EXTRA...

Cape student dies in fire; New port may reduce canal traffic; How my dogs ruins my Cape vacation

Former Mashpee students among two BU students killed in fire
Rhiannon McCuish graduated in 2004, regional all-star in soccer and track

HYANNIS, Mass. --A gifted former Mashpee High School athlete was among two Boston University students killed in a searing apartment fire near her college campus.  Rhiannon McCuish, 21, was found dead after 5 a.m. in a burned out, top-floor apartment at 21 Aberdeen St., the Cape Cod Times reported Sunday, quoting a Boston Fire Department official and a family member.

Fire officials have not released the identity or age of the second victim, and were still investigating the cause.  Another man was injured in the blaze and taken to a local hospital. Rescuers found him unconscious and removed him from the flames, Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said.  When the fire broke out early Saturday, the building had been without power for several hours as crews performed utility work nearby, MacDonald said. Investigators will try to determine if the work played a role in the fire... Read the rest of this Globe story here.
______________________________

New shipping method could bring $120 million & jobs, cut down canal traffic
Serving as freight transfer point could prove a boon to New Bedford

Shipments of Florida oranges and New Bedford scallops would soon move from the road to the sea if a new mode of shipping domestic goods takes hold.  Under the concept, known as short sea shipping, produce, seafood, timber and other domestic goods would be transported along the East Coast by boat instead of truck, reducing traffic along the Interstate 95 corridor...  The harbor's 30-foot depth combined with easy access to rail lines and major highways make New Bedford a viable port for short sea shipping, Ms. Decas said.  Mr. Armstrong added that both New Bedford and Fall River are "a direct shot from the South." Vessels do not have to go around Cape Cod or through the Cape Cod Canal as they do on their way to Boston, he said... Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here. See New Bedford's new port here.  Leave a comment
_________________________

     ^{Sugar Mountain Farm in Vewrmont is where Walter Jeffries lives and writes this blog}

 Animal Farm goes to the dogs
... and ruins a Cape Cod vacation

We have a pack of large Livestock Guardian Dogs also known as LGDs. They keep down the pests by hunting and eating the local wild life including mice, snakes, coon, coyotes, etc. The dogs keep the larger predators out of the fields like the bear, cougar, hunting dogs and two leggers. Marking the boundaries is part of how they do that, both with their scent, their voice and their visible presence when they're not blending.

The dogs announce delivery men and visitors at the front gate. Once we show up everything's cool and they're friendly with strangers as long as the visitors don't go off by themselves. People routinely comment how good the dogs are - as if they're surprised given the initial greeting.  In at least one case the dogs have kept a burglar out of the house who tried seriously to do harm. Dealing with a large number of large dogs is not a peaceful process for an intruder...  

The dogs did not close the gate when Brent left - I know this as it was still open when we got home. With a bit more training we might be able to take a vacation to Cape Cod again. I just need to get the dogs up to the point where they can handle email, blogging, billing and other sundries. If you notice strange typoooos in the bloooog it wasn't me!   Read the rest of this very amusing  Sugar Mountain Farm blog here.

The author Walter Jeffries replied to our story; The dogs aren't ruining a vacation but providing the opportunity  that in the future we'll be able to come to Cape Code on vacation.  We've enjoyed going down to the Sandwich area many times over the  past decades. The dogs taking care of the livestock helps with that  so that a caretaker here at the farm has minimal work to do. Perhaps  I wasn't clear enough on that.
_____________________________

Engaging biography relates legacy of Vineyard editor
Henry Beetle Hough wanted Islands to be included in Seashore Park

In 1920, when Henry Beetle Hough married Betty Bowie, Henry's father, New Bedford Evening Standard editor George A. Hough Sr., gave the pair a unique wedding present: the Vineyard Gazette.  The gift was more modest than it sounds, for the newspaper at that time had a circulation of only 600 on a Martha's Vineyard with a population of less than 5,000.
Although Henry and Betty had both graduated from Columbia University's newly established School of Journalism, neither they nor his father could have imagined how perfectly appropriate that gift was.

Nor, for that matter, could the people of the Vineyard, who through the years became its real beneficiaries.  "The saddest thing for him was losing the battle over the Kennedy bill," she says. One of President Kennedy's dreams back in 1961 was to include the islands in the legislative action that created the Cape Cod National Seashore. But in 1976, when Sen. Edward M. Kennedy pushed for its passage and the Vineyard Gazette stood strongly in favor, politics and what Ms. Meras calls "wealthy landowners and those in the building trades" doomed its passage... Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here.  Leave a comment
_____________________________

Governor's new education consultant sees things differently
Wareham born Dana Mohler-Faria is  pivotal to Patrick's plans

Dr. Dana Mohler-Faria, education consultant to the new governor can see the house where he lives from his desk in the president's office of Bridgewater State College.  It's a far cry from the days when he slept on the floor of his family home in Wareham, where he grew up among the Cape Verdean community.  But when asked why Deval Patrick chose him for this pivotal role in setting the education agenda for the new administration (on top of his 80-hour work week) he doesn't mention his humble beginnings...  Only a few minutes earlier, a guest in his dark-paneled office in Boyden Hall had been an old acquaintance from Cape Cod, a teacher.  "The woman who just left here is an 8th grade teacher from Barnstable whom I haven't seen in long time," he said. "Here's someone on the front line every single day talking about the challenges she faces as a teacher... Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here.