EXTRA...

Who shot Scusset Beach seal; How Cape Cod almost got renamed Cape Kennedy; 2 Cape men sentenced

      ^{How America looks to a "real" Cape Cod Kennedy citizen (Art by Rafio)}

Spaced out: Name change fuels history lesson 101
Or how Cape Cod almost got renamed Cape Kennedy

Ole Daddy let me know right away of his discovery with an e-mail and gentle reminder that said: "Honey, I am proofreading again. Oops, there's no Cape Kennedy in Florida. However, we do have (John F.) Kennedy Space Center . . . your sister works there."

Everyone was A-OK with the Launch Operation Center on Merritt Island being named after JFK. But most Floridians got their panties in a wad over Johnson changing the name of Cape Canaveral to Cape Kennedy because it had been on historic maps as Cape Canaveral since 1530 when it was first plotted by Spanish explorer Veconte de Magglio.

And, believe it or not, Kennedy wasn't the most popular president among Floridians even when the rest of the country wanted to canonize him after his death. As it turned out, Florida residents petitioned Congress to rename Cape Cod as Cape Kennedy because it was in Massachusetts and had no historical value to them, and to leave Cape Canaveral the heck alone.

It only took 10 years of government bureaucracy after Johnson's name-change announcement for the Florida State Legislature to get the Department of the Interior's Board of Geographic Names to restore the name back to Cape Canaveral... Read the rest of this Asbury Park Press story here.  Leave a comment
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Green says Port of New Hampshire not put to best use
Local Rep wants to see a ferry service to Cape Cod

PORTSMOUTH — The scrap metal and salt operations at the Port of New Hampshire are not the best use of the property, according to Pease Development Authority Executive Director Dick Green.  "There are some of us that feel there's a higher and more appropriate use than what it's being used for," Green said Tuesday.

If a majority of the board feels the same way as Green, some combination of container cargo, ferries or cruise ships could replace the industrial uses at the Market Street terminal in the coming years...  (State rep Laura) Pantelakos, a vocal critic of port operations, said she is thrilled by the potential change in direction at the port.

"I think that's certainly going to help a lot of people. It will create jobs," the Portsmouth Democrat said.  She said she would like to see a ferry service started to Cape Cod and said without the salt or scrap there would be a lot of "laydown area" for cargo.. Read the rest of this Foster's Daily Democrat story here.  Leave a comment
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Authorities seek person who shot seal
Head shot off by shotgun on Scusset Beach

BOSTON - For days, she frolicked on a boat ramp in Plymouth, napped in the sun, and waddled into the sea whenever the harbormaster would clap his hands. On the beach, she rolled in the snow, looking like a cannoli coated in powdered sugar, as her silvery fur picked up a dusting of white flakes.  Hundreds of children, accompanied by their camera-toting parents, came to admire the blubbery, doe-eyed pup with her white whiskers, wet black nose, and shy, playful antics.

Then last week, the year-old Canadian harp seal turned up dead on a beach in Sandwich. Federal agents said someone had taken aim with a shotgun and peppered the pup with birdshot. Conservationists said yesterday they were stunned that someone would intentionally target the docile, 4-foot, 55-pound mammal.

"It's a really audacious, pretty cruel act," Tony LaCasse , a spokesman for the New England Aquarium, said at a news conference yesterday. "This was not any great hunting. This was somebody who took aim, probably from a relatively short distance, at an animal who had no fear of people."  Read the rst of this Globe story here.   Leave a comment
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Boat refugees rescued Off Cape Cod
14 Senegalese men were trapped in 30-foot waves

NEW YORK -- Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection officials met a freighter off the Brooklyn coast on Wednesday to question 14 African men who had been rescued at sea.  Customs officials said the men, who range in age from 23 to 43, were on a British registered yacht about 800 nautical miles east of Cape Cod when they called for help due to weather and sea conditions.

A Hong Kong registered freighter called The Melbourne rescued the men, who left their 50-foot vessel adrift back on January 28. The Melbourne's captain then called ahead to Coast Guard officials who met the boat this morning as it approached shore.  "This shows the joint cooperation between two Homeland Security agencies in providing border security," said Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Lucille Cirillo... Read the rest of the WNBC-TV story here.    Leave a comment
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Inherit the Wind
The Gulf Coast is littered with the carcasses of unused oil equipment. Now those structures are being repurposed to build the first offshore wind farm in the United States.

IBERIA, LA - Wind energy is the most promising carbon-free, nonnuclear alternative to fossil-fueled grid power. But regions with enough space and breeze for land-based wind farms—mostly in the Midwest—are far from coastal population centers; the cost of running transmission lines between generators and users is a major disincentive. That’s why wind-power entrepreneurs have set their sights on coastal waters. In the Atlantic, off Cape Cod, the 450-megawatt Cape Wind installation has been in the works for five years.

But that project is mired in NIMBY activism and has yet to pass its initial federally mandated environmental review. (Ironically, a cabal of local property owners, including green-energy backers like US senator Edward Kennedy, are leading the fight against Cape Wind for fear it will mar the environment off Martha’s Vineyard.) Another project proposed for New York’s Long Island Sound has run into similar difficulties, and plans for wind farms off California have foundered on the expense of sinking pilings in the deeper Pacific coast waters... Read the rest of this WIRED story here.  Leave a comment
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Two Dennis Men Sentenced for Tax Evasion Conspiracy
ThomasStillson and Stephen Twombly workes scheme at West Harwich Sunoco

BOSTON - Two Dennis men were sentenced today in federal court for conspiracy to commit tax evasion and tax evasion arising out of a scheme to defraud the government at West Harwich Sunoco.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Douglas A. Bricker , Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation in New England, announced today that Thomas P. Stillson, age 51, and Stephen A. Twombly, age 64, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge George A. O'Toole. Stillson was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 6
months and a $3,000 fine and Twombly was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 4 months and a $2,000 fine. Both were also sentenced to 2 years of supervised release to follow their respective terms of imprisonment.

