TRURO — A 70-foot groundfishing vessel, the F/V Guardian out of New Bedford, ran aground on the back shore here on Jan. 3, about a mile north of Wellfleet’s Newcomb […]
Local Journalism Project
TAXATION
Eastham Board Votes 3 to 2 Against RTE
‘Need-based alternatives’ dominate 90-minute discussion
EASTHAM — For the fifth year in a row, the select board voted 3 to 2 on Monday against adopting a residential tax exemption (RTE) for the coming fiscal year. […]
TRURO TREASURE
DPW Price Tag Will Be $26M to $30M, Says Project Manager
Updated cost estimates reignite concerns as design process lags
TRURO — The projected cost of an upgraded Dept. of Public Works (DPW) facility, which has been on the town’s agenda for at least 13 years, has climbed back up […]
HAWKWATCH
Irma Penniman, Keeper of the Gate
How a sea captain’s granddaughter who grew up in Eastham saved America’s hawks
In the early 1900s, a slaughter took place every fall in the mountains above Drehersville, Pa. at the foot of Blue Mountain, a ridge of the Appalachians in the eastern […]
DRAWING LIFE
On the Hunt for Courtney Allen
The illustrator who rendered America in myth and modernity
On a long wooden table in the quiet confines of the Cobb Archive in Truro, the beasts don’t circle as much as they overlap, still menacing but yellowed with time. […]
PARENTING
Piecing Together Postpartum Care on the Outer Cape
Nurses, doulas, and support groups provide reassurance and company
TRURO — On a Thursday morning in early December, Rana O’Laughlin arrives at Jelena Duarte’s house, greeted by Pickle the cat and Duarte’s 18-month-old daughter, Vera. The atmosphere is subdued, […]
MORNING FLIGHT
When a Bird Ignores Its Zugunruhe
Looking for lingerers and finding the reasons some birds stay here for the winter
Zugunruhe is one of those perfect German words that have no equivalent in English, so we Anglophones just decided to steal it outright. The word translates as “migration-anxiety” and describes […]
TRACK
A New Runner Sets Her Sights on an Old Record
For Amina Iliusinova, America is an invitation to take sports seriously
EASTHAM — Amina Iliusinova had never run track before she joined the team at Nauset Regional High School as a junior last spring. She had been a high jumper at […]
ASSESSED VALUE
Eastham Board Will Reconsider Residential Tax Exemption
The optional state policy would shift more of tax burden onto seasonal houses
EASTHAM — At the select board’s last discussion of the residential tax exemption (RTE) in January 2024, the four members who were present were evenly split: Aimee Eckman and Jerry […]
VIBES
Tuning In to Tranquility
A winter sound bath, because no flower stays in bloom year-round
You might think about a ringing bell and imagine the force that preceded the sound: there’s a clapper oscillating back and forth in response to the flick of an impatient […]
WARRIORS WATCH
Nauset Wrestling Welcomes Five Tech Students
This year’s team is up to 21 members but is still missing some weight classes
SANDWICH — Chaz Thomas walked onto the wrestling mat at the open meet at Sandwich Middle High School on Saturday, Dec. 14 and greeted his opponent. “He’s probably the strongest […]
TRURO HOUSING
Five Years of Fits and Starts for Walsh Property
A new ad hoc committee is told that water supply is the project’s next major hurdle
This article was updated on Dec. 10, 2024. TRURO — Political roadblocks, infrastructure challenges, and bureaucratic delays have kept the 69.9-acre Walsh property in a kind of limbo since Truro’s […]
IN THE DEEP
$2M Grant to Fishermen’s Alliance Means More Boats Gathering Ocean Data
Center for Coastal Studies will install sensors to expand a measurement network
CHATHAM — Strange things have been happening in recent years in the Gulf of Maine, the 36,000 square miles of relatively enclosed ocean stretching from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia. […]
GAMBITS
Nauset Chess Is a Winning Tradition
Lucas Wilson-Bevington bests Joey Smith in Miles Tibbetts Tournament
EASTHAM — Few onlookers were surprised when Joey Smith and Lucas Wilson-Bevington sat down across from each other at a table in Nauset Regional High School’s new cafeteria for the […]
WAMPANOAG RECLAMATION
Budget Shortfall Looms at School Where Children Learn Wôpanâak
Federal funds support language immersion, but that’s not easy to do here
MASHPEE — Nitana Greendeer of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe knows that children are the key to preserving the Wôpanâak language. “When you haven’t got 20, 30, 40 years of English […]