WELLFLEET — The owners of a mansion teetering on the edge of a dune near Great Island won approval from the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to construct a […]
civics
Provincetown’s Planner Heads to Truro for New Job
Ribeiro sees opportunities in Truro to address problems both towns share
PROVINCETOWN — Town Planner Jeffrey Ribeiro is resigning from his job this week to become the Truro town planner next week. The Truro position offers slightly more money, but according […]
Rail Trail
Wellfleet Select Board Unmoved by Bike Path Extension Opponents
In a close vote, board decides not to appeal to Gov. Baker
WELLFLEET — Following a heated exchange on Monday with a crowd opposed to the extension of the Cape Cod Rail Trail extension to Route 6, the Wellfleet Select Board voted […]
oysterfest 2019
Changes Coming to This Year’s Wellfleet OysterFest
Revamped SPAT board hires new oyster handlers
WELLFLEET — Ever wonder how all those oysters get to OysterFest? This year, Wellfleet Shellfish Promotion and Tasting (SPAT), the nonprofit that organizes the OysterFest, is expecting to serve 130,000 […]
OBITUARIES
Mary Dorothy Mulcahy, 70, Was Principled and Unconventional
Founding member of HOW and Women Innkeepers of Provincetown
PROVINCETOWN — Mary Dorothy “Dotty” Mulcahy, a free-spirited child of the 1960s whose mischievous smile and sparkling blue eyes live in the hearts of all who knew and loved her, […]
ENVIRONMENT
Permaculture Expert Teaches How to Grow Food in Our Forests
Kids and adults learn how agriculture can restore ecosystems at Nauset H.S. garden
EASTHAM — Restoration Agriculture author Mark Shepard of Wisconsin visited the Nauset Food and Research Garden at Nauset Regional High School last week to speak with about two dozen community […]
housing
Truro Motor Inn Owner Gets One More Chance
License is extended for 3 months despite serious code violations
TRURO — About 50 residents of a rundown Route 6 motel that serves as affordable year-round housing were spared eviction on Thursday night when the Truro Board of Health voted […]
civics
McKinsey Will Return to Work, Perhaps With New Title
Suspended harbormaster may now become ‘marine coordinator’
PROVINCETOWN — Former harbormaster Rex McKinsey, who has been on administrative leave since August, will return to work on Oct. 15. But he may have a new title, marine coordinator, […]
the observer
A Model for Bridging Our Divides
Maine’s Island Institute is helping coastal communities adapt
PROVINCETOWN — Tell me if you have heard this one: A coastal community, remote, popular, seasonal, with a shrinking population because the year-round jobs are disappearing while housing costs climb, […]
PEOPLE
An Audubon Leader Fascinated by Humans
Melissa Lowe Cestaro on watching shifts in nature, culture, values
WELLFLEET — In September Melissa Lowe Cestaro became the director of Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. She succeeds Bob Prescott, who is retiring after nearly 40 years in the […]
Environment
Local Bird Banders Think Globally
Audubon work may shed light on alarming worldwide decline in bird populations
WELLFLEET — A Cape May warbler is flying through a pine forest. Its brown-green wings flutter madly as it races to keep up with its flock. It has been feeding […]
island notebook
Cock Soup From Scratch
Memories of my Jamaican grandparents come back to life
WELLFLEET — I grew up in the agricultural community of Black River, Jamaica, where my grandfather, Elmas Gustauvas Bowlin, was a prominent butcher at the local farmers’ market. The pride […]
Health
Rats Don’t Deserve Their Bad Rap
Experts say humans are to blame for rising rodent population
PROVINCETOWN — Concerned residents have been calling the health dept. to report rat sightings in recent weeks, according to a public notice posted on the town website. The notice urges townspeople […]
Economy
Selectmen Tighten Rules on Overwintered Shellfish Racks
Farmers say new regs to avert wrecked gear won’t work
WELLFLEET — At a contentious meeting on Tuesday, the Wellfleet Select Board voted 3-0 to limit the number of shellfish racks that may be left on aquaculture grants through the […]
ART AND POETRY
A Love of Two Peninsulas Creates an Unusual Exhibit
Bracaval and Brunet-Weinmann collaboration connects Cape Cod and Brittany
WELLFLEET — Art critic and poet Monique Brunet-Weinmann and artist Bertrand Bracaval are both from Brittany, the westernmost region of France, but they did not meet each other there. That […]