EXTRA...

Obamas to add presidential color to the Inkwell; Meow X 3; Registry to close two Cape offices; Cape on list of ten healthiest beaches

TODAY's quotes: "People are going to lose their minds," said Tonya Lewis Lee, left, wife of the filmmaker Spike Lee, who has a seaside house in Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard near the Inkwell beach, so called because its chief patrons are black.
"I saw the black SUV flying in the air..." Maria Francescon, right, of Mansfield describing the view through her windshield on the Sagamore Bridge yesterday afternoon around 2:30.

From CapeCatMan: Left to right - Henry, Nicholas and Alexandra. Henry is only about ten months old. The vet says that Nicholas is a "small to medium sized Maine Coon." This makes their human parent think that Henry will be at least as large as Nicholas, since Maine Coons grow until they are three years old. Nicholas and Alexandra are six years old this month.

 Obamas to add presidential colour to the Inkwell

The Inkwell Beach along Beach Road in Oak Bluffs is at the bottom of Waban Park. A beautiful swimming spot, the Inkwell has traditionally been a meeting place for African American families and visitors. There is a dawn swimming group and activities continue throughout the day.

It is America's classiest summer playground and has been a favourite with Democratic presidents from Kennedy to Clinton.  Now Barack Obama and his family plan to spend some time next month on the glamorous island of Martha's Vineyard.

Just off Cape Cod in New England, it is where the Democratic elite come to let their hair down each summer, enjoying clambakes on the beach, garden parties, sailing and golf. It has long been a favourite haunt of Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, who is now US Secretary of State.

The Secret Service has been looking since the spring for a suitably large, secure compound to accommodate the President and his entourage.

Their destination is also where generations of the Kennedy political clan traditionally went to blow off steam. President John F. Kennedy loved sailing across the bay from the family compound on Cape Cod. His younger brother, Senator Ted Kennedy, saw his presidential ambitions come to grief in Chappaquiddick, part of Martha's Vineyard, when he crashed after leaving a party. Mary Jo Kopechne, a young secretary and campaign worker, was found drowned in his abandoned car... The Age.
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Registry of Motor Vehicles plans to close 11 offices
Falmouth and Eastham among those to close

The branches will close, in the following order, between July and September: Lowell, North Attleborough, Cambridge (Cambridgeside Galleria), New Bedford, Springfield (Eastfield Mall), Southbridge, Framingham, Falmouth, Eastham, and Beverly. The Chinatown branch will close in December. Mitigation branches will open at the Cape Cod Canal Visitors center at the Sagamore Bridge.

Customers should expect longer wait times as the state Registry of Motor Vehicles closes 11 branch offices to cope with a $13 million hit in this year's state budget, Registry officials said today... Kaprielian acknowledged that "things are going to get a little crunched" but said that customer service remains the agency's "North Star." The Registry's busiest branch, in Chinatown, which draws 289,000 customers a year, will close... Globe.
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Ptown makes America's healthiest beach and lake getaways list of Top Ten

We know your summer vacation time is precious: You want to land where you can truly relax, breathe fresh air, get in some exercise and eat well -- without breaking the bank. That's why we teamed up with a panel of travel and health experts to help us find the healthiest of the nation's most popular beach and lake towns.

...and worth every one of those (s)miles.

They evaluated air and water quality, the abundance of parks, the cost of a hotel room and more to zero in on the top 10 healthiest getaways. When you're ready for that much-deserved vacay, you won't go wrong with one of these 10 shore bets.

1. Tybee Island, Georgia
A barrier island about 18 miles east of Savannah, low-key Tybee boasts a 3-mile stretch of beach that our judges labeled "magnificent," complete with gorgeous water. "The beaches here rarely have water-quality problems," says panelist and water-quality expert Nancy Stoner, who is very picky about where she dips a toe in...

10. Provincetown, Massachusetts
This outermost tip of Cape Cod had the highest score in water quality of all our towns. "Both beaches, Herring Cove and Race Point, passed every water-quality test with flying colors," judge Stoner says. Both offer kayaking, sailing and even sand-dune hiking.

The town is bike-friendly, too. So why did it come in at number 10? The hotels are on the expensive side, and there weren't as many healthy-food options.

Stay here: At the Land's End Inn (starting at $305 per night), you can have breakfast overlooking the water. The Anchor Inn Beach House (starting at $195 per night) will set up gear rentals and water excursions... CNN.

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In depth Jim Gordon interview;

TODAY's quote: "I have a lot of respect for Senator Kennedy—I did have a meeting with him. It was a very amicable meeting. …I'm just hoping he will look at the record and recognize that Massachusetts wants a renewable-energy future and that our citizens want a better future for their children. Certainly, I'm hoping he will at some point embrace this project." - Jim Gordon.

