, click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely. Thursday, […]

Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely. Thursday, Nov. 19 Affordable Housing […]

“I’ve liked playing with lights since I was a kid,” says Chris Racine, one of Provincetown’s most sought after DJs and lighting-effect designers. Racine and his collaborator, Shelley Jennings, are […]

At 242 Commercial St. in Provincetown, hidden at the end of a long alley that runs between a furniture store and a psychic’s office, there is a kind of enchanted […]

Dolly Parton, 74, has been singing and performing as a self-described “backwoods Barbie” for over half a century. With chart-topping hits such as “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You,” “Here […]

When Christopher Busa died suddenly at age 73 on June 20, of a congenital heart defect that had gone undetected, it was two days before the scheduled printing of the […]

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PROVINCETOWN — Friday morning, Nov. 6, 2020. Under a serene and cloudless wide blue sky, with a temperature in the high 50s, a scene reminiscent of the work of Breughel: […]

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As Jan. 20, 2021, creeps closer, and with experts describing the atmosphere at the White House as “tense,” it is looking like it may be time to get beyond alternative […]

What are the most important attributes to look for in a potential town manager or administrator? Judging from the comments (and reluctance to comment) of recent occupants of those positions […]

Cloverleaf Apprehensions To the editor: In Kevin Grunwald’s op-ed column in your Nov. 12 edition [“Where Cloverleaf Stands After a Year of Review,” page 3], referring to the potential impacts […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Nov. 9 to Nov. 13, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Nov. 9. Jay C. Anderson to Steven Kane. 139 Commercial St., Unit A. $2,685,000. […]

Lawrence D. “Larry” Riley of Provincetown died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on Nov. 4, 2020, at Seashore Point Wellness and Rehabilitation Center in Provincetown. He was 81. Provincetown has […]

Lillian DeCroce, who was known as Lilli, died on Nov. 7, 2020, at her home in Wellfleet, surrounded by family. The cause was small-cell lung cancer, said her daughter, Christina. […]

Ernest E. Tesson died at his Wellfleet home on Oct. 28, 2020, with his wife, Katherine, holding his hand. He was 91. They were listening to Symphony Sid. Ernie, as […]

TRURO — The Outer Cape is one of the few places on the East Coast where the setting sun is visible over a water horizon. For Kosta Tsipis, enjoying the […]

SEEKING Looking for artist’s studio to paint in. Will be using during winter months. Prefer Provincetown or Truro. Max $400/per month. Call or text Simone, 845-653-1002. [12-3] Man’s best friend […]

PROVINCETOWN — On Nov. 11, 1620, 130-odd sea-weary Brits stepped off the Mayflower and onto Provincetown’s sandy shores — into a new world, barely inhabited and ripe with possibility. Then […]

PROVINCETOWN — They say politics in Provincetown is a blood sport. In an effort to try to change that, the select board is poised to adopt a code of conduct. […]

PROVINCETOWN — In a recent press call, state Sen. Julian Cyr sounded an alarm about coronavirus testing on Cape Cod. “We see the cases coming south and east towards Cape […]

The U.S. Dept. of Justice last month announced a settlement estimated at over $8.3 billion of its case against Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin. The settlement is opposed by […]

EASTHAM — While working to create a display as part of this year’s 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s arrival on Cape Cod, volunteers at Eastham’s 1869 Schoolhouse Museum unearthed a […]

DAN SILVERMAN / TOWN MODERATOR & WOODWORKER / WELLFLEET Just out of college, Dan Silverman drove to Wellfleet in 1972 for a job interview with a local builder. He’s never […]

EASTHAM — As the nights chill, the leaves fall, and the holidays approach, our thoughts turn to, yes, the turnip — that ancient crucifer that has, for too long, been […]

WELLFLEET — With a growing number of cyanobacteria blooms occurring in ponds across Cape Cod, researchers are expanding their efforts in hopes of better understanding toxic algal blooms and how […]

PROVINCETOWN — One of the Outer Cape’s greatest assets is its proximity to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, a federally protected swath of ocean whose southernmost boundary is just three […]

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

EASTHAM — When the Mass. Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) announced that competition in fall high school sports season would take place under new guidelines, Nauset High cross country coach Moira […]

Alas, poor Scorpio, we know you well. Temperamental, unpredictable, intelligent, determined … sounds like a character from Shakespeare. Indeed, the zodiac’s most complicated sign is aptly represented by the prince […]

Here is something I am reminded of by the small cooks in my house: we all need more comfort food. Kids do not make obligatory salads. They follow their pleasure […]

Thanksgiving is a time to tend your table in such a way that it will bring on a smile. Kevin O’Shea, who knows from hosting — he and his partner, […]

EASTHAM — It took 15 months, a boycott of Willy’s Gym, and civil citations from the attorney general’s office, but Barbara Niggel has paid back wages to the widow of […]

PROVINCETOWN — On Sunday morning, the Outer Cape lit up with variations of the question “Did you feel that?” At 9:10 a.m. on Nov. 8, a 3.6 magnitude earthquake shook […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Nov. 12 Water & Sewer Board, 1 p.m. Planning Board, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17 […]

Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Nov. 12 Climate Action Committee, 10 a.m. Truro Housing Authority, 4:15 p.m. […]

From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That document will provide […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely. Thursday, […]

A dozen or so students watch, intently, as Paige Wayner, a flutist in the Cape Youth Orchestra, prepares to play Ernest Bloch’s Suite Modale in a master class for Zachary […]

Sarah Anne Johnson’s new novel, The Last Sailor, explores the profoundly personal ways we deal with — or avoid — mourning, and the struggles we go through as we piece […]

Grace Freundlich is a survivor in our midst. Retired and now 80, she lives in Truro year-round and counts it as a blessing. She has written a memoir of her […]

The Metropolitan Opera will be streaming Les Dialogues des Carmélites by Francis Poulenc for free next Friday, Sept. 20, starting at 7:30 p.m. You won’t want to miss it. The opera is […]

Three days in a row, in late September, I went out to Race Point Beach in search of a couple of rare gulls. Three days in a row I failed […]

Over his breakfast of toast and eggs smothered in ketchup one morning, my father told me, “I’m having those trees cut down,” motioning to the mature white pines framed by […]

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Approximately 2.4 percent of the year-round housing in Truro is classified as affordable. This translates to 27 homes or apartments that are affordable for residents earning up to 80 percent […]

A poem by Whitman has to be the one to celebrate the Biden-Harris victory — only Whitman expresses the sheer joy that democracy can give the spirit. When I looked […]

On County Government To the editor: I wish to thank the many Provincetown voters who gave me their votes and the prospect of my fourth term as your delegate to […]

One thing last week’s election revealed is how fond we are of the stories we want to believe. How else to explain the fact that so many voters believe that […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Nov. 2. Nina S. Harrison 2014 Trust (Nina S. Harrison, trustee), Majorie R. Bullock […]

SEEKING Looking for artist’s studio to paint in. Will be using during winter months. Prefer Provincetown or Truro. Max $400/per month. Call or text Simone, 845-653-1002. [12-3] Man’s best friend […]

The Democratic ticket of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris swept the Outer Cape in Tuesday’s presidential election, defeating Donald Trump and Mike Pence by margins ranging from 42 percent in […]

PROVINCETOWN — Gov. Charlie Baker announced three new executive orders on Monday, Nov. 2, and a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, all of which will go into effect on […]

EASTHAM — The Rock Harbor Improvements Committee, a subgroup of the Capital Projects Committee, has hit pause on a plan for a new harbormaster’s building while town staff try to […]

PROVINCETOWN — Sixth- through eighth-graders will be invited back to school for four more hours per week starting Thursday, Nov. 5, as the school slowly moves toward in-person learning. The […]

TRURO — It took about a year to find him, but the smallest town on Cape Cod finally has a town manager, who will begin work in January. Darrin Tangeman, […]

Although the much-trumpeted vaccine for Covid-19 vaccine is still unavailable, flu shots can be had at multiple locations on the Outer Cape. And this year, just like every other year, […]

WELLFLEET — Thanks to a new contract with five Lower and Outer Cape towns, Comcast may soon provide broadband internet connections to residents of Truro, Wellfleet, and Eastham who live […]

