PROVINCETOWN — The lack of affordable and available year-round housing is a crisis on the Outer Cape, but at least it’s one for which communities have tools — from federal […]
THE SELECT BOARD RACE
Lise King: ‘I Love Doing the Work’
The incumbent says she’s just hitting her stride
PROVINCETOWN — In the three-way race for a single seat on Provincetown’s select board, Lise King, 56, is the incumbent. Her argument for a second term is that she loves […]
DEMAND & DEMAND
Businesses Foresee Huge Season Ahead
But lack of housing for staff is a looming crisis
PROVINCETOWN — Cape Cod’s business and political leaders say the stars are aligning for a record-breaking “biggest season ever” for summer tourism. A third of Americans have already received one […]
RISING WATERS
Before the Deluge: Plans for Commercial Street
‘Creative adaptation’ to flooding and insurance
PROVINCETOWN — Floodwaters are a primal force, invading the landscape, insisting that things must change. In the January 2018 flood, for example, seawater coursed down Gosnold Street and filled a […]
STIMULUS
$41 Million in Covid Relief Headed to County
Federal rescue plan is a boon to state and towns
PROVINCETOWN — The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which President Biden signed into law on March 11, will siphon a lot of money to Cape Cod’s local governments in the […]
PROVINCETOWN ELECTION
3 Vie for 1 Spot on P’town Select Board
Sandberg and Conklin Will Challenge King
PROVINCETOWN — Select board member Lise King, 56, will have two challengers in the May 11 annual town election. Leslie Sandberg, 58, a partner in the communications firm Rose, Sandberg […]
COVID UPDATE
Slowly But Surely, Vaccines
Everyone age 60 to 64 and many who work in public are now eligible for Covid vaccinations, including restaurant, retail, grocery, public works, transportation, and sanitation workers. There are several […]
THE NEW MANAGER
Alex Morse Believes Connection Is What Makes Government Work
Fed up with campaigns, he’s hungry for the ‘meat and potatoes of governing’
PROVINCETOWN — Alex Morse will have been mayor of Holyoke for just over nine years when he resigns at the end of March to take up his new job as […]
SHOP-SHIFTING
Provincetown’s Retail Sector Gets Clean Bill of Health
Some locations have shuffled, but vacancies are few
PROVINCETOWN — An early and persistent fear about the pandemic was that small businesses in town would tumble, and Commercial Street would end up lined with shuttered storefronts. Another worry […]
COVID-19 UPDATE
Statewide Pre-Registration Is Now Available
A more orderly and less traumatic system
People who are currently eligible for a vaccine, or who will be eligible later in phase two, can now put their names and contact information into a statewide pre-registration system […]
ECONOMY
Unemployment Mess Threatens Coverage for Some
Pandemic response expands and complicates eligibility
PROVINCETOWN — Unemployment insurance dates back to the New Deal, but it played a starring role in keeping Americans solvent during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Century Foundation, more […]
WINDOW TO A WINDFALL
DOR Releases Numbers on Short-Term Rental Tax Revenue
Bounty can now be channeled toward specific local initiatives
PROVINCETOWN — After more than a year of telling town officials that it could not be done, the Mass. Dept. of Revenue has released data on the new tax on […]
STIMULI
Covid Relief Targets Outer Cape’s Smallest Businesses
Programs fill earlier gaps in CARES Act awards
PROVINCETOWN — When much of the American economy was forced to shut down last March due to Covid, Congress passed trillions of dollars of relief spending in just weeks. There […]
HOUSING
The View From Harbor Hill
Provincetown’s market-rate rental tenants talk about ‘a place that feels like home’
PROVINCETOWN — Harbor Hill was built as a time-share complex, to host people enjoying a week or two of vacation. After sitting vacant for years, then being bought by Provincetown’s […]
ELDER CARE
Privacy Protections Leave Gaps in Covid Death Reports
Data from assisted living facilities are mostly blacked out
PROVINCETOWN — When it comes to Covid, Massachusetts is pro-data. The Dept. of Public Health (DPH) publishes a weekly Covid report, daily Covid updates, and a weekly report on vaccinations. […]