Cape Wind president, Cape Cod vacationer, clean-energy pioneer, provocateur

"The oil embargo occurred in 1973 and 1974. I was sitting in a two-block-long gas line waiting to fill up my gas tank. I saw the dislocation that the embargo caused in terms of social disruptions, economic disruptions, and I felt that energy was going to be a very important issue."
                    - Jim Gordon

If you're looking to put up an offshore wind farm in Massachusetts, there are more politically expedient places than smack between the beloved beaches of the Cape and Islands. But there are not, Jim Gordon insists, any superior spots from an engineering standpoint. And so, for going on eight years, the Cape Wind founder has pressed on with his fight to construct 130 turbines there. In May, the project secured its final state permit; now all that's left is a "record of decision" from an enthusiastic-sounding Obama Interior Department. Could that come this month (to maximize the public relations tie-in to America's new push for energy independence)? Maybe. But if not, Gordon is prepared to wait as long as it takes.

JIM GORDON: You can't just say, "I want renewable energy, but I want it in someone else's backyard." It's an interesting thing: With oil, coal, and natural gas, you can truck, pipe, or barge it. With wind, you can't do that. You have to locate the facility where the wind is.
...
When the British embargoed salt during the Revolutionary War, the Cape and Islands responded-they had the salty sea and wind, and soon windmills dotted the landscape. In the 1800s, folks from New Bedford, Nantucket, and Cape Cod lit the lamps of industrial machinery by creating energy from whales. In World War II, our ports made ships to fight fascism. We have the marine and cultural heritage; we've responded to urgent challenges all throughout our history. Where better to do this?
...
Whether it's a football stadium or an art museum on Memorial Drive, if you look at any major infrastructure project in Massachusetts, it's not uncommon to have opposition. We have an active democracy... Read the rest of this Boston Magazine interview here and here.

EDITOR's NOTE: This Boston Magazine interview of 2009 reads very much like the opprobrious Cape Cod Times interview of Gordon by then reporter John Leaning written about 2003 which was spiked by then editor Schectman because it was so favorable. The Times had assigned veteran journalist Leaning, the lead reporter on the Cape Wind story, to spend a few days with both Cape Wind's president and Doug Yearley the founder of the Assiance to Protect Nantucket Sound. 
     The two interviews reportedly were like "The Beauty and the Beast", and Schectman refused to let his readers decide bet ween the two men themselves. 
     Read another former Times reporter's pliant here. wb

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Cape Wind will pay state over over $14 million; Lightning victim killed in ‘split second'; Pollution, warmer seas hike red tide threat; Renewable Energy investors optimistic; Delegates upset about funds to CC Commission

TODAY's quote: "It was a hell of a bang, a big bang." - John Jonason.

Financial, environmental benefits to Cape Wind project
Cape Wind will pay state over over $14 million

Massachusetts will lose $588,033 of annual new revenue ($14.7 million during Cape Wind's 25-year lease) if opponents' plan to promote Blue H USA's unproven deepwater floating-platform scheme stops Cape Wind.

Cape Wind will pay the feds $2,177,900 annually, 27 percent ($588,033) of which will flow to Massachusetts.

Cape and islands towns would lose their portion of Cape Wind's payments.

Minerals Management Service's new regulations, explained at their June 9 Boston workshop, include a formula to calculate federal lease payments.

Cape Wind will pay the feds $2,177,900 annually, 27 percent ($588,033) of which will flow to Massachusetts.

A state receives that share if offshore wind turbines are within six miles of their shore.

Since Blue H's deepwater floating turbines - if ever built - will be more than six miles from shore, Massachusetts would receive no payment... Patriot Ledger.
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Some Assembly delegates upset about funds to CC Commission

"It just doesn't meet the openness I know we work under." - Tom Lynch.

The decision to commit $350,000 a year in Cape & Islands license plate revenue to implementation of the region's Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) prompted pre-Fourth of July fireworks this week.

At the July 1 meeting of the county Assembly of Delegates, the member from Barnstable, Tom Lynch, had a heated exchange with county commissioners chairman Sheila Lyons. Lynch was objecting to the board's decision to adopt the Cape Cod Economic Development Council's recommendation without seeking broader advice, including the Assembly's.

"It just doesn't meet the openness I know we work under," said Lynch, referring to his role as assistant town manager... Barnstable Patriot.
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Pollution, warmer seas
hike red tide threat

"The seas were red with blood." It would be a mistake to take this ancient Egyptian description literally. There was no human carnage or apocalypse, but rather an ocean plague of early blooming marine algae. Red tide is a scourge that has affected humans throughout the ages.
   The sometimes-lethal phenomenon already has appeared in parts of New England this year and has become a perennial threat. Having a shellfish license to gather clams, oysters and mussels, I'm particularly concerned about the extent of this year's eruption.
   Red tide refers to about 60 potentially deadly oceanic biotoxins. Shellfish filter-feed and can accumulate toxins released by microorganisms in the water.   An overabundance of dinoflagellate producing these toxins can turn water the telltale reddish color that is so dreaded... Telegram.

Pal: Lightning victim killed in ‘split second'

The man who witnessed one of his best friends being struck and killed by lightning says he saw his buddy stand up on a fishing boat during a violent thunderstorm before a bolt struck him down in a "split second."

"It was a hell of a bang, a big bang," said John Jonason, 66, who was just 1,000 feet away when a fellow quahogger was killed on an Orleans bay Wednesday. "It was so bright. I couldn't see."

