Black people on the Outer Cape are about 3.3 times as likely to be arrested as the rest of the region’s population, according to police department data from Provincetown, Truro, […]
Archives for 2023
News
Fresh local news that brings you closer to your neighbors and the community.
Browse all News stories below or dive into a topic:
ZONING
Building a New Sense of Place in Eastham and Provincetown
‘Form-based zoning’ shapes ambitious development projects in two towns
North Eastham’s commercial district, if all goes according to plan, will be transformed into a walkable village center within the next few years. Provincetown, too, hopes for similar changes to […]
PILGRIM PROGRESS
State Hears Mostly ‘No’ at Public Hearing on Radioactive Wastewater
In written comments and at a town hall event, people press DEP to deny permit
PLYMOUTH — Nearly all of the more than 700 written comments sent so far to the state’s Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) urge the agency to finalize its denial of […]
MILLION-YEAR PICNIC
Seeing the Showstoppers and the Faint Fuzzies
The summer nights of amateur astronomers on an Eastham beach and the Wellfleet pier
EASTHAM — We were at First Encounter Beach at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 23. People filled the beach and parking lot, watching the sun set across Cape Cod Bay, […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
Whiting, Whales, and Wind
Here, the wind kept a lot of boats in last week; off the Vineyard, a wind farm goes forward
Last week I wrote about the possibility of us having a good striped bass bite, uninterrupted, all season long. I might have spoken too soon, as the bass really turned […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 29 included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
ENVIRONMENT
A Threat of Fines Prompts Oil Spill Cleanup to Resume
Years of testing follow a spill near a Wellfleet wetland
WELLFLEET — State officials want to see the cleanup of a nearly two-year-old oil spill at a downtown business and recently threatened the owner with fines “in excess of several […]
HISTORY
Archives Reveal Clues to Provincetown’s Ku Klux Klan Chapter
Thousands of Cape Codders attended KKK events during the 1920s
PROVINCETOWN — Zana Small, the first woman to register a motor vehicle in Truro. Alice Stiff, a former president of the Nautilus Club. The wives of a county commissioner, multiple […]
PROVINCETOWN: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
Housing Advisory Group
Meetings Ahead Most meetings in Provincetown are held in-person, typically with an online-attendance option for both committee members and residents. Click on the meeting you want to attend on the […]
TRURO: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
A DPW Building Committee
Meetings Ahead Most meetings in Truro are remote. Go to truro-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. The agenda includes instructions on how to join. Thursday, Aug. 31 Board […]
WELLFLEET: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
Indian Neck Shellfish Lotteries
Meetings Ahead Most meetings in Wellfleet are remote only, but some are held in person. Go to www.wellfleet-ma.gov/calendar and click on the meeting you want to watch, then follow the […]
EASTHAM: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS
Changing the Channel
Meetings Ahead Most meetings in Eastham are in-person, typically with an online-attendance option. Go to eastham-ma.gov and click on the meeting you are interested in for details. All meetings are […]
EDUCATION
Housing Crisis Hits Schools — and Will Get Worse
Enticing new staff to towns where teachers can’t live is ‘a really hard sell’
Faced with significant turnover of teachers, administrators, bus drivers, and support staff, every one of the Outer Cape’s schools is feeling the effects of Cape Cod’s year-round housing shortage. When […]
RADIOACTIVITY
Holtec Releases Some Pilgrim Wastewater as Gas
Officials say amount is small, but watchdogs worry more is planned
PLYMOUTH — Officials and citizens groups that have spent two years fighting to block Holtec Decommissioning International from dumping 1.1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater from the Pilgrim nuclear plant […]
LEDGERDEMAIN
Short-Term Rental Taxes Boom — but Not in Provincetown
Receipts from state rooms tax actually fell despite strong sales reports
PROVINCETOWN — The Outer Cape had another banner year for rooms tax receipts, with revenue up 42 percent over last year in Eastham, 46 percent in Wellfleet, and 47 percent […]
