Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to wellfleet-ma.gov and click on the meeting you are interested in for instructions on how to participate. Thursday, June 25 Natural Resources Advisory […]
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This Week in Eastham
Meetings Ahead Meetings are held remotely. Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on a particular meeting to read its agenda. That document will provide information about how to view and take […]
EMERGENCY SERVICES
Truro Asks for 4 More Firefighters
Possible loss of Lower Cape Ambulance creates staffing issues
TRURO — Voters here will be asked to permanently increase the town budget on June 30 so it can hire four new firefighter-paramedics, a move that would beef up the […]
AT RISK AT WORK
Six People, 12 Jobs, One Bathroom
Dense seasonal housing presents a new hazard
PROVINCETOWN — Short-term rentals bring in visitors and help pay the town’s bills. Year-round rentals are the endangered species that we keep trying to preserve and expand. Seasonal rentals are […]
BUSINESS
Cumby’s Bid to Sell Alcohol Gains Steam
State court approves ballot question to create new type of liquor license
Cumberland Farms, along with other convenience stores, is one step closer to selling alcohol and upending the current system of liquor sales licenses. The Mass. Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) on […]
MOST UNHAPPY FELLOWS
FAWC Is Accused of Discrimination and ‘Complacency’
Board apologizes for being ‘complicit’ with racism and vows to do better
PROVINCETOWN — This should have been a banner year for the Fine Arts Work Center, one of the town’s most important cultural institutions, with its faculty of renowned writers and […]
RENTAL HEALTH
Wellfleet Proposes New Rental Regulations
Requirements would be toughest on Outer Cape
WELLFLEET — Short- and long-term rentals might look very different next summer, and it has nothing to do with Covid-19. The town’s health and conservation dept. has drafted regulations that […]
ECONOMY
There Will Be International Workers, but Not as Many
Arriving from countries with fewer infections, seasonal workforce takes a risk to serve here
PROVINCETOWN — The Outer Cape is not a highly diverse place. When it comes to sexual orientation, Provincetown has a higher concentration of LGBTQ people than almost anywhere — but […]
FIRST PEOPLES
Federal Judge Rules for the Wampanoags
Tribe still must work with Interior Dept. to keep land in trust
A federal judge ruled in favor of the Wampanoag Tribe of Mashpee on June 5 in a suit the tribe filed against the Dept. of the Interior, which had attempted […]
HOME IMPROVEMENT
Home Repair Aid for the Asking
No one in P’town has applied this year
Laurence Young of Provincetown had windows in his condominium dating back to the early 1980s, and electric heat upstairs that was expensive no matter how sparingly used. That changed in […]
THE SCUTTLEBUTT
While Waiting for Fish, We Count Sharks, Deer, and Coyotes
Not many stripers or blues, but the flounder are fat and fine
The Provincetown waterfront remains quiet, as commercial fishing boats go about their business of lobstering and scalloping, but the rest of the fleet is essentially tied to the dock waiting for […]
RARA AVIS
This Week’s Bird Sightings
Confirmed bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the week preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, June 16, included the following, based on a report prepared by Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet […]
NAUSET SCHOOLS
High School Project Votes May Wait Until Spring
Nauset district is waiting to hear back-to-school guidelines
EASTHAM — The four towns of the Nauset Regional School District may not have to vote on the high school building project until next spring. Last week, the regional school […]
RENTAL RULES
24-Hour Changeover Pause Is Only ‘Suggested’
But other sanitation procedures are required
With the statewide ban on short-term property rentals lifted on June 8, Outer Cape vacationers and property owners must adjust to new safety guidelines. Massachusetts requires proprietors of lodgings — […]
WORKING OUT THE KINKS
Willy’s Gym Gets Closer to Reopening
Niggel says facility is up to code; outdoor courts to open first
EASTHAM — Willy’s Gym claims it is now eligible to reopen when all gyms and fitness centers are permitted to do so under phase three of Gov. Charlie Baker’s reopening […]