Jonason of Eastham doesn't know why his friend, Christopher West, 41, also of Eastham, stood up amid lightning and torrential rain on Little Pleasant Bay. The strike happened at about 5:30 p.m. and the storm that preceded it moved in fast, Jonason said. He said they lay down in their boats to wait out the storm. Jonason was lying in his boat when he saw a lightning bolt hit West... Herald.
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Renewable Energy Investors Are Cautiously Optimistic

In just five months, the U.S. government has gone from being a casual supporter of renewable energy to the one of world's biggest investors in the space. Now the private sector is trying to figure out what role it will play in this new era of government involvement.

Public policies in the form of incentives and procurement targets have historically provided the necessary base-level demand for clean energy. Acting on those signals, the private sector has brought clean energy close to the mainstream.

According to a report released by New Energy Finance (NEF) last month, renewables brought in more investment than fossil energy technologies in 2008 and represented 40% of global power capacity additions, making the industry a real player on the global stage.

But with the private sector in disarray, investments in clean energy have fallen considerably in 2009. Meanwhile, concerns over climate change continue to rise. In order to keep momentum strong, governments are stepping up and increasingly acting as investors - and the U.S. is the leading the trend... Renewable Energy World.

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JFK White House at sea; Rain helps some Cape businesses; Horror of Party Beach; Harwich baseball in 1884; Marine Center gets $750K; Mezza Luna rises from the ashes

TODAY's quotes:
     "As they say on my own Cape Cod, a rising tide lifts all the boats."
                                   - John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
      "Fortunately, the rainy days were some of our busier days."
                                   - William Catania.

Harwich baseball exhibit now showing at Brooks Academy Museum

Harwich Baseball Team - 1911, Brooks Academy Museum is open Thursday through Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m.,  June 25 through Oct. 10.

Harwich has a rich history of baseball. Based on the old English game of rounders, "base ball" has been around for centuries. Interest in the game spread across the country after the Civil War, brought home by returning soldiers who had played the game in camp.

On Cape Cod, as elsewhere, train travel made it easier for teams to play each other, organized leagues developed and by 1880 baseball, known as town ball, was being played by amateur clubs across the county.

Organized town baseball games appear in the Harwich newspaper beginning in 1884. "Base ball fever seems to be raging across the Cape this season," commented the paper. Early town ball teams attracted local and college players who have been the mainstays of teams throughout the years, evolving into the Cape Cod Baseball League of today... Harwich Oracle.
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Soggy Summer Puts Damper On Cape Cod Business

"The weather? Not as great as we expected, but yesterday was beautiful. The whale watching was beautiful. We didn't have too bad a time."

While this soggy June has been a wash-out for much of Cape Cod's tourist trade and many of its vacationers, some indoor businesses have flourished. Ron Sanders visited a few and found that, in addition to an actual sighting of the sun Wednesday, there is hope on the horizon.

As rain came once again to Cape Cod, what few people were there at Kalmus beach left their vacation behind with mediocre memories. 

"The weather? Not as great as we expected, but yesterday was beautiful. The whale watching was beautiful. We didn't have too bad a time."

And if the beach did not provide too good a time, the indoor wave pool at the Cape Codder Resort took its place for some vacationers.  "Fortunately, the rainy days were some of our busier days," said owner William Catania... WBZ.
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The Kennedy White House on Sea

Bill Clinton has done it. Gordon Brown has done it. And now it looks as though Barack Obama might do it. If current rumours are true, the Obamas will be following other political heavyweights in taking their family summer holiday on the Atlantic coast of New England.

The (British Prime Minister) Browns tend to head to Cape Cod, while the Obama family is odds-on to take the Clinton trail to nearby Martha's Vineyard. Both are popular A-list bolt-holes - and have an added glamour as long-standing playgrounds of the Kennedy family. (The photo on right is Jack and Jackie sailing his Wianno Senior sloop off Hyannisport.)

But these are not the only stretches of the New England coast to have been sprinkled with Kennedy stardust. Just to the west of Cape Cod, about 50 miles south of Boston on Highway 95, lies America's smallest state, Rhode Island. Here, the big draws are the 400-odd miles of largely undeveloped coastline, the capital, Providence, and the smart little resort of Newport where, on September 12 1953, Jacqueline Bouvier married Senator John F Kennedy. Archive photographs show the couple in the grounds of Jackie's stepfather's property, Hammersmith Farm, her train billowing in the breeze on the grassy shore sloping down to Narragansett Bay... Telegraph UK.
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Rebuilt Mezza Luna serves hearty Italian favorites

E.J. Cubellis II had one heck of a fall season in 2007. In October, the third-generation owner of Mezza Luna in Buzzards Bay watched his venerable 70-year-old restaurant burn to the ground. Ten days later, his son E.J. III was born.

Talk about your yin and yang.

A long process of rebuilding would follow - after all, you can't pass the family business down to that fourth generation if it's a pile of charred wreckage.

So Mezza Luna is back in business, with a new building that retains the soul of the original along with the classic recipes that have been enjoyed for seven decades.

