“All authority implies an extreme reluctance to admit past error,” wrote British novelist Patrick O’Brian in The Letter of Marque. O’Brian was writing about the Royal Navy, but the truth […]
Editorials
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Dire Demographics
Is the Outer Cape a good place for children to grow up? I’ve always thought so. The natural beauty that has inspired so many artists and writers — the sea, […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Affliction and Comfort
“The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” This crack is attributed to Mr. Dooley, a dyspeptic Irish bartender who was the invention of […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Drama in the Back Pages
Are you the kind who reads the paper cover to cover? I’m thinking of the back of Section B of the Independent, where you will find the legal notices in […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Venture Journalism
George Santos was elected to Congress last month from New York’s Third District, helping the Republican Party take control of the House with a slim majority. Six weeks after the […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Artificial Snow Job
“Hi there! I’m writing to let you know about an incredible new AI tool that can help with various tasks related to website copywriting and SEO. It’s been used by […]
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
Making Good on Housing
I got to report some good news this week: eight years of sustained effort, including major support from the state, have brought the Cloverleaf project in Truro to fruition. A […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Staying in the Fight
In last week’s Independent, Paul Benson reported on the new Provincetown drop-in center of the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod and the long-term battle against sexually transmitted infections and […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Shop With Empathy
For many years, Provincetown has been our favorite place for Christmas shopping. The stores are stylishly stocked, it’s never crowded, the summer prices have come down, and talking with the […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Unsung Musicians
The front page of last Friday’s New York Times had a fascinating story headlined “When Climate Talks Stall, She’ll Find the Words.” It was about Sue Biniaz, a veteran attorney […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Election Aftermath
A week ago we were nervously watching election returns, worried that people had given up on democracy. How different things seem this week. In his election analysis this week, Paul […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
‘Truth & Tradition’
It’s election night, and we are filing the last story on local election results with one ear anxiously tuned to the returns from across the country. As this day approached, […]
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
The Personal Is Political
Katie Couric and I have two things in common: our breasts. We both have dense breast tissue. If you have no idea what I am talking about, consider yourself lucky. […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Questions From the Campaign
Law enforcement and mental health have been in the news a lot recently. We know that a large percentage of the calls that our local police must respond to are […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
The Buzz Is Back
A lot of people were happy last weekend because the Wellfleet OysterFest was back after two festless pandemic years — and I was one of them. It meant that I […]
