Cape & Islands News

Wampanoag are now a federally recognized tribe

Coming out party last night at Coonemessett Inn 

The 1,486-member Mashpee Wampanoag tribe threw a party last night at Coonemessett Inn with an open bar, a twist on history's reports of our Native Americans relationship with "firewater" a century ago. This time the Indians picked up the tab for the palefaces.

A few minutes after 4 pm the call cal which set the tribe up on its final, one-year leg to recognition. 

Cape Cod's own native American tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoags, whose ancestors greeted the Pilgrims to Plymouth and The Cape in 1620, were given preliminary federal recognition approval.

Glenn Marshall, chairman of the tribe's council, said in a statement, "This is a great day for the Mashpee, but also for this country. We have always believed that the truth of our petition would be recognized, although it has been a long and hard struggle."

The tribe is expected to receive a final determination by March 31, 2007.

 What about The Casino?

Next week, the state legislature will vote again on allowing the state's three dog tracks to each have 2,000 slot machines. 

It the bill pases both house, which is predicted, Governor Romney has vowed to veto it, but early reports suggest that the legislature may be "veto-proof" on this issue and pass the bill again with a two-thirds majority. 

If that happens Romney won't have to go home to Nevada to place a bet on his election, but he'll still have to wait a while.

Our own Indian Nation won't get final recognition until this time in 2007, and then they have to decide which billionaire they'll allow build a casino for them.

The tribe has said it doesn't want to build on Cape Cod, but in Bristol or Plymouth County. 

Imagine, a Trump Tower in :"Beautiful Downtown New Bedford" by the decade's end. 

Read other reports about recognition:

• The Shock of Recognition
• Slots of Fun on the Cape?
• The odds against a local casino
• Slots in Raynham = Casino on the Vineyard
  

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Charter review, Condo conversions, no to Outermost House

Stories from The Cape Codder this week

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Barnstable Gym gem, Boston bound, Principal steps down

News from The Barnstable Patriot

Retail curfew may move from voluntary to law
A two-year-old voluntary curfew for Hyannis retail stores could move could become required by law

What you should know about Darby land
Should the COMM district residents pay the town for an easement and conservation restriction on land we already own? An item, 2006...

CAPE COD COMMISSION-Foes throw a high, hard one
The president of the Barnstable Town Council wants to declaw the Cape Cod Commission, stripping the land-use agency of its ability to dig in and shape development.

Gymnastics gem
By Kathy Manwaring. When Allison Szatek started gymnastics at age 7, it was simply a hobby. As she grew older, that hobby became ...

Boston bound
By Kathy Manwaring. By day, Alicia Crowell- Furrer is a mildmannered bank executive. Early mornings, evenings and weekends, however ...

MME principal to step down in 2007
By Edward F. Maroney. The founding principal of the Marstons Mills East Horace Mann Charter Public School has given almost a year ...

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KKK material distributed at Barnsatble Airport, other cape locations

The Globe reported this morning that U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Chad Blair  is distributing KKK material on the Cape Cod base.

That alone is not illegal, but his activities may violate the military code. The accused works as a procurement officer at Air Station Cape Cod on Otis Air National Guard Base.

See the story here. 

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Harwich Selectmen race, Chatham conservatiuon purchases

Harwich & Chatham news from The Chronicle

Marsland Makes It A Selectmen’s Race In Harwich
HARWICH ---There is competition for the one seat on the board of selectmen being vacated by member Donald Howell. East Harwich resident ...
Options For New Town Administrator
HARWICH --- Selectmen interviewed three administrative search firms last Monday night, and hope to make a decision by next Monday on which one will help find ...
Harwich Principal To Serve As Gabrieli’s Coordinator
HARWICH --- Harwich High School Principal Kevin Turner will serve as the Cape and Islands campaign coordinator for Chris Gabrieli, a businessman and Democrat ...
Police Nab Alleged Heroin Dealers
HARWICH — Marking the largest seizure of heroin in recent memory from this part of Cape Cod, police last week arrested three people and seized around 1,000 ...
Stand-alone Cell Tower Proposed
Board’s Vote Provides Retired Selectmen Access To Health Insurance
HARWICH --- Selectmen voted Monday night to reaffirm the state statute that extends health benefits to selectmen who have served six years and have become ...
Selectmen Present Resolution Praising Melville’s Service
HARWICH --- Selectmen presented a resolution honoring Town Administrator Wayne Melville for his 18 years of service on Monday night...
Conservation Foundation Purchases 8.4-acre Valley View Farm
CHATHAM --- Acting quickly to protect 8.38 acres of pristine open space, the Chatham Conservation Foundation purchased the tract of land off Barn Hill Road which was once home to Valley View Farm, with the intention of turning it over to the town as open space...
Land Bank Seeks To Buy 11-acre South Chatham Tree Farm
CHATHAM --- Calling it the most desirable piece of undeveloped land the town could protect, the land bank open space committee Tuesday submitted an article seeking the purchase of the 11-acre McCoy property off Old Queen Anne Road, which is also known as the South Chatham Tree Farm...
Stand-alone Cell Tower Proposed
CHATHAM --- The town’s first stand-alone cellular telephone tower proposal will be the subject of a zoning board of appeals hearing next month...
Restoration Of Full Harbormaster Budget
CHATHAM --- The finance committee has voted to back the restoration of funds cut from the harbormaster’s department budget by the board of selectmen...

Read the rest of these Chronicle stories here, and comment below.

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Teacher's arrest, compromise on D-Y funding, more

News from The Register

Read the rest of these Register stories and more here, and comment below. 

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Burgling, Police assault in Yarmouth

WEDNESDAY MARCH 29th, 2006
MAN CHARGED WITH BURGLARY, ASSAULTING POLICE
YARMOUTH – A Dennis man was arrested after allegedly beating up an ex-girlfriend and then resisting arrest. Police responded to a call from the victim and after talking with her went to the scene at a cottage at 1276 Route 28 where they discovered the front door kicked in and the suspect bleeding from head injuries.

Police say the man was intoxicated and became belligerent when officers tried to place him under arrest. He was also treated by Yarmouth EMTs. 36-year old Rodney E. Costa (pictured) was charged with unarmed burglary, assault, assault and battery, resisting arrest and two counts of assault and battery on a police officer.

Read the rest of the Cape Wide News stories here, and comment below. 

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Bourne "one-woman crime wave", Sandwich : summing up

Upper Cape Cod news

Read the rest of these Upper Cape Codder stories here, and comment below. 

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Pier improvements get hearing, Rabies hit Cape Tip

Lower Cape Cod news from The Banner

In the Arts
See this week’s Banner to read about The Truro Group, a brand new consortium of Truro Artists that are celebrating their new alliance with a show at the the Truro Library located off Standish Way in North Truro....

Banner stories and more here, and comment below. 

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News from Falmouth, Mashpee, Sandwich & Bourne

Upper Cape Cod News of the week:

Falmouth  
Task Force Provides A Broad Range Of Health Services And Support To Women   Selectmen Resolve To Move Ahead On Bog Demo Project   
Jude Wilber Challenges Kevin Murphy For Selectman's Seat   
ConCom Grants Fifth Continuance On Request To Build In Sippewisset

Mashpee   
Burning Ban Lifted, For Now
Some Parents Vent Frustration, Most Offer MHS Support During Hoax Period    

Sandwich   
High School Advanced Placement Classes Not Cancelled, Booras Says   
SSelectmen Question FinCom's Plan To Boost School Budget   
Community Preservation Committee Balks At Funding Sports Complex

Bourne   
Candidates Take Aim At Issues   
Police Department Hits ‘Rock Bottom’, Budget Woes Coupled with Lack of Staff to Blame   
Resident To Have Final Say In Library Expansion   
Vote On New School Awaits Firm Bids, Projected Cost Increase May Be A Wash For Taxpayers
Shore and Harbor Committee Opposes Dredge Dumping, Fire Department $60,000 Boat Purchase

Read these Enterprise stories and more here, and comment below. 

