“Yesterday,” sang the young Paul McCartney, “all my troubles seemed so far away.” According to most sources, the Beatles’ song is the most covered in history, with more than 2,000 […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Plum Visions for 2024
The people making predictions about what’s going to happen in 2024 have not exactly been spreading visions of peace, love, and prosperity. Depending on which expert you ask, you’re likely […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Lights in the Darkness
We’re heading into the shortest days of the year — but the darkness has been feeling especially heavy lately. The suffering and ill will in the world press in and […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
The Cost of Paranoia
Journalists like to say they serve as watchdogs, ready to bark when they uncover abuses by the powerful — especially by government officials. A healthy skepticism about the performance of […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Algorithm Blues
Northwestern University’s Penelope Abernathy has come out with another study on the demise of local newspapers — her specialty. More bad news, she says. Papers are disappearing at the rate […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Standing Together
The news from the Middle East has been unbearable, and I have avoided writing about it here. There are days when I cannot bring myself even to read the latest […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Undesirable Attitudes
The acute labor shortage on the Outer Cape would likely become massively worse under a second Donald Trump presidency — which appears increasingly probable if you believe public opinion polls. […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Headlines Are Hard
Writing headlines is one of the hardest jobs at a newspaper. The available space is small, so the head can have only a few words, but it has to reflect […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
A Crime in Provincetown
The first time I met Provincetown Police Chief Jim Golden, back when I was an editor at the Banner, he told me his reason for refusing to answer questions about […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Delusion Dies in Daylight
Those of us who believe that New England’s peculiar town meeting form of government has unique value sometimes refer to it as the purest version of democracy. It’s not without […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
A Rebuttal
Our subscriber Elizabeth Perillo in Woodstock, Ga. was offended by two photographs in the Sept. 7 edition of the Independent. Her letter to the editor last week said the pictures […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Rural Radicals
Several of us at the Independent spent a couple of days last week in Keene, N.H. at the Radically Rural Summit, which I have mentioned in this column before. We […]
BABYCAKES
Welcome, Keagan
Keagan Lee Hegg was born on July 29, 2023 at Cape Cod Hospital to Kyle and Kaitlyn (Silva) Hegg of Dennis Port. She weighed 7 pounds, 3.3 ounces and was […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
The Island of Truro
Five years ago, Walter Rowell, who was then 21, ran for Wellfleet Select Board. His campaign featured some unusual proposals, including his idea that Wellfleet and Provincetown should “annex” Truro, […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Local News, Local Economy
Last week a group of 22 prominent funders, led by the MacArthur Foundation, announced “a national initiative to strengthen communities and democracy by supporting local news” with grants totaling more […]