My brother Chris and I arrived for lunch at Mezza Luna on a rare beautiful day, and both of us were hungry. I got to his house at 11, but after catching up with his kids and running errands (and getting stuck in New Bedford traffic), we didn't officially get on the road until almost 1... Standard-Times.
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"His organs are so decomposed it needs the only food which can keep it alive...human blood" - Dr. Gavin, "The Horror of Party Beach"

He's pointing to the fictional "Western Island," right off the coast of Woods Hole, as near as I can tell.

[Mike Bailey is the senior political reporter for the Enterprise Newspapers. He writes a kewl blog called "Snark-Infested Waters" from which we offer this episode:]

This is a bit of random silliness I had to share, and it'll appeal to only so many readers.

Last night, in an effort to decompress after a long day, I went to AMC's new B-Movie Classics website, which features a small but growing catalog of simply awful b-movies...the kind of fare I grew up on, thanks to Channel 56's "Creature Double Feature," which ran every Saturday afternoon for many a wonderful, rubbery monster-filled year.

I chose for no real reason "The Horror of Party Beach," which combines the thrills and chills of a mutant-monster-on-the-rampage horror flick with the toe-tapping tuneage and innocent goofy charm of a Frankie-and-Annette beach movie. Yes, it is as "good" as it sounds. What made this cheesefest all the more entertaining: It is apparently set in my home town of Falmouth... Enterprise. 
See the movie.
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Marine Center nets another $750K

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's Advanced Technology Manufacturing Center received another spark last week to power its research in marine energy in the form of a direct appropriation from the federal government.

The center's Marine Renewable Energy Center will receive $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy's fiscal year 2010 budget, said John Miller, director of operations for the ATMC and head of the marine center. The appropriation is on top of $1 million in DOE grant funding the marine center will receive to spur academic research efforts and support small marine technology companies... Boston Business Journal.

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Another Atlantic rower; Mass. adds 3 new offshore wind farms; Maine starts wind farm on Vinalhaven; Two turbine town; Tribe makes another $250K payment; Eastham's Herring River inlet; B.O. headed for O.B.

TODAY's quotes: "We can do something about this, we can produce our own power, we can be energy self-sufficient."
                          - Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-North Haven).
"But I'd say the island should get something for it - like free electricity."
                          - Jono Billings, who runs Cuttyhunk Ferry Co.

More confirmation on Barack Obama's Oaks Bluffs Vineyard vacation

The Obama's said to have rented a large cottage on East Chop overlooking Nantucket Sound and Cape Cod. It's a mile west of Oak Bluffs center.

President Barack Obama and his family plan to vacation next month on Martha's Vineyard, Democratic sources said. The trip has long been rumored on the island, where federal agents were reported to be checking out property last spring.

The plan puts the Obamas in one of America's most diverse resort areas. The enclave of Oaks Bluff has long been a favorite vacation spot for the nation's African-American elite.

The Vineyard was a favorite vacation spot of President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, now Obama's secretary of state. An article about the Vineyard in New York magazine reported: "In the past, Obama has spent time playing golf with Vernon Jordan, swimming off South Beach, playing basketball ... reading and watching the ferries, and taking the girls for ice cream on Circuit Avenue." Politico.
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State draws zones for coast wind farms - new turbines within 3 miles of shore

The plan would have no effect on Cape Wind project but would kill Jay Cashman's Buzzards Bay projects.

Dozens of wind turbines could sprout within sight of the Massachusetts shoreline under a first-of-its-kind state blueprint with the promise of generating both electricity and controversy. The draft plan, scheduled to be released today, would allow a series of small wind farms of up to 10 turbines each in coastal waters that stretch 3 miles from shore. Substantially larger farms - similar to what's proposed in Nantucket Sound - could be built off Cape Cod near Cuttyhunk Island and adjacent to another tiny island several miles off Martha's Vineyard.

But much like zoning laws on land that attempt to protect sensitive areas, the state plan aims to spare precious pieces of the sea that include fish nurseries and endangered whale feeding zones. Before developers could start aquaculture farms, lay electric cables, or plant wind turbines in those areas, they would have to prove there is no better alternative... Globe.
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Aussie rower set to cross Atlantic

Solo Atlantic rower John Mollison is off and running. While the official start of his bold Atlantic crossing bid is scheduled for a weekend departure from Cape Cod, the gung-ho Perth property manager has taken to the water off Long Island for demanding sea trials.
   The "Shepherd Purple Heart Ocean Row" adventurer, who lost a leg in the Falklands War, is raising cash for the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen's Association.
   John (49) was determined to get going before the weekend Armed Forces Day celebrations throughout Britain... Perth.

Tribe makes $250K payment to Middleboro

Middleboro received this year's $250,000 installment from the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe on Tuesday, but town officials are still planning to ask for written confirmation that the town won't have to return any of the pre-planning funds it has received should the casino not be built.

Selectmen Chairman Patrick E. Rogers said money was wired to the town Tuesday by the investors.