Is it possible that this week some of us might feel something like relief? I’m writing this before any of us know. What I do know for certain is that […]

There’s hope for those wanting to dine out. The restaurants listed here have confirmed they are open. We’ve listed their current schedules, though many told us they are still undecided […]

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I’ve been sitting on the couch a lot, looking at my phone, and balancing my laptop on my knees. In the past, I probably would have felt bad about this, […]

Garbage. It’s a story ripe with complexity. The Independent is dumpster diving into the subject to better understand where the Outer Cape’s garbage goes. In this first installment, we look […]

PROVINCETOWN — Drag queens are part of the fabric of Provincetown. In a normal year, they can be seen performing at various clubs in town or parading down Commercial Street […]

The Moon is always with us. Even when we can’t see it, it’s there, gently tugging on our oceans and causing our tides. It hasn’t always been with us; the […]

I have no idea if, by the time this column is in your hands, dear reader, the election will be decided and accepted, or whether the streets will be on […]

The days are shorter. We move inside and want to bring the landscape with us. We start with dried bouquets, then move to wreaths, garlands, and soon, maybe, the tree. […]

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

This week’s major planetary transit is brought to you by Uranus retrograde in Taurus. Uranus, which rules humanitarian Aquarius, is a “generational” planet — its transits last longer and tend […]

Sophia Maymudes has history on her mind.   Need some answers? Just ask and we’ll send them. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get […]

PROVINCETOWN — With the counting stage of the 2020 census having drawn to its abrupt close, the Census Bureau’s next step is to release its final report, which will contain […]

TRURO — Driving north on Route 6 around midnight last Sunday, Shelby Zawaduk passed a car she could’ve sworn she recognized. Stopped by police just shy of Truro’s Stotts Crossing […]

Thursday, Nov. 5 Boys soccer: The undefeated Warriors (8-0) will play a home game against the Sandwich Blue Knights at 4 p.m. Girls soccer: The Warriors (6-0-2) travel to play […]

WELLFLEET — Driving northbound on Bound Brook Island Road in Wellfleet last week, travelers were greeted with a peculiar sight: a number of workers in reflective vests sifting through buckets […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Nov. 5 Harbor Committee, 5 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. Tuesday, […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to Truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Nov. 5 Charter Review Committee, 4 p.m. Zoning Board of […]

Meetings Ahead From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That document […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take […]

“Everything I do, I do because I love nature, because I want to be connected to nature. That guides every decision in my life,” says Rich Blundell. He has come […]

Did you know that Provincetown used to have a symphony? The Provincetown Symphony Orchestra, sometimes called the Provincetown Symphony Society, was founded in 1955 by the conductor Joseph Hawthorne. The […]

“We believe we make our choices, but no — they make us,” writes the late Daniel Menaker in his poem, “Last Will and Testament.” Though our choices add up to […]

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I meant to write this in time for last week’s paper, but I missed the deadline. That means you will be reading these words on Nov. 5. Between this day […]

“I took a collage class from Michael Walczak at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, and one of the assignments was to use print to create a picture. […]

This past week, as the days began to shorten and the nights became cooler, my thoughts drifted to All Souls Day, Dia de los Muertos. I have been trying to […]

One of our correspondents this week, Michael Spielman, was provoked by my last column to unleash his own set of language beefs, which have him screaming at his TV, he […]

For a Brighter Future To the editor: I highly recommend the new movie David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (Netflix). It is at once full of beauty, achingly sad, […]

Know when to hit the flats

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Oct. 26 to Oct. 30. PROVINCETOWN Oct 26. Nicole M. Peterson to Daniel Alan Escola. 54 Bradford St., Unit A. $590,000. […]

Paulo Alexandre Dalomba, 42, died in his home in Plymouth on Oct. 27, 2020. The cause of death is unknown, said his sister, Natalia. Born in Hyannis on Feb. 18, […]

HELP WANTED Carpenters needed, skilled or semi-skilled. Own transportation and basic hand tools a must. If interested, call Winard Construction, 508-487-2538 or 508-789-8089. FIREWOOD Seasoned firewood for sale. Free local delivery. […]

Know when to hit the flats

Before we get into this week’s news, here’s an update from each town about what trick-or-treating will look like this year. From Eastham to Provincetown, you’ll find “reverse” set ups, […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Outer Cape likes to vote. Turnout in the 2016 presidential election ranged from 81 percent in Provincetown to a staggering 87 percent in Eastham. This year, early […]

TRURO — George Mooney couldn’t recognize his farm on South Pamet Road. His pasture and vegetable gardens were completely submerged under two feet of salt water during three consecutive nor’easters […]

TRURO — The so-called Cloverleaf development, an affordable housing complex on South Highland Road at Route 6, received about half the approvals it needs for full permitting last week, while […]

PROVINCETOWN — It is the season of Outer Cape soup kitchens, community kitchens, food banks, and food pantries. “There’s just always need here,” said Philip Franchini, board chair of the […]

EASTHAM — A plan to demolish three dwellings and a garage in the Cape Cod National Seashore and build a 3,481-square-foot house and garage in their place received site plan […]

PROVINCETOWN — Bernice Burchman is 92 and has Stage 4 lung cancer, and yet her son Howard said his mom has been thriving ever since he took her out of […]

In September, my two girls, ages six and nine, became responsible for dinner once a week. We’re home schooling, and a little kitchen responsibility seemed like a good way to […]

In only its second year, the Nauset Figure Skating Club is having a lot of new experiences, including cyber skating. The club participated in the first-ever Fall Cyber Challenge through […]

WELLFLEET — “Look,” said Carin Pierce, standing on the marina in Wellfleet, one hand on her poodle and the other pointing waterward. “It’s scooping!” Since the long-awaited Wellfleet Harbor dredging […]

The weather is getting colder, the days shorter, and your chickens are laying fewer and fewer eggs. Soon there will be none at all for your breakfast table. (That’s because […]

People complain a lot when they bring their cars in for brake work. “I just had my car inspected and they’re telling me I need new brakes,” they say. “Didn’t […]

Its light was said to mislead travelers at night, flickering over peat bogs, swamps, and marshes, resembling a lantern shining in the dark. Where scientists now see bioluminescence, storytellers saw […]

As the presidential election enters its final week, it has colored even crime on the Outer Cape. On Monday, Oct. 26, Cory Mcculloch, 33, of Eastham, was arraigned in Orleans […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Oct. 27, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

A word to fans: according to league rules, fans may only attend home games. Masks are required and physical distancing rules will apply. Thursday, Oct. 29 Boys soccer: The undefeated […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Oct. 29 Economic Development Committee, 1 p.m. Public Pier Corp., 2 p.m. Harbor […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to Truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Oct. 29 Climate Action Committee, 1:30 p.m. Housing Authority, 4:15 […]

Meetings Ahead From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That document […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take […]

“I came to Truro to create cremation urns,” says sculptor Jamie Lehrhoff Levine, one of five resident artists who recently arrived at Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. […]

Provincetown’s Jim Broussard had the idea of getting artists to paint cigar boxes as a fund-raising effort, which he’s dubbed “Art From the Heart.” He hopes to make it an […]

Marge Piercy’s latest poetry collection, On the Way Out, Turn Off the Light, is an ode to a life lived big and full. In these direct, earthy poems, Piercy reflects […]

STORMY MAYO & LAURA LUDWIG / DAHLIA GARDENERS / PROVINCETOWN Stormy Mayo grew up in Provincetown; his family has been here since the mid 1600s. Stormy is a founder of […]

Editor’s note: Maybe it’s anxiety about the election ahead. It seems as if worry has quieted the usual clamor of civic and community life here. With so many of us […]

Happy Halloween, witches and wanderers! This week’s full Moon in Taurus occurs on All Hallow’s Eve. In the ancient traditions of the Celts, the Hindus, and the indigenous peoples of […]

I’m concerned about the word concerning. Not worried, really; just concerned. People keep using that word, and, as Mandy Patinkin said in The Princess Bride, I do not think it […]

