PROVINCETOWN — Dress rehearsal is about to begin, and students are dancing around stage lights and props with all the giddiness of an ensemble that’s preparing to take the stage […]
FISCAL CRISIS
Wellfleet Departments Face Painful Cuts in ‘Contingency’ Budget
Preschool vouchers, swimming lessons, library hours on the chopping block
WELLFLEET — One after another last week, town department heads detailed the painful cuts they would need to make if a proposed $518,820 Proposition 2½ override for operating expenses doesn’t […]
RESTORATION
Preservation Hall’s Doors Have Come Home
‘Strange but magical,’ they embody stories of escape and renewal
WELLFLEET — As you walk down Main Street, past quaint shops with nautical-themed signs, you might be stopped in your tracks by the sight of the doors at Wellfleet Preservation […]
STAFFING CRISIS
Cape Cod Village Operates at Half Capacity
The residence for adults with autism needs 40 more staff members
ORLEANS — Psychotherapists Lauren and Bob Jones finally saw the results of 11 years of hard work. The couple’s dream of creating a home for their son Alexander and other […]
FISCAL CRISIS
Wellfleet Will Face a Budget Crunch, $1.77M in Overrides
Without an override, town services will have to be cut
WELLFLEET — Town officials are now backing away from their previous assurances that municipal accounts would be balanced, an audit completed, and free cash certified by the state in time […]
CIVICS
Playing Ball at Truro Town Meeting
A sunny-then-moody field day with blue slips and blankets
TRURO — As the crowd dwindled after the first day of town meeting on Saturday, two-year-old Harper Richter and five-year-old Mica Richter ran from inside Truro Central School to greet […]
WELLFLEET VOTE
DeVasto and Carboni Elected to Select Board
Voter turnout dropped by 5 percent from a year ago
WELLFLEET — Incumbent Michael DeVasto and newcomer Barbara Carboni were elected to three-year terms on the select board in Monday’s annual town election. Just over 25 percent, 763, of the […]
ENVIRONMENT
Searching for Alternatives to ‘Beach Nourishment’
Oystermen say ‘sacrificial sand’ is burying their shellfish grants
WELLFLEET — To preserve eroding property and maintain beaches, thousands of cubic yards of so-called sacrificial sand is piled on coastal banks and bay shores here. It does not stay […]
FIRST RESPONSE
A Surfer from Maine Dies at Lecount Hollow Beach
Martin Mackey, 48, an educator from Brunswick, was surfing with his son
WELLFLEET — A surfer visiting from Maine died after being pulled from the ocean at Lecount Hollow Beach on April 20, according to the Cape and Islands district attorney’s office. […]
DEVELOPMENT
Wellfleet Offers $6.5M for Maurice’s Campground
The deal would leave the 21-acre site unchanged for 6 years
WELLFLEET — The select board has signed a purchase-and-sale agreement for the 72-year-old Maurice’s Campground and its 21.25 acres of land for $6.5 million. The board presented the purchase as […]
EROSION
Hidden Septic Tank Lands on Wellfleet Beach
As shorelines retreat, a collective effort will be needed to clean up the coast
WELLFLEET — On beaches along this eroding coastline, it’s common to stumble upon strange artifacts, from PVC pipes to electrical wires to concrete rubble. The most recent discovery: a broken […]
RIGHTS
Suit Stalls Underground Housing
Neighbors oppose ‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind’ project
TRURO — In spite of the signs in residents’ yards and on windowsills proclaiming that “Housing Is a Human Right,” efforts to create an underground campsite as a solution to […]
NESTING
Inside the Seasonal Homes of the Ospreys
Decorating with flip-flops, T-shirts, rosary beads, golf balls, fishing poles, and a Barbie
Come April, ospreys — the large raptors also known as sea hawks — make their thousands-of-miles-long journeys from South America back to Cape Cod to nest. A peek inside their […]
PAPER ROADS
Six Wellfleet Houses Cut Off by Eroding Sand Road
After three years of permit approvals, a solution is blocked by a lawsuit
WELLFLEET — After two January nor’easters, an eroding road has cut off six oceanfront property owners from access to their houses. “Each storm compromises the area even further,” said Douglas […]
TOWN HALL
Wellfleet Hires a New Town Accountant
Nick Robertson says he will ‘find that last penny’
WELLFLEET — Nick Robertson starts work as the new town accountant this Monday, April 4. For the last five years he has been Provincetown’s assistant town accountant. He sees the […]