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Opiate Wars, Selectmen contest, Brooks Lbrary 125th

Harwich news of the week

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Opiate Wars By Donna Tunney/ dtunney@cnc.com The car crash didn’t kill him, but the OxyContin almost did. Meet Ed, a Provincetown native and recovering drug addict, whose last name is... [more]

On the mend By Douglas Karlson/ dkarlson@cnc.com Some people would have given up. Not Larry Chandler. His life changed in a flash on a rainy night last October, when he was struck by a hit-and-run... [more]

 Readv these Oracle stories and more here, and comment below.

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Crash closes Route 6, thousands lose power in Hyannis

TUESDAY MARCH 28th, 2006
CRASH CLOSES ROUTE 6
Seven year-old victim airlifted to Boston

WEST BARNSTABLE – State Police are investigating a serious rollover crash on Route 6 westbound about 6:20 PM. The crash happened near Shoot Flying Hill not far from Exit 6. One person reportedly a child was taken to a nearby field and flown to a Boston Hospital with serious injuries. At least one other serious injury was reported. Officials closed the highway down while the crash was investigated and the wreckage removed. According to Massachusetts State Police, a 25-year-old man lost control of his car – causing it to roll over. He was brought to Cape Cod Hospital, along with the victim in the passenger seat, a 25-year-old woman. A seven-year-old was in the back of the car when the accident happened. He was airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Boston with serious injuries.

2,000 CUSTOMERS LOSE POWER IN HYANNIS

HYANNIS – About 2,000 NStar customers in Hyannis lost power for about 20 minutes around 10:40 AM. According to the Times company workers accidentally broke an insulator which caused the circuit to trip.

MONDAY MARCH 27th, 2006
ALCOHOL CITED AS FACTOR IN SERIOUS TRURO CRASH
TRURO – Truro Police believe alcohol was a factor in a serious crash shortly after 9 PM Monday evening. The crash happened on Route 6 near Whitmanville Road and involved three vehicles. One of the victims was taken to the Truro Police/Fire facility and Medflighted to a Boston Hospital. Ambulances from Provincetown and Wellfleet assisted at the scene and took other victims to Cape Cod Hospital. One of the drivers taken to CCH is expected to be charged with operating under the influence of alcohol. Further details were not immediately available.

Read these Cape Wide News stories and more here, and comment below. 

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Audubon review supports Cape Wind farm

Turbines offshore are not likely to cause significant harm to birds

 By Walter Brooks

In a letter to all its members, The Massachusetts Audubon gave its preliminary blessing to the Cape Wind project on Nantucket Sound for all the right environmental reasons, but also because the turbine blades are not likely to cause significant harm to birds as the group had once feared. The letter is signed by Laura A. Johnson, the group's president.

The organization's research indicated to them that the peril to endangered roseate terns and piping plovers, two species about which The Audubon has great concern, would not be an issue because those birds avoid the areas for the proposed wind farm which is on a shoal over six miles from land.

The negative comments on CapeCodToday's stories, letters and blogs have used what they saw as The Aububon's opposition as their major reason to stop the project. Now the only major opposition seems to be based on whether a ferry or fishing boat needs a three-mile wide (1-1/2 miles on either side) channel in order to avoid hitting a turbine.

The letter to members is printed below in its entirety.

Mass Audubon Issues Cape Wind Statement

March 28, 2006

Dear Massachusetts Audubon member,

Over the last several years, there has been considerable attention focused on the proposed wind farm project in Nantucket Sound. As you may know, Cape Wind Energy has proposed America's first offshore wind farm. The project consists of 130 wind turbines arrayed over 25 square miles of Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. It also includes a platform for gathering the generated electricity and two underwater cables to transmit power to Cape Cod. When completed, the project is anticipated to provide the equivalent of 75 percent of the electricity consumed on Cape Cod and the Islands.

The environmental review of Cape Wind will set the precedent for all future offshore wind projects in the nation, and it is important that we get it right. For that reason, Mass Audubon has taken a leadership role for the last five years in analyzing the potential environmental impact of this project, with particular attention to the birds that live in Horseshoe Shoal or fly through the area. I am writing this letter to you today to let you know of recent developments regarding our involvement with this project. I encourage you to visit the links below for additional detail on aspects of this project.

The Mass Audubon Challenge
Recently, you may have read or heard about the Mass Audubon Challenge regarding the proposed Cape Wind project. In March of this year, following extensive staff and board review of the project, Mass Audubon challenged Cape Wind and its permitting agencies to accept comprehensive and rigorous monitoring and mitigation conditions that will reduce the risk to birds and other wildlife. If these conditions are adopted, and remaining significant data gaps are filled with a finding of no significant threat to living resources, Mass Audubon will support this Cape Wind project, the largest, clean, renewable-energy project in the Northeast.

Mass Audubon's Challenge comes from five years of project review, including three years of ornithological fieldwork; our assessment and comments on the federal draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and literature review; talks with ornithologists, scientists, and engineers; and a visit to Denmark's offshore wind farms during the 2005 spring bird migration.

A revised DEIS is expected from the US Department of the Interior this spring, and with this challenge we hope to bring focus on several important issues that remain unaddressed.

Our technical review and assessment of the Cape Wind DEIS is focused primarily on the project's impacts on birds and their habitat. The basis for our position is that the project must pose no significant threat to living resources. This does not mean zero impact on those resources because the production of energy always entails some level of environmental impact.

While our primary expertise is birdlife, there are other important potential environmental impacts. Our position relies on the evaluation of our own scientists and the expertise of other organizations in assessing any potential threats from this project to the seafloor, fisheries, marine mammals, and other sea life.

Conservation—a driving principle
We review Cape Wind in the context of a planet experiencing rapid climate warming, oil spills, strip mining, air pollution, and the push for nuclear power as a clean energy source. We know that the combustion of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide and methane that accumulate in the lower atmosphere and heat the earth. Combustion of fossil fuels also results in the release of mercury, which bioaccumulates in the environment, causing health problems for humans, especially pregnant women and children.

Rising sea levels caused by warming will flood low-lying barrier beaches and islands that we all enjoy and that serve as critical habitat for coastal birds, including the endangered roseate tern and threatened piping plover. In addition, our safety may be threatened by increasing storm intensity and storm surge related to sea-level rise and a warmer planet.

The consequences of climate warming compel us to increase energy conservation as a first priority. And, to continue to supply our energy needs, wind should be tapped as the most successful and readily available of all renewable energy technologies. The benefits and detriments of Cape Wind must be balanced against the significant threats to Nantucket Sound posed by fossil-fuel use and rapid climate change.

For 110 years, the support of members like you has enabled Mass Audubon to be engaged in important environmental issues, and we continue to take our role in developing solutions for the future very seriously. We hope you support our position and this important challenge.

Sincerely,

Laura A. Johnson
President

The Audubon letter and other documentation is here.
Today's story in The Boston Globe is here.