Real Estate Transactions Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Oct. 19 to Oct. 23, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Oct. 19. Christina Pazzanese to Michael and Maura Canny. 23 Bradford […]

FIREWOOD Seasoned firewood for sale. Free local delivery. Large pickup truck load of nicely split locust/oak, seasoned firewood, delivered locally for $220. Let us know the length you want. Leave a […]

Four years ago, 2,282 citizens of the four Outer Cape towns voted for Donald Trump: 208 in Provincetown, 361 in Truro, 515 in Wellfleet, and 1,198 in Eastham. (Hillary Clinton […]

WELLFLEET — The board of health is considering a set of mandatory safety standards for municipal workplaces after a visit to town hall set off alarms last week. Health Agent […]

PROVINCETOWN — It’s not easy sharing a ballot with the president. Presidential elections always hoover up the attention, even in a normal year, even when the contest is boring. This […]

EASTHAM — The fifth-grade class at Eastham Elementary School will be quarantined for 14 days and educated remotely after a student tested positive for Covid-19 last week. Principal William Crosby […]

A new California-based real estate company that packages one-half to one-eighth ownership shares in luxury homes is eyeing Cape Cod as part of its opening strategy, which includes 26 cities […]

EASTHAM — Abutters to the harbormaster’s building project at Rock Harbor were expected to weigh in at a Wednesday, Oct. 21, Zoom meeting on two alternate proposals for the project: […]

WELLFLEET — After a mysterious flopping in the water, a large dorsal fin emerges. You think: “shark!” But it turns out to be an ocean sunfish, Mola mola, leisurely swimming […]

The shuck off was the main event at the virtual version of the Wellfleet OysterFest on Saturday. In a production filmed on the stage at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater […]

If you happened by the Wellfleet Farmers Market this past summer, you might have seen Beth Donovan’s handiwork along your stroll. Her handmade quilts, aprons, masks, and totes consist almost […]

If you are considering renovating your worn wood floor, upgrading from vinyl, or installing flooring in a new home, you might have seen something new since the last time you […]

I think of the suddenly cool days this time of year as “gumbo and sweater” weather. Where I come from, which is rural south-central Louisiana — much in the news […]

Although we’ve had a lovely fall, winter is surely on its way. If you find that with the first brisk breeze you’ve already started giving in to the idea that […]

A word to fans: according to league rules, fans may only attend home games. Masks are required and physical distancing rules will apply. Thursday, Oct. 22 Boys golf: The Warriors […]

With a chill in the evening air, now is the time of year when the Outer Cape’s pickup basketballers normally move indoors. On weeknights throughout the winter, the elementary school […]

The Sun enters the sign of Scorpio this week. Deeply passionate and resourceful, Scorpio’s intense energy has no patience for the superficial. It’s an all-or-nothing sign committed to digging deep […]

The last day to register to vote on Nov. 3 is Saturday, Oct 24. You can register online at sec.state.ma.us/OVR/. You can also verify that you’re properly registered at that […]

Irving Puffer at work on his grant in Wellfleet Harbor on a perfectly calm Monday morning after OysterFest weekend. Working with him, but not in this photo was Jake, his […]

Angel Gomez Gonzalez, the Springfield man accused of assaulting George Kraniotakis, 81, of Provincetown, owner of George’s Pizza, was arraigned in Orleans District Court on Oct. 9 on charges of […]

Three of four Outer Cape towns have set their fiscal year 2021 tax rates; Provincetown and Eastham taxpayers face 7-percent and 5-percent increases, respectively, while Truro’s rate is just slightly […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Oct. 22 Public Pier Corp., 4 p.m. Planning Board, 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to Truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Oct. 22 Human Services Committee, 11 a.m. Commission on Disabilities, […]

Meetings Ahead From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That document […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take […]

“I have been an activist and organizer from my teenage years onwards,” says Jane Fleishman, author of The Stonewall Generation: LGBTQ Elders on Sex, Activism, and Aging. “As Mandy Carter, […]

These days, new films are difficult to track. Miranda July’s Kajillionaire, for example, premiered at Sundance in January, then opened in theaters on Sept. 25, but not locally on the […]

Jack Boughton, the protagonist of Marilynne Robinson’s much-anticipated novel, Jack, is a thief, a liar, and an alcoholic. He is also exquisitely sensitive, self-deprecatingly funny, and finely attuned to the […]

“I grew up in both the Bronx and Mashpee,” says Morgan James Peters, also known as Mwalim DaPhunkee Professor, in his recording studio, Polyphonic Studios, in Buzzards Bay. “My mom’s […]

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In every soul there is an alleyway. And every town has one: at least one place like this. Even in beautiful Provincetown, full of narrow winding lanes, lovely gardens, charming […]

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The Independent has published articles about the problem of internet connectivity on the Outer Cape, and we are currently waiting to see the results of the latest round of negotiations […]

Questions on Cloverleaf To the editor: Before the Truro Zoning Board of Appeals discusses and votes on approval or denial of the 20 or more waivers sought by the Cloverleaf […]

On Monday the New York Times published a front-page article about “a fast-growing network of nearly 1,300 websites that aim to fill a void left by vanishing local newspapers across […]

Know when to hit the flats

Real Estate Transactions Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Oct. 12 to Oct. 16, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Oct. 13. Margo Ether Reyes Revocable Trust (Margo Ether Reyes, trustee) […]

Dorothy M. (Mannato) Fitzsimmons, 89, of Fairhaven died on Oct. 13, 2020, at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, following a long illness. Born in Boston, Dorothy was raised in […]

Kristin Thomas Verde, a Provincetown native, died suddenly of pneumonia caused by Covid-19 in New Bedford on Sept. 20, 2020. She was 55. Kristin was born and raised here, the […]

KUDOS Kevin and Stephanie, you’re the best. From one happy Neighborhood Auto customer who says thank you, for your skills and for your big hearts. [10-22] BACK ROADS Enjoy a […]

PROVINCETOWN — Anticipating a higher-than-normal off-season population in residence coupled with the need to restrict indoor occupancy, local restaurants are looking for creative solutions to staying open this winter. Many […]

TRURO — Health and Conservation Agent Emily Beebe had a lot of things to say about water quality and the Cloverleaf affordable housing proposal, both in a letter to the […]

In early October each year, all of the state’s public schools finalize their enrollment numbers for the new school year, and school aid from the state follows. At the Nauset […]

PROVINCETOWN — In February 2019, the Provincetown Municipal Airport Commission stated that the airport’s revolving account would be empty by the fiscal year 2021-2022. The commission wrote, “We are working […]

PROVINCETOWN — Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill in August authorizing up to $1.8 billion in infrastructure investment, including $1.7 million to expand broadband coverage in Provincetown via the OpenCape […]

PROVINCETOWN — After a slow start that saw all four Outer Cape towns lagging behind in 2020 census self-response rates, the U.S. Census Bureau now claims that every single household […]

WELLFLEET — Like almost everything else in 2020, the Wellfleet OysterFest will look very different this year. The town’s signature celebration, which in 2019 hosted about 23,000 visitors and routinely […]

There will be a shuck off at the 20th annual OysterFest. But there will be no competitive parking, no pressing through crowds on Main Street, and no lines under the […]

PROVINCETOWN — Though passers-by were chatting, bicycle bells were ringing, and the sounds of cars, strollers, and dogs filled the air, the silence from protesters still felt audible, as if […]

TRURO — In a school across from Truro’s vines, stood 113 children in nearly straight lines. It was a scene that evoked the melodious words of Ludwig Bemelman’s Madeline. The […]

Richard Blakeley has been growing clams and oysters on the Wellfleet flats since the 1980s. A year ago, he spoke of slowing down, perhaps even getting ready to pass the […]

As OysterFest rolls around, it’s time to talk about what you should drink with those briny, sparkling Wellfleets. The classic wines to go with oysters have lively acidity and pronounced […]

PROVINCETOWN — What do you get when a group of Provincetown locals have Tuesdays off in the middle of the summer of the pandemic, when social distance is required? A […]

Winter squash was legend in my house growing up. One Halloween, my mother wouldn’t let my sisters trick-or-treat until they ate their acorn squash. No squash, no candy. Ultimately, she […]

