This article was updated on Jan. 30, 2025. WELLFLEET — With young families finding the Outer Cape increasingly unaffordable, elementary school enrollment has plunged by about 30 percent since the […]
News
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ENVIRONMENT
Wellfleet Adopts New Septic Regulations
Priorities: upgrades, cesspool removal in stages, and case-by-case decisions
WELLFLEET — The board of health approved a new set of septic system regulations at its Jan. 22 meeting. The rules are an essential part of the town’s Targeted Watershed […]
ON THE WATERFRONT
Provincetown Pursues 6-Year $12M Plan for MacMillan Pier
A proper ferry terminal and floating docks for fleet will replace gazebo and aging piers
PROVINCETOWN — Every year, about a quarter-million passengers arrive or depart from the ferry terminal at the tip of Provincetown’s MacMillan Pier. Meanwhile, a fleet of commercial fishing vessels unload […]
TRURO PUBLIC WORKS
Final DPW Funding Plans Are Taking Shape
The select board approves a timeline; no funds for assessment at 340 Route 6
TRURO — Three months before town meeting, the effort to replace Truro’s Dept. of Public Works (DPW) facility is gaining momentum. The ad hoc building committee, tasked with recommending a […]
STORM DEFENSE
After Flooding, Bulkheads Will Be Raised in Provincetown’s East End
The owners of three adjoining parcels have received permission to fortify their defenses
PROVINCETOWN — The owners of 599 Commercial St. and two adjacent pathways that belong to properties across the street — one numbered 597A Commercial and one that is part of […]
FISCAL DUTIES
Wellfleet Debuts Joint Committee to Review Draft Budget
Guerino, foreseeing a tight squeeze, awaits free cash certification to present final figures
WELLFLEET — Town Administrator Tom Guerino is even busier than usual, says his executive assistant, as Wellfleet embarks on a new kind of financial review. For the first time, a […]
OPPORTUNITY ZONE
Eastham Task Force Plans a Walkable Business District
New zoning codes aim for middle-income homes and year-round businesses
EASTHAM — It hardly looks like the Eastham so many of us know. Locals chat on benches edged with flowers, while visitors dine under red umbrellas at the sidewalk’s edge. […]
REAL ESTATE
Bank Sells Mortgage on Troubled Seashore Park Inn
Tech entrepreneurs now hold the note on a motel used for seasonal worker housing
ORLEANS — Software entrepreneurs Patricia and Thomas R. Kennedy, who live in Miami Beach, Fla. but own properties in Brewster and Harwich, have purchased the mortgage note for the financially […]
ON THE EDGE
Owner of House on Eroding Bluff Blames Town
Bonomi’s lawyer says he won’t be responsible for fate of former Blasch house
WELLFLEET — The conservation commission had been expecting to see plans on Jan. 15 for demolition of the large house now close to the edge of a quickly eroding bluff […]
MORNING FLIGHT
Odd Ducks
Hybrids challenge our assumptions about ‘species’
What do you do when you see a bird that looks like no bird you’ve seen before — not even in photos or illustrations or anywhere? A few days after […]
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. 28 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
NATURAL SELECTION
Brambling On
The Rubus genus of blackberries is so enormous and complex — there are nearly 30 species found in New England alone and they love to hybridize — that telling them […]
PROVINCETOWN: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
Catching Shipwrecks
Meetings Ahead Most meetings in Provincetown are held in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you want to attend on the calendar at provincetown-ma.gov for a […]
TRURO: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
Taking Climate Action Locally
Meetings Ahead Meetings in Truro are often held remotely. Go to Truro-ma.gov and click on the meeting you are interested in for an agenda and details on how to join. […]
WELLFLEET: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
Staffing the Fuel Dock
Meetings Ahead Most meetings in Wellfleet are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you are interested in on the calendar at wellfleet-ma.gov for details. All […]