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Cape Air may link with JetBlue

Top Commuter Airline may become apartner with the hottest new National carrier

A deal being worked out between the two airline would make Cape Air a "connector-link" with America's fastest growing carrier, JetBlue, which features etra legroom, leather seats, a twenty-four channel TV and free munchies like chocolate chip cookies, buscotti and Animal Crackers, all for the lowest fares in the industry like Boston to the west coast from $159.

The Globe story states that under a proposal being studied, passengers could go from one airline to the other without even going through security a second time.  

Read today's Globe story here. 

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Fishermen Rescued After Vessel Runs Aground in Eastham

According to Maine television station WMTW two fishermen swam ashore in Eastham after their boat ran aground early this morning. One crewmate reported missing was later found at the Eastham Coast Guard Station:

Two fishermen and a dog managed to swim to safety Monday morning after their vessel ran aground off (Eastham) Cape Cod.  Coast Guard spokeswoman Kelly Turner said one fisherman, Michael Darragh, was taken to Cape Cod Hospital for treatment of severe hypothermia after swimming ashore to a beach in Eastham. A second fisherman, Ian Turner, was found huddled in an unused Coast Guard station several hours after a call for help.

A later report from the online newspaper VillageSoup reported,

The Josephine has broken-up and is being removed by National Sea Shore Park Service. No pollution was reported. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Providence, R.I. is investigating.

The front page of Tuesday's edition of Cape Cod Times has dramatic photos of the wreck. The story is here. 

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Feds no longer monitor sea turtle violators

Activists: Cutbacks hit monitor program
One to oversee scallops' catch, they say

Deep cutbacks in the Northeast federal fisheries observer program could mean little or no monitoring of the Mid-Atlantic sea scallop fleet and its contacts with protected sea turtles, according to environmental activists who have already challenged federal regulators in court.

"The sea scallop fishery will proceed this year as it has in the past," said Teri Frady, a spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northeast regional fisheries office. At the moment, the only observer coverage budgeted for 2006 is planned for the Nantucket Lightship area south of Cape Cod, Mass., she said.

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Whodunit?

A Coast Guard chemist identifies the unique fingerprints of oil spills to help determine who is responsible 

According to Beth Daley in today's Boston Globe, when oil seemed to materialize out of nowhere in Chelsea's Island End River in the early morning of Jan. 10., samples of the spill were sent immediately to a Coast Guard lab in Groton, CT.

In a real-life version of the television drama ''CSI," a chemist at the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Laboratory in Groton, Conn., had painstakingly traced the same unique mix of molecules in the two samples, chemical ''fingerprints" that didn't exist in three other possible sources nearby. That, along with other evidence, pointed to ExxonMobil.

So it seems that oil barges and oil vessels plying our waters can be identified in the future.
And all past evidence is saved for future reference, like our 2002 Buzzards Bay oil spill.  The story adds,

Many of the Coast Guard's biggest civil and criminal cases are decided in Juaire's lab, a nondescript basement research facility next to Long Island Sound. Samples from the Exxon Valdez spill are kept in a locked refrigerator there, along with samples of a 2003 oil spill in Buzzards Bay that leaked almost 100,000 gallons of fuel oil off Cape Cod.

Read the rest of this Globe story here, and comment below.

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Pity the poor pit bull, water shortage, fishery program cuts

Lower Cape Cod news

Cuts to fisheries program criticized
By Matthew Belson/ mbelson@cnc.com
Effective rebuilding plans of depleted fish stocks in New England waters could be hampered following reports that the National Marine Fisheries Service will be making cuts to its Northeast Fishery Observer Program.

Environmentalists and fisheries managers say the cuts in the observer program could jeopardize gains made in restoring overfished stocks and further endanger threatened stocks like cod...  (more)

Water system plans on hold till 2007
By Marilyn Miller/ mmiller@cnc.com
There’s been talk of asking Town Meeting on May 1 to appropriate $5 million for a limited municipal water system, but it’s been decided by selectmen to hold off on the issue for at least another year.

In 2007, voters may be asked to approve a townwide water system, with a cost that Environmental Partners, the town’s consultant, has estimated will be $20 million... (more)

Pity the poor pit bull
By Joe Burns/ jburns@cnc.com
Dog bites man isn't news - or so goes the old journalistic axiom. The exception to that rule is the pit bull."Years ago it was the German shepherd, then it was the Doberman, then it was the rottweiler, now it's the pit bull," said Barnstable animal control officer Charlie Lewis, of the breed's reputation.

Lewis and Yarmouth animal control officer Penny Schiller both said pit bulls present no more of a problem in their towns than do other dogs. But that's not how the dog is perceived by many, who see it as 50 pounds of muscle with jaws that lock on to a leg like a lawyer on a malpractice suit... (more)

Orleans Deficit stands at $183,000
By Bill Fonda/ bfonda@cnc.com
The Dec. 9 windstorm did more than just knock over trees and power lines; it blew the town right into a deficit for fiscal 2007.

Thanks to months of work to find potential budget cuts and fend off projected deficits, the proposed spending of $24.2 million is actually $43,000 less than the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

However, when the town elected to deficit-spend $225,000 from free cash toward storm costs, that left less free cash to balance the budget because the town’s policy is to leave 5 percent of the total town budget available.

Therefore, the amount of free cash in the budget would fall from $1.14 million in fiscal 2006 to $525,000, leaving the town $183,000 short... (more)

Read these stories and more in this week's edition of The Cape Codder here, and comment below. 

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Meteorologists say New England could get a big one

That's the headline in today's USA Today
We're ripe for a whopper of a hurricane this season

The USA Today story goes on to warn,

"There are some eerie similarities to the pattern of the 1938 hurricane," Ken Reeves, a senior meteorologist at the AccuWeather Center in State College, PA ... A 1938 storm known as the "The Long Island Express" remains the region's worst hurricane. Its 121 mph winds gusted to 183 mph and caused massive flooding, power outages and wind damage throughout the region, leaving 600 people dead.

Few Cape Codders today remember that storm which locals also called "The Labor Day Storm" because it came shortly after that holiday.  The destruction in the canal area was so disasterous that all communications between Cape Cod and the rest of the world was cut off for days.

According to the USA Today story coastal, low lying areas like Cape Cod, Coastal Maine, and Long Island would be most severly hit.

The intensity of hurricanes tends to be cyclical. Every 50 years appears to be the cycle, and it's been 68 years since Cape Cod had the last "Big One."

Click on the map on the right to see the tracks starting in the Caribbean over the last century.

Below are two recent cctoday stories on the same possibility:

• Global Warming causes Hurricanes
  
• Holding Back The Sea On Cape Cod: A Lesson From Down South
  
• New study:  Rising seas raising alarms
  

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The odds against a local casino

Romney may veto slot bill after vote April 5
Legislature would have to override by a two-thirds vote

Even if the State  legislature votes a new gaming bill next week to allow up to 2,000 slots in each of the three Bay State dog tracks, that may be only half the battle for our Mashpee Wampanoags who want to build a casino.

Governor Romeny has threatened a veto. 

For over thirty years our local tribe has been fighting for federal recognition which brings with it new funding and other benefits.  After all this time it seemed that it would happen, but the fact that the new slots bill would automatically allow recognized tribes to build casinos has angered many who were in favor of recognition, but against a casino,

 As reported in The Boston Globe Saturday, 

The Mashpee Wampanoags and other local tribes are eager to build casinos, and commercial gambling operators such as Harrah's are eager to help.

Thus if the Massachusetts Legislature allows the addition of slot machines at the state's racetracks, it would open the door, legally, to Indian casinos.

A casino has been advanced as a solution to New Bedford's economy, but if the bill passes, the gambling could take place anywhere in Massachusetts where the federally recognized tribe controls the site. 