Oyster plates were a Victorian-era idea that became part of the evolution of oysters from inexpensive street food to coveted delicacy, a shift that happened in the early 1900s, when […]

TRURO — In June 1872, John Fairfield Rich, a journalist living in Ware, in central Mass., realized the fulfillment of a dream he had had a decade earlier, when he […]

Halloween is a terrifying time of year when you treat animals who struggle with portion control. Maybe not as nerve-wracking as Thanksgiving, but still anxiety-inducing. We hold our breath waiting […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Oct. 13, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

The final week of Libra season is highlighted, so to speak, by the new Moon. While the new Moon isn’t a time to begin anything — you should wait until […]

ORLEANS — At an Oct. 8 dangerousness hearing, Orleans District Court Judge Robert A. Welsh ordered Joseph Amato, 45, of Provincetown, held without bail at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility […]

WELLFLEET — “Well,” said Dan Conroy, a field engineer-slash-hydrographic surveyor at Cashman Dredging and Marine Contracting, a Quincy-based company working under the supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers, “I […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Oct. 15 Board of Health, 4 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to Truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Oct. 15 Climate Action Committee, 10 a.m. Housing […]

Meetings Ahead From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That document […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda.  That document will provide information about how to view and take […]

Political protest art is not new, as anyone who has seen Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, about an 1830 anti-royalist uprising in France, or Picasso’s Guernica, depicting the merciless bombing […]

The viewer is immediately drawn to the eyes. This is true of many paintings by Provincetown art colony founder Charles Webster Hawthorne. They are dark brown and serious. The glint […]

“Do a lot of people call you Cockring?” So begins the relationship between Charlie Besson and movie star Kathi Kannon in Byron Lane’s hilarious debut novel, A Star Is Bored. […]

Sitting at the top of a set of weathered wooden stairs overlooking the ocean, Genie Morrow seems to belong in Wellfleet’s wild, windswept landscape. “I believe we can access creativity […]

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Readers must have noticed that Cape Cod’s only daily newspaper has gotten much slimmer in the last few months. It’s no accident. According to the Brookings Institution, over 2,000 U.S. […]

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It was just about a year ago that I suggested that readers of the Independent observe “Writing Thursday,” because we wanted to get more letters to the editor. Sure enough, […]

On Naming Names To the editor: After reading the letter from the editor in last week’s issue [“The Bloody Facts,” page A2], I understand why you included several articles about […]

Real Estate Transactions Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Oct. 5 to Oct. 9. PROVINCETOWN Oct 5. John Hardin Carroll and John L. Lofton to Peter F. […]

BACK ROADS Enjoy a private Hopper House tour, on back roads and hidden spaces. You follow the Guide’s car using a provided walkie-talkie. Art, architecture, history, and the environmental changes […]

Joseph Corea, who died at home in Truro on Sept. 22, 2020, loved family, hunting, and fishing. He was 78. The cause was cancer, which he had fought long and […]

Know when to hit the flats

Though there are no hard numbers for the population of Canada geese on the Outer Cape, it’s not hard to infer that they are growing. And there’s little argument about […]

PROVINCETOWN — The owners of two units at the Residences at Seashore Point are about to file suit against the company that controls the senior living community and its adjoining […]

TRURO — Out West, the saying goes that “Whisky’s for drinkin’, and water’s for fightin’.” In Truro’s ongoing debate about affordable housing at the Cloverleaf parcel, the water is for […]

EASTHAM — The owners of a property in the Cape Cod National Seashore who want to demolish three dwellings and a garage and build a new residence and garage with […]

WELLFLEET — One of the first tasks of new Town Administrator Maria Broadbent was to fire the town accountant. Gene Ferrari Jr. said he was dismissed on Sept. 22, the […]

EASTHAM — The owner of Willy’s Gym is appealing a state order to pay fines and restitution for various wage law violations, while friends of the gym’s late tennis pro […]

PROVINCETOWN — The call came last Wednesday night, just over halfway into Police Officer Emmett Catanese’s 3 to 11 p.m. shift. On the line was Christian Peters, 50. He was […]

The pandemic has shattered routines, shrunken social circles, and shut most of us off from the world outside our immediate radius. But I learned last week that a little training […]

TRURO — After digging deep for year-round workers and young families, the Truro Select Board has found 16 people to serve on the Walsh Property Community Planning Committee. The group […]

PROVINCETOWN — Michelle Axelson came to town in November 2010, for a break. A Boston-based social worker by training, she had loved working at Mass. Correctional Institution — Framingham, a […]

It feels like just yesterday that we were all holed up, arguing on Facebook about opening up for the summer season and wondering what would happen. And then it did. […]

Something ridiculous always happens when the seasons change. I find myself excited for the foods I associate with the new season, and immediately nostalgic for the foods of the season […]

With Women’s Week in view, the Independent asked three Outer Cape women to tell us what it’s like to make themselves at home working in what is still seen as […]

Fresh off a full Moon in Aries, many of us may have noticed a weekend full of headaches, heartaches, and a rather edgy disposition. The best way to balance aggression […]

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

WELLFLEET — If you search for Abbe Seldin in the archives of the New York Times, you’ll find four articles. The first, by Leslie Oelsner, appeared on Feb. 1, 1972, […]

PROVINCETOWN — The staff at the Lobster Pot sent word on Oct. 3 to the restaurant’s customers and friends: Mary Joy McNulty, “our beloved owner, leader, and inspiration,” is retiring. […]

EASTHAM — Nauset Regional School District Supt. Thomas Conrad would not comment this week on the termination process for James Saidnawey, a fourth-grade teacher at Eastham Elementary School who was […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Oct. 8 Scholarship & Trust Administration Committee, 3 p.m. Public Pier Corp., 2 […]

Meetings Ahead Thursday, Oct. 8 Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9 Community Preservation Committee, 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13 Council on Aging Board, 10 a.m. Select Board, […]

Meetings Ahead From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That document […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take […]

Theater and music lovers were overjoyed last week when Gov. Charlie Baker announced that lower-risk communities may move to “step two” of phase three reopening guidelines, as of Monday, Oct. […]

“The Cape is where I want to be as an artist,” says ceramicist Isabel Souza. “The direction of my art is very influenced by my roots and my family history […]

What is the likely career trajectory of an inventive, gifted Teacher of the Year who is passionate about racial and social justice and who works in an urban public school? […]

“This is the first indoor [musical] event that anyone on the Cape can experience since February,” said David Kuehn, executive director of Cotuit Center for the Arts, introducing a solo […]

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PROVINCETOWN — I have not had a haircut in at least seven months. My hair is almost as long as it was 50 years ago. It doesn’t really matter; I […]

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“If it bleeds, it leads” is an old saw in the news business. Stories of crime and violence sell, and in newsrooms driven by competition for viewers and readers, the […]

A Nice Guy To the editor: Todd Silva’s letter in last week’s Independent [“Noises of the Waterfront”] was the most restrained, polite, and neighborly reply imaginable to a jerk. Imagine complaining about […]

Real Estate Transactions Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Sept. 28 to Oct. 2. PROVINCETOWN Sept. 28. BPJC LLC [Christopher D. Wise, manager] to Paulo Martini. 350 […]

YARD SALE Huge yard sale in North Truro. Moving and downsizing. This Sat., Oct. 10 and Sun., Oct. 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. No early birds! Masks required. 50 […]

Know when to hit the flats

Know when to hit the flats

WELLFLEET — It took a town-wide effort, a federal campaign, and 26 years, but the dredging of Wellfleet Harbor’s federal channel is set to begin on Oct. 1. “It’s just […]

TRURO — It was a short but not sweet town meeting on Saturday, Sept. 26. All 17 warrant articles passed, the weather was balmy, and 243 people (or 12 percent […]

EASTHAM — The voters were in an agreeable mood at last Saturday’s town meeting, approving every warrant article presented and agreeing to postpone two. Three of the adopted articles will […]

PROVINCETOWN — Provincetown Schools Supt. Suzanne Scallion has received a letter from state Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley questioning her decision not to reopen the school for […]