Although the town manager and selectmen said they received verbal confirmation from the tribe the money is the town's to keep, selectmen were advised by the Resort Advisory Committee to get it in writing... Enterprise.
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Cape Cod Hikes: The Herring River inlet

The Herring Riversgoes in just below First Encounter Beach on Eastham's western shore.

The Herring River Inlet opens into Cape Cod Bay at the southern end of First Encounter Beach in Eastham. This inlet represents one avenue of evolution that is often taken by marsh and baymouth systems like Sandy Neck and Barnstable Harbor. Behind the inlet is an extensive marsh system that is filled and drained by the tides.

As the marsh grows and fills in the tidal channels, the amount of water that passes through the mouth of the inlet decreases. As a result, more sediments are deposited by the longshore current in the mouth of the inlet than are soured away by tidal currents, and the inlet fills in.

Eventually, if man doesn't intervene, the longshore current will completely seal off the Herring River inlet. When this happens the marsh will enter a new stage in its evolution, in which land plants will slowly replace the marsh grasses... Boston Examiner.
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Falmouth voters approve second turbine

Town meeting voters showed their commitment to renewable energy initiatives last night by approving construction of a second wind turbine at the wastewater treatment facility... The additional $5 million, 1.65-megawatt turbine will be located on the same 240-acre parcel of land off Blacksmith Shop Road, but northwest of the original turbine. The two turbines will be identical in size and power, town officials said, and the original turbine is already under construction... Herald.
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Community celebrates Fox Islands wind power groundbreaking

  The west view of Vinalhaven island as seen from the mainland of mid-coast Maine.

She talked about the strong opposition to a wind project offshore of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. "And I tell them the story of how hard this community worked, and how people went everywhere to find the money to make sure they could do this project." Pingree talked about all the meetings needed and how people in the community decided, "We can do something about this, we can produce our own power, we can be energy self-sufficient."

About 11 months after the Fox Islands Electric Cooperative approved a wind power project by a vote of 383 to 5, over 120 islanders, officials and project workers gathered on June 29 to celebrate the project's official groundbreaking.

Construction is already underway at the 75-acre site on the north side of Vinalhaven to build three, 1.5 megawatt General Electric wind turbines capable of generating all the electricity needed by Vinalhaven and North Haven. The turbines are expected to stabilize power prices on the two islands. Right now residents pay 25 cents per kilowatt-hour, more double the national average... Philip Conkling, president of the Island Institute, said, "I believe the Fox Islands wind project will be a turning point in Maine island history, and perhaps in the history of Maine itself," he said. "If we can muster the political and financial resources to build his project, we can build not just more islands wind projects, but also build ocean wind projects, as well, and in the process change the way we heat our homes, run our vehicles, and save the state." The Island Institute assisted in the permitting process and helped with community involvement... Working Waterfront.

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Plymouth Rock Studios survives state funding cut; Voters favor Christy over Deval; Keetler's star reliefer to return; OpenCape may be stimulus

TODAY's quote: ""This is going to be a very competitive race. People are sick of tried and failed policies and taxes that place huge burdens on all of us to continue this one-party embarrassment." - Christy Mihos, 6/30/09.

Voters favor Christy Mihos
Conducted by Rasmussen Reports

Vote for Governor
Mihos 41%
Patrick 40%
Some other candidate 10%
Not sure 9%
FOX/Boston.

Plymouth Studios survives state funding cut
Developers seek private funding

The Plymouth Rock Studios project is moving ahead with private money after being denied economic development funding from the state.

Developers for the project had applied for $50 million from the state’s newly created Infrastructure Investment Incentive Program, called “I-Cubed.” The money would have been spent on road, sewer and water upgrades.

But state officials determined that the project would not generate the tax revenues needed to cover the bond payments.

The Patriot Ledger reported earlier this week that the funding wasn’t coming through, after Senate President Therese Murray told the paper’s editorial board that the funding program likely won’t work for any state projects. ... Cape Business.

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New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Cape Cod vacation
Was reliefer for Keetlers in 1960s

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is heading to Cape Cod for a vacation. The governor and first lady Barbara Richardson leave today for their getaway in Massachusetts.

Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for the governor, said Monday that a state police security detail will accompany the governor... The Richardsons vacationed on Cape Cod in 2006 and 2003. The governor attended college at Tufts University in the Boston area and played amateur baseball in the Cape Cod League... KDBC-TV.
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Cape Cod Broadband Network May Be Model Stimulus Project

Stiff competition awaits local governments that are seeking a piece of the $7.2 billion set aside for broadband infrastructure in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Many already have plans that were shelved after the national craze for broadband deployments imploded a few years ago.

Local governments with less developed strategies may want to learn from one initiative observers consider a likely recipient of stimulus money: OpenCape is a consortium of local government and small business representatives in Cape Cod, Mass., who spent the last two years crafting a plan to deploy a broadband backhaul network for the entire cape.

OpenCape is applying for stimulus funds to build the network. Commercial providers will be able to use the infrastructure to provide services to residents, businesses and government entities on the cape that the providers currently don't serve because it's cost prohibitive... Government Technology.

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Ted hangs around home; Rail Trail dangers; Fishing praise; Health center seeks stimulus funding; Brewster rest room peeper?

