CapeCodToday Blog Chowder

Looking back at 2008 Vacation and Broccoli Salad

    So it is New Years eve and all though the house,,,,,,,, Ok Ok ,, Used that one last week and this is not Ground Hog day. So what does one remember on a night like tonight? Well lets look back to this past year and remember the wonderful time that we had as a family. As our family is getting older and our children are no longer children but young adults as our daughter has graduated college and continues to look for full time employment, as our son is well into his senior year of high school and looking at college and directions for life, who knows when the opportunity will come again for just the four of us to be able to do this kind of a vacation. We never know how much we have until there comes a time that we no longer have them to share and only can look back to what used to be, instead of what is.
    This past year was not filled with an over abundance of doing things, although my son and I went a couple of days early, just him and I. I was able to take him out to Gray's boardwalk and we were able to see the sun set,, only problem was through clouds, but it was just him and I. Then we were able to check out a new restaurant that turned out to be a wonderful find and take his mother back to and enjoy before we left. It was nice just having time with him and I to enjoy and share.
    Then the ladies came in and my daughter had her agenda with places to shop and places to eat. We would run for a while then stop and drop for a while, but all was filled with fun and enjoyment of family time. Little did we know the real fun would come when she tried to get home and her flight was cancelled and got rescheduled the next day. While my wife stayed, and the pace slowed down and the rest of the week was filled with morning drives, and more shopping, while the afternoons were spent resting, either in the room, or on the beach. Evenings where spent in Hyannis, or Chatham or Harwich walking and visiting the shops. We had a wonderful time for a final family vacation. Unfortunately her flight did the same as our daughters and got cancelled and had to be rescheduled, oh well as lest we learned of the cancellation before we made the trip to Providence.
    Finally my son and I had a wonderful time traveling home, if was a good time all around.. The only problem is will it ever happen again,, you never know is our times today. But we can always hope, even with all the changes that go on in the ever changing family life... Here is to Cape Cod and family vacations,, may somewhere they always hold good and fond memories... remember the well... Here is to you Cape Cod,, happy New Year
        
This weeks bonus recipe is from another one of my wife's aunt's. If you like broccoli then this one is for you. If not stick around for the new year with all new recipes.
    Now on with the kitchen show or recipe: Broccoli Salad

 In a bowl put the following ingredients    

•     2 nice bunches  of Broccoli
•     1 medium onion chopped
•     1 pound bacon fried and crumbled

    Dressing
 Mix the following and ingredients

•     1 cup Miracle whip
•     1/2 cup sugar
•     2 Tablespoons of vinegar

 Pour the dressing over the Broccoli mixture and blend together. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours before serving so the flavors blend.

Happee (hic) Nooooyeah!

Link: http://gourl.org/dsfaq

(burp)
It Could Be Worse.
You Could Be Drunk Tonight And Fat.

As an alcoholic who carries around thirty or so pounds of extra blubber just below the thorax - and who if not so tall could be mistaken for a nun buoy as I swim in my pool sporting a red Speedo - not to mention having a very poor 'body image' - I have what I strongly feel is acute vision - right or wrong - about the two conditions that clearly are are both "rooted" in the same simple and universally human spiritual dysfunction which has a simple name: PRIDE - even though their manifestations are independent of each other and veer off in two directions away from each other becoming two very distinct problems fitting very different descriptions. They have the same beginnings but separate descriptions at their "ending"s - they each advertise different and similar symptoms. Some overlap - some do not.

Why Real Alcoholics Can't Drink
In alcoholism for example - there are two traits to use in describing the malady fully, leaqving one out totally misses the complete picture of th e alcoholic - one being a "physical" aspect. Real alkies do not metabolize the carbohydrate EtOH - aka 'ethyl alcohol' - the offending but still endearing substance in potable liquor - the same way that a non-alcoholic metabolizes it. When I stand in a bar next to a non-alcoholic and we both toss down an identical shot of Vodka - we will not be having the same experiences with it. His will be a whole different experience, physically . Whenever so much as the smallest amount enters my body I gat a reaction that is quite abnormal, that is to say 'I CRAVE MORE‘. Most people, probably you, do not get that same reaction. It does not matter if I "feel it" or not. It does matter if I get drunk.

It does not even matter if I "feel it" - get tipsy, or even an "Asian Flush" from it. If the stuff gets "in there" I go "out there".

