TRURO — Since the once-thriving salt-marsh ecosystem called East Harbor was partially reopened to tidal flow in 2002, ocean organisms have been rapidly recolonizing the estuary. Researchers now hope to understand its changing ecology by documenting the success of horseshoe crabs, which have recently been found spawning in East Harbor (sometimes called Pilgrim Lake). Scientists […]
Top Stories
PUBLIC SAFETY
Long History of Ills Led to Willy’s Closing
December crackdown on popular gym followed illicit shindig
EASTHAM — The Dec. 12 order shutting down Willy’s World Wellness & Conference Center is the latest chapter in a long and troubled history of the popular gym. Eastham Building Commissioner Thomas Wingard’s posted notice cited “life safety concerns, numerous violations, including work without permits, failure to maintain equipment, etc.” But new details have emerged […]
REGATTA REDUX
Schooner Regatta Looks for New Skipper
There are plenty of volunteers, but an organizer is needed
PROVINCETOWN — The year 2020 will see the 19th annual Great Provincetown Schooner Regatta, starting on Labor Day and running for four days, as long as somebody steps forward to take charge of organizing the event. Planning usually gets underway in winter. But after nine years at the helm, Cheryl Andrews says she is stepping […]
Art and Photography 2020 Special Edition
Art and Photography: 2020 Special Section
PUBLIC SAFETY
Chief Wants Just One Town Rescue Squad
The question is why
PROVINCETOWN — Fire Chief Michael Trovato says this town needs its own emergency medical service to replace the Lower Cape Ambulance (LCA) Association, the nonprofit that has provided backup service to Provincetown and Truro since 1937. When the chief argued that the VFW land should be reserved for a new police and fire station at […]
NATIONAL SEASHORE
Truro Ghost Town Still Inspires
From the Cold War to the Highlands Center to now
NORTH TRURO — In the Outer Cape’s collective memory, the fear associated with living and working at an Air Force station built to listen for incoming Soviet atomic bombs has faded. Besides being part of America’s mid-century air defense network, the place was a neighborhood. With bingo, a bowling league, softball games, and cheap drinks […]
HOLIDAY
Fuel for Love
Having returned to the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, the annual Yule for Fuel benefit concerts — host Stephen Russell and Chandler Travis, above, at last weekend’s jamboree — will have a new lineup this Saturday, Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m.: Richard Archer, the Beat Greens, Susan Blood, Broadway Central, Dennis Cunningham, Indira Ganesan, Candace Hammond, […]
SPECIAL TOWN MEETING
Move to Alter VFW Plan Fails in Close Vote
Voters lament ‘Sophie’s choice,’ want both housing and public safety
PROVINCETOWN — By a margin of just 19 votes, 157 in favor, 176 against, Monday’s special town meeting rejected Fire Chief Mike Trovato’s plan for the former VFW site on Jerome Smith Road. The sole article on Monday’s warrant — initiated by Trovato’s petition, signed by 203 citizens — would have designated the town-owned 1.3-acre […]
FOWL PLAY
Hunters Take Aim at Phaseout of Pheasant Stocking
National Seashore may halt practice within five years
As upland game season wraps up on Nov. 30, many local hunters worry that a longstanding tradition of pheasant hunting will soon be ending. Following a 2002 court challenge by animal rights groups, the National Park Service is expected to begin phasing out the state’s practice of pheasant stocking, in which non-native ring-necked pheasants are […]
LAND USE
Truro Trust Inks Deal to Buy Beach at Great Hollow
No town funds are expended in $250,000 purchase
TRURO — The Truro Conservation Trust closed on a bayside property on Nov. 1 for $250,000 — far below the original asking price for the 1.1-acre parcel next to Great Hollow Beach. The trust covered the entire cost, with no public money spent. Last year, the property at 2 Kill Devil Road was listed at […]
health
Outer Cape Immunization Rates Among Lowest in State
Just 77% of Wellfleet kindergartners have been fully vaccinated
WELLFLEET — A large number of children who visit the Outer Cape Health Services clinic here are “under-vaccinated” — having not received a full series of standard immunizations against infectious diseases, which are required under state law for school admission. Only 77 percent of the kindergartners at the Wellfleet Elementary School in the past three […]
CIVICS
After Lagging, Local Planning Efforts May Now Pick Up
Cape Cod Commission works to spark plans that are actually implemented
Every town on Cape Cod is encouraged to have a local comprehensive plan, developed in accordance with its residents’ expressed priorities, updated every 10 years, and certified by the Cape Cod Commission — the Cape’s regional planning agency. Only two of 15 towns do. “Ten years goes by pretty quickly,” said Jon Idman, the commission’s […]
CIVICS
Fire Chief Triggers Dec. 2 Town Meeting
Lone article would reserve VFW site for police and fire stations
PROVINCETOWN — Longtime Fire Chief Mike Trovato has turned in a petition with 203 signatures on the future of the VFW site, enough to trigger a special town meeting now set for Monday Dec. 2. The meeting will consider a single article, Trovato’s plan to dedicate the former VFW property at 3 Jerome Smith Road […]
CLIMATE
An Ancient Cycle of Erosion Carves the Beach
What coastal scientists see as a natural process may be accelerating
TRURO — The nor’easter that struck the Outer Cape on Oct. 10 and lingered for almost three days caused massive erosion at Ballston Beach. Sand dunes and bluffs were carved away, exposing the bare clay beneath. The new scenery is unfamiliar — almost Martian in its hues and its bizarre ridged formations cut into the […]
ECONOMY
Oyster Farming Grows in Provincetown
More grants are available as the industry expands
PROVINCETOWN — As recently as 10 years ago, there was only one oyster farmer in Provincetown, and his efforts were small scale and experimental. Nine farmers now land Provincetown oysters at MacMillan Pier and aquaculture operations are approved on 25 acres of deep water in the East End and 38 acres of tidal flats in […]