TODAY's quote: “Our cash flow is a huge issue. We count on getting our reimbursement from our insurers. But the state is having troubles, too.” - Roberta Berrien

Kennedy At Home On The Ocean In Hyannis Port

With its white clapboard walls, sloping lawns and broad porches, the famed Kennedy family compound on Cape Cod boasts commanding views of Nantucket Sound's shimmering waters.

The quiet six-acre compound in Hyannis Port, Mass., has for generations been a sanctuary for Sen. Edward Kennedy and his famed political family, a quiet enclave where the Kennedys have gathered for refuge from the rigors of politics and public life. Now, more than a year into his battle with brain cancer, friends say Kennedy, 77, has retreated to the comfort and privacy of his seaside home... WBZ.
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Alleged Brewster rest room peeper arrested

A Brewster man was arrested yesterday after repeatedly trying to look into a public rest room, police said, reports the Cape Cod Times. Mark Hamlyn, 53, was arrested at 3:22 p.m. after callers reported a suspicious man peering into a rest room along the Cape Cod Rail Trail bike path near White's Pond. When police arrived, the semi-clothed Hamlyn attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended, police said.

Hamlyn, who was found guilty of indecent exposure and open and gross lewdness in 1998... Herald.
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Rules of the road: Rail Trail crossings can pose dangers to riders, drivers

Now that bike-riding season is here and Cape Cod Rail Trail is getting crowded, local safety officials say it’s important that bicyclists use caution at street crossings and follow the rules of the road.

“Bike riders are supposed to come to a stop at all road-crossing stop signs, get off their bikes and walk the bike across the street,” said Harwich Police Lt. Tom Gagnon. But, he acknowledges, very few of them do.

A reporter watching bicyclists at two major crossings, one in Harwich, where the path crosses Route 124 at Pleasant Lake General Store, and one in Orleans, at the intersection of Main Street and Old Colony Road, observed that only about 10 percent of riders came to a full stop at the stop signs posted on every crossing. During the reporter’s half-hour watch one recent Sunday morning, no bike rider dismounted and walked across either intersection. ... Provincetown Banner.

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Praise for fishery changes comes from the inside

The congratulations that rained down on the fishery's rule makers' decision last week to privatize the bounty of the sea into negotiable "catch shares" for permitholders were, in essence, self-congratulations by those close to the process.

But their sentiment was not universally shared, with one member of the New England Fishery Management Council openly saying the final product of last week's landmark meetings gives preferential treatment to a group of Cape Cod fishermen, even as fishermen in Gloucester and elsewhere remain wary of the new system. ... Gloucester Daily Times.

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Health center seeks stimulus funding

Outer Cape Health Services, which has been struggling to stabilize its finances over the past year, is hoping federal stimulus package money will help it resume an ambitious expansion planned for the Provincetown center.

In the meantime, however, the community health care provider is struggling with its day-to-day finances because of a decision by one of its insurance providers to temporarily halt all reimbursement payments. MassHealth, the state health care insurer, told health care providers recently it is stopping all insurance reimbursement payments until sometime in fiscal year 2010. MassHealth owes OCHS $96,000, according to health center CEO Roberta Berrien.

The loss of that money even for a few months has a significant impact on the health center because it is currently staffing up to handle the busy summer season, when the influx of summer visitors increases the demand for health care in the area. OCHS also has a center in Wellfleet. ... Provincetown Banner.

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Cape has worse beach-loss week; Think Like a Fish; History mixes with modern fun for the family on the Cape; We're #6

TODAY's quote: "The beach was just gone. Wiped out. People were asking where it went. I told them, ‘I guess someone stole it.' Hope they bring it back." - Hannah Gonsalves, the Truro's assistant beach supervisor

 Think Like a Fish

Unluckily fishermen are all alike: We don't know how to see. My friend Jud has outfished me in all but one or two of the hundred times we've gone to the ocean and bay beaches and kettle ponds on Cape Cod. By both study and exercise, he knows the culture of striped bass better than I know my own nose. But to call him "lucky" would begrudge him a talent that I have never seen in anyone else and that lives underneath skill or knowledge. One July night, on a falling tide that sifted through the granite jetty in the west end of Provincetown, we fished the same 10-foot sluice, with the same tackle and the same flies (he ties them for me), and I watched in outrage as he caught 20 stripers to my two.... New York Times.

Stormy week gnaws at Outer Cape beaches
Some officials say it was the worse beach loss they've ever seen

Battering the Outer Cape's fragile beaches with sustained gusts and powerful waves, this week's swirling, unseasonable northeaster radically reshaped the coastal landscape, leveling dunes, washing away plover and tern nests, and engulfing coveted coastal swaths. As they grimly surveyed the aftermath yesterday, coastal specialists said they were stunned by the scope and severity of the damage, which forced the closure of some ocean beaches and in some cases wiped away years of painstaking restoration efforts.

