The holidays brought a boom-and-bust cycle on availability of rapid, at-home Covid-19 tests. Town officials have been trying to hand out free kits to residents while pharmacies have been selling […]
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PROVINCETOWN: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
Meetings Ahead in Provincetown
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 […]
TRURO: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
Meetings Ahead in Truro
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. Wednesday, Jan. 5 […]
WELLFLEET: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
Meetings Ahead in Wellfleet
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
Meetings Ahead in Eastham
Most meetings are being held in person, but some are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting you are interested in to learn about meeting locations and […]
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 […]
ON THE WATERFRONT
Eastham Pulls Out of Nauset Dredging Plan
After investing $600K, Orleans unlikely to find a way forward
EASTHAM — At a joint meeting with the Orleans Select Board on Dec. 13, the Eastham Select Board voted unanimously to pull out of the Nauset Estuary Dredge permitting process. […]
WELLFLEET’S ACCOUNTS
1,000 Errors Fixed So Far, As Search Continues
Free cash certification is now delayed until January
WELLFLEET — More than a thousand errors have been corrected in the town’s books for fiscal year 2020, interim Town Administrator Charles Sumner announced to the select board at its […]
ADDICTION
Towns, County Will Get Paltry Payouts From Opioid Suit
But millions will go to the state and a flawed treatment system
Payments from a massive class action lawsuit awarded to towns and counties hit by the opioid epidemic will be no more than a few thousand dollars a year. But the […]
FISHERIES
Judge Rules Against Gloucester Clammer ‘Monte’ Rome
Questions about enforcement of hydraulic dredging rules remain
PROVINCETOWN — A Barnstable Superior Court judge last month ordered the North Shore owner of a 70-foot sea clam boat to pay $7,500 in docking fees and obtain a permit […]
HOUSING CRISIS
Town Meeting Will Decide Funding and Possible Development Sites
Majority of select board favors stronger inclusionary bylaw revision
PROVINCETOWN — The local housing crisis will be on the table repeatedly at the 2022 annual town meeting in a slate of warrant articles to allocate money for housing, to […]
MILLION-YEAR PICNIC
In Search of the Christmas Supernova
Science can’t tell us a lot about that fabled star in the East, but it’s fun to ask
People have been telling stories about the stars for a long time. We have written accounts from the ancient Egyptians and Sumerians from 5,000 years ago and references to oral […]
LIGHTBULB MOMENT
Wellfleet’s Long-Awaited Solar Array Is Up and Running
The project stalled because title to land for a utility pole was unclear
WELLFLEET — After a two-year delay, Wellfleet’s solar array is “on.” The power company Eversource and the solar contractor Ameresco flipped the switch on Dec. 9, bringing online 2,400 solar […]
PIER REVIEW
Who Should Pay to Repair an Aging Pier?
A longstanding argument about dockage rates is about to resume
PROVINCETOWN — Twenty years after an $18-million reconstruction, MacMillan Pier — the town’s economic and cultural heart — needs work. All agree on that. What is disputed is who should […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Dec. 21 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