"Out there" probably means to a liquor store, then a drug spot and then a strip club - all this not being very conducive to being a good daddy to my kids and good husband to my wife a good worker to those who rely upon my craft and surely not to anyone who might otherwise enjoy my company on my 'off-drinking' hours which are now spent being a restless, irritable and discontent prick of a man stepping on the toes of everyone who meets the unfortunate fate of having anything at all to do with me - because of the way I am failing to deal with life in general.

I can't even go to the Delicatessen or hear a news broadcast without copping yet another resentment and bitching like a scorned child.

You know how to tell an alcoholic in a restaurant, right? Easy. He's the one demanding to see the manager.

"Don't you know who I AM?"

THIS is why I must abstain from all food containing EtOH the same way that some other possible folks must monitor their consumption of peanut product. No sauce, candy, baked good - nothing with so much as a trace of EtOH in it. And no it does NOT cook out sufficiently for me to eat those things.

Does peanut 'dust" cook out of candy bars sufficiently for those folks to eat MARS BARS - Maybe it does - but have you seen the warning labels on a Milky Way these days? Someone's got some heavy duty lobbying skills going for them man. It is too bad that we alkies are not taken as seriously as they.

Diabetes and Alcoholism Related?
So how to relate this? Well, eating food does not cause me to crave alcohol. Whether or not it causes me to crave food - I haven't yet the key to that lock. Don't know. I know that diabetics cannot process sugar and do crave more sugar if they get some. Very similar to alcohol isn't it? A physical aspect that is shockingly similar, I think. Add to that the fact that the pancreas is the primary working 'agent' in both the processing of sugar and alcohol and one is very tempted to begin seeing a relationship between the two illnesses - alcoholism and diabetes. Then the idea takes an ever further leap toward understanding when we see just how many alcoholics are ALSO diabetic or hypoglycemic. It could be seem a bit spooky if it were so physical.

The other 'aspect" to my alcoholics is a mental one. That is a mental “obsession". That is what we call it. It may not fully fit the conventional definition that the ‘certified’ brain mechanics' hold of "obsession" but never-the-less we in this alcoholism "biz" have brought it into our lingo. What happens here is that even though we know that alcohol is going to produce an unwelcome, deleterious effect that will ruin us many times in the short term and certainly in the long --- we do it anyway. As the Big book co-authors point out, "The almost certain consequences that follow taking even a glass of beer do not crowd into the mind to deter us. If these thoughts occur, they are hazy and readily supplanted with the old threadbare idea that this time we shall handle ourselves like other people. There is a complete failure of the kind of defense that keeps one from putting his hand on a hot stove." (24:3)

Two Two-Fold Maladies?
Putting the two above described condition together makes alcoholism a two-fold illness - putting aside that "3-fold disease" theory we have all been hammered to death with for the moment - If I didn't have a malfunctioning pancreas I would not have the "physical" problem. I could drink - metabolize that EtOH just like anyone else. I could get sloshed or not - and stop whenever I wanted stop, needed to stop or both.

Question: Why is my pancreas so damn scruhrooed up?

Answer: I BROKE IT!

Like an overused hinge on a door - opening - closing - opening - closing - after a while it just wears out and the door falls off. Some hinges will last a lifetime - others, perhaps having come from the factory a little defective will not - my pancreas had a 'shelf-life' of enough years to get me into middle adulthood - and then SNAP! No more control of that doorway.

Just as a person can foul up the very same pancreas by a lifestyle that includes overindulging in sugar rendering their pancreas about as useful as that broken hinge - I did it the same thing to the poor little organ with EtOH. Why did I do it?

I will tell you now. I lived a life in which I went spiritually bonkers. That's it. Simple. Blame my environment for taking me away from God if you like. Blame my broken home. Blame my over controlling, impatient "manless" mother. Blame my mean spirited, pressuring teachers - who not-so-coincidentally also happened to be over controlling, impatient "manless" mothers.

Like this 'blame game'. OK then add TV. How silly. Electronic calculators instead of multiplication tables. Blame whomever or whatever the hell you want if you are into that sort of thing - but if it is they who stole my birthright-childhood with God set as my heavenly father there am I still in the middle of it all - holding all of those resentments in, getting sicker and sicker and just as hateful as those who inflicted injustices upon me - not going back to my heavenly Dad - stewing in my juices and running away from Him in shame for being the bad little boy with no "earthly" paternal daddy to steer me right - to set the proper example of how to be a good man - and toward Him.

