EXTRA...

Kerry campaign deflates again; Breaking the law for a waterview; New Sound weather buoy

Residents of Cape Cod are breaking the zoning and conservation laws to open up waterviews of their property.  A new property owner in East Harwich has been ordered to replant the trees she had cut in a wetland area, see story below. 

Was Sen. Kerry's flat tire part of right-wing conspiracy?


Laura Ingraham cracked that the popped bike tire was a “metaphor” for Kerry’s “deflated campaign.”  Sen. John F. Kerry can’t even take part in a charity bike race without kicking up a fuss. The Politico’s “Shenanigans” blog reported this week that Kerry (D-Mass.) had a “blow out” of sorts with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham while taking part in the Pan-Mass Challenge which ended in Ptown last weekend, a bike race to raise cash to fight cancer. Just as Kerry shook Ingraham’s hand at the starting line, his rear tire blew out....  Herald. 
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Breaking the law for a waterview

On Cape Cod some residents are taking matters into their own hands in search of that illusive water view.  Homeowners have been cutting down trees and brush along local rivers, lakes and bays often in violation of wetlands protections laws and town zoning bylaws.  Some homeowners are simply ignorant of the law, but officials say that other landowners are knowingly violating the law to boost the value of their property.

Cases in Brewster and Harwich

Some landowners apparently assume that if they are caught, the fines are worth the aesthetic or financial benefits.  In Harwich, a landowner has agreed to replant up to 7,000 feet of woods along the Muddy Creek a few yards from Pleasant Bay in the Chatham-Hwich town border.

In Brewster, four homeowners were ordered to spend $50,000 to replant a 4,200-foot swatch they had clear-cut to Cape Cod Bay.
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New weather buoy proposed for Nantucket Sound

Forest said the Senate is expected to vote on the bill the $250,000 is included in sometime this fall and he hopes the buoy could be installed within the next year.Legislation making its way through the nation’s capital could make forecasting the weather on Nantucket Sound much easier.  Included in a bill that has been passed by the House of Representatives and is waiting to be voted on by the Senate after their summer recess is $250,000 for a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather buoy to be placed near channel marker 17 in Nantucket Sound, said Mark Forest (on right), 10th District Congressman William Delahunt’s top aide.

Forest said the push for the buoy began last January when the Lady of Grace, a fishing boat out of New Bedford, sank from what is believed to be freezing sea spray on the sound that made it top-heavy and resulted in a capsize.  Currently the only way for the United States Coast Guard and NOAA to get information on sea conditions in the sound are twice-daily reports from the captain of the Steamship Authority’s Eagle car ferry...  Inquirer & Mirror