EXTRA...

Cape the capital of consignment shopping; Residents, cranberry growers battle over Blackmore Pond; When Wellfleet became the most generous town in America

TODAY'S quote:
                 "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."
                                                                                                      - Bob Dylan

 The capital of consignment shopping
Cape Cod has at least 14 shops offering startling bargains

A Tahari crepe jacket dress for $116. A Kate Spade bag for $70. A Crate & Barrel leather sofa for $750. Such are the bargains to be found in Cape Cod consignment shops. In the best-case consignment scenario, fashion-conscious people buy high-end clothing and home furnishings, tire of them quickly, and make them available to their neighbors at bargain prices.

Consignment shopping offers bargains.

Cape Cod is a hotbed of consignment shopping, with at least 14 stores from Falmouth to Orleans offering everything from designer clothing to vintage jewelry to furniture and baby clothes.

Most have automatic markdown policies and donate items that don't sell after 60 days to local nonprofit organizations, ensuring ever-fresh inventories. Many have "wish lists." Looking for an Hermès scarf or size 10 ballet flats? Leave your name and number, and you'll get a call if the item comes in. Owners belong to an informal network, which produces a brochure you can pick up in any shop....Boston Globe.

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Cranberry growers, residents battle over Blackmore Pond
Use of Wareham pond's water for nearby bogs concerns neighbors

As the region enters the heart of the cranberry harvest season, tourists and locals enjoy the view of harvest-ready bogs sitting alongside town roads and highways, the beautiful red berries stretching on for acres.

Barry Cosgrove worries about pond.

But Barry Cosgrove sees the season in a different way. It's when cranberry growers start taking water out of Blackmore Pond in Wareham, on which he owns a home. Later, water from the bogs will flow back into the pond, but Mr. Cosgrove is afraid the cranberry bogs are damaging the pond, bringing debris and fertilizer into the water.

The growers "genuinely believe they can do no wrong," said Mr. Cosgrove, a member of the Blackmore Pond Homeowners' Association, made up of about 60 people who live around the pond. "All we're trying to do is say 'hey, play by the rules.'"

Added Jim Murphy, president of the association, "It's a beautiful little place and we want to keep it that way."...Standard-Times.

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When Wellfleet became the most generous town in America
Town rallied to the aid of injured resident

Ask anyone in Wellfleet what they like most about the oyster capital of the Northeast and they will tell you it's the town's character, thanks to its one-of-a-kind year-rounders. And no one epitomized the year-round population more than the Potter boys. Caleb, Kai, and Max were well known throughout town, as were their parents, Sharyn Lindsay and Jan Potter, who divorced 13 years ago. The brothers stayed close to home after graduating from Nauset High School. In the summer of 2007, Caleb, then 25, was tending a grant as a shellfisherman; Kai, then 23, was a landscaper with his mother's business; and Max, then 21, worked with his father as a carpenter...Boston Globe Magazine.