That iit is MY fault. No  one else's.

It Is The Alcoholic's Fault After All
This is why "whole" family units are so necessary and why absent fathers, whether they are either "gone" emotionally or physically are how we all go astray to begin with. Mother alone cannot do it! It doesn't matter how many soccer games she manages to attend - hours she works - meatloaves she doesn't burn or time-outs successful deployed. It's a spiritual thang -not just a question of "equality" in financial, civil and legal postures. The tempering paternal spirit is missing and like it or not it is how this "go forth and procreate" business was setup - with a system to manage it. A natural one. A spiritual one.

It took me going back to Him to get well enough to break the deadly cycle of alcoholism. I could have taken up eating more than alcohol - in that case maybe I would be a three hundred pound sober guy. Or I could have taken up drugs. Then I would be a skinny, sober junkie. My mix of "solve" was ninety percent alcohol and ten percent Big Macs and cake. That was the solution to my spiritual problem.

One day this will all this together and the food problem - down to about eight percent now - will also be solved. I won't solve it on my own being human and all - and it is a problem of super humanity or maybe 'metaphysical' would be a better term. But if I continue to grow spiritually then the problem will leave as my awareness increases.

"Resentment is the "number one" offender. It destroys more alcoholics than anything else. From it stem all forms of spiritual disease, for we have been not only mentally and physically ill, we have been spiritually sick. When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically." (64:3)

Whew . . . . no matter where you are . . . there you go!

These ideas are not very well received sometimes, by many people, so I really don't go around telling lots of people about I have come to view them. All I can say is that they are the result of spiritual growth and they have come from my spiritual endeavors through meditation. That is not to say they I insist that everyone accept them - even if they are right. I could also be crazy, you know. In that case you would be right now be reading the logorrhea of an insane madman.

Self discovery is probably the number one important property of the truth that I could ever think of. Unless something comes from ones own experience it can lead us to the truth -- but in of itself it is not the truth. This is the mistake that the religions have made and the mistake we all make when we seek truth from books, blog like this one, sermons, preaching, AA speakers at podiums, anyone or thing that is not a born of true inner Guidance. So please be careful - even in listening to a blowhard like me. Even AA's own Big Book, "Alcoholics Anonymous" seeks to save the alcoholic from his own Big Book. What? You didn't know that? Stay tuned.

HAPPY NEW YEAR and

Peace,
Danny S

^{* Pride - HOW I WANT OTHERS TO PERCEIVE ME - my egotistical alter-ego.}

How Dave sees the storm

Our intrepid pro photog David Curran must use a snowmobile or skis

Snow plows were busy Wednesday afternoon during the height of the snow storm, including this big one on Old County Road in Pocasset and small ones like the one above at at the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Cape and Islands in Sandwich. There, a snow plow operator battles the elements while clearing snow for patients around 1:40 p.m. Photos by David G. Curran.

We're really lucky to have made friends with Pocasset photographer David Curran whose work you see mostly in our Police and Fire news.

But David is much more than the best accident scene photographer. David Curran has been a professional photographer for over 17 years, and he specializes in weddings, portraiture, photojournalism, travel and stock photography as well.

In addition to operating a wedding photography business, David is a freelance photographer whiose work has appeared in Cape Cod Life magazine, On the Water magazine, Cape Cod Times, Boston Globe and Boston Herald as well as been distributed across the country via the Associated Press.

David is a member of the Boston Press Photographers Association, the National Press Photographers Association and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.

On right, workers clear snow at the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Cape and Islands in Sandwich Wednesday afternoon 1:40 PM. trying to keep the sidewalks plowed for patients in anothe photo by David G. Curran.

Above a man pushes a shopping cart through the snow outside the Stop & Shop supermarket in Sandwich Wednesday afternoon around 3 p.m. in this photo by David G. Curran. The car on right at the CVS in Harwich is from Nashville, Tenn., where it was bright sun and 40 degrees today. Photo by cc2day.