"In terms of changes on the beach, this is the biggest storm I've ever seen,'' said Carrie Phillips, chief of natural resource management at Cape Cod National Seashore, which stretches from Chatham to Provincetown. "It totally reshaped all of our beaches.'' Some sections of the seashore were closed because high tides left little to no dry sand, while several popular beaches, including Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, were noticeably smaller.

In Truro Thursday morning, when the sun finally broke through several days of gloom, Cape-goers celebrated with a visit to Ballston Beach, a generous, gently sloped stretch of sand nestled along Truro's rolling dunes.

But the ocean had other ideas... Globe.
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On the Cape
History mixes with modern fun for the family

Even gulls enjoy the Chatham Fish Pier. cc2day photo.

Cape Cod is a picture-postcard: Cedar-shingled cottages, salt marshes and splashes of blue hydrangeas dot the landscape. Families explore tidal flats and order ice cream at the clam shack. Couples meander down the beach, and dogs frolic in the surf. It's what summer vacation should be.

One of the most enjoyable and educational free activities on the Cape is a stop at Chatham Fish Pier. Chatham is one of the last New England ports with a fleet of dayboats that leave from and return to port in a single day. You'll be able to stand on a platform above the boats and watch as the catch is unloaded. Retired fishermen act as pier hosts, answering questions about this disappearing industry. Best viewing generally occurs between noon and 3 p.m. when the fleet is returning.... Times Union.
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By the Numbers
Cape is #6 favorite family vacation spot

6 Rank of Cape Cod among 25 vacation destinations nationwide with the worst traffic congestion, according to the American Highway Users Alliance. The worst was the Oregon coast. The Catskills ranked No. 10; Lake George, No. 22... Times Union.

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Ridin' with the Barnstable Barn Burners; Huge changes in groundfishing rules; FL company aids Navy in protecting whales

TODAY's quote: "It's the most important decision for the future of the business." - Eric Brazer, policy analyst with the CCCHFA on the changes to groundfishing regulations.
"Just to watch the ocean when it's stormy is incredibly humbling - it's a gigantic, pulsating, living thing, with huge tides precisely programmed by lunar gravity." - Hamilton Kahn.

   Big changes in the future for Cape Cod fishermen. Above Provincetown Harbor. cctoday photo.

Huge changes in groundfishing rules as Sectors come into play

It’s a sea change for those who make a living from the sea.

After 15 years of fishing under a restrictive tangle of regulations designed to limit time, energy, fishermen and fish caught, commercial fishermen now can opt out and join co-ops (called sectors) like those pioneered right off our own shore by the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association.

“It’s the most important decision for the future of the business,” Eric Brazer, policy analyst with the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association, declared from Portland, Maine, where he was attending the New England Fisheries Management Council meeting. The option to join a sector, he added, is key to the “livelihood of every groundfisherman on Cape Cod.” ... Provincetown Banner.

More on the changes to fishing regs here in Providence Business News.

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Our Poll so far: If the Presidential election was today, I'd vote for:
(as of 7:30 Sat. night)

Barack Obama      31%
John McCain          28%
Ralph Nader             0%
Al Gore                       1%
Sarah Palin            16%
None of the above 10%
Another Democrat 3%
Another Republican 11%
    Vote here.

Cowgirls up!

Galloping on horseback in tight quarters with a group of teenage riders was not the type of riding 63-year-old Rita Silva had signed up for.

"I came here to learn how to trot," said Silva, during a brief break at a recent dress rehearsal of the Barnstable Barn Burners, a precision equestrian drill team that will perform this weekend in Marshfield. Silva was dressed in a red shirt with blue trim and white tassels, and new white chaps. "Now look what they’ve done to me."

Moments later Silva was racing her horse, Grace, through choreographed routines with other riders to the music of Big & Rich, which pounded from a PA system. The horses passed so close together that the riders barely missed brushing one another. Flying hooves flung clumps of dirt. ... Boston Globe.

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Jacksonville company aids Navy with whale-protection measures

To help protect endangered North Atlantic Right Whales, a Jacksonville underwater acoustics company has recorded 792 hours of their calls this year with a sensor 6 miles off the coast.

"We will actually know that one is out there even though we aren't seeing it," said Mary Ann Daher, a biologist at WHO Institute

The new technology may never determine what the whales, a species numbering only about 350, are trying to convey. But it's designed to help the Navy and others avoid striking marine mammals with ships.

Right whales spend their winters feeding and calving in the Atlantic Ocean off Jacksonville.

Since January, a team of 10 people from Analysis, Design and Diagnostics of Jacksonville has been recording and analyzing calls by right whales and other sea creatures to test the sensor, which will help the Navy detect, classify and track the mammals. ... Jacksonville.com.

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Mesmerized by the ocean's beauty, fury - and life

Hamilton Kahn in today's Globe write - the Atlantic Ocean roiling off the backshore of outer Cape Cod is to get just a glimpse of the power of the saltwater entity that envelops this long, narrow peninsula, but a glimpse tells the story.

