PROVINCETOWN — Over New Year’s weekend, Cape Air grappled with a spike in symptomatic Covid-19 cases among its work force. As of Monday, Jan. 3, the airline had 30 staff members […]
ECOLOGY
Snackdown: River Herring Versus Stripers and Snappers
Studies show that manmade structures funnel herring into predators’ mouths
WELLFLEET — In the summer, alewives and bluebacks — two species of herring that in spring migrate from the coastal marshes here to the Herring River’s kettle ponds — stay in […]
ENVIRONMENT
Bush-Whacking With AmeriCorps
A band of eight based in Wellfleet support environmental initiatives up and down the Cape
On the afternoon of Monday, Dec. 13, the Wellfleet AmeriCorps cohort — a band of eight 20-somethings, fresh out of college — rolled up near the Shank Painter Wildlife Sanctuary, just off […]
THE YEAR IN ECOLOGY
Salt Marshes Through the Seasons, So Far
Six months’ worth of lessons about life on the tides for bloodsuckers, turtles, grasses, and golf balls
WELLFLEET — Throughout August, the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater spritzed the outdoor set of Nat Turner in Jerusalem with bug spray, so performers Ricardy Fabre and Robert St. Laurence could […]
HEALTH CARE
Need for Rooms at Cape Cod Hospital Exceeds Capacity
Patients face difficult choices about elective surgeries
HYANNIS — Cape Cod Hospital has been dealing with a triple threat: a recent swell in incoming Covid-19 patients, a backlog of inpatient discharges, and a pandemic-driven staffing shortage. The […]
ECONOMY
Babe’s, a ‘Museum Restaurant,’ Loses Its License
Business that opens for just a few days a year is deemed ‘non-functioning’
TRURO — The owner of Babe’s Restaurant and Bakery at 65 Shore Road was denied a renewal of its seasonal common victualer license by the select board on Nov. 16 after […]
TURTLE TALK
Audubon Volunteers Rescue More Than 400 Sea Turtles
Chilly waters mean cold-stunned turtles
WELLFLEET — By now, sea turtles, like hundreds of Outer Cape residents, have headed south to dodge the frost. Where these two seasonal populations diverge: reptiles actually paddle out of […]
STATE OF THE HARBOR
Shellfish Propagation Strategies Reap Promising Results
Insights from research on how to keep clams ‘happy’ and where oysters might grow
WELLFLEET — Sometime in June, a fleet of pickup trucks rumbled into the Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot and met for a handoff. Their drivers were “not making a drug deal,” […]
SCHOOLS
The Ups and Downs of the Truro Sixth Grade Question
Small-school benefits versus social and academic issues
TRURO — When Caroline Townsend was finishing fifth grade at Truro Central School (TCS) in 2012, her parents asked her which sixth grade option she preferred: board the bus for Nauset […]
AGING IN PLACE
Eastham Police Learn How to Interact With the Disoriented
Accommodations for Alzheimer’s might be helpful to all
EASTHAM — Elaine Lipton got a call from an in-home aide who’d arrived to cook dinner for her 85-year-old dad and found his home empty. The car was gone, but […]
EMERGENCY RESPONSE
Truro Fire Department Survives a ‘Staffing Crisis’
But the town braces for the possible loss of Lower Cape Ambulance
TRURO — The fire and rescue dept. has weathered what town officials called a “severe staffing shortage” last month when, according to an Oct. 12 press release, the department was down […]
THE DREDGE REPORT
Shellfishermen, Scientists Study Wellfleet’s Goo
‘Black custard’ isn’t toxic, but it can be perilous
WELLFLEET — Chopper Young was working on his oyster grant one day when a shrill note pierced Chipman’s Cove. Stranded in the mucky tidal flats was a woman in a kayak. […]
MEDICINE
In Provincetown, a Family Fights a Rare Ailment
Research on Machado-Joseph disease honors Veronica and Mark Silva
PROVINCETOWN — For her family and friends, Veronica Silva’s 80th birthday party on June 15, 2012 was more of a living funeral than a celebration, recalled her son David Silva, […]
FAMILY HISTORY
From the Mayflower to the Double Dragon
Way Yin Yuen explains his Toisanese and Puritan roots
At Nauset Regional High School, says Way Yin Yuen, he was known as “that Asian kid.” But, the 1996 graduate says he was largely spared racial smears growing up — save […]
TURTLE TALK
Mass Audubon Volunteers Release Record Number of Terrapin Hatchlings
Hurricane Ida’s remnants unleash droves of diamondback babies
WELLFLEET — The day after Hurricane Ida’s rainy remnants swept across the Cape on Sept. 2, Jessica Ciarcia of Massachusetts Audubon arrived on Lieutenant Island for a diamondback terrapin monitoring […]
