EXTRA...

Harwich's Jack Bradley' collection; Christys Café; EPA water quality reports coming

Cape collector Shares Mementos and Memories of Jazz Legend

HARWICH, Mass. - Jack Bradley was only 15 when he first heard Louis Armstrong on a 78-r.p.m. record in his family's living room, an ordinary introduction to a man who would end up having a profound influence on Mr. Bradley's life.

"I never heard anything like that before," said Mr. Bradley, who is now 74 and lives in this seaside town on Cape Cod.

Mr. Bradley met Armstrong in the early 1950s, after a mesmerizing performance at the American Legion Hall in nearby Hyannis. He recalls approaching the jazz legend in his dressing room and receiving an autographed photograph and a packet of Swiss Kriss, an herbal laxative that Armstrong endorsed. "My life was never the same; my life became Louis," he said.

From that brief encounter blossomed a tight-knit relationship that turned Mr. Bradley into one of the foremost collectors of Armstrong memorabilia. He amassed thousands of images of Armstrong, on and offstage, rare recordings, sports coats and slippers, and even a banister from the Colored Waifs' Home for Boys in New Orleans, where Armstrong was remanded as a teenager.

"You just can't get involved in the world of Louis Armstrong without coming across the name Jack Bradley," said Michael Cogswell, the director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum and Archives at Queens College.

The college runs the museum in the house in Corona, Queens, where Armstrong lived for nearly 30 years. The school bought the collection for $500,000 in 2005, and since then a trove of material has been moved from Mr. Bradley's home to the college... NY Times.

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Christys Café open for business
Cape Codder open café in North Mankato Minnesota

A new café in North Mankato is trying to support the downtown area, local businesses and artists. Mark Levitt and Carmen Christy just opened Christys Café in August in the old Del's Café location. The restaurant is their first, but Christy has experience in the business.

"Carmen was a sous chef, which is the person under the head chef," Levitt said. "She learned as she went for 15 years, and restaurant owners told me she has the best palate."

Levitt and Christy moved from Cape Cod, Mass., and have been enjoying owning Christys because they get to meet so many people. They've also had fun renovating the space and choosing the decor, as well as opening up the space to artists to display work... Mankato Free Press.
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Dartmouth to receive key report on water quality
Four Cape Cod towns with time-sensitive needs next in line

The town could receive a much-needed water quality report in two to six months as UMass Dartmouth looks to make up for lost time following a disagreement with the state.  The town is waiting for a nutrient analysis of Apponegansett Bay, the last piece of the puzzle for its wastewater management planning.

After reaching an understanding with the state Department of Environmental Protection on data ownership, UMass Dartmouth announced nearly two weeks ago a plan to fund studies for Dartmouth and four Cape Cod towns with time-sensitive needs.... UMass Dartmouth is working with private partners, the Cape Cod Commission, Three Bays Preservation Inc., Lloyd Center for the Environment in Dartmouth and Applied Coastal Research Inc. to cover half of the report costs for the five towns, including Dartmouth... Standard-Times.