 Read these recent stories about this issue:

• Wampanoag could be a tribe by next week
• Slots in Raynham = Casino on the Vineyard
• Slots: Revenues Versus Moral Reservations & Millions for Racetracks
• Wampanoags promise casino if slots are approved
• Mashpee tribe takes out another GOP Congressman
• Region favors Gambling Casino 2 to 1

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Mashpee students "start snitching" about violent threats

Mashpee students "start snitching" about violent threats

by GITIKA AHUJA

ABC News

March 24, 2006 — They say your clothes make a statement. In this case, the statement is boldly displayed across the chest of students at Mashpee High School in Massachusetts.

After four bomb threats, one fire, and the destruction of 48 lockers at the Cape Cod high school in the last several weeks, some students at the high school are taking matters into their own hands by wearing T-shirts that say "Start Snitching."

Read Gitika Ahuja's article in its entirety here.

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Former Orleans lawyer indicted

Former Orleans attroney, Anthony R. Bott, 57, who now lives in Harwich, was indicted by a Barnstable County grand jury on twelve counts of larceny over $250. Five of the counts were from people over sixty. He was also indicted on three counts of forgery.

Bott, who owned the web address www.capecodlaw.com which is offline, specialized in personal injury claims. The combined total of monies he is charged with stealing is $450,000. His method accounting to the indictment was to get his clients to sign a power of attorney, and then settle their mostly injury claims without their knowledge and keeping the money.

WFSB in Connecticut described his methods this way,

Bott allegedly settled cases on behalf of his clients without their knowledge, signed clients' names to releases accepting the settlement, received settlement checks payable jointly to the clients and himself, signed the clients' names to the checks and spent most or all of the proceeds for his own benefit or the benefit of his law firm.

Many clients learned that their cases had been settled and their money was gone only after receiving a letter from Bott informing them he had resigned from the bar in April 2005, prosecutors said.

Bott allegedly repaid two of the clients a total of approximately $90,000, but in both instances those payments were made nearly two years after Bott had settled their cases.

Accounting to a story in Saturday's Cape Cod Times,

Last spring, Bott was forced to resign as a lawyer from the Massachusetts Bar Association for pocketing a Brewster woman's $115,000 insurance settlement by forging her signature on an insurance company check.

When other clients of Bott read accounts of what led to his resignation in the newspaper, or received a letter the bar association required him to send to clients, several filed complaints with the Orleans police. Police turned the case over to the district attorney's office, which in turn decided to send it to the attorney general.

Ultimately, 12 different parties filed complaints against Bott, who was admitted to the bar in 1979 and opened his practice in East Orleans in 1996.

Attorney Bott was a partner in the Orleans legal firm  Laraja, Kanaga and Bott which dropped his name when he moved his office to East Orleans in 1996. Bott was noted for his religeous activities, and often folded his hands in a prayful manner when dealing with clients.

He described himself as a "Christian man" to clients.. 

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Cape Sex Offender's challenge turned down

Massachusett's guidelines for classifying sex offenders has survived its first challenge before a state appellate court.

In a ruling published Friday, the state Appeals Court affirmed a decision by the Sex Offender Registry Board to require a man who pleaded guilty to indecent assault and battery on a 14-year-old girl to register as a Level 1, or low-risk, sex offender. The unidentified offender was 26 at the time of the offense, which occurred in Eastham. His attorney, Peter Onek, did not return calls seeking comment.

The Court found there was sufficient evidence to support the hearing officer's finding that the level 3 sx offender "minimized his offense and failed to acknowledge his criminal responsibility."

The Cape man's Level 1 is the state lowest level and least dangerous or likely to repeat. Level 3 offenders are considered the most dangerous and most likely to re-offend. In the past quarter century over 16,000 men and women have been convicted of a sex crime in the state and have been required to register.

Find out more about the state Sex Offender Registry 

A list of sex related crimes that require registration can be found here.  The list is unsettling as most crimes involve minors.  Sex offenders are further broken down into three categories:

Level 1 - a "low risk" offender
Level 2 - a "moderate risk" offender
Level 3 - a "high risk" offender

You may search the official site of the state Sex Registry Board here for level 2 and level 3 offenders in your area.  I don't know about you, but the first time I checked out the site, I was astonished by the rights the offenders have!  Check out the penalties for misuse of the site's info here  (scroll towards the bottom). 

The search page gives you two options.  You may search by count (view the total number of level 2 and level 3 offenders in your city or town.  Or you may view detailed information on level 3 offenders in your area. 

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New study raising alarms for coastal safety

Rising seas raising alarms
Major study: Global warming will threaten coasts from Cape Cod to New Orleans by 2100 if pollutants aren't reduced. Home insurance up 75% in Mass.

Shaun McKinnon, The Arizona Republic

Global temperatures are climbing at a rate that will melt ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica before the end of this century, a disaster that could raise sea levels and scramble weather patterns across the planet, according to a new study.

Roiling oceans would redraw coastlines from Cape Cod to New Orleans, threatening low-lying cities with rising sea levels. Arizona and the West would grow hotter and drier, with shorter winters that would produce less runoff and further stress water supplies.

Even the scientists who framed that scenario in the study on global warming admit they were surprised at its grimness, taken aback by how rapidly the melting could accelerate. Moreover, they say, much of what the studies predict is already here: Temperatures are rising, sea levels are inching higher and warmer oceans are playing havoc with weather...

Read the rest of this Arizona Republic story here, and comment below. The Baltimore Sun had another report here stating "Maps released with the studies show extensive coastal areas in Florida, New Orleans and Cape Cod, Mass., that the researchers say might one day be submerged."

Related stories today:

Insurers Raise Rates Far From Gulf Area
The Ledger, FL -
... In Massachusetts some homeowners already are paying higher premiums as insurers abandon certain local markets. While the state hasn't experienced a devastating hurricane in more than 50 years, insurance companies, including Andover Cos. and Hingham Mutual Group, increasingly are refusing to write homeowners' policies on Cape Cod and on the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, where many of the East Coast elite keep vacation homes....  Read the Ledger story here, and comment below. (That's "Bob", the last small hurricane which hit the cape on right. Click image to enlarge.)

Insurers Pull Homeowners Policies Due to Storm Fears
Rates Soar in Coastal Areas as We Head Into Hurricane Season

On Massachusetts' Cape Cod, Doug Azarian hasn't seen a hurricane in years. But he's felt the effects of the Gulf Coast and Florida storms. His private homeowners insurance was not renewed.

"We haven't had damage in 15 years," Azarian said. He believes he's "paying for what happened 1,500 miles away." Homeowners in parts of Massachusetts have seen their insurance rates jump 75 percent...   Read the rest of this ABC News story here, and comment below.

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Smoke closes WHOI lab, two crashes and a fire

THURSDAY MARCH 23rd, 2006
MALFUNCTIONING MACHINE SMOKES WHOI LAB
FALMOUTH – Firefighters were called to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute Thursday evening after smoke began filling the McLean Lab building on Woods Hole Road. After donning their airpaks firefighters were able to trace the smoke to a machine in the lab and quickly get the situation under control.

MAN SERIOUSLY INJURED AFTER CRASHING INTO TREE
Photo courtesy of Frank Paparo/NEVN.
CENTERVILLE – A man was seriously injured after losing control of his van that knocked down some bushes and a mailbox before striking a tree. The crash happened late Thursday afternoon in front of 356 Prince Hinckley Road. Firefighters had to extricate the man who was taken to the C.O.M.M. fire station and Medflighted to a Boston hospital for treatment. Our reporter on the scene tells us had the van not struck the tree it likely would have traveled straight into the house at the scene. CWN cameras were first on the scene capturing the dramatic scene.