What's in Line for 2009

Predictions for the New Year

As the sun and the calendar sets on an interesting and eventful year, I enlisted the assistance of my trusted soothsayer to help me with some predictions for 2009. Here's what we came up with:
1. Continuing his sputtering entry into Falmouth politics, new State Representative Tim Madden is soundly criticized for the location of his oft-promised Falmouth office. In defending the chosen location, the snack bar aboard the Steamship Authority vessel Island Home, Madden explains that "it's in Falmouth more than I am." Representatives from The Inquirer & Mirror are unavailable for an official comment.
2. As work continues on the drawbridge in Woods Hole, momentum grows for keeping the bridge closed by community activists in the village. Newly emboldened with their further isolation from what they deem the "Main Street oppression" coming from Town Hall, the Woods Hole Community Association petitions the legislature to form their own municipal government, with former selectwoman Catherine Bumpus as mayor.
A diplomatic team of former selectmen Virginia Valiela and Ed Marks is dispatched to negotiate a settlement but are met with fierce opposition., including Sergeant-At-Arms Tom Renshaw, who has constructed a garrison on the ball field made from sturdy beech wood from Webster Woods. A settlement is finally reached and the village agrees to drop its secession effort when Valiela and Marks agree to work with the selectmen to take the Woods Hole Golf Club by eminent domain to establish a long-sought salamander sanctuary and Bumpus is allowed to keep the title of "Mayor of Woods Hole."
3. As nomination papers become available for the May election, word spreads that Selectman Kevin Murphy is contemplating not running to spend more time with his family, setting off a flurry of activity to compete for the open seat. Among the top contenders are former selectman Andy Dufresne, who plans to run on a campaign of "It can't get much worse," which resonates with many voters, and long-time observer and East Falmouth activist Joe Netto, who pledges to return common sense to Town Hall. Netto scraps his campaign upon the realization that he set unrealistic goals. The campaign of Selectman Ahmed Mustafa for the open seat is also thwarted, as Town Clerk Michael Palmer rules that two non-votes violate the Charter, much less one person holding two seats. Mustafa's plea to solve that problem by representing two views on every issue falls on deaf ears.
4. As Spring Town Meeting comes around, Town Moderator David Vieira seeks to reshape his public image after 10 years in office. He comes to Town Meeting wearing a black robe with gold stripes on the sleeves, similar to one used by former Chief Justice William Rehnquist and convinces the Town Meeting Rules and Procedures Committee to recommend changing the official salutation from "Mr. Moderator" to "Your Highness." During the ensuing discussion, Town Meeting gadfly Dan Shearer is escorted out of the Lawrence Memorial Auditorium for repeatedly making Mickey Rooney jokes.
5. Finally, as another summer tourist season descends upon our slice of paradise, sources confirm that the new season of the reality show Amazing Race will include a trek down the newly opened extension to the Shining Sea bike path. In one of the more memorable challenges in the show's long run, contestants are expected to bike while spelling Sippewissett, Sucannessett and Coonamessett. None finish.
I'm sure many other interesting and memorable things await us in '09. These are just a few that come to mind - stay tuned for updates throughout the year.

This column is reprinted from the Falmouth Bulletin

BULLETIN: First Night Chatham evening events cancelled

Fireworks rescheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, New Year's Day

Due to severe weather conditions and high winds, Chatham public safety officials Wednesday afternoon cancelled all First Night Chatham events scheduled after 6 p.m. Afternoon activities are still on until that time.

Fireworks are rescheduled for New Year's Day at 6:00 p.m. over the Oyster Pond, according to the First Night Chatham Committee.

For more information on First Night Chatham, click here.

BiPR, ~Marvalus and Blackstone Val?s excellent adventure

Countdown to 200 by 2009

 On the penultimate day of 2008, I was joined by two geocaching friends on a mission to add seven more finds to bring my tally to 200 and to share with them some of the wonderful scenery of the Lower Cape in December.  Even if it was a brisk 30 degrees with gusts up to 50 mph.  Blackstone Val and ~Marvalus are veteran cachers, having found several thousand caches between them, some halfway around the world.  Their idea of a great vacation is to rent a condo and get in as many caches in the area as they can in a short week.

 We started where the east wind first hits land, by Chatham's Fish Pier.  This micro-cache is one of erycka and wichie's "Cape Cod Towns" series, which after finding Bourne earlier in the week and Brewster and Orleans a few weeks ago, brought me to five of the 14.  We marveled at the fisherman's monument, then hopped in the cars and headed down the road to the lighthouse.

 "Chatham Break" gave us an uncrowded view of the ever-changing shoreline.  After pretending we were Gail Huff reporting for Storm Center 5, we signed the cache log in the warmth of the car, wrapped it back up tightly for the nano-container, and replaced it in its hiding spot.