PROVINCETOWN — Unemployment insurance dates back to 1935 and the same New Deal law that created Social Security. This year, however, unemployment benefits were radically expanded and repurposed as coronavirus […]

WELLFLEET — An employee at Bay Sails Marine on Route 6 was flushing out his boat Saturday evening at the end of a beautiful late September day when he noticed […]

TRURO — More residents in areas currently without broadband service will soon be able to get connected, following a breakthrough in negotiations with Comcast — though exactly how many will […]

PROVINCETOWN — In his poem “Chariot,” Stanley Kunitz, a founder of the Fine Arts Work Center, wrote of Varujan Boghosian, “In my friend’s studio, where curiosity runs the shop, and […]

WELLFLEET — Cape Cod is known as a global stranding hot spot for whales and dolphins. Probably no one knows that better than the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) […]

PROVINCETOWN — Mary L. Trump’s book Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man sold more copies in one week than her uncle Donald’s […]

Masses of mums have arrived at local garden stores, ready to be shepherded to our dooryards to replace summer’s now-bedraggled geraniums. Natalie Van Staden stands surrounded by what seems like […]

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

EASTHAM — “Unfortunately, the kids are getting used to disappointment right now,” said Head Coach Bruce Strunk of the Nauset Warriors football team. Friday nights in September would normally bring […]

WELLFLEET — The discovery of E. coli bacteria in the town’s public water supply led to a “boil water order” from the state on Saturday evening, Sept. 26. Occupants of […]

Elle Simone Scott took delivery last week on 72 Wellfleet oysters at America’s Test Kitchen in Boston, where she is a test chef and stylist. The oysters were courtesy of […]

Sometimes recipes come from friends, relatives, or a cookbook. But sometimes, they happen by accident. They all start with some kind of inspiration. Just as those final slicing tomatoes of […]

It should be noted for transparency’s sake that this astro-columnist is himself a Libra, born Oct. 9, 1985. For me, writing about Libra poses a challenge. How to turn the […]

The staff of the Provincetown Independent celebrated the completion of Volume 1 of the newspaper on Friday, Sept. 25 with a series of surprise awards, announced by the editor, Ed […]

Sophia Maymudes created this month’s puzzle with a special place in mind. Need some answers? Just ask and we’ll send them. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to […]

EASTHAM — The Outer Cape’s annual fall festivals have all taken a hit during 2020, thanks to Covid-19. “What’s next?” you might be asking. “No Eastham Turnip Festival this year?” […]

Susan Kurtzman, who owns Jobi Pottery in Truro, with state Sen. Julian Cyr, who nominated Jobi for inclusion in Artists Under the Dome, an annual State House event. “It was […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Oct. 1 Recycling & Renewable Energy Committee, 10 a.m. Public Pier Corp., 1 p.m. Select […]

Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Oct. 1 Climate Action Committee, 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 5 Conservation Commission, […]

From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That document will provide […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on any meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely. Thursday, […]

“It’s historical; it’s interactive; you walk through it,” Mimi Gross says. She is describing how museum-goers will experience The Arrival, 1620, her site-specific installation that is opening on Friday, Oct. […]

Next Wednesday, East End Books Ptown is holding a virtual book event on the The Piano Student, with author Lea Singer and translator Elisabeth Lauffer. The novel, newly translated from […]

“That’s the life force we get from being present in the moment, experiencing what is happening around us,” says Bill Evaul in his North Truro home, leaning forward in an […]

The Ptown Gallery Stroll, a nonprofit organization of more than 30 art galleries in Provincetown, was formed in the spring in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the threat it […]

Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings is a warhorse — a piece of classical music that is played so repeatedly, it ought to get old. But it doesn’t. Partly because of […]

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EASTHAM — It started as a quick trip down the steps to the pond, with sandwich in hand, before a run into town to fetch bird seed from the Bird […]

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EASTHAM — One of the reasons my husband and I decided to move back to Eastham from Orleans was its scenic beauty. When I lived in Orleans, I was a […]

Noises of the Waterfront To the editor: I am a commercial lobsterman fishing out of Provincetown, as my father and grandfather did before me. After a week of unfishable weather, […]

Now that all four of the Outer Cape towns have held their annual town meetings, gathering outdoors on athletic fields and in a parking lot, maintaining safe distancing and observing […]

Know when to hit the flats

JOBS Vacation rental coordinator. Part-time year-round vacation rental coordinator for busy Wellfleet real estate office. Excellent organizational and computer skills essential. Current MA real estate license, or obtain one within […]

Real Estate Transactions Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Sept. 21 to Sept. 25, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Sept. 21. Debora Lyn Charpentier and Christine Erin Smith to Thomas […]

WELLFLEET — The discovery of E. coli bacteria in the town’s public water supply led to a “boil water order” from the state on Saturday evening. Occupants of the 290 […]

WELLFLEET — At the Sept. 12 annual town meeting voters agreed to spend $110,000 to design a sprinkler system for the Wellfleet Elementary School, because, the fire chief said, one […]

PROVINCETOWN — First, the good news: checks of up to $5,000 are available to help vulnerable Cape Cod tenants with up to three months of rent payments. The Housing Assistance […]

PROVINCETOWN — The long-delayed annual town meeting moved at a brisk pace on Monday, Sept. 21, with the chilly weather perhaps encouraging voters gathered in the parking lot at St. […]

WELLFLEET — About 100 people marched from the pier to the First Congregational Church in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on Sept. 20. The crowd on Sunday was […]

WELLFLEET — Three days after town meeting voters agreed to spend another $10,000 to continue a years-long cemetery restoration and repair project, an independent historic gravestone conservator delivered her report […]

TRURO — After heaping praise on Darrin Tangeman, 46, a former Green Beret with municipal and medical experience, the select board on Sept. 22 unanimously picked him to be the […]

WELLFLEET — Liberty Schilpp’s middle-school-age children have already had four different dentists and are about to meet number five, this one in South Dennis. The problem is not a dearth […]

What are you going to do with that last sun-warmed tomato from the garden, the one that’s waiting on the counter right now? Here’s how a few of the Outer […]

WELLFLEET — Most chickens on the Outer Cape are, like the rest of us, among the fortunate on this Earth. Instead of inhabiting large-production poultry farms, our backyard babies live […]

EASTHAM — When Joe Rossetti was a kid, back in the 1960s, his family spent summers at a cottage in North Truro, just steps away from Highland Light and Coast […]

There is no mistaking it: the fall season is upon us. Unrelenting winds from northerly quadrants have been buffeting us for days on end, and, as of this writing, the remnants […]

September, the golden month on Cape Cod. Sunrises and sunsets that linger in the mind’s eye with color and light. Solidago sempervirens, seaside goldenrod, is just beginning to open at […]

EASTHAM — “I’m glad that we’ll be able to have some sort of season,” said Izzy Nobili, senior captain of the Nauset Regional High School cross country team. Normally, cross […]

In the very first issue of the Independent, I wrote about Jupiter and Saturn, which were prominently in view at the time. After making their way across the sky and […]

AIDAN HANDVILLE / HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, ATHLETE / EASTHAM Aidan Handville is captain of the Nauset Regional High School football team. This fall, because of Covid, there’s no regular football […]

The first time I was bullied, I was in second grade. It was a classic case. A kid my age with a scary, tough way about him stole money from […]

People ask me what I think of Question One, which will be on the ballot in the Commonwealth on Nov. 3. My answer is that, while it may not be […]

All rise for Libra season. Perched between high-minded Virgo and sub-conscious Scorpio, Libra seeks to balance the cosmic forces of good and evil by delivering an equalizing light to their […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 22, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Sept. 24 Public Pier Corp., 2 p.m. Planning Board, 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28 […]

Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Sept. 24 School Committee, 9 a.m. Shellfish Advisory Committee, 2 p.m. Zoning […]

From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That document will […]

Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take part remotely. Saturday, […]

The view from the Grace Hall parking lot #3 of the dune and water tower above it would not be part of a Provincetown promotional flyer. But the sky was […]

Many visitors to Provincetown have admired the funky, colorful Bob Gasoi Memorial Alley beside Shop Therapy at 290 Commercial St. Few, however, are familiar with Arnold Charnick, the artist who […]

