PROVINCETOWN — Developer Christine Barker’s plan to demolish the Old Reliable Fish House, replacing its ruins with a luxury hotel, restaurant, and condo development, has been stalled for the last […]
News
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HOUSING
As Rooms Tax Booms, Budget Decision Looms
Provincetown Select Board has $4.7 million to parcel out
PROVINCETOWN — At its first meeting of the new year, Provincetown’s select board will have a pleasant problem on its agenda: more money than it expected. With $2.2 million in […]
TOWN FINANCES
Eastham Likely to Need Budget Override, Says Bienvenue
Proposition 2½ makes it harder to keep pace with inflation pressures
EASTHAM –– Property taxes are projected to rise by 3.48 percent in fiscal 2023 (or $177 for a property of average assessed value), Finance Director Rich Bienvenue told the select […]
AVIATION
Cape Air Copes With New Year’s Weekend Covid Spike
The company avoided pandemic furloughs, but a national pilot shortage still hits home
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 […]
HOME/MAKING
Baker’s Belvernon Enters a New Era
Historic elements found in the basement and attic reappear in renovations
WELLFLEET — Jay and Allison Bombara love history. Jay is president of the historical society in Farmington, Conn., where the couple live most of the year in an antique house, […]
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 […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Jan. 4 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
THAT $41 MILLION
County Government Prepares to Distribute ARPA ‘Pot of Gold’
Water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure are officials’ top priorities
Money from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is already flowing into most cities and towns across Massachusetts. But not on Cape Cod. That’s because most of the county […]
PROVINCETOWN: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
St. Mary’s Saturday Lunches
Some meetings are in person, some online, and some are both. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch to see if a remote option is available. Thursday, […]
TRURO: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
In Search of Test Kits
All meetings in Truro are remote only. Go to truro-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. The agenda includes instructions on how to join. Thursday, Jan. 6 […]
WELLFLEET: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
Town Hall Office Hours Reduced
All meetings in Wellfleet are remote only and can be watched online. Go to wellfleet-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch, then follow the instructions on the […]
EASTHAM: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
Juice Stand Opens
Most meetings are being held in person, but some are still remote or virtual. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to learn about meeting […]
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 […]
PILGRIM NUCLEAR
Fishing Community Raises Alarm on Radioactive Water
Releases into Cape Cod Bay began as early as 2011, NRC documents show
PLYMOUTH — The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station had slowly drifted out of the public’s consciousness in the years since the troubled reactor’s final shutdown in 2019. But the region’s residents […]
THE RAT REPORT
Town Eschews Poison in Favor of Education
Is rodent birth control the solution?
PROVINCETOWN — Rats are both intelligent and resourceful, requiring those same traits in the humans who would like to get rid of them without also poisoning pets and wildlife. On […]