 It wasn't quite lunch time, but we stopped by The Squire restaurant in downtown Chatham for a nearby cache, "Bowl of Chowder and a Basket of Rolls."  This was a quick and easy one we could grab from just outside the car.  The work crew nearby didn't seem to pay us much mind.

 It was 10:15 a.m. and Val and Mar wanted to get to the "Chatham Guest Cam" at Yellow Umbrella Bookstore for the 10:30 webcam shot.  This too is listed as a geocache.  But there was a micro hidden a quarter mile away at "Chase Park," so we race-walked over there and dove into the search.  Who knew there was a windmill in the middle of Chatham?  The tiny nano-cache needed some prodding to extricate from its hiding place, but we managed to do it and book back to the bookstore by 10:29:45.  Val and I made the photo; Mar was a second too late.

 Most of Chatham and points east are in the 69^th westerly meridian of longitude.  The 70^th meridian runs through Volunteer Park off of Sam Ryder Road.  (Now you know why they call the coast of Maine "down east":  it refers to longitude.)  We stopped by on our way out of town for the "70^th Meridian II" cache, a typical Cape Cod hide in the brambly woods.

In winter, the Harwich-Chatham spur of the bike trail is empty as a ski hill in summer.  Perfect for scouting out the "Cape Cod Towns - Harwich" cache, the sixth in my towns-series collection.

I was up to 199 caches.  We had saved the mega-multi, West Reservoir Ramble at Bell's Neck Conservation area in Harwich for the milestone.  But first a refueling stop at Buckie's Bakery Café in Dennisport.  Gawd, their chocolate-dipped cranberry-orange biscotti are the best.

 "West Reservoir Ramble" is one of two mega-multis placed around the reservoir by a guy who goes by the name edexter.  Each stage gives coordinates to the next stage and a piece of the puzzle for the final stage's coordinates.  We traipsed over trails, burrowed by the bike path and examined a lot of evergreens for the first six stages.  With one left to go before we had all the clues for the final, we were stumped.  Amidst the beauty of this area, we found evidence of someone, sadly, seeking shelter among the trees.  Moving on, Val and Mar used The Force to deduce the location of the final cache.  And there we had it. 

Seven caches in a day; 200 over a few years; and a pleasant romp through the highlights and hidden areas of two towns.  I went home feeling like that was a day well spent.  Mar and Val continued on for some more caching. 

 Happy New Year!                                                                       

Photos, from top and left to right:

Chatham Light

Blackstone Val and Mar at Chatham Fish Pier

Buckie's Bakery Cafe, Dennisport

Val at Chase Park, Chatham

West Reservoir, Harwich

BiPR's 200th find - West Reservoir

Dramatic Bourne rollover in storm; Yarmouth police nab man with 14 gram of coke; Storm driving & safety tips

Bourne rollover

BOURNE - One person was evaluated for minor injuries at the scene above and on right of a rollover accident on Route 28 southbound- south of the Otis Rotary, Wednesday afternoon around 3:30 p.m.

It was snowing at the time as up to 8 inches fell on parts of the Upper Cape.

Road conditions were also slippery at the time of the accident.

There were numerous spin outs reported throughout Cape Cod during Wednesdayʼs snowstorm, including this one below on MacArthur Boulevard in Bourne. There were no reported injuries.  Photos by David G. Curran

Yarmouth Police nab man with 14 grams of coke

   14 grams of cocaine was discovered on Taurian Rogers early Wednesday morning.

WEST YARMOUTH - On Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 1:03 a.m., Yarmouth Police Patrol Officer Christopher Marino spotted two suspicious males at the Great Island Shopping Plaza on Route 28 in West Yarmouth.

Patrol Officer Marino encountered one of the men who made threatening gestures and was physically aggressive and non-compliant.  Fellow Yarmouth Patrol Officers Justin Haire and Mary Gibney arrived and provided assistance and force protection.   A subsequent pat frisk of the subject revealed a large amount of white powdery substance in a clear plastic baggie in his front pants pocket.

The substance was field tested and proved positive as 14 grams of cocaine.  The suspect, Taurian Rogers (right), 25, of 34 Hudson Road in West Yarmouth, was placed under arrest and transported to Yarmouth Police Headquarters.  Rogers was charged with Felony Cocaine Trafficking. 