The Provincetown Art Association and Museum has joined forces with the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum for “Members’ Juried: Provincetown 400,” an exhibit of artwork by PAAM members that is […]

Watch a video clip of mathematician Eugenia Cheng making puff pastry with Stephen Colbert, and you’ll quickly appreciate why her students at the Art Institute of Chicago surely consider themselves […]

As residencies go, Marco Calvani’s time in Provincetown has been productive and reflective. It culminated with a fund-raiser at the Mary Heaton Vorse House on Thursday, Sept. 17, presented by […]

The summer came and went. And against all odds, we had live music, cabaret, and drag. Performers and venues acclimated to an entirely new way of performing — outdoors and […]

“Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof: Justice, Justice you shall pursue. This quote hung in her office. I’ve given her a gold pin inscribed with it.”—Traci Harmon-Hay This page is available to subscribers. […]

I stare at this photograph The setting of the sun Over the ocean the dunes My world Luminous So alive Without her body She pours her love Upon us Dare […]

I aspire to be a writer. My two young granddaughters, though, ages four and seven, would not care if I never wrote another word. They are staying with us now, […]

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

Playing With Space and Time To the editor: Marnie Crawford Samuelson’s interview with and portrait of my brother, Miah Nate Johnson, were sensitive and wonderful [“Laugh! Laugh Out Loud,” Sept. […]

Things go wrong sometimes. That’s always of interest to reporters and editors. We’re tuned to ask what happened and tell the story of how things came apart. It’s good to […]

Know when to hit the flats

Real Estate Transactions Recorded at the Barnstable Country Registry of Deeds from Sept. 14 to Sept. 18, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Sept. 14. Cheryl A. Bready to Robert Parisi. 531 Commercial St. […]

JOBS Vacation rental coordinator. Part-time year-round vacation rental coordinator for busy Wellfleet real estate office. Excellent organizational and computer skills essential. Current MA real estate license, or obtain one within […]

Anne Elizabeth Mahoney, 59, of Truro and Cambridge, died of complications from heart surgery on Sept. 15, 2020, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She was the wife of […]

Artemis Diana Warburton of Eastham died peacefully on Sept. 3, 2020 at Pleasant Bay Nursing and Rehab Center in Brewster at the age of 97. Artemis, who was known as […]

Joseph Jay Buteau of North Truro died at home on Sept. 12, 2020, surrounded by his wife and daughters. Born on Aug. 2, 1950, in Heidelberg, Germany, he was the […]

Varujan Boghosian, a towering figure among Provincetown artists, died of complications of a hip fracture at his home in Hanover, N.H., on Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. He was 94. His […]

WELLFLEET — She pulled up to the gas pump at the Mobil station on Route 6, but I knew she wasn’t there to fill up her tank. She was a […]

As high school sports seasons progress, the Independent will be reporting regularly on how the pandemic is affecting the games, players, coaches, and fans. PROVINCETOWN — “I thought it would […]

TRURO — Summer 2020 came and went with nearly the usual influx of tourists, many of them from metropolitan areas with far higher incidence of Covid-19. But the infection rate […]

PROVINCETOWN — Like much of the summer season this year, town meeting in Provincetown is going to arrive later, leaner, and al fresco. Originally scheduled for early April, at the […]

WELLFLEET — Standing on the pitcher’s mound at the Wellfleet Elementary School ballfield, Moderator Dan Silverman pitched a no-hitter on Sept. 12, with voters approving all the articles that came […]

EASTHAM — The warrant for the Sept. 26 annual town meeting has arrived in mailboxes and is now available on the town’s website at eastham-ma.gov. Voters will be asked to […]

As U.S. police forces face a reckoning, issues of transparency and racial equity are on the table at the State House in Boston. A conference committee works on a bill […]

EASTHAM — Over the last five decades, if you turned on your radio on Cape Cod or in the Boston-Providence area, chances are you’d hear the voice of Bob Seay. […]

This past week saw more evidence of the effects of global warming on our oceans. We continue to see more warm-water fish moving up into our area. Charter boats out of […]

EASTHAM — Usually, when a basement floods, the home owner starts planning to get rid of the water. When Joanna Buffington’s basement was inundated, she started planning to get rid […]

When there are raspberries and then blueberries, you can tell yourself you’ve got all kinds of time. You can go for a swim tomorrow. Or read a book. You have […]

The passing of Labor Day marks the end of our cut-pad-on-an-oyster-shell season and the beginning of the itchy-dog-and-cat season here on the Cape. (This will be followed by pancreatic inflammation […]

All of us on the Outer Cape are in some way or another living in a national park. Even if our homes are not within its boundaries, we are surrounded […]

Here at the tail end of Virgo season, the New Moon in the sign of the Virgin gives birth to new beginnings. The orderly and analytical nature of Virgo would […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 15, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

Back in March, you set up your laptop on the dining room table and the kids took to the couch with their devices. You figured you could make do — […]

WELLFLEET — While doing landscaping chores on Sept. 12, Donald Thimas came across nine World War I-era bombs, including six powerful anti-tank devices that later rocked neighborhoods when they were […]

WELLFLEET — “It’s nut day,” says Sandy Valli. I look around, confused. The shop, Gelato Joy, is busy for sure, but not particularly crazy. It is 4 p.m. on the […]

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EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional High School ventilation system turns out not to be as bad as expected, with the majority of classrooms expected to be ready for an Oct. […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Provincetown Schools superintendent has penciled in the date of Oct. 5 for some students to return to school, but not inside the building. “We’re not going to […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Sept. 17 Scholarship & Trust Administration Committee, 3 p.m. Board of Health, 4 […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Sept. 17 Climate Action Committee, 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 18 […]

Meetings Ahead From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested to read its agenda and find information about how to view and take part […]

Ed Markey, who soundly defeated Joe Kennedy in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary on Sept. 1, was the winner in every town on the Outer Cape. Looking at results across […]

WELLFLEET — “It’s nut day,” says Sandy Valli. I look around, confused. The shop, Gelato Joy, is busy for sure, but not particularly crazy. It is 4 p.m. on the […]

The painter Edith (“Edie”) Vonnegut sits in the sand on Mayo Beach in Wellfleet, gazing at sailboats floating by in the sunshine. Her slender figure and natural beauty defy any […]

“Unity: Exploring Freedom and Democracy in 2020,” an exhibit on view at Berta Walker Gallery at 208 Bradford St. in Provincetown through Election Day, includes about 20 works by Varujan […]

Faced with impending climate doom, extreme housing shortages, and a global pandemic that spreads through close human proximity, most people hope Americans will get fewer and farther between. In his […]

A million years ago, back in 2016, I sat on a panel at a literary conference in New Orleans. At the time, I was working on my second novel, and […]

The art of Kahn & Selesnick — otherwise known as Nicholas Kahn and Richard Selesnick, who met at Washington University in St. Louis in the ’80s, moved to the Cape […]

This Friday, singer-songwriter Thea Hopkins will be performing on the Payomet Performing Arts Center’s Drive-in stage, offering the rare pleasure, these days, of experiencing a live musician in concert on […]

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

In the middle of August, a group of eight writers, prompted perhaps by chants of “12 more years!” at the Republican National Convention, began an online discussion about finding ways […]

The year 5781 in the Jewish calendar begins this Friday evening, Sept.18. The season is called the Days of Awe, beginning with the two days of Rosh Hashanah, the “head […]

Wellfleet was the first of the Outer Cape towns to conduct its long-delayed annual town meeting this past Saturday, and as Provincetown, Truro, and Eastham have also chosen, it was […]

Native American Stereotypes To the editor: People in Truro who are unhappy with the Massachusetts seal [“State Flag and Seal Question Is on Wellfleet, Truro Warrants,” Sept. 10, page A8] […]

Know when to hit the flats

Real Estate Transactions Recorded at the Barnstable Country Registry of Deeds from Sept. 7 to Sept. 11, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Sept. 8. Benjamin I. Dobson and Timothy C. Harrington Jr. to […]

The Rev. Manuel Peter Ferreira, 90, died on Sept. 6, 2020, at Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, after a period of declining health. Father Ferreira was ordained as a […]