Ringleader Edward Varjabedian dies awaiting trial 

Stillson and Twombley previously pleaded guilty on October 4, 2006, each to one count of conspiracy to commit tax evasion and three counts of tax evasion. At the earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that, had the case proceeded to trial, the Government's evidence would have proven that commencing at a time prior to June, 1991 and continuing to approximately July, 2002,  Stillson and Twombley and others participated in an extensive conspiracy led by co-defendant and station owner Edward Varjabedian to under-report income generated by West Harwich Sunoco by, among other things, skimming cash and hiding proceeds. The total amount of tax loss as a result of the scheme exceeded $300,000.

Mr. Varjabedian died prior to trial which had been scheduled in September, 2006. A third co-defendant, William Macker, has also pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing. The remaining co-defendant, Diana Varjabedian, is scheduled for trial in April, 2007. The case was investigated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. AttorneyLori J. Holik in Sullivan's Economic Crimes Unit.

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Fisherman's body recovered; Snow storm tonight; Bay State foreclosures up 70% in '06

Storm misses Cape, goes north & south

All the experts predicted up to 6 inches of new snow over Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, but as the doppler photo as 7 am Wednesday shows, we were spared this time. Mostly cloudy with a slight chance of snow this morning. Then mostly sunny this afternoon. Brisk with highs in the mid 30s. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph.   See detailed report here.
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Foreclosures in Massachusetts were up 70% last year
Medium home price in state dropped 6%

In all, mortgage lenders filed 18,926 petitions to foreclose on homes in the Massachusetts Land Court last year, compared to 11,155 the previous year. While petitions to foreclose are only the first step in the foreclosure process and often can be deterred through the sale and refinancing of real estate, Massachusetts lenders officially announced 6,729 homes in foreclosure auctions in 2006, which is approximately 2,000 more homes than in 2005... Read the rest of this DS News report here.  Leave a comment
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Police divers recover body from Lady of Grace

BOSTON - State Police divers recovered one body from a sunken fishing vessel in frigid waters off Nantucket on Monday, after the Coast Guard suspended the search for four crewmen who had been missing for more than two days. Divers found the body at about 2:30 p.m. in the wheelhouse of the Lady of Grace after diving for nearly nine hours, state police said in a statement Monday night. The body, which has not been identified, was taken to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Boston... Coast Guard investigators said the Lady of Grace maintained a current safety registration and was certified at a Fishing Vessel Safety program in New Bedford last year. Inspectors from a Coast Guard cutter boarded the boat on Jan. 8 and found no violations, Petty Officer Luke Penneo said... Read the rest of this Portmouth Herald story here.  Leave a comment
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Fishermen press on through latest industry tragedy

NEW BEDFORD — Some fishermen repaired scallop dredges in preparation for their next trip. Others gathered at waterfront restaurants and pubs, seeking shelter from the bitter cold. Merchants sold ice, groceries and fuel.  In many ways, it was business as usual yesterday on the New Bedford waterfront.

Except it wasn't.  The tragic loss of four local fishermen, believed to have perished at sea when the New Bedford dragger Lady of Grace sank off Cape Cod Friday night, was very much on everyone's mind.  "They were a great bunch of guys," said Pete Souza, bookkeeper for New Bedford Ship Supply Co. "It's sad to see them go like that"...  Read the rest of this Standard-Times reports here.   Leave a comment

Read these other Standard-Times sidebars on the tragedy;

• Click here to hear fishing veteran Rodney Avila describe how ice can accumulate on incoming vessels 
  
• Widow Manuela Ventura describes her husband as 'perfect'
• Rogerio Ventura’s daughter Jennifer Patrao questions why the search for the Lady of Grace’s crew wasn’t started sooner

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Puritan Clothing closes Orleans store with no warning
“I'd rather make a friend than make a sale.”

Now there are four.

Abe Penn began Puritan Clothing Company in Plymouth in 1919 and by 1925 had expanded to Chatham.  Stores in Hyannis, Orleans, Mashpee and Falmouth followed, but last Saturday the third generation started shinking the clothing company's operations by closing the Orleans location in the Orleans Shopping Mall on Route 6 abruptly and with no notice.

An employee blamed the lack of "walking traffic" in Orleans, but after four decades in town it's more likely there were other factors.

Founder Abe Penn once said, "I'd rather make a friend than a sale." He lost a few of both last Saturday in Orleans.  Leave a comment
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Wallace's Market in East Harwich closes

When shoppers showed up last Friday at Wallace's Mini-Mart in the 400 Plaze in East Harwich, they found the doors locked and a note stating that the store was closed due to competition.

The owners had arrived in mid afternoon, laid off the staff, closed the store and left the notice. 

While there is no other mini-mart near this Routes 137 & 39 intersection, there is a new Subway near the location and the Hess gas station in the same mall area sells basic food needs. 