VICTIM MEDFLIGHTED FROM CHATHAM CRASH
CHATHAM – Police are investigating a reportedly serious crash in Chatham Thursday afternoon. A Medflight was requested to Chatham Airport to airlift a victim to a Boston Hospital. Further details were not immediately available.

ELDERLY WOMAN INJURED IN FIRE
HARWICH – An elderly woman was taken to Cape Cod Hospital after a fire broke out in a second floor bedroom of a home at 17 McGuerty Road. Firefighters quickly knocked down the flames after the 9:30 AM alarm but there was heat and smoke damage in the building. The Red Cross will assist the victim with temporary shelter after she is released from the Hospital. The cause of the fire is under investigation but is not considered suspicious. A Dennis engine covered the Harwich station during the fire.

Read the rest of these Cape Wide News stories here, and comment below. 

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Move to save farm, more Barnstable news

Barnstable news of the week.

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Resignations, school changes, free lunch, more

Mid Cape news of the week:

Resignations at DHA are bad timing
Bookkeeper Heidi Schiffer and tenant coordinator Wendy Ohlson, who weathered the 2003 audit, partnership with Barnstable Housing Authority, the tenure of acting Executive Director Lorri Finton and Larry Johnson's brief stint at the helm, will both leave March 31. ...
DY school funding mess: More questions than answers
By Nicole Muller/ nmuller@cnc.com. "I'm more confused now than when I came," Yarmouth Selectman Dan Horgan told Department of Education ...
Finding the way home
By Joe Burns/ jburns@cnc.com. Paula Zambruski is reluctant to re-travel the road that brought her to Pilot House three months ago.... 
Next best thing to a free lunch
By Stephanie Foster/ sfoster@cnc.com. It isn't just the low prices that attract customers to the Hidden Cove Restaurant at Cape Cod ...
DHA makes another offer
Yarmouthport Register, MA - 40 minutes ago
By Nicole Muller/ nmuller@cnc.com. Nancy Davison of South Dennis has been offered the job as executive director of the Dennis Housing Authority...

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Bourne recall heats up, school won't go to Town Meeting,

News from Bourne & Sandwich

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Bourne recall effort intensifies By Paul Gately/ pgately@cnc.com Full speed ahead; do not be deterred, respect private property and pay attention to signature-gathering details. This was John Johnson’s rallying cry last week as he prepped members of Bourne Concerned Citizens on how and where to secure 2,461 legible signatures of registered voters that could lead to recalling Selectwoman Carol Cheli and Selectman Galon "Skip" Barlow. Johnson stirred enthusiasm for the intensive signature hunt; the hard work that follows a period of disenchantment with Cheli and Barlow and how they handle town business.... [more]

Happy campers
By Rich Eldred/ reldred@cnc.com
Homeland security has another meaning at Cape Edwards as the Massachusetts Army National Guard base is also a secure home for a healthy population... [more]

Barlow says BCC using scare tactics
By Paul Gately/ pgately@cnc.com
Bourne Selectman Galon "Skip" Barlow Tuesday night denied the story that swept across town over the weekend that he was inadvertently asked by a Bourne Concerned Citizens member to sign a petition at the town landfill, seeking his recall from office.... [more]

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Wampanoag could be a tribe by next week

The end of a 31 or  386 year struggle
Natives Americans thought they already were sovereign in 1620

Glenn Marshall, chairman of the Cape Cod's Wampanoag Tribal council said this week, "We're playing the part of expectant parents. We've been waiting for the birth of a sovereign nation, even though we've been operating as one since the Europeans landed here."

There are just under a thousand and five hundred members of this Mashpee tribe which has been fighting since 1975 for federal recognition which brings with it many advantages. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is expected to announce its preliminary decision on March 31, and after a one-year probationary period, the final decision on the tribe's status would be made by March 2007.

Recognition would bring federal money for health care, education and housing among others, and the Mashpee tribe has said it consider building a casino if they win federal recognition. Should Massachusetts pass a new law in the works to allow slot machines in the state's dog tracks, the two recognized tribes, the Mashpees and the Martha's Vineyard Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah would have the legal right to build casinos.

Some tribal members expressed concerns last month that the Wampanoags' past ties to disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff could undermine their push for federal recognition. During 2003 and 2004, the tribe paid $50,000 to Abramoff's firm for help lobbying for federal recognition. 

 See the Mashpee Wampanoag website here.
See all the links to other Wampanoag stories here.
See links to Abramoff stories here.
Read today's WFSB story here, and comment below.

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Chatham: new sewer, principal steps down, energy retrofit saves $50k

Cape Cod Chronicle news of the week:

CAC Endorses Concept Of Sewering Stage Harbor
CHATHAM --- The comprehensive wastewater management plan citizens advisory committee last week voted to endorse the board of selectmen’s decision to sewer ...

Chatham Elementary Principal Ann Mahoney To Step Down CHATHAM --- When colleagues from her previous school in Shrewsbury visit Ann Mahoney at Chatham Elementary School, they invariably comment on how lucky she is. ...

Part One Tribe Poised To Break Out Nationally by Tim Wood. Robert DeFilippo was a sixth grader at Chatham Elementary School when he first performed on stage at one of the school’s lip synch contests. ...

Religious Movement Basis Of Historic District Examination HARWICH --- More than a century ago, thousands of people came to this seaside community for two weeks each summer in search of spiritual truth through ...

Spring Fling To Return
CHATHAM --- For nearly 20 years, local merchants marked the arrival of warmer weather with the annual Spring Fling event. Outdoor ...

Read these Chronicle stories here, and comment below. 

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Nightclub gun fire, Arsonists may plead

TUESDAY MARCH 21st, 2006
GUNMAN OPENS FIRE AT NIGHTCLUB
^{Photos courtesy of F. Paparo/NEVN.}
HYANNIS – Police are searching for the gunman and a motive after a frightening incident late Sunday night. A man fired at least two shots into the ceiling of Kendricks Nightclub on North Street. No one was injured but terrified patrons either hit the floor or ran out of the building. A nearby patrol car called in the “shots fired” alert over their radio.

Barnstable police Sgt. John Murphy was on a patrol which monitors closing time at local bar rooms and was in the parking lot across the street from the bar when he heard the gunshots. The officer rushed into the bar and called for backup as patrons were running out.

An Eastham man, Michael A. Figlioli, 23, was charged with disorderly conduct after he allegedly gave security officers at the bar and Barnstable police a hard time about leaving as police searched the business.

The suspect is described as a black male about 5 foot 9 with a thin build. Barnstable Police detectives with the assistance of the Hyannis Fire Department scaled the roof of the club Tuesday to try to recover the spent shells as part of the investigation. The Times reports the club was closed for three days last week for serving a license suspension for serving an underage patron in 2004.Read the Tuesday report in CCTimes here. 

ARSONIST EXPECTED TO PLEAD GUILTY
BARNSTABLE – The final chapter may finally be written Wednesday in the arson spree that hit the Cape in 2004. Thomas Asletine is expected to plead guilty to state arson charges in connection with a string of blazes in 2004. Jordan McCarroll pled guilty to the state charges on March 3rd. Both are already convicted on federal charges in connection with a Wellfleet house fire within the boundaries of the Cape Cod National Seashore.

