It’s town meeting season, time for that strange civic ritual we like to think of as an exercise in pure democracy. This spring’s turnout looks good so far: 448 voters […]
Opinion
From ed to op-ed and beyond.
Browse all Opinion stories below or dive into a topic:
VIGNETTE
Early Birds
UP A CREEK
GoFundWellfleet
The select board dreams up incentives to help save the town
Wellfleet officials recently described the town’s financial records as “a ball of yarn continually unraveling” and told this newspaper that “more than 1,000 errors were corrected in the town’s books […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
A Friend in Dnipro
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has created an instant transformation in many people’s geographical knowledge of a previously little-known part of the world. Suddenly, places that hardly anyone had ever […]
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters, March 31, 2022
From Miriam Spencer, Ngina Lythcott, and Jack W. Dean
‘My Hair Was on Fire’ To the editor: I take umbrage at K.C. Myers’s assertion that “no one said a word” about Wellfleet’s financial issues before the Dept. of Revenue intervened […]
VIGNETTE
Peepers’ Orchestra
THE YEAR-ROUNDER
Lost in Town
After 50 years of navigation, still geographically challenged
I might as well confess it: I am geographically challenged. If you spent any time with me, you would know. Without a map, I have a hard time remembering where […]
CLASS ACTION
Recusal
David Comberg, Pamela Hovland, and Jacqueline Thaw are members of Class Action Collective, creating visual messages to advocate for social change. The group aims to challenge the way public issues are […]
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters, March 24, 2022
From Elaine McIlroy, John A. Wolf, Stephen Greenberg, and Paul C. Mendes
Affordable Housing on Lawrence Road To the editor: I write to correct some of the statements in Edina Kopits’s March 17 letter to the editor [“For a ‘Workers Village’ ”] […]
LETTER FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR
Tell Me How You Really Feel
Talking to public officials is a frustrating job. They have a tendency to talk in circles, or in legalese. They sometimes excuse dishonesty by saying that they’re trying to build […]
VIGNETTE
Spring Cleaning
REFUGE
Children’s Worries About War
In Poland, a mother explains the politics of aggression
Many of my friends in Poland have families from Ukraine in their homes now. One friend, Marta Shaw, a philologist at the Institute of Public Affairs at the Jagiellonian University […]
COUNTY LINE
A Debate on Citizen Petitions
How many signatures should be required?
Basic issues of democratic process sometimes arise in the most apparently mundane proceedings. The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates recently held a hearing on an ordinance proposed by the Cape […]
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters, March 17, 2022
From Edina Kopits, Catherine Russo, Keith Thurlow, Phineas Baxandall, and Sharon Rule-Agger
For a ‘Workers Village’ To the editor: Re Edward Ebert’s letter of March 10 [“Wellfleet’s ‘Financial Rotary’ ”]: Finally, a voice in the wilderness that makes sense. I wish to […]
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Stepping Up in Wellfleet
A lot of readers of the Independent have been asking, “What can be done about Wellfleet?” I’m not sure what the answer is, but I have a few ideas. The […]