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Casino endorsed by new poll; New Bedford remembers fallen hero; Outer Cape snow storm

Ahoy, boomers! Romantic caper set on Cape Cod

Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper and Anne Archer will wash up on Cape Cod in early March to begin filming “Chatham,” a flick about three aging seafarers who decide that one of them needs a wife to take care of them all.

Dan Adams, a Cape Cod author and filmmaker wrote the script and will direct the romantic comedy about the retired schooner captains who decide to upgrade their standard of living by convincing an attractive middle-aged woman to marry one of them.

“They are in their late 60s, early 70s, and they can’t stand living with each other and cleaning up after each other,” he said. “It’s like a three-way ‘Odd Couple’ kind of thing, but there’s no Felix Unger in the crowd.”

Read the rest of the story in the Boston Herald here and comment below.

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Most back State Casino
Southeastern Mass., Cape Cod also in favor

TAUNTON - More than half of Massachusetts residents support casino gambling in the Bay State, according to a poll and behavioral survey released today by the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.  The poll and survey of 1,041 state residents, conducted from Sept. 29 to Nov. 2, is the most extensive yet undertaken to determine residents' attitudes toward casino gambling and its effects, center director Dr. Clyde W. Barrow said.

A clear majority of residents in every region, except the Cape and Islands, support establishing casino gambling in Massachusetts as an alternative to casinos in Connecticut and slot parlors in Rhode Island, Barrow said.  About 57 percent of those surveyed support resort casino authorization, the survey showed, with another 30 percent opposed and 14 percent undecided.

Cape Cod; 43% for, 41% against

The regional breakdown in favor of authorizing casinos includes 57 percent in favor to 31 percent opposed in southeastern Massachusetts.  There is also 58 percent in favor to 30 percent opposed in Greater Boston and its suburbs; 61 percent to 28 percent in northeastern Massachusetts; Worcester County, 58 percent to 32 percent; and 53 percent to 25 percent in Western Massachusetts.

Cape Cod residents, the survey indicated, were statistically tied, with 43 percent in favor and 41 percent opposed. .. Read the rest of this Taunton Gazette story here.  Leave a comment
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Only Outer Cape gets this morning's snow
Ocean effect storm leaving 2-3 inches 

The Outer Cape from Provincetown to Chatham and west to Dennis is receiving a wet two to three inches of fresh snow this morning from 7am onward.

The regional doppler rader at 8am on right shows the rest of the six state region clear.

The snow will hinder the search continuing today for possible suvivers of the sunken Lady of Grace fishing boat.

Drives reported nasty conditions throughout the Outer cape.  Leave a comment
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Fallen U.S. soldier left New Bedford as a baby

NEW BEDFORD - Relatives of Army Sgt. Alexander Henry Fuller had only hazy memories of baby Alex, who left New Bedford in the mid-1980s to live on Cape Cod.  Sgt. Fuller, 21, who died in Iraq Thursday when a bomb exploded near his convoy, had no real memories of the Whaling City, his widow said last night.  Anastacia Fuller, 19, is pregnant and due in April with their baby girl, Aleahcia.

Sgt. Fuller spent his youth living in Centerville on the Cape with Anastacia's family, the Zinovs, and in Florida with his mother.  He joined the Army in 2004 and had been in Iraq since October. He was due to come home on leave in April for the birth of his daughter and was going to get out of the Army in October, Mrs. Fuller said.

Though Sgt. Fuller grew up on Cape Cod, some of his family remained on the SouthCoast... Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here.

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Cape man dies in Iraq; Looking for his old space on My Space; Osterville enigma who went overboard

New Bedford native killed by bomb in Iraq
Army Sargent Alexander Fuller lived in Centerville

A New Bedford-born Marine expecting his first child in April was killed in Iraq last week when a bomb exploded near his convoy, his family confirmed yesterday.   Anastacia Fuller, 19, of Centerville, learned that her husband, Army Sgt. Alexander Henry Fuller, 21, was killed when two military men arrived at her home at 10:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Fullers were sweethearts since their early teens, married two years ago and expecting their first child in April.   "He was the best damn soldier, I think, in the whole Army," Mrs. Fuller said yesterday, recalling her husband's quick rise to a military leadership position.

She sat in the kitchen yesterday surrounded by family, with plates of food wrapped in aluminum foil and a pamphlet about grieving on the counter. A bulky navy sweatshirt hid her pregnancy. Her face was wan and her eyes red.   "He was the best soldier," she repeated. "He tried to make a difference"... Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here.  Leave a comment
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The house on Memory Lane
A Cape Cod native wants to buy back his childhood home, and is seeking $1 donations on his MySpace site to help him pull it off

Before the Internet made everyone an author, writers recalled their early lives in memoirs and autobiographies thinly disguised as novels. But when Brad Ford decided it was time to backtrack to the comfort zone of his childhood, he logged onto MySpace.com and created the Homeward Bound Project.  The 26-year-old Cape Cod native wants to buy back his childhood home (on right) in South Harwich that is for sale -- again. But as a liquor store clerk , Ford can't afford the $1,795,000 asking price. So electronic bulletin board that it is, Ford is using his MySpace page to solicit donations, at $1 a piece, to help him.

As Ford writes, the house's monetary cost is nothing compared to its emotional wealth. "My grandmother was the person who raised me," he said on the site, "and it was a sad day for me when we sold the house, because that's the home I grew up in." His grandmother died in 1992 after a five-month battle with bladder cancer. It was a rude end to a happy childhood spent there.

