This was written in a dune shack in the Province Lands, where, on the day we arrived, the well was not pumping any water. We rationed our limited supply. Until […]
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Law Enforcement and Our Mental Health Crisis
Locking people up has never been a good approach to psychiatric illness
I was in a Brewster back yard on a recent sunny Sunday afternoon that was made for the beach but was instead an introduction to some unfamiliar — to me […]
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Remembering Susan Quinones
An advocate for human rights who inspired by listening
Cape Cod lost a powerful leader last week, and I lost a dear friend and colleague. Susan L. Quinones, Esq., who was coordinator for the Barnstable County Human Rights Advisory […]
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A Debate on Citizen Petitions
How many signatures should be required?
Basic issues of democratic process sometimes arise in the most apparently mundane proceedings. The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates recently held a hearing on an ordinance proposed by the Cape […]
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Dividing the ARPA Millions
Helping neighbors who are having a hard time is a priority
Forty-two million dollars sounds like a pile of money. Until it gets divided up. Across the Cape this month, the glint of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds has […]
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Stuck in Virtual Reality
Learning, reluctantly, to work together remotely
I’m a meeting guy. I have always been motivated to get together in a room with others and work to find collaborative solutions to the issues of the day. Serving […]
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Public Health and Medicare for All
The full spectrum of preventive care should be available to everyone
One of the clearest lessons of the Covid-19 pandemic is that, for society as a whole to be healthy, everyone needs access to health care. Untested and untreated people in […]
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Let’s Change the Power Structure
Short-term profits won’t allow us to strengthen our fragile electric service
The last week of October brought fierce winds, broken trees and poles, and power outages. In Provincetown, no one had electricity for the first day, and in large sections of […]
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Human Rights Begin Here
That’s why we have a commission that hears complaints about abuses
“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home — so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the […]
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The Covid Cluster: What We Must Do Now
We cannot be ‘back to normal,’ no matter how much we want to be
We had been so careful, keeping our distance, and doing all the right containment measures. Then came an explosive Delta-variant Covid outbreak in Provincetown. For a while, case counts doubled […]
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We’ve Learned to Collaborate. Let’s Keep Going.
What if the pandemic response were to be expanded and broadened?
The more stories I hear from friends and colleagues, the more I am convinced that the numerous changes in our lives resulting from the pandemic response have not been all […]
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The Machine Guns on the Horizon
Voices opposing the National Guard’s plan were not heard
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 […]
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We Need a Stronger, More Integrated Public Health System
Some powerful lessons learned from a year of pandemic
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 […]
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The Rising Tide of Hate
Have we reached a tipping point in addressing human rights?
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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Common Hopes Lead to Consensus on Climate Action
A local example of how government ought to work
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 […]