He is scheduled for arraignment in the Barnstable District Court this morning. 

The cocaine has been seized and is being held as evidence.

Photo, mugshot and release courtesy of the Yarmouth Police Department.

Orleans Police release MEMA travel precautions

Winter storm will make driving difficult

BOSTON - The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) recommends that everyone take precautions if they must travel throughout the day on Wednesday, December 31st. The statewide snow event should have an adverse impact on both the morning and evening commute.

• It is recommended that those who must travel, either throughout the day, or to evening festivities, take Public Transportation.
• Monitor the storm through the Media, as conditions may change throughout the day. Avoid driving during the height of the storm, if possible, allowing those treating and plowing the roads to do their Job.
• If you must be on the road, leave plenty of time for your trip and extra room between yourself and others on the road.
• Even when the snow subsides in the evening, strong winds blowing the light, fluffy snow will make
  visibility difficult.
• As with every New Year’s Eve, regardless of the driving conditions, drive defensively and take extra
  precautions if you must be on the road.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is the state agency responsible for coordinating federal, state, local, voluntary and private resources during emergencies and disasters in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  MEMA provides leadership to: develop plans for effective response to all hazards, disasters or threats; train emergency personnel to protect the public; provide information to the citizenry; and assist individuals, families, businesses and communities to mitigate against, prepare for, and respond to and recover from emergencies, both natural and man made.

For additional information about MEMA and Winter Preparedness, go to www.mass.gov/mema.

Winter storm advisory and safe travel tips from the Yarmouth Police Department

YARMOUTH - The National Weather Service reports the potential for heavy snow and high winds that may cause power outages and will make overnight and early morning travel treacherous on Cape Cod. 

The Yarmouth Police and Fire Departments are prepared to meet the public safety needs of our community and the Town of Yarmouth Department of Public Works Highway Division has been activated and will be working to clear our roadways.

Important phone numbers

EMERGENCIES ONLY: 911

• Power Outages or Wires Down: Nstar 1-800-592-2000
• Phone Problems: Verizon 508-555-1611
• Non-emergency Fire Hazards: The Yarmouth Fire Department 508-398-2212  (in the town of Yarmouth)
• Non-emergency Police Hazards: The Yarmouth Police Department 508-775-0445—Storm Related Questions or Concerns ext 281 (in the town of Yarmouth)

Winter Safe Travel Tips Reminder

Winter Conditions call for different driving tactics, Ice and Snow, Take it Slow - slower speed, slower acceleration, slower steering, and slower braking. Travel only if necessary and give extra time to reach your destination safely.

• Drive with your headlights on
• Wear your seat belt
• Drivers should allow additional room between their vehicles and others. Winter road conditions often result in longer stopping distances.
• Avoid abrupt actions while steering, braking or accelerating to lessen the chances of losing control of the vehicle.
• Look farther ahead in traffic. Action by other drivers will alert you to problems and give you extra time to react.
• Stopping on snow and ice without skidding requires extra time and distance. If you have anti-lock brakes, press the pedal down firmly and hold it. If you don't have anti-lock brakes, gently pump the pedal. Either way, give yourself plenty of room to stop.

State upholds records denial by Dennis-Yarmouth School District on toilet water in bottle, failure to evacuate school during fire

Public records supervisor says D-Y properly withheld records
Holds that state rules, court decisions can shield disciplining of students, teachers

By James Kinsella

The state supervisor of records has upheld a denial by the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District for records sought by Cape Cod Today.

In an incident in late September or early October, one or more students on the Wixon girls' field hockey team filled the water bottle of one of the players with toilet water. In another incident, on Sept. 26, three teachers kept students in their charge inside during a fire at Mattacheese Middle School.

Cape Cod Today had sought disciplinary records pertaining to two incidents at the school district earlier this year: one in which students at Nathaniel S. Wixon Middle School filled another student's water bottle with toilet water, and another in which three teachers at Mattacheese Middle School did not evacuate students in their charge during a fire.

On Oct. 22, school district superintendent Carol Woodbury issued letters denying the two records requests.

Cape Cod Today appealed both denials to the state public records division at the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Alan N. Cote, supervisor of records at the division, now has upheld both denials, saying the records were properly withheld by the district.

Cote's letter reveals, however, that Woodbury issued disciplinary letters to the three teachers.