The three-bedroom cedar-shingled Cape-style house is on Uncle Venies Road, just a quarter mile from Red River Beach. It has been sold four times since the family was forced to give it up in 1993 for $385,000, Ford said... Read the rest if this Globe story here.  Leave a comment
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Osterville enigma who went overboard
Nobody acknowledges really knowing John S. Carter, who stands accused of bilking the seaport museum of $2.4 million.

OSTERVILLE, Mass. - John S. Carter, accused of bilking Philadelphia's Independence Seaport Museum of $2.4 million, lives in the most exclusive section of this tony Cape Cod village.

His wood-shingled house, bordering the manicured fairways of the Oyster Harbor Club, is located on graceful Grand Island, where entry is limited through a single guarded gate.

"Don't feel bad," the guard told an unannounced visitor last week. "We even turned Ted Kennedy away when he showed up without an invitation."

The ring of privacy around the seaport museum's deposed director seems appropriate for an enigmatic man who compartmentalized his life. Though he kept a home on Cape Cod for eight years - former employees in Philadelphia said he spent most of the summer yachting in Massachusetts - he was a cipher in this resort community.

"There are 150 homes on the island, and most are members of the club, but not him," said Doug Mayo, manager of the Oyster Harbor golf club... Read the rest of this Philadelphia Inquirer story here.

Carter ready to serve time 

In a second story in today's Inquirer, Carter's attorney Mark Cedrone said in an interview that he anticipated his client "will plead guilty to tax crimes and theft crimes... . He knows at the end of the day, he will walk away with nothing."

He said Carter was reconciled to jail time. 

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Fishing boat missing in Nantucket Sound

Coast Guard searching for overdue New Bedford fishing boat
Last reported 18 miles south of Hyannis, rescued 3 weeks earlier

BOSTON - The Coast Guard is searching today in Nantucket Sound for an overdue New Bedford, Mass., based fishing vessel with four people on board.

Air Station Cape Cod launched an HU-25 Falcon jet like the one on right and an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to search for fishing vessel Lady of Grace, which last known position was 12 miles south of Hyannis, Mass.

The Coast Guard is also issuing an urgent marine information broadcast asking any vessels in the area to be on the look out.

Sector Boston received a call 5:06 a.m. today from fishing vessel Lisa Ann II reporting that both fishing vessels were communicating routinely via e-mail 10 p.m. Friday. Lisa Ann II's crew became concerned when the 75-foot dragger did not reply to the last e-mail. The photo above is of the Lady Grace being towed to port by the Coast Guard three weeks ago.

The Coast Guard contacted the vessel's owner, who expected the boat in New Bedford Harbor 5 a.m. today, but could not locate it at the pier after an extensive search.

Same boat was rescued three weeks ago 

On Jan. 8, Coast Guard Cutter Sanibel, a 110-foot patrol boat home ported in Woods Hole, Mass., towed fishing vessel Lady of Grace safely to Martha's Vineyard due to a faulty generator. See previous rescue story here (last item). See video of that rescue here.

An oil sheen was spotted near Cross Rip Shoal between Monomoy and Nantucket, but no other debris was found.

A Falcon jet flew a storm track on Thursday over the fishing grounds warning mariners of cold weather expected Friday and today.

Current water temperature in the area is 34 degrees. Weather conditions are five knot winds, seas two feet, with unlimited visibility.
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New Bedford mourns another loss
"Large object" found sunk where boat was last reported
 

NEW BEDFORD — Rescuers were searching through the night for a New Bedford fishing vessel that had not been heard from all day.  The Lady of Grace, a 75-foot dragger with a crew of four, was due in New Bedford about 5 a.m. yesterday, city and Coast Guard officials said. No distress signal had been received.  Coast Guard officers said there is still a possibility the crew members could be alive, even though the boat had been out of communication since late Friday night.

"If they were able to make it into a raft, there is the opportunity that they could be found safely and that's why we're searching right now," said Lt. Cmdr. Pat Cook.  Late last night, searchers discovered a large object in the water and believe it may be the source of an oil sheen observed near the last known location of the Lady of Grace, 12 miles south of Hyannis, Coast Guard officials said.  "It's an object of some size in what should be 36 feet of water," said Lt. Cmdr. Cook... Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here. 

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News from The Islands

     ^{The Steamship Authority ferry passing the Schooner Alabama off Oak Bluffs}

Nantucket News, January 26, 2006

State rates school "poor" under last administration
A recent report has rated the Nantucket school system’s curriculum and instruction “poor” during an audit period from 2002 to to 2005.  The report, titled “How Is Your School District Performing? A Closer Look at Nantucket Public Schools 2002-2005,” issued by the Governor’s Office of Educational Quality and Accountability (EQA), found Nantucket to be “needing improvement” in five of the six audited categories, and “satisfactory” in finances and budgeting.  Read the full report here

Historic movie theater faces gut rehab
The historic Dreamland movie theater will have to be dismantled down to its bare timbers in order for its long-delayed renovation and expansion to move forward, architects  told the Historic District Commission Tuesday night.  If such a project is approved, there is no way the 175-year-old movie house will be open in time for the summer season, despite a condition of its Planning Board special permit that requires movies to be shown from June 15-Sept. 15 while work is underway, town officials said this week.

Selectmen adopt 80-article Annual Town Meeting warrant
An 80-article warrant for the 2007 Annual Town Meeting was adopted last night by the Board of Selectmen and features proposals ranging from revisions to the town’s sewer policy, to a restructuring of the municipal government and the creation of a new harbor overlay zoning district.