MAN STABBED IN HYANNIS
HYANNIS – Barnstable Police are investigating a stabbing that occurred Friday night. The unidentified male victim was taken to Cape Cod Hospital with non life-threatening injuries. He told police two white males with black hoods jumped him. Further details were not immediately available.

Read the rest of the Cape Wide News here, and comment below.

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Weir permits, schools last ditch funding appeal, human service take hit

 Harwich news this week

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Town untangles fish weir permits By Douglas Karlson/ dkarlson@cnc.com Selectmen Monday backed a waterways commission recommendation that fishing weir permits may not be transferred; rather, they must be held by those who actually operate the weirs. They voted to issue three permits for five years and increased the fee to $25 per year. Previously, there was no fee.     Selectmen last year expressed concern over granting a fishing weir permit to Harwich resident Mildred Winston, who inherited the permit from her late husband. Winston, in turn, transferred the permit to the Monomoy Trap Company, which operates a weir. Selectmen requested that the waterways commission investigate the matter.... [more]

Read the rest of these Harwich Oracle stories here, and comment below. 

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Wareham Selectman's criminal record, Water Super's anger

News round-up from just across the canal

Friday, March 17, 2006

Ear to the ground: Adventure goes awry for Decas students
By Robert Slager/ RSLAGER@CNC.COM
A couple of 10-year-old Decas Elementary School students decided to go for a little adventure after school on Monday. They wound up creating a thorough... [more]

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Cape may not be home port for newest NOAA vessel

Woods Hole May Not Be Home Port For NOAA’s New Ship
Other New England post vying for FSV Henry B. Bigelow

By LAURA M. RECKFORD, Falmouth Enterprise

In August, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched its newest vessel, FSV Henry B. Bigelow, one of the most technologically advanced fisheries survey vessels in the world. While some assumed the ship would have its home port in Woods Hole, several other New England cities are vying to berth the ship.

The Cape’s delegation, including US Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry and US Congressman William D. Delahunt have sent a letter to NOAA’s top administrator, retired Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., this week urging NOAA to make Woods Hole the vessel’s home port. “We appreciate NOAA looking at all its options, but it is inconceivable to us that a research vessel that is so important to the Woods Hole science community, including NOAA’s own fisheries science center, could be located anywhere else but in Wood Hole. In fact the ship is named after Dr. Henry Bigelow, one of Woods Hole’s most revered scientists,” the letter stated.

The research ship’s namesake, Henry Bigelow (click image on left to read about the man) was one of the founders of WHOI in 1931.

The $60 million Henry B. Bigelow is the first new research vessel built for NOAA in more than 40 years. The 208-foot vessel would replace NOAA’s R/V Albatross IV, which is 187 feet long...

Read the rest of this Falmouth Enterprise story here, and comment below.

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The Fireswork at back at the cape tip, No biking on power lines

What's happing on The Lower Cape:

UPDATE: Last night the Provincetown Selectmen voted to rescind their decision to ban fireworks this year.

Members of the task force put together by the selectmen last week to find a way to continue this annual summer event reported to the board that they had found ways to avoid the drunken clashes with police that characterized last year's event. Three dozen people were arrested or taken into protective custody last July.

Selectman Sarah Peake said her original vote against the event was based 100% on fears for public safety and her misgivings were eliminated by the task force's information last night.

Sparks fly over fireworks cancellation By Steve Desroches/ sdesroch@cnc.com PROVINCETOWN - The outcry from angry business owners and residents since the Fourth of July fireworks were canceled is almost as loud as the display itself.     About 20 business owners and residents attended the selectmen’s meeting Monday night to protest their decision two weeks ago to cancel the fireworks. The decision was made after selectmen heard a report from the July Fourth working group, comprised of public safety officials, business owners and community members, that stated the town would not be guaranteed the needed emergency personnel to handle the crowds of about 100,000 that come to the town for the display. Last year, some drunken spectators began fighting with each other and then with police.     But several speakers at the meeting noted that this is the first time in a decades-long tradition that there was any kind of trouble and that the situation was blown out of proportion. The most frequent sentiment, however, was the economic consequences of canceling the display, as for some businesses this is the most profitable night of the year. ... [more]

Police vow crackdown on bikers in well zone By Bill Fonda/ bfonda@cnc.com ORLEANS - Between the bumps, sweeping turns and high-banked corners, dirt-bikers and all-terrain vehicle users have created some nice trails in the watershed - and every one of them is illegal.     "In some of the places, they’ve even built jumps from old wooden pallets," said E. John Wherry Jr., a member of the board of water commissioners.     Yellow signs posted at entry points of the town-owned 500-acre watershed state that only passive recreation such as walking, jogging and cross country skiing are permitted. Bird watching is also allowed, and dog walking is accepted, although not specifically allowed. ... [more]

Ocean Edge eyes local properties By Matthew Belson/ mbelson@cnc.com BREWSTER - It’s a scenario some homeowners can only hope for. A letter is received in the mail from an established local real estate agency saying that someone is interested in buying your property and willing to pay top dollar for it.     Such was the case recently to property owners on Thad Ellis Road in Brewster who received a letter from Coldwell Banker/Atlantic Realty. ... [more]

Seashore plans to exhibit hay barge By Marilyn Miller/ mmiller@cnc.com Nowadays, when something no longer serves a purpose, people often trash it. But there’s an exception to this rule that’s now under wraps... [more]

County budget leaves human services providers scrambling By Bill Fonda/ bfonda@cnc.com Human services funding Funding in the proposed fiscal 2007 county budget as approved by the county commissioners (health and human services commission... [more]

TM’s to address universal health care By Douglas Karlson/ dkarlson@cnc.coms Citing high costs and low availability, health care reformers say it’s time for Cape Codders to consider universal health care. Voters in all... [more]

Silverman gets fire chief's hat By Marilyn Miller/ mmiller@cnc.com WELLFLEET - Daniel Silverman, who has served as acting fire chief for nine months, Tuesday was named the new fire chief by a divided board of selectmen. But... [more]

JP's gets a redesign
Work is under way on the new Finely JP's Restaurant on Route 6. The old one was torn down earlier this year, and Leif Johnson and his crew have been... [more]

Read these stories in The Cape Codder here, and comment below.  

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Bourne Union questions Chief's conduct

Bourne Fire Union Raises Questions About Department Funds
Chief Says Personal Attacks Due to Union Contract Dispute

By MATTHEW M. BURKE, Bourne Enterprise

Has Bourne Fire Chief Charles W. Klueber mishandled funds in fire department accounts?

A document drafted by attorney Harold L. Lichten on behalf of the Bourne Fire Fighters Union and obtained last week by The Bourne Enterprise has asked the town and Chief Klueber to turn over a long list of accounting records associated with department funds. The letter was filed as a request under the Massachusetts Public Records Act.

During an interview this week, Chief Klueber said he has satisfied the union’s information requests and that the issue was resolved. He contended that the action by the union was a personal attack due to stalled contract negotiations between the firefighters and the town.

The letter from attorney Lichten, dated January 27, was sent to Town Administrator Thomas Guerino, the board of selectman, and Bourne Firefighters Union President Penny Fusco... Read the rest of this Bourne Enterprise story here, and comment below.

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New Bedford wants to join Cape Cod Baseball League

City seeks team in Cape League
Plymouth, Sandwich & Mashpee teams also considered

By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD — Mayor Scott W. Lang is pursuing a city expansion team the Cape Cod Baseball League, a summer league that showcases some of the country's best college players.

John Wylde, general manager of the league's Wareham Gatemen, said yesterday he has proposed that New Bedford be considered for an expansion team. The league's five-member expansion committee, of which Mr. Wylde is a member, will consider expanding the 10-team league at a meeting tonight...

