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 […]
Eastham
WAYS AND MEANS
FY21 Eastham Budget Includes Town Staff Restructuring
New positions include community development director and grants administrator
EASTHAM — Town Administrator Jacqueline Beebe presented the select board with a fiscal year 2021 budget totaling nearly $32 million on Jan. 6, representing an increase of 4 percent over the current year’s budget. But, she said, the spending increase will not require an override because total revenue for the next fiscal year is projected […]
MLK WEEKEND
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Highlights
Though the great civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was born on Jan. 15, 1929, his birthday is memorialized on a federal holiday on the third Monday in January each year. In 2020, that Monday is Jan. 20. On the Outer Cape, commemorative activities and exhibits throughout the weekend are mostly located in […]
currents
This Week in Eastham
Meetings Ahead Monday, Jan. 20 Town hall closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Tuesday, Jan. 21 Historical Commission, 4 p.m., Eastham Room, Public Library Charter Review Committee, 5:30 p.m., Small Meeting Room, Town Hall Wednesday, Jan. 22 Community Preservation Committee, 5:30 p.m., Earle Mountain Room, Town Hall Open Space Committee, 6:30 p.m., […]
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
Take Note: Eastham Lives
Seven years ago voters sat sweating in the Nauset Regional High School gym for a rare June special town meeting that lasted four hours and resulted once again in a failed attempt to get Eastham voters to approve a municipal water system. Public water had been rejected about a half dozen times in Eastham by […]
ICE HOCKEY
The Furies, With 12 Nauset Skaters, Improve in 5th Year of Play
Lower Cape girls’ hockey team is starting to make a name for itself
EASTHAM — The Cape Cod Furies started out five years ago as a co-op ice hockey club for girls from three Lower Cape high schools: Nauset, Monomoy, and Cape Cod Tech. Because it was a club — not school-funded — the girls had to pay to play. “It was $500 just to play, plus equipment […]
Doing Good
Tree Refuge
What was a Christmas tree has become a nice spot for Nickerson, one of the educational Eastern screech owls at Wild Care in Eastham. The tree was one of 14 large Christmas trees donated to the organization on Jan. 3 by the Visiting Nurse Association’s Cape Cod Hospice “Tree of Memories” program. Branches provide perches […]
CURRENTS
Meetings and Conversation Starters, Town by Town
Provincetown Meetings Ahead Thursday, Jan. 9 Bicycle Committee, 2 p.m., Maushop Community Room, 44 Harry Kemp Way Economic Development Committee, 11 a.m., Veterans Memorial Community Center, 2 Mayflower Lane Planning Board, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall Monday, Jan. 13 Select Board, 7 p.m., Town Hall Tuesday, Jan. 14 Public Landscaping Committee, 2 p.m., Town Hall Wednesday, […]
ECONOMY
Suit to Overturn Pot Shop Permits Fails
Permission for Salty Farmers and Emerald Grove in Eastham is upheld
EASTHAM — A local resident’s attempt to overturn the special permits awarded to two marijuana businesses was dismissed by Barnstable Superior Court Judge Thomas Perrino on Dec. 23. Eastham’s Steve Wlodkowski filed a civil complaint on July 18, 2019, challenging the planning board’s approval of two recreational marijuana stores, one medical marijuana dispensary, and one […]
WINTER HOURS
It’s Cold, You’re Hungry, You Have Options
Restaurateurs say they can be creative in winter
Every restaurant is a fiefdom, each with its own miniature culture and specifics so particular that it’s difficult to write about a lot of restaurants at once. Yet we Outer Cape year-rounders can all bond instantly around a shared hunger for restaurants that stay open in winter. And an objective look at the winter eating […]
LEARNING
A Tour Explores the NRHS Renovation Landscape
Safety, systems, and space are top needs
EASTHAM — Nauset Regional High School (NRHS) opened its doors in 1972, and few alterations have since been made to its ahead-of-its-time open-campus design. Now the district is planning a nearly $140 million renovation project that would expand and reconfigure the facility entirely. The school is offering tours for interested members of the community. This […]
LAND USE
11 Named to New Committee to Plan Use of Former Driving Range
Eastham advisory group will tackle 11-acre site where housing plan failed
EASTHAM — The select board has chosen nine members and two alternates for the committee charged with making recommendations for developing the former T-Time parcel on Route 6 and identifying other resources or partnerships that might help with that process. The regular members of the new committee are Andrea Aldana, Suzanne Bryan, Steve Garran, Scott […]
PUBLIC SAFETY
Willy’s Gym Closed for ‘Numerous Violations’
The timetable for reopening the fitness center is uncertain
EASTHAM —Willy’s World Wellness and Conference Center on Route 6 was temporarily shut down on Dec. 12 after Eastham Building Commissioner Thomas Wingard found the facility “unsafe.” Wingard’s notice, posted outside the gym, reads: “The structure has been inspected and is unsafe to occupy as described below: life safety concerns, numerous violations, including work without […]
TAXES
Eastham May Adopt Resident Tax Exemption
Select board is considering new policy that assessors oppose
EASTHAM — The select board is considering making Eastham the seventh Cape Cod and Islands town to implement a residential tax exemption [RTE] that could give an estimated 90 percent of year-round residents who own their homes a break on their property tax bills. The RTE, which has been adopted in Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet, […]
EASTHAM
Select Board Renews Stewart’s Liquor License
EASTHAM — The select board voted 3-1 on Nov. 25 to approve the renewal of the liquor license for Stewart’s Restaurant on Route 6 despite questions about the character of the owner, William Stewart. Stewart was accused of sexual harassment by former female employees more than a year ago and is scheduled to be tried […]