Workers survive collapse of School Street house
An historic home on School Street was reduced to rubble Monday after the structure collapsed on top of two builders who were lowering the house over a hole that was dug for a new basement.

Islanders express GHYC concerns to DEP
Twenty-six Nantucketers have sent a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection expressing their concern about the Great Harbor Yacht Club’s proposed application for a state waterways license.

"Godspell" auditions continue today

Theatre Workshop is holding the second round of auditions for "Godspell" today from 4-5 p.m. in the chorus room at Nantucket High School

One Book, One Island kicks off today

  Read the rest of the Inquirer & Mirror here.
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Martha's Vineyard NEWS, January 26, 2007 

 Energy DCPC Gains Support
Annual Town Meeting Initiative to Create Islandwide District for Energy Conservation Moves Ahead Slowly
A first-of-its-kind initiative that would allow the Vineyard to regulate its own energy use is slowly gathering steam. The proposed Islandwide Energy Conservation district of critical planning concern (DCPC) gained a vote of confidence from the Edgartown planning board on Tuesday, and also this week secured spots on the Tisbury and West Tisbury annual town meeting warrants, ensuring that voters in those towns will weigh in on the concept in the coming months.

Garage Case Is Heard by Judge
Town Counsel Presses in Court to Have Moujabber Garage Demolished as Ordered, Calling it Hideous
A three-story North Bluff garage built in open violation of town zoning laws three years ago is an illegal eyesore and must come down now, Oak Bluffs town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport told a Dukes County Superior Court judge this week.

Oak Bluffs Town Administrator Defends Salary Hike Decision
Oak Bluffs selectmen at their regular meeting Tuesday took a hard line on how raises and bonuses should be awarded to town employees, asking town administrator Michael Dutton to involve the board in such matters in the future.

SSA Ferry Ready for Sea Journey from Mississippi to Fairhaven
The ferry Island Home is set to make the long trip home.  Steamship Authority general manager Wayne Lamson said this week that the double-ended, $32 million car and passenger ferry is due to leave the VT Halter shipyard at Moss Point, Miss., this weekend to make the 2,000-mile trip to the Steamship Authority maintenance facility in Fairhaven.  The Island Home was originally due for delivery in June of 2006, but construction was set back some seven months by Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, just after work had begun on the ferry.

Quiet Centennial: Name Change for Cottage City Marks Birthday
On an Island well known for celebrating anniversaries of all sorts, the town of Oak Bluffs this week quietly passed a milestone with nary a mention or nod. There was no celebration in Ocean Park, no ringing of bells in town churches, and no plaques or statues were dedicated. On the surface, it would seem the benchmark would warrant all due pomp and circumstance. One hundred years ago, on Jan. 24 1907, Oak Bluffs was created. But the centennial mark is also misleading. The town wasn't actually created a century ago, only the name was changed - from Cottage City to Oak Bluffs.

Former Gazette Columnist Dies at 85
Nancy Coles Hegeman Stephens, a fourth-generation East Chop seasonal resident, and for more than 50 years the Gazette's East Chop correspondent, died Jan. 14 in Charlotte, N.C. after a long illness. She was the wife of the late Page P. Stephens.

Read the rest of the Vineyard Gazette here. 

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Kennedy-clan $6 million dollar sale in Hyannis Port

Real estate briefs of the rich and famous
Kennedy-clan $6 milliondollar sale (3rd item)

Kennedy cousin and author Matthew Maxwell Kennedy, and his wife, Vicki, last month sold their Cape Cod, Mass., summer home for nearly $6 million -- just under its asking price.

The 1929 Shingle-style house is in Hyannis Port, around the corner from the main Kennedy compound; the family has summered in the town since the 1920s. The couple bought the six-bedroom, 3,354-square-foot house for about $1.5 million in 1998, according to public records, and renovated it extensively. The 1.43-acre lot overlooks Hyannis Harbor and Nantucket Sound and has a pool, pier and 290 feet of beach.

The 42-year-old Mr. Kennedy, known as Max, was a toddler when his father, the late senator and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1968. Max Kennedy has written the book "Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy and the Words That Inspired Him."  Read the rest of this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story here. Leave a comment
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Swansea School Committee looks to cut energy costs with windmills
They were inspired by the savings at Upper Cape Tech

SWANSEA - When school committee members were given the opportunity to bring up issues of concern to them at a meeting earlier this month, Ellen Furtado had a polite reminder for Superintendent of Schools Stephan Flanagan. "Steve, my windmills," Ms. Furtado said.

When the committee's next meeting took place Monday night, Mr. Flanagan came prepared to address the issue. What issue? The school department is looking to greatly reduce its electrical costs by employing a wind turbine to power one of its schools.

Mr. Flanagan told the committee that he had begun filling out an application for a grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), a quasi-public firm charged with administering the Renewable Energy Trust Fund created by the state legislature in 1998. The grant would come from the Large Onsite Renewables Initiative (LORI), and could be used toward a feasibility study for a windmill to generate electrical power.

"I think it's timely for us to get in on this," Mr. Flanagan said. "The high school would qualify, as would the Hoyle School, based on kilowatt usage."  ...It was Ms. Furtado who first brought up the issue of windmills to address this problem. She became interested in the idea of windmill-generated electricity after talking with friends on other school committees who had undertaken such endeavors....

"They have found it to be a real savings," Ms. Furtado said. "In fact, they are in the process of trying to get another one."    "They" are the Upper Cape Regional School Committee. Mr. Flanagan said that he actually acquired a copy of the request for proposal (RFP) that has been generated for that second windmill. He said that the second windmill will be larger than the first, and will be comparable to what is being considered for Swansea. He added that he recently got a look at the existing windmill.