Helen Duberstein Lipton died peacefully on Sept. 2, 2020, in North Truro. She was surrounded by her daughters, Jackie and Irene, and close family at Irene’s home, where she had […]

Kathleen Forrest Connors, 75, died peacefully on Sept. 13, 2020, at her Wellfleet home, surrounded by family and friends. Born in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1945, she was the eldest daughter […]

JOBS Truro Central School, health office assistant. Assist the school nurse with administrative work, student care, and implementing school-wide health and safety protocols. Health-care and/or child-care experience preferred. Send letter, […]

WELLFLEET — Back in 1949, Maurice and Ann Gauthier of New Bedford were in search of a better lifestyle for their growing family. They eventually found it in the woods […]

WELLFLEET — Every Cape Cod real estate agent seems to have a story of this summer’s pandemic home-buying bonanza: homes going under contract the day they are listed, often with […]

PROVINCETOWN — When b\well opened here on Friday, Sept. 4, it became the second recreational (or “adult-use”) marijuana dispensary on Cape Cod. Nine more dispensaries are on a path to […]

As the current deadline of Sept. 30 for completing the 2020 census draws near, low self-response rates and misconceptions about filling out the census questionnaire are lowering hopes for a […]

EASTHAM — The old Nickerson Service Center property on Route 6 in North Eastham took a bashing at the select board’s Aug. 31 meeting, as the board considered the idea […]

WELLFLEET — The annual town meeting is set to kick off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12, five months after it was initially postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. […]

TRURO — Town meeting may feel more like recess this year, as voters gather outdoors at the Truro Central School ballfield at noon on Saturday, Sept. 26. Even the warrant […]

MIAH NATE JOHNSON / PAINTER, SEWER, CREATOR / WELLFLEET In the 1980s, Miah began traveling the world as a photojournalist, working with major photo agencies and clients like National Geographic. […]

I have always said the summer season goes by in three blinks of the eye. The first time you blink, Memorial Day is gone; the second time, the Fourth of July […]

The Tiny Pricks Project began in 2018 when Diana Weymar, a Canadian-born, Princeton-educated textile artist, heard the current president say, “I am a very stable genius,” and found herself stitching […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Provincetown Tennis Club (PTC) finished up its members tournament last week. Maria Cirino defeated Judy Mencher in two sets, 6-2, 6-3, in the women’s singles final, while […]

There have been years, like the ones when we had our restaurant in Provincetown, when I did not think a lot about the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, where […]

Fail Gail. The epithet strikes fear in the hearts of high schoolers, yet no one seems to know her real name. I am speaking, of course, of the infamous road […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Provincetown Yacht Club crammed three races and a party into Labor Day Weekend — and with just a week left in the summer racing season, the PYC […]

Even before there was a written Wellfleet history, there were Wellfleet oysters. We know that indigenous peoples savored them raw, smoked, roasted, steamed, and dried, because of the massive shell […]

“See you Friday night at Sangha!” Hugh said to me on the way out the door. I looked at the schedule on the back of my manual and sure enough: […]

Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 8, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

As the summer begins to wane, so, too, can our sense of motivation, especially now, as Mars goes retrograde. A rarer celestial event than Mercury’s three or four retrogrades a […]

EASTHAM — Nauset fall sports will be a completely different game this year. The Cape & Islands League Executive Board voted last week to allow boys golf, cross country, boys […]

TRURO — After Robert Wood, the top town manager candidate, and the select board could not agree on salary and benefits, the board met on Sept. 4 to weigh its […]

For more than 100 years, Massachusetts has used as its state seal a colonial swordsman’s disembodied arm brandished over a Native American. The same coat of arms has also been […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Sept. 10 Animal Welfare Committee, 12 noon Public Pier Corp., 2 p.m. Provincetown […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Sept. 10 Climate Change Action Committee, 10 a.m. Housing Authority, […]

Meetings Ahead From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its agenda. That […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take […]

Wasn’t it a great summer? Like the others before? But this year! There was that first show — remember how thrilling it was to get back to the Harbor after […]

“Alvin Ross was a real bon vivant, whose life, loves, interests, and connections were complex and often intertwined,” says James Bakker. Bakker, a local gallerist, auctioneer, and art historian specializing […]

“I like dramatic, show-stopping images,” says Greg Salvatori. “When I ask you to look at an artwork I created, I want to offer you something that is worthy of your […]

“Contemporary Cape Artists of Native American Heritage,” a new exhibit at Berta Walker Gallery, 208 Bradford St. in Provincetown, features artwork with local indigenous connections. Running concurrently (through Election Day) […]

A long sentence careens through Hugh Raffles’s The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time. At 458 words, the sentence zigzags from a description of a helicopter ride gone wrong […]

Jules Massenet’s music has never moved me. It’s too thickly orchestrated, and his choice of dramas too extreme. Werther, easily Massenet’s best opera, filled with romantic melodies and dissonant outbursts, bears the […]

Wild Turkeys by Mary DeAngelis

Heading South by Daniel Dejean

Dear Thomas Jefferson by Linda Dujack

Plan are underway to build a machine gun range at a Cape Cod base used for training by the Massachusetts Army National Guard. The proposal for Camp Edwards at Joint […]

The Boston Globe published a disturbing piece this week about the experiences of urbanites going on vacation in rural New England this summer. It was titled “Dirty looks, threats, and […]

The Town Manager Shuffle To the editor: Once again, the Outer Cape town manager shuffle occurs, this time in Truro [“Robert Wood and Truro Part Ways,” Sept. 3, page A4]. […]

MUSIC Fiddler/singer ready to play and will travel. Live music for Covid-19-safe events including weddings, parties, memorial services. Celtic, Jewish, folk and world music. Performing solo or with accompanist. Contact: [email protected] […]

Real Estate Transactions Recorded at the Barnstable Country Registry of Deeds from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Aug. 31. Jeffrey I. Lovinger Revocable Living Trust (Jeffrey I. Lovinger, […]

This week marks a year since we sent our very first edition to press. It was a “preview” edition, full of hope that we’d find the support to develop into […]

PROVINCETOWN — Twenty-five children of working parents will be offered free child care in the Provincetown Schools gym as part of the school administration’s plan for completely remote learning when […]

PROVINCETOWN — Both supporters and opponents of the dormitory-style housing project scheduled for review by the zoning board of appeals at its Sept. 17 meeting agree on one thing: it’s […]

TRURO — The candidate selected to become the new town manager taking Rae Ann Palmer’s place turned out to be the wrong man for the job when negotiations over salary […]

EASTHAM — While the select board once again decided not to adopt a residential tax exemption (RTE) this year, the controversial measure will be back on the table for 2022, […]

Updated on Sept. 30, 2020 WELLFLEET — The former South Wellfleet General Store sits vacant with tarped windows and dilapidated shingles, guarded by a chain-link fence and construction tape. A […]

For years, child-care centers have survived by paying workers minimum wage and offering a service that is, for working parents, still just barely affordable. It is this reality that reveals […]

EASTHAM — Three years ago, several Eastham residents began noticing a small flock of blue jays making the rounds about town. These birds weren’t just poking around yards and bird […]

PROVINCETOWN — The latest news on the waterfront is the dramatically increased number of beach closures that occurred last week. Alerts were coming into my cell phone via the Atlantic White […]

PROVINCETOWN — Hear ye, hear ye! Kenneth Lonergan, Provincetown’s beloved town crier, announced his retirement last week, after 13 years of bell-ringing and proclamation-making. The spirited and affable Lonergan, 74, […]

WELLFLEET — The Wellfleet Police Dept. received an unexpected visitor on Monday, Aug. 24. Boston Bruins legend Bobby Orr stopped by the police station on Lawrence Road unannounced to thank […]

So many memories get made in a summer on Cape Cod. But if one of them is of that musty cottage smell, maybe it’s time to tackle the humidity problem […]

I haven’t had much luck fishing this summer. There have been a few bluefish, sure. As for striped bass, I haven’t caught one keeper. They say the fluke are in […]