In an incident in late September or early October, one or more students on the Wixon girls' field hockey team filled the water bottle of one of the players with toilet water.

A Hyannis radio station, WXTK-FM, subsequently reported that the girl had to receive a hepatitis shot.

In another incident, on Sept. 26, three teachers - Sarah Wheaton, Linda Greene and John Tierney - kept students in their charge inside during a fire alarm at Mattacheese Middle School. Firefighters found a small fire had started in a boys' bathroom. Heavy rain was falling at the time of the alarm.

In a letter to Cape Cod Today, Cote said Woodbury, in citing a section of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations, properly held back the names of any students disciplined for the water-bottle incident.

State says legal exemptions cover student, teacher records

"Except in certain limited provisions not relevant to this appeal, the regulations generally provide that '...no third party shall have access to information in or from a student record without the specific, informed consent of the eligible student or parent.'"

Student disciplinary records, Cote wrote, are certainly the type of records contemplated with the definition of a student record in the regulations.

"Given that you do not have the specific, informed consent of the eligible student or parent that is required... the school district has properly (Cote's emphasis) withheld student records in this instance," he wrote.

The records request on the three teachers involved in the fire-alarm incident involved a more detailed discussion.

The Yarmouth Fire Department had identified the three staffers and that each had been fined $100. Cape Cod Today sought information on what, if any, disciplinary steps had been taken by the school district in light of the incident.

In denying the records request, Woodbury relied on an exemption to the state public records law which pertains to "personnel and medical files or information; also, any other materials or data relating to a specifically named individual, the disclosure of which may constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

While "personnel information" isn't defined in law, Cote wrote, the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that personnel information useful in making employment decisions about an employee may be withheld. The court said that information included disciplinary information.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled in the case of Wakefield Teachers Association v. School Committee of Wakefield that disciplinary reports of public school teachers were exempt from the public records law.

On Dec. 9, according to Cote, an attorney acting on behalf of the district spoke to an attorney on Cote's staff regarding the matter.

The attorney, Andrew Waugh, told the staff attorney that an investigation "into the alleged breach of fire safety protocol had been conducted by the school district and which consisted of interviews with both the staff members and the students involved.

"Thereafter, the matter was referred to the superintendent who issued disciplinary letters to the staff members," Cote wrote.

The Supreme Judicial Court, he wrote, had ruled in the case of Wakefield Teachers Association v. School Committee of Wakefield that disciplinary reports of public school teachers were exempt from the public records law.

Cote wrote that the decision determined that "exempting personnel information from disclosure serves to protect the government's ability to function effectively as an employer."

Here comes the snow - up to 6 inches of it

Accumulations of 6 to 8 inches expected on Cape

 An SUV heads out to brave the storm in Marstons Mills about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

High winds, falling temperatures will follow New Year's Eve storm

By Phil Burt

A quick-hitting winter storm arrived this morning, Wednesday, Dec. 31. This system is somewhat similar to our Dec. 19 snowstorm, in that it will bring a short-lived but relatively intense burst of snow associated with a small storm center passing south of Cape Cod.

Those headed out for New Year's Eve activities should prepare for tough driving conditions and very cold temperatures. New Year's Day is looking wintry, with sunshine but bitter cold temperatures as highs struggle to reach 20 degrees.

Snow began developing over the Cape by mid-morning. Snowfall should become steady and locally heavy at times through the late afternoon hours.

Accumulations should range between 4 and 6 inches around the Cape, with little if any mixing with rain expected.

As the low pressure slides eastward and out to sea it will intensify into a major ocean storm, kicking up our winds and pulling down frigid air from Canada.

Consequently, temperatures will fall during the evening and winds will increase out of the north to 30 mph with gusts to 55 to 60 mph, making travel difficult during the afternoon and evening hours.

Those headed out for New Year's Eve activities should prepare for tough driving conditions and very cold temperatures. New Year's Day is looking wintry, with sunshine but bitter cold temperatures as highs struggle to reach 20 degrees.

You can get your latest National Weather Service forecast at CapeCodToday.com and local updates at Cape Cod Weather.net as the storm approaches and develops today and this evening.

A Barnstable Police cruiser at the scene of a single-car accident Wednesday near the intersection of River Road and Lovells Lane in Marstons Mills. The driver, whose car skidded in the snow, wasn't hurt.