"They're in a great place," he said. "They're on the Cape Cod side of the Bourne Bridge, so they're in a great place for constant wind"... Read the rest of this  Warren Times Gazette story here.   Leave a comment
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Expats find on TV all the comforts of home abroad
Cape Codder finds  a way to be home while in London

LONDON: For Chip Lowry, an American in London, keeping up with U.S. television shows is nearly a full- time job. Fortunately, he loves his job.  "Being a geek at heart, I hacked together a solution when I moved to London two years ago," said Lowry, who works in the e-commerce department of a large bank.

"I have a summer home on Cape Cod complete with Internet access and cable TV. I used a ReplayTV device, similar to TiVo, to record the shows I wanted and then connected to a PC on the Cape and copied over the shows to that PC. I scrunched it down and copied it over to the Internet to my place in London where I watched shows on a PC that I hooked up to a TV here."

If any of that sounds like a foreign language to you, you clearly have not been keeping up with advances in broadcast and broadband technology that, among other things, are helping television-loving expatriates survive on a diet of much more than dubbed episodes of "The Simpsons."

Like Lowry, there are many expatriates who crave TV shows from home as much, if not more, than their favorite comfort foods, and they will go to great lengths to see them — even if the shows turn up on local television eventually... Read the rest of this International Herald Tribune story here.   Leave a comment
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Man walks across state, gets five minutes with governor
Treks from Williamstown to Provincetown collecting peoples ideas

Some would call BJ Hill a determined man. Others might say he's just plain stubborn. Either way, on Monday morning he will get what he wanted: five minutes of Governor Deval Patrick's time.

Hill, a 30-year-old special education teacher from Cambridge, walked some 260 miles across Massachusetts during last fall's gubernatorial campaign, from Williamstown (on right) in the northwest corner out to the end of Cape Cod. Along the way, Hill asked people to write snippets of advice for the state's next chief executive in a black spiral notebook.

By the time Hill reached Provincetown, more than 225 people had scribbled in his notebook, penning suggestions that ranged from building a state casino to helping the elderly pay for prescription drugs. Patrick won the Nov. 7 election by a landslide, and Hill e-mailed his transition team to set up a time to present the notebook, which he saw as a collection of voices from people living outside Boston who often get ignored by Beacon Hill... Read the rest of this Globe story here.

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We're #1 again; Harwich housebreak trio nabbed in Vermont; WHOI calls to space from deep-ocean submersible; New Bedford wants that casino; Peace March tomorrow

Bitter cold day ahead. 9 degrees at 6 this morning in Hyannis
15-25 mph winds, chill factor to -16 during the day

It began snowing on the Outer Cape from Ptown to Chatham around 6am and it's expected to continue off and on all day with a total accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. It will remain partly sunny today over the Upper Cape but continue blustery and much colder with highs around 14. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. Wind chill values will be as low as 16 below, but it was 10 degrees COLDER in Boston.See the details here.
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First-Ever Call from Alvin Submersible to International Space Station
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has another coup

Students and educators from around the world have been given the opportunity to submit questions to Astronaut Williams and WHOI marine biologist Shank about their research programs, their common and uncommon experiences, and the challenges of working in space and under water. Those questions will be used to guide the conversation between Alvin beneath the sea and the International Space Station. 

WHO:    Timothy Shank, PhD, Associate Scientist, Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

Sunita Williams, Astronaut and Flight Engineer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (ISS Expedition 14)
WHAT:     The first link-up between a deep-ocean submersible and the International Space Station (ISS).  Listen as WHOI marine biologist Tim Shank—diving in Alvin on the East Pacific Rise—compares notes on science in extreme environments and on the value of firsthand human exploration with astronaut Sunita Williams as she orbits on the International Space Station.
WHEN:    Friday, January 26, 2007—The call will take place at 2:45 p.m. EST and will be broadcast (tape-delayed) on NASA TV immediately following the conclusion of a space station status briefing. The pre-recorded conversation should air sometime between 3 and 3:30 p.m. (approximately).
WHY:    Tim Shank is co-leader of a National Science Foundation-funded expedition to the famed hydrothermal vent field at 9°N, 104°W, site of an extensive underwater volcanic eruption in 2005-2006.  The unusual life in the extreme pressures and temperatures of
the abyss have provoked interest from scientists interested in astrobiology. 

Through February 4, Shank and colleagues are diving daily in the Navy-owned, WHOI-operated Alvin submersible to survey and sample the vents and mid-ocean ridge system as part of the NSF-funded RIDGE 2000 program.

Suni Williams, as a crew member on the space station, is conducting and continuing
experiments in plant, animal, and human biology in the extreme environment of space. She also deploys and tests technologies and materials for outer space exploration, much as the oceanographers are using advanced technologies to probe Earth’s inner space.
WHERE:    NASA TV is carried on Direct TV (channel 376), the Dish Network (channel 213), and by most cable television providers. Producers wishing to record the conversation can get more information  here.
WEB:  here.   Leave a comment
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New Bedford will push for casino
Council forms committee to lobby legislators, developers

NEW BEDFORD — The City Council last night made a pitch for casino gambling, unanimously approving a five-member committee to lobby the governor, state lawmakers and would-be casino developers. City Councilor David Alves sponsored the motion to create the Special Committee on Gaming and Casinos. The committee will comprise five city councilors, and will begin meeting within two to three weeks with pro-gambling state legislators to see how they can put New Bedford in the pole position to get a casino if the Legislature approves gambling in Massachusetts.

