PROVINCETOWN — An air of excitement hovered over the West End last Friday afternoon. Herring Cove beachgoers cycled past black SUVs and suited men with earpieces and sunglasses. Further down […]
Top Stories
WILDLIFE
Herpetologist Meets Bears on the Old Colony Nature Trail
Fowler’s toads, garter snakes, and fireflies on a Bear Week expedition
PROVINCETOWN — A cloud of bug spray filled the air as 11 men and two women (including this reporter) followed Scott Smyers down the Old Colony Trail on the evening […]
PICKUP GAME
Friday Evening in the East End
Happenstance and the love of a game unite locals and visitors on the court
A three-on-three full-court pickup game is underway at the East End basketball court on a balmy Friday night in July. The air is dense, salty. The players sweaty, smiling, but […]
WE LOVE A PARADE
The Outer Cape Celebrates the Fourth With 3 Parades
Pedalers, drummers, protesters, jugglers, drag queens, flag wavers, and pirates celebrated their freedoms at three different Outer Cape parades this week. In Eastham, Sheila and Ralph Holcomb, in collaboration with […]
PROVINCETOWN POLICING
A False Report of a Gun Sparks Calls for Change
Five teens of color were frisked by police at the East End basketball court
PROVINCETOWN — Chief Jim Golden and Sgt. Jennifer Nolette on Monday morning defended a controversial police encounter with local young men of color, just over a week after a false […]
SHACK ATTACK
Amid Protests, Dune Shacks Eyed by Bidders
Carlstrom defends leasing rules; a second eviction notice is served
PROVINCETOWN — At least 45 people were given tours last week by National Park Service officials who are running the current bidding contest for eight of the 18 dune shacks […]
CAPS OFF
Celebrating the Outer Cape’s Class of 2023
Graduates look to the future
The Independent invited the members of the Class of 2023 at Nauset Regional High School and Cape Cod Regional Technical High School from the four Outer Cape towns to tell […]
HOME MAKING
Raising a Wetu in Truro
An indigenous dwelling proves weather-hardy on opening day at the Highland House Museum
TRURO — The wind blew ferociously on June 3, providing a fitting backdrop for the celebration held at the Highland House Museum that day. Annawon Weeden had just put the […]
THE DREDGE REPORT
Select Board Votes to Support Mitigation Plan
Final approval awaits clarification of possible penalties from the Army Corps of Engineers
WELLFLEET — The select board unanimously agreed on May 30 to support a mitigation plan required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that will enable the town to receive […]
RETROSPECTIVE
Truro’s Beach Back Then, Unveiled
Brush Hollow beachgoers remember the days of ‘raucous nudity’
TRURO — Fifty years ago, on a stretch of shore known as Brush Hollow, nestled between the ocean and a high dune just south of Ballston Beach, multigenerational throngs gathered […]
OCEAN VIEW DRIVE
Wellfleet Has Its Own Beach Banksy
WELLFLEET — England may have Banksy, but Wellfleet has its own mystery graffiti artist whose works have been popping up at the town’s beaches, painted on the plywood boards where […]
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Park Advertises 10-Year Leases on Dune Shacks
But the leasing rules ignore the agency’s agreements from 2012
PROVINCETOWN — The National Park Service announced last week “the opportunity for any interested individual” to lease a historic structure in the Dune Shacks of Peaked Hill Bars Historic District, […]
DERELICTION
Iconic, Historic, and Abandoned on Wellfleet’s Main Street
The News Dealer has stood empty for 20 years, but the town’s ‘hands are tied’
WELLFLEET — Among the colorful shops in Wellfleet’s commercial center, one particularly ramshackle building stands out. Makeshift curtains unsuccessfully try to screen what’s inside, but through the dingy windows one […]
INFERNO
No One Injured in Destruction of Truro House
The cause of the fire and explosions is under investigation
TRURO — When Robert Byrnes stepped outside last Friday morning, April 21, he found a typewritten letter in his yard addressed to Todd Henning.
FAITH
Sundays Are Celebratory at Chapel on the Pond
In a former Catholic church, Pastor David Brown leads a joyful, mostly Jamaican congregation
TRURO — On a bright spring Sunday, the sound of gospel music fills a small chapel in North Truro. The verses flow over pastel-colored hats worn by women in the […]
