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TAXATION

Eastham Board Votes 3 to 2 Against RTE

‘Need-based alternatives’ dominate 90-minute discussion

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EASTHAM — For the fifth year in a row, the select board voted 3 to 2 on Monday against adopting a residential tax exemption (RTE) for the coming fiscal year. […]

REMEMBRANCE

Commanding and Modest, Ike Williams Dies at 86

The attorney, literary agent, and author who seemed to know everyone

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John Taylor Williams, known to all as Ike, died on Dec. 26, 2024 at his home in Cambridge, surrounded by family. He was 86. Ike lived much of every year […]

NUMBERS GAME

When Housing Stability Arrives by Lottery

Provincetown’s affordable-ownership lotteries offer a chance at an elusive dream

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PROVINCETOWN — Humberto Ortega and Maria Pinelo were working at Shirts N Stuff on Commercial Street on Aug. 1 when Deputy Housing Director Mackenzie Perry called Ortega on his cell […]

RESOLUTIONS

Decluttering With Mom

A successful redistribution of stuff, with empathy for all that’s aspirational

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In early December, I visited my mom at her house, a small cottage in Hyannis, where we had plans to set up her Christmas decorations. But when I arrived, she […]

THE WHOLE TABLE

Color Me Kitchari

The bright and flavorful secrets of a favorite feel-good one-pot meal

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I have very strong opinions about food colors. My friends have already heard me out on this: I will not touch anything that has Red No. 3, Yellow No. 40, […]

MEET THE MAKER

When Glass Speaks

John Best’s sparkling boxes are made of movement, sound, and color

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In his basement studio in Wellfleet, John Best is sweeping fragments of glass out of the way, searching for his early-1900s optician’s pliers. He finds them: the business end of […]

NATURAL SELECTION

She’ll Be Green, Come Spring

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What future does Cassandra see for herself in the winter reflection of a Wellfleet kettle pond? Probably one that involves rain or snow. Or ducks. The ericaceous shrub Chamaedaphne calyculata, […]

THE PLUNGE

Polar Bears Go All In for Sharks

230 swimmers raise $25K for Coastal Studies shark research

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PROVINCETOWN — Thick fog and relatively balmy 47-degree air greeted the brave participants lined up at Provincetown Harbor for the Polar Bear Plunge on New Year’s Day. The water was […]

ROCK ON

Curling Glides Into a New Season

Beginners are welcome when the Lower Cape Curling Club takes the ice

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ORLEANS — The third part of the answer to the Sphinx’s riddle for Oedipus was on view, with a twist, at Charles Moore Arena in Orleans on Jan. 5, where […]

RARA AVIS

This Week’s Bird Sightings

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Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Jan. 7 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]

ASTRAL PROJECTIONS

This Is No Time for Resolutions

The stars and nature suggest rest and recovery

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Every year it’s the same song and dance: we emphasize resolutions, as if we’re going to completely change our lives the minute the calendar rolls over. We’re a week into […]

TOWN HALL

Wellfleet Gets New Assistant Town Administrator

John Bugbee, who formerly worked in Wayland and Tisbury, started on Dec. 4

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WELLFLEET — Millis resident John Bugbee began work as Wellfleet’s assistant town administrator on Dec. 4, filling a key staff position that had been open for nearly a year. A […]

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