Mr. Alves said New Bedford is in a "key position" to land a casino because of the city's proximity to Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod and Boston. He urged other councilors to support the measure to increase local revenues for schools and create up to 5,000 new jobs... Read the rest of this Standard Times story here.   Leave a comment
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Cape Cod again named best place for kids
America's Promise picks Barnstable County for second year

America’s Promise Alliance kicked off its year-long tenth anniversary celebration in a big way this week with the announcement of the 2007 100 Best Communities for Young People.  Mrs. Alma Powell, Chair of the Alliance, joined ABC’s Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts in saluting these 100 communities that have created positive environments for our nation’s youth.

In partnership with Capital One, 100 Best Communities for Young People showcases cities and communities across the country that tackle challenges and demonstrate innovative efforts to deliver the Five Promises that young people need to succeed  – caring adults, safe places, a healthy start, effective education and opportunities to help others.

More than 750 communities from all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, entered the 2007 competition but only these Massachusetts towns or area made the cut;

• Barnstable County
• Bedford
• Cambridge
• Stoughton     Leave a comment

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Vermont jewelry robbery arrests lead to Cape housebreaks

ATTLEBORO - A spy in the sky helped land three Attleboro residents in jail in connection with a $140,000 robbery of a Vermont jewelry store.  The suspects were nabbed Wednesday on Elm Street in North Attleboro with the assistance of a global positioning system police had secretly planted on their car in an unrelated criminal investigation.

The device tracked the vehicle, a 1993 Ford Taurus, to Saint Johnsbury, Vt., where three robbers held up Dana Jewelry, escaping with cash, rings and other jewelry valued at $140,000, investigators said.  The vehicle was then tracked back to North Attleboro, where the suspects were arrested about 4:30 p.m. in front of the Elm Street fire station - about four hours after the Vermont robbery...

Suspects in Cape Cod housebreaks

The suspects also are under investigation for several housebreaks on Cape Cod and in North Attleboro, Attleboro and Norton, according to police.  The investigation into the house burglaries is what prompted police to place the GPS device on the suspects' car.

Harwich police working with a police task force on the Cape had earlier obtained court permission to place the device on the vehicle to keep it under surveillance, according to court records and police... Read the rest of the Sun Chronicle story here.  Leave a comment
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Groups Head to Capital to Step Up Antiwar Drive
But don't look for anyy DC politicians to join them

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 — Tens of thousands of demonstrators are set to arrive in the capital this weekend for a major antiwar march, staging the first of several protests intended to persuade the new Democratic-controlled Congress to do more than simply speak against President Bush’s Iraq policy.

But do not look for senators to be standing among the protesters on the Mall on Saturday. Despite a consensus building around a Senate resolution to oppose sending more troops to Iraq, even the most liberal Democratic senators do not appear eager to align themselves with a traditional antiwar protest.

So the groups that are organizing the demonstrations against the president’s strategy are also carrying out a sophisticated, well-financed lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill. Their behind-the-scenes efforts are intensifying, relying on tactics deployed in a cutthroat political race...
Read the rest of this New York Times report here or the LA Times report here (no reg./req.).
Read about local Cape plans to attend the protest here.

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Polar plunge heading our way today; More Cape insurance policies pulled; Next hurricane may cost Bay State $5B; Homes sales prices dip sharply

Insurance Policies Pulled On Cape Cod
Homeowners Face Financial Storm
BOSTON -- The devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the growing concerns about global warming are having a life-changing impact on coastal communities in Massachusetts.  NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported Wednesday that home insurance companies are pulling policies, saying places such as Cape Cod are too high of a risk.

Built in 1840, the Aschettinos' house in Eastham, Mass., has withstood many storms. Michael Aschettino and his wife bought the property eight years ago and have never filed an insurance claim. One day, they got a letter from their insurer, the Hingham Mutual Group, informing them their policy was not being renewed.

"I was furious in regards to money that we had paid in here for the eight years that we've been here. Take the money and run," homeowner Paula Aschettino said... Read the rest of this WCVB story and see the VIDEO here.   Leave a comment
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Peace Pipes
Ptown's Suede to perform with Lesiban & Gay Chorus of Washington for this weekend's peace march

WASHINGTON - This weekend, Washington will see yet another rally against American involvement in Iraq. Among the thousands coming to the capital is one-woman known for songs, not shouts. She's thrilled to be part of the movement, nonetheless.

''The title of the concert is Peace by Piece,'' says Suede, a former local who will be in town for two concerts with the Lesbian & Gay Chorus of Washington, D.C. (LGCW), Jan. 27 and 28, ''and the entire program is music that centers on that theme and all aspects of it from wisdom of the ages to working together to create a peaceful world. The fact that these concerts are happening on the weekend of the huge peace march in town guarantees an extraordinarily powerful experience for everyone present.''

The mono-monikered Suede, who relocated to Cape Cod, says she got her start in this area and still draws a devoted following whenever she returns. But the same could be said about devoted followings wherever Suede performs, wowing audiences with a style that moves from Ella Fitzgerald cool, to a brassy sound befitting of Chicago's Matron Mama Morton, to a folksy sentimentality that makes audiences misty... Read the rest of this Washington Metro Weekly story here.     Leave a comment
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$5 billion hurricane fund pitched to insure against 'big one'

BOSTON — A firm that pioneered hurricane modeling for insurance companies yesterday warned Massachusetts legislators that the state would face $5 billion in insurance claims if the hurricane of 1938 struck today.  S. Ming Lee, executive vice president of Air Worldwide Corp. in Boston, said the dramatic rise in home insurance costs is primarily driven by the number and value of exposed coastal properties.