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

The September puzzle from Sophia Maymudes should be done on dry land. Need some answers? We send out the solution in our Friday newsletter. You’ll find the signup for our […]

Some sports require specialized equipment and conditions, such as the ability to get to the mountains for skiing. Baseball requires a diamond field and multiple players, which presents a problem […]

PROVINCETOWN — The Fine Arts Work Center’s executive director has announced his resignation by June 2021 following charges of classism and racism by this year’s fellows and one staff member. […]

WELLFLEET — A special town election taking place on Tuesday, Sept. 8 features 10 ballot questions, all involving budget overrides and exemptions from Proposition 2½ limits. Large purchases that involve […]

EASTHAM — Following a dismal report on the aging high school’s ventilation system, the Nauset Regional School Committee voted unanimously on Aug. 31 to keep the building closed to most […]

WELLFLEET — Justin Post finished his last day as Wellfleet’s building inspector on Friday, Aug. 28. He will take over as Eastham’s building inspector on Sept. 15 after three years […]

An amendment to an economic development bill calling for a statewide commission to look at what’s happening to local newspapers passed the Mass. House of Representatives on July 28 and […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Sept. 3 Personnel Board, 4:30 p.m. Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. Tuesday, […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Sept. 3 Climate Change Committee, 10 a.m. Finance Committee and […]

Meetings Ahead From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover your mouse over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen, and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda.  That document will provide information about how to view and take […]

“I knew it was going to make a person uncomfortable the minute they heard I was a poet,” Gail Mazur says. “I was really quite modest in my ambitions. I […]

It begins with the crackling sound of vinyl. The violin strums its highest strings, then tunes to the piano. An audience member coughs. These are the opening sounds of a […]

Many children’s book writers find inspiration in their own offspring. Wellfleet resident Corinne Demas, the award-winning author of five novels, two short-story collections, a poetry collection, a memoir, and numerous […]

Though a pandemic may not be the easiest time to open an art gallery, Christopher Kelly and Keith MacLelland are handling it with aplomb. “We started the lease back in […]

“A year ago, I became an orphan,” says Bailey Bob Bailey on the back deck of his Truro home. “Dad died on Aug. 25, 2019. He was 89. Mom had […]

We live in an era in which adolescent fantasies of masculinity are being lived out in a grotesque and outsized way. Even more than Bush fils, Donald Trump seems caught […]

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PROVINCETOWN — Nothing in life is perfect. I woke up this morning unrefreshed. The weather has been too damn hot, even at night. I ran out of full-strength coffee and […]

WELLFLEET — In the middle of the current racism pandemic, many of us who are not black or brown — who do not worry that our sons will be murdered […]

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon? Or a coyote, maybe? Named by the Algonquin tribe to mark the corn husking season, the Corn Moon, […]

I received a nice note this evening from Sadie Hutchings, the Provincetown veterinarian (and our new “Animal Clinic” columnist). “I think you guys must have just had a birthday for […]

YARD SALE Yard sale this weekend in Provincetown. Saturday, Sept. 5, and Sunday, Sept. 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Good stuff! Outdoors and duly distanced at 584 Commercial St. […]

FinCom Chair’s Conduct To the editor: You were right to question the Outer Cape’s perception of itself as an “enlightened community” [Aug. 27, Letter From the Editor, page A2], and […]

Real Estate Transactions Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Aug. 24 to Aug. 28, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Aug. 24. Manaia Holdings LLC to Peter W. L. Picard and […]

Know when to hit the flats

On a hot summer day in 2008, Wayne Davis was flying his Citabria, a single-engine two-seat propeller plane, off the shores of Cape Cod, looking for bluefin tuna. With nearly […]

After months of missed classes, child care, sports, and summer camps, the question of when children can return to school is a pressing concern for many Outer Cape families. High […]

PROVINCETOWN — A Democratic congressional primary race in Western Massachusetts wouldn’t normally make the news on Cape Cod. But the race for the nomination in the rural 1st district, covering […]

EASTHAM — Barbara Niggel, the owner of Willy’s World Wellness & Conference Center, has been fined $101,466 by the state attorney general’s office for a litany of labor law violations. […]

WELLFLEET — A home listed for sale off Chequessett Neck Road has raised the blood pressure of preservationists because it is part of a cottage colony that has for 72 […]

Over 100 years ago, in an agrarian Massachusetts, farmers began training ospreys to nest — not in trees, but on man-made platforms. The intent was to use the birds of […]

When Barbara Rushmore’s “Black Lives Matter” sign was stolen from in front of her house on Commercial Street in Provincetown’s East End around July 4th, she assumed that someone from […]

EASTHAM — Bats took over town hall last week, displacing town employees and moving last weekend’s early voting for the Sept. 1 primary election outdoors. Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe said […]

One of the biggest heartbreaks for me through the years living here every summer is watching this classic fishing village become less and less of that. Families who could no longer […]

WELLFLEET — A familiar foe still lurks in the summer waters, but the unfamiliar foe floating in the air may be distracting from it. With Covid-19 keeping beachgoers vigilant about […]

EASTHAM — Since 1620, the English side of the story of the Pilgrims’ landing at First Encounter Beach, and then Plymouth, has been the version most people learn in these […]

Early on in the coronavirus “quarantine,” many people began new hobbies and activities, or revived old ones that they hadn’t participated in for years. Some people have exercised more or […]

When we became backyard chicken farmers five years ago, I had oodles of enthusiasm, but very little actual knowledge of chickens. I didn’t know, for example, that our six brand-new […]

When the sun is shining, they glow with a bluish hue, standing out from the luminous white marbles, polished granites, and matte-black slates. There are not many of them in […]

When we moved to Wellfleet, my daughters considered it a major upgrade that we’d be getting a mailbox. We had gone from one remote village to another, but this one […]

Two years ago, after watching the Kavanaugh hearings, Katherine Alford chose one of the first recipes she would contribute to the Rage Baking collective: Maple Walnut Pull-apart Bread. Like other […]

Thank you, Peter Watts. The loss of any artist is a double shock, as it dawns on us what has ended. Not only will we never again catch his eye, […]

When a planet spends time in the sign it rules, it is said to be in its domicile, one of the five “dignities” that determine the level of influence it […]

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

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Thursday, Aug. 27 Water & Sewer Board, 1 p.m. Planning Board, 6 p.m. Friday, […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18. Thursday, Aug. 27 Historical Commission, 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1 Board […]

Meetings Ahead From wellfleet-ma.gov, hover your mouse over a date on the calendar on the right of the screen, and click on the meeting you’re interested in to open its […]

Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you’re interested in to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view […]

In an essay accompanying the exhibit “69 Witch Eyes,” Justin Vivian Bond, who uses the pronouns they/them, asks a pertinent question for life during the pandemic: “How do we care […]

In the fall of 2018, Wellfleet artist Megan Hinton entered Mills College in Oakland, Calif., to get an M.F.A., a fine art degree unlike the master’s she’d gotten years ago […]

Though Mischa Richter was widely celebrated as a cartoonist, at The New Yorker and elsewhere, he painted fine art canvases seriously and steadily throughout his life. He said of his […]

Over the last seven weeks, while painting Edge of the Continent/Center of the World, a 64-foot-long watercolor of the Outer Cape dunes, Mark Brennan has been listening to Beethoven. “I […]

Giuseppe Verdi was 77 when he began work on Falstaff, his last and arguably his greatest musical achievement, and his only successful comedy. More than 50 years earlier, he had lost […]

Leave it to satirist Carl Hiaasen to name the house band at Casa Bellicosa “The Collusionists.” Casa Bellicosa, a thinly disguised stand-in for Mar-a-Lago, is the Palm Beach setting at […]

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The Provincetown Schools plan to open next month with online learning only — at least, for the foreseeable future. At the same time, other Outer Cape schools are opening with […]

Laurie Veninger stands up for “de-mail” at the North Truro Post Office with Ira Brodsky and Mark Enright. Veninger said other members of Indivisible Outer Cape gathered at post offices […]

ART The Truro Historical Society Art Sale. Presenting an outdoor art sale at the Highland Museum next to the lighthouse. Featuring paintings by seven local Truro and Provincetown artists: Saturday, […]