Fueled by a giant pinwheel of moisture that has been spinning just offshore, the recent stretch of cool, cloudy weather has been brutal on Cape Cod's early summer economy. Those who haven't postponed coming down here have been wandering around our small villages, looking confused, as if the normal order of the universe had been disrupted. Yet this is a perfect opportunity to bear witness to something residents experience all year long: the drama and beauty of a temperamental force that chomps at the shoreline and pulls the weather down around our heads and shoulders... Globe.

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Middleboro selectman wants guarantee from Mashpee tribe; Offshore Wind an American investment; Ptown 'gateway' plan gets fast-tracked; Buzzards Bay ripe for renewal; 30 named to fishery management councils; Site names Nauset #9 summer party beach

TODAY's quote: "...is an anomaly." - Dr. Willet Kempton on the "highly publicized, well-financed opposition" to the proposed Cape Wind project.
"S.C. Gov. Sanford didn't need Obama's stimulus package - he already had one from Argentina." - Pat Brooks.

Nauset Beach named #9 on list of Top Ten Best Summer Party Beaches

But watch out for the beach cops

While much of Cape Cod is overflowing with tourists, Nauset does get crowded but you won't find too many families on this beach due to the heavier surf. You can also find more secluded places along the shore where you'll be less likely to get caught with a six pack -- but keep in mind, alcohol is prohibited in general.  DigitalCity.com.

Middleboro selectman want guarantee that tribe won't seek money from town if casino deal fails

The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe has reassured town officials that the casino deal is still on, but one selectman wants a written guarantee that Middleboro won’t be on the hook for $750,000 if it fails.

Nauset Beach named #9 on list of Top Ten Best Summer Party Beaches
While much of Cape Cod is overflowing with tourists, Nauset does get crowded but you won't find too many families on this beach due to the heavier surf. You can also find more secluded places along the shore where you'll be less likely to get caught with a six pack -- but keep in mind, alcohol is prohibited in general.  DigitalCity.com.

In a meeting Thursday morning with the town’s Business and Industrial Commission, which is appointed by the selectmen, Selectman Stephen McKinnon said he wants to know that if the tribe’s deal with the investors falls through, they won’t try and get back the money already paid to the town.

The tribe has already paid $750,000 to the town for casino planning, and the next $250,000 installment is expected in July. ... Patriot Ledger.

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Offshore Wind: The Best Energy Investment America Could Make?

Washington is starting to wake up to something that's been obvious to marine scientists for years. The winds blowing off U.S. waters could be a key to a national clean energy and green jobs revolution.

On Tuesday, the federal government awarded five leases to three companies that want to develop wind turbines off the New Jersey and Delaware coasts for the production of renewable energy.

They're the first such leases the Department of Interior has ever issued for the Outer Continental Shelf.  If this official statement is any indication, they won't be the last:

"We made the development of offshore wind energy a top priority for Interior. The technology is proven, effective and available and can create new jobs for Americans while reducing our expensive and dangerous dependence on foreign oil."

... Solve Climate.

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Provincetown "gateway" plan gets fast-tracked

Several town leaders are trying to pull together a complicated set of circumstances that, if successful, could lead to a major restructuring of the downtown area.

The concept, which is in the beginning stages but on a fast track to meet a Sept. 15 deadline to apply for a federal grant, would be to create a transportation “gateway” consisting of a visitor center and transportation hub tying together the waterfront, car and bus parking, and ferry service. The gateway would also include a public park with an amphitheater for summer concerts and possibly a small convention center.

The preferred location for the transportation center would be the property currently serving as the municipal parking lot (MPL) next to MacMillan Pier. That parking lot would be moved, possibly to what is now Duarte Motors Inc., a parking lot at 132 Bradford St., which the town would purchase. In order to maintain and possibly increase the number of revenue-producing parking spaces, the town is considering building a multi-storied parking lot structure. In addition, a new police department would be built next to the parking structure. ... Provincetown Banner.

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Consultant says Main Street ready for renewal

Bourne’s new economic development consultant says low property values and high redevelopment potential make the Main Street area of Buzzards Bay ripe for renewal.

John Lipman of Lipman Development Strategies says the commercial and residential area’s high density and new mixed-use zoning will help redevelopment.

When Lipman worked for the Cape Cod Commission, he was not fondly received by the Bourne Planning Board. Now in the private sector, this seems to have changed. ... Bourne Courier.

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Secretary of Commerce Names 30 to Fishery Management Councils

The Commerce Department today announced the appointment of 30 new and returning members to the eight regional fishery management councils – important partners with NOAA’s Fisheries Service in determining how ocean fisheries are managed.

The councils, established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, create comprehensive plans for marine fish stocks in their regions. Among their goals is to fulfill the act’s charge to end overfishing of 41 stocks by 2010. NOAA’s Fisheries Service works closely with the councils during plan development and also reviews, approves and implements the management plans developed by the councils.

“We welcome the new and returning appointees to these important councils. They play a critical role in ensuring sustainable marine fisheries, which are in turn vitally important to coastal communities and coastal economies,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “This is an exciting and challenging time for fishery management, and the councils’ efforts ensure that the public is well represented in this process. These are the experts--fishermen and scientists, leaders in their regions--who will help us achieve sustainable fisheries and maintain vibrant fishing communities.” ... NOAA.

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