Cape Cod lawmakers invited Lee to speak to the Legislature's coastal caucus as they try to build support for a proposed "catastrophic event fund" that would back up insurance companies in a disaster. They hope to stop the exodus of insurers from the Cape, SouthCoast and other coastal areas.  The state would make an annual contribution of $7.5 million to the catastrophic fund for two years to win tax-exempt status from the IRS. Insurance companies would also pay into the fund. It is projected to grow to $5-$6 billion over 10 years. .. Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here.  Leave a comment
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Polar Plunge Underway  Today
Temperatures already -20 in New York, 45mph winds here

An arctic air mass continues to pour through Canada and into the Midwest and Northeast this morning, bringing the coldest temperatures so far this winter over the next two days.

Temperatures have fallen as low as minus 38 overnight in Ontario and Quebec as the arctic boundary passed and temperatures plummeted to 20 below in Saranac Lake, New York. This cold front will continue across the mid-Atlantic states today and the arctic air mass will reach the Carolinas by Friday.

Gusty winds will usher in the cold, but to add insult to injury, a strengthening storm well off the New England coast will bring strong winds to much of the Northeast tonight into Friday, with gusts to 45 mph on Cape Cod. Wind chills are forecast to fall below zero on Thursday and Friday as far south as New Jersey, Pennsylvania and southern Michigan.   See the current report and conditions here.  Leave a comment
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Sale prices for homes dip sharply
Nantucket, Barnstable and Essex counties had biggest drops

The state’s housing market continued downward in December, capping a year in which sales of single-family homes fell 14.4 percent, to their lowest level since 1995, and the median sale price declined for the first time in 13 years, according to data released yesterday by The Warren Group...

For the year, 11 of the 14 Massachusetts counties posted single-family home sales declines of 10 percent or greater, with Nantucket, Barnstable and Essex counties registering the biggest drops... Read the rest of this Telegram story here.

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Ptown Poker Player; Philadelphia Museum sues Osterville man for $2.4 million; Wellfleet oysters in the cellar

Provincetown poker player takes home first place
Cape Cod resident last lady standing in Atlantic City tournament

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey -- The poker action was wild at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa with two final tables taking place on Monday. The morning's action started with the conclusion of the Ladies Event which began with 390 players, the highest attendance of any Ladies Tournament in Atlantic City. The final table was formed around 1:00 AM as these tenacious female players continued to play until a champion was crowned. Emily Flax of Provincetown, MA, was the last lady standing at 4:00 AM, taking home $30,927 in first place.

"I am so excited I won," commented Flax. "I started to believe I had a real chance to win when we made the final table." After picking up her winnings and her engraved champion's watch, Flax's smile brightened up the entire Event Center as she told the crowd: "I'm going to Spa to enjoy my victory before heading home. Borgata is out of this world!"

Read the rest of the story in the Casino City Times here.  Leave a comment

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Fired port-museum chief bought $23K deck furniture
Osterville resident John S. Carter's home may be seized

A lawyer for John S. Carter, the former president of the Independence Seaport Museum (on right) at Penn's Landing, said yesterday he was blindsided by the museum's lawsuit, filed Monday, alleging that Carter had stolen an estimated $2.4 million from the museum.

Mark Cedrone, Carter's attorney, said he had been "completely surprised" by the lawsuit, noting that he had been attempting to negotiate a resolution with museum officials.  "There's no question that John Carter did some things he probably shouldn't have, and we'd like to try and remedy that, but he's not responsible for stealing $2.4 million," Cedrone said.

The lawsuit alleges that most of the losses, about $1.8 million, involved Carter's personal use of museum boats.  Carter was fired last June, following an internal investigation. The museum's chairman of the board, Peter McCausland, said yesterday that the museum seeks the return of all its assets and reimbursement of the stolen money, as well as the cost of its own investigation.

McCausland said insurance is expected to cover about $1 million. The museum also wants to freeze Carter's assets in his Cape Cod hometown of Osterville...  In one example, Carter had more than $23,000 worth of deck furniture shipped to his Osterville residence but expensed it to the museum's yacht, the Enticer, the lawsuit said. The Enticer was sold last June for $1.9 million... Read the rest of the Philadelphia Daily News story here.  Leave a comment
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Shore leave:
Wellfleet shellfisherman pulls oysters from sea to hibernate in his backyard

Commercial oyster-farming on Cape Cod is a bit of a shell game in winter -- ice and cold can damage both oysters and equipment. That’s why shellfishermen such as Jim O’Connell of the Wellfleet Shellfish Co. "pit" their oysters -- moving them from the metal racks on the ocean floor where they grow to an onshore pit or cellar to sit out the coldest months.

O’Connell usually pits his oysters in December. But because of this year’s unseasonably warm weather, he waited until mid-January. Transferring his 250,000 oysters -- in mesh bags and plastic baskets -- from the sea floor off Wellfleet to a cellar in his back yard takes several days, and a trio of teenage assistants.

Pitting "protects my investment of time and money and it protects the oysters I’m trying to make a living with," O’Connell said. "They go into a root cellar where they can live a long time"... Read the rest of the Herald story with an Oyster Stew recipe here.

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