Other expansion sites under consideration by the league are South Plymouth, Mashpee and Sandwich. Both Mashpee and South Plymouth already have groups that have put together tentative expansion proposals to the league...

Founded in 1885, the Cape Cod Baseball League is one of the oldest amateur baseball leagues in the country, according to the league's Web site, CapeCodBaseball.org. A total of 198 players from the league have reached the major leagues, including Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek and former Sox catcher Carlton Fisk, and former Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra. Other current Major League Baseball stars who played in the league include Frank Thomas, Todd Helton, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito and Darin Erstad...  Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here, and comment below.

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Pols charge wind farm threaten national security?

They're relentless

It seems that foes of Cape Wind will go to any lengths to block this vital clean-energy project. Consider the contention of U.S. Rep. William Delahunt (D.-Mass.), a servant of Massachusetts senator and staunch wind-farm opponent Edward Kennedy, that the Nantucket Sound project would threaten national security.

Mr. Delahunt now asserts that the project could endanger security by hampering civilian and military radar systems. Citing an outdated study about the impact of British windmills on radar, he called for (yet more) hearings into the project, this time by the House Committee on Homeland Security.

What he did not mention, of course, was that the Federal Aviation Administration has already provided the needed permits for the project, ruling in 2004 that they presented "no hazard" to civilian radar. The U.S. Air Force also concluded that year it would have no bad effect on military radar. Indeed, the project has been scrutinized ad nauseum by government at all levels. No energy project in Massachusetts history has been studied as thoroughly.

Key to the opposition is the drive to "protect" the water views and sense of dominion of a handful of rich and powerful people, including Senator Kennedy. The idea is to keep energy facilities away from the elite, even as fossil-fuel plants such as Brayton Point, in Somerset, near Fall River, keep pumping out pollution.

* * *

Such journalists as Walter Brooks, of the Cape Cod Today Web site, and reporters at The Cape Cod Times, are looking into just how much money energy mogul Bill Koch, who has a big summer house in Oyster Harbors, the tony Cape village that is the ground zero of opposition to the wind farm, is putting into trying to kill the project, with the help of such operators as Alaska Congressman Don Young. Mr Young is an old pal of the wind-farm foes' main Washington lobbyist, Guy Martin.

Newly released lobbying-disclosure forms raise serious questions about Mr. Koch, co-chairman of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the wind farm's well-heeled main opponent. Getting close looks are two Washington lobbying firms -- U.S. Strategies, which does work for Mr. Koch's energy company, Oxbow Industries, and Kessler & Associates Business Services. Reporters are trying to figure out how much money Mr. Koch, whose main house is in Palm Beach, Fla., has spent so far in trying to stop the wind farm, and precisely how Mr. Koch's outlays dovetail with federal lobbying laws.

See the Providence Journal article here, and comment below.

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You can't see anything from there anyway

       ^{Our art department's conception of the plan below.}

Put windmills on Mid-Cape Highway

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Another record real estate sales year

WALTHAM (Standard-Times)— Despite predictions of a housing slump, the residential real estate market in Massachusetts experienced another year of steady growth in 2005 as total sales of detached single-family homes and condominiums set a new record, and median prices rose for a twelfth consecutive year, according to data issued by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR). Attractive mortgage rates, a more plentiful supply of homes for sale, and more modest price appreciation have all helped to keep demand strong amidst rising energy prices and a weak job market this past year, MAR officials said.

"Once again, the local housing market has outperformed the expectations of many," said MAR President David Wluka, of Wluka Real Estate in Sharon. "With mortgage rates relatively stable and a larger supply of homes to choose from, it's been a good time to be house-hunting. Market conditions have become much more favorable to buyers in the past year."

Across much of the state, the largest gains in sales activity occurred in the condominium market where sales soared to a new all-time high in 2005, climbing 16.4 percent from 19,781 units sold in 2004 to 23,026 last year. It's the fourth consecutive year that condo sales have set a new annual sales volume record. Sales of detached single-family homes were historically strong this past year as well, but slid a modest 3.2 percent statewide, from a record 50,561 closings a year ago to 48,922 in 2005. Notably, the 2005 sales volume for detached homes ranks as the fourth highest on record in state history...

Regional every area saw a drop 

Regionally, every market area of the state saw a drop in fourth quarter sales of detached single-family homes, and five of seven regions reported annual declines in detached home sales from 2004 to 2005. Last year, sales fell a modest 2-4 percent in greater Boston and the Northeast region, 6 percent along the South Shore and in southeastern Massachusetts, and 14.5 percent on Cape Cod. Sales rose in two of the state's more affordably-priced markets however, climbing 1.1 percent in Worcester County and 2.5 percent in western Mass. this past year over 2004 sales levels...

Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here, and comment below.

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Slots in Raynham = Casino on the Vineyard

Dog track talking expansion if slot bill passes
Wampanoags on Martha's Vineyard promise a casino too

RAYNHAM - As the push to bring a slot machines bill to a vote in the House of Representatives gains steam, owners at Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park are preparing for the potential arrival of slots by discussing a $75 million expansion of their facilities.

"We would absolutely have to add a new building," track manager Gary Temple said. "Slots would be a $100 million investment for us."

Temple estimates slot machines would bring at least 500 new jobs to the track.

Track owner George Carney could not be reached yesterday, but he has maintained that slot machines would provide a tremendous boom to business at Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park.

Last month, Carney said slot machines in Raynham would attract many Massachusetts residents who currently travel to Lincoln, R.I., to play the slots.

"Fifty percent of the people who go to Lincoln Park are from Massachusetts," he said. "And 75 percent of them drive by us."

Lincoln Greyhound Park added slot machines in 1992.

The Massachusetts State Senate passed a slot machine bill in October, but the issue has not yet come to a vote in the House.

The Senate bill, co-sponsored by state Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, permits four licenses - each for 2,000 slot machines - to be granted to the Suffolk Downs, Plainridge Racecourse, Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park and Wonderland...

The Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Martha's Vineyard has vowed to build a full scale casino under the Indian Gaming Law if the slot machine bill passes...

Read the rest of this Tauton Gazette story here, and comment below.

See these previous stories on gambling and/or a casino:

• Slots: Revenues Versus Moral Reservations & Millions for Racetracks
• Wampanoags promise casino if slots are approved
• How the candidates feel about slots

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Barnstable : Brazilians seek answers, fire district study sought

Brazilian community seeks answers from police
Officers affirm even-handed approach to enforcement

By Edward F. Maroney, emaroney@barnstablepatriot.com

More than 300 people from the Cape’s Brazilian community – all ages and all circumstances – squeezed into every available space in a room at the Hyannis building of Cape Cod Community College Tuesday to hear reassurances from police that officers are not making random traffic stops of Brazilians and Americans of Brazilian ancestry. But they also heard from a Greater Boston Legal Services lawyer that an ever tightening noose of restrictive laws and regulations threatens their status in this country.

Those able to find a place to stand or sit in the meeting room (many were turned away for lack of space) heard Barnstable Deputy Chief Craig Tamash declare, “We know the vast majority of the community wants to do one thing – provide for their families. I wish I had a magic wand to give you all licenses.”

The immediate applause indicated that at least half the audience had no need to wait for the translation... Read the rest of this Patriot story here, and comment below.
********
Fire district study to be sought
Committee drafting report for council consideration

By David Still II, dstill@barnstablepatriot.com

A study of the town’s fire districts will be among the recommendations to the town council from the ad-hoc fire district study committee that’s met for the past year.