A front-end loader goes down one of the lanes in the parking lot outside the Super Stop & Shop supermarket in Marstons Mills early Wednesday afternoon.

Westbound traffic creeps along Route 28 in Marstons Mills Wednesday afternoon. The intersection with South County Road, which leads to Osterville and Wianno, is at right.

Snow drapes a creche in the heart of downtown Osterville.

 A northeast wind drives the snow through trees in Marstons Mills on Wednesday morning. Winds are predicted to increase and temperatures to fall Wednesday evening.

Chatham departments may add wind turbines; Tribe leaders ask for meeting; One wicked landmark lawsuit;; DA loses 2 OUI appeals;

TODAY's quote: “We’re a windy spot." - Chatham Harbormaster Stuart Smith

Wind Turbines May Be In Chatham’s Future

Harbormaster Stuart Smith is looking into using small wind turbines to generate electricity at the fish pier and the town-owned Old Mill Boatyard.   cc2day photo.

The "First stop of the east wind" wasn’t just a chamber of commerce marketing slogan.  Chatham is a very windy place, although the almost ever-present breeze doesn’t always come from a single direction.

While Chatham is miles away from the controversial Cape Wind project, some are looking to the town’s windy shores to provide some relief from utility costs.

Two town departments are in the midst of early examinations of whether harnessing the power of the wind could ease the burden of electricity costs on the town budget.  The town has applied for a grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Large Onsite Renewables Initiative, or LORI, to fund an in-depth feasibility study of using wind turbines to provide power for the expanded wastewater treatment facility... Cape Cod Chronicle.
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Mashpee tribal councilors call for another emergency meeting Friday

Mashpee Wampanoag tribal councilors Cedric Cromwell, Aaron Tobey, Yvonne Avant and Cheryl Frye Cromwell have called for an emergency meeting of the tribe's governing board this Friday.

Two councilors attempted to have an emergency meeting last Saturday afternoon in hopes of getting resignations of any tribal council members who collaborated with former chairman Glenn Marshall. Meanwhile, the Middleborough Board of Selectmen has voted to meet in February to review the tribe's contract with the town to build a $1 billion casino on land that would be taken into trust in Middleborough.  See previous story about that aborted meeting here.
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One wicked landmark lawsuit by local weeklies' parent
Wickedlocal is spitting in the face of Boston.com

On so many levels, the online slap fight between Wickedlocal.com and Boston.com is wicked pissa. (Boston slang for a Boston lawsuit.) It’s all about links — the building blocks of the Web. This case s heading to the U.S. Supreme Court, this blogger truly believes, because who else can referee this fight?

Everybody links! You read me, I read you (or the Orwell diaries); we all read each other. There’s never been a better time to be a reader. (Newspapers? Now that’s another story. We’re giving it away online … and that’s why you have this lawsuit.) Wickedlocal.com (GateHouse Media) can’t stand links, at least from Boston.com, and Boston.com (NYT Co.) won’t stop linking. Who can?... Joe Dwinnell in The Herald.

See what GateHouse owns on Cape Cod here.
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 State's highest court rejects DA's appeals in 2 OUI cases involving under-sized juries

Dery's lawyer David G. Mintz said his client lives on Cape Cod and did not want to come back to Northampton for another court date.

The state Supreme Judicial Court denied appeals by the Northwestern District Attorney's office last week in two unusual cases involving short-handed juries. The decisions, handed down on Dec. 23, both stem from trials of defendants charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, though the charges themselves played no role in the legal reasoning. In both cases, the defendants avoided being found guilty.

In one case, Neil S. Nicoll was tried for operating under the influence of alcohol on May 17, 2006, in Eastern Hampshire District Court. Zachary P. Dery's trial took place on Sept. 13, 2007 in the same court for operating under the influence and other traffic violations.

Both cases were scheduled to be heard by six-member juries, the minimum required by law in district court cases. Jury cases tried in superior court must have at least 12 members. In Dery's case, because of a small jury pool, the court was left with only five acceptable jurors after both sides exercised their peremptory challenges, which allow them to disqualify jurors. When Judge W. Michael Ryan informed the defendant that he could technically proceed with a jury of five, Dery agreed to go through with the trial, according to a synopsis included in the high court's ruling.

The prosecution did not object, and the trial proceeded. Dery was found innocent. The district attorney's office subsequently appealed, arguing that a jury of five was not a "legitimate fact-finder"... Springfield Republican.