The report is being drafted by a subcommittee and is expected to be forwarded to the full council next month.

Marstons Mills Councilor Janice Barton organized the committee and serves as its chair. She said the report to be sent to the council will recommend a study of the districts.

Just what that study will include has yet to be fleshed out. Barton said that the recommendation will include the establishment of a committee to draft a request for proposals, similar to ones created to draft RFPs for the airport in Marstons Mills and the former Grade 5 building... Read the rest of this Patriot story here, and comment below.

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Air Force wants wind power at Otis

The United States Air Force wants to build a wind turbine on the Massachusetts Military Reservation in Sandwich that would power the base's groundwater cleanup efforts.

The clean-up program spends more than $1 million annually on electricity. The contamination at the base is from its military activities, an the military now cleans millions of gallons of polluted water a day at eight treatment facilities on the base.

Air Force officials say the turbine could save $170,000 per year paying for itself in 8-10 years and use a cleaner energy source in the process.

The site, a land fill area, is on the base boundary about a half-mile north of Route 28 near the Falmouth-Mashpee town line, is an ideal location because it is a windy area and the treatment plants use a lot of electricity, said officials from the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence Installation Restoration Program.

"We are an environmental organization," said Jon Davis, manager of the Air Force's Installation Restoration Program. "We do anything we can to lessen our impact."

Radar interference not a factor 

The turbine would be no more than 300 feet tall and would be built in the southwestern corner of the base where the average wind speed is 20 mph, said Rose Forbes, who has worked on the project.

The project must still be approved by several groups, including the Federal Aviation Administration and officials overseeing the nearby PAVE PAWS military radar facility. Air Force officials said they have enough money in their 2006 budget to design and install a turbine this year.

The Massachusetts Military Reservation is home to both the Massachusetts Air National Guard and the United States Coast Guard Airbase which flies rescue missions from here to the entire Northeast and as  far as New Jersey.

The purported interference a wind turbine would cause radar operations was apparently not a factor  in the decision. 

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Personal Fines for Open Meeting Law violations, Sandwich may leave Commish

By MICHAEL C. BAILEY, Enterprise Newspapers

Lawmakers are poised to consider the first major changes to the state’s Open Meeting Law in three decades, changes that could open up individual members of governmental boards to civil fines.

Several bills have been filed in an effort to beef up the Open Meeting Law and make the law more enforceable, the penalties for violation of the law more severe. The current penalty for a violation of the Open Meeting Law is a fine of up to $1,000 per violation, which is levied against the body as a whole.

Various bills call for those fines to be increased to $2,500 for subsequent violations, or to levy a fine of $500 against individual board members... Read the rest of this Enterprise story here, and comment below.
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Sandwich-Town Boards to discuss withdrawing from Cape Cod Commission
Board of Selectmen, Economical developement, Planning & Zoning to meet on questuion

By MARY STANLEY, Sandwich Enterprise

Monday night, members of the board of selectmen, economic development committee, planning board and zoning board of appeals are scheduled to meet to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of withdrawing from the Cape Cod Commission.

Planning Board Chairman Barbara S. Shaner requested this meeting at 7 PM at Jan Sebastian Drive after her board voted unanimously to begin discussions about a possible secession from the regional regulatory and planning commission.

This vote was taken on the heels of a similar vote taken by the Bourne Planning Board. Planning board member Taylor D. White, who made the motion to begin these talks, admitted that Bourne may have been the catalyst for Sandwich to begin discussions about a secession, but quickly added, "The sentiment has been there all along." Mr. White said this is not just a Sandwich issue, "it’s Cape-wide..." Read the rest of this Sandwich Enterprise story here, and comment below.

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Harwich bus trouble, Yarmouth Double OUI and Drug Bust, and P.O. car crash

SUNDAY MARCH 19th, 2006
STUDENTS DETAINED ON HAWICH SCHOOL BUS
^{Photo courtesy of Jake O’Callaghan.}
HARWICH – Harwich Police detained three Cape Cod Tech students after their bus driver reported seeing a possible drug transaction go down on the bus Friday afternoon. Officials found one student in possession of alcohol and another with marijuana. A decision by school officials on disciplinary action is still pending. Harwich Police have so far refused to release any information so it is unclear if any charges were filed. Only Cape Wide News cameras were on the scene but because it is unclear if charges have been filed and/or if the suspects are juveniles we are only using this static picture of the scene

DRIVER SERIOUSLY INJURED IN FALMOUTH CRASH
FALMOUTH – One person was seriously injured in a vehicle crash in Falmouth about 7:30 AM. Rescuers had to extricate a victim from the wreckage and had requested a Medflight helicopter. Further details were not immediately available.

SATURDAY MARCH 18th, 2006
TWO ARRESTED FOR OUI IN SEPARATE INCIDENTS
THIRD TIME OFFENDER & WOMAN WITH TWO CHILDREN NABBED
YARMOUTH – Two people were arrested for drunk driving in separate incidents in Yarmouth Saturday evening. About 4:20 PM police received reports of an erratic black and silver Ford pickup truck almost hitting several oncoming vehicles on Route 28. Minutes later the truck was stopped on Neptune Lane.

Based on witness statements and sobriety tests 50-year old Dale Lee Pope was arrested for operating under the influence (3rd offense), marked lanes violation and operating an unregistered vehicle. He is being held on $500 cash bail pending arraignment Monday. Three hours later police responded to a two-vehicle crash on Route 6A by the village pizza shop.

No one was injured but the driver of a Buick Lesabre 39-year old Mary C. Peters was arrested for operating under the influence of alcohol, child endangerment while under the influence and failing to use care in stopping. Two adult passengers were placed in protective custody for intoxication and two minor children in the car were placed in custody of the Department of Social Services. Peters will be arraigned on Monday.

BARN DAMAGED BY FIRE
Photo courtesy of Jake O’Callaghan.
BREWSTER – Fire officials are investigating the cause of a fire that damaged a barn on Timberland Drive in Brewster about 2 PM Saturday.

Firefighters are seen here removing insulation and overhauling the scene. No injuries were reported and firefighters cleared the scene in about an hour.

BRUSH FIRE ROARS OUT OF CONTROL
Photo courtesy of R. Copley.
YARMOUTH – A graphic illustration of how dry its been on the Cape. A permit had been given to burn brush on Middle Street but the fire suddenly got out of control and roared into the Marsh near Mill Hill off Route 28 late Saturday morning. The persistent cold and windy condition fanned the flames. Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to any homes and no injuries were reported.

FRIDAY MARCH 17th, 2006
MAN KILLED IN FIERY ISLAND CRASH
EDGARTOWN – A man was killed in a fiery car crash on Meetinghouse Way in Edgartown about 3 PM Friday. 64-year old Dexter Mello was unconscious when firefighter James Crave reached the scene. Crave tried to pull Mello out but the car burst into flames. Police detective Jonathan Searle arrived and used an extinguisher to knock down some of the flames. The two were able to pull Mello from the wreckage. Tragically he suffered a heart attack on the way to the hospital and was pronounced dead. Crave was treated at the hospital for smoke inhalation. The cause of the crash is under investigation but speed and alcohol have been ruled out. Officials are checking if Mello may have suffered some sort of medical condition that contributed to the crash.

TWO ARRESTED FOR DRUG DEALING IN YARMOUTH
YARMOUTH – Following a two-month investigation Yarmouth Police executed a search warrant at the Red Mill Motel on Route 28 Thursday. They seized 15 small packets of cocaine, a digital scale, $188 cash and 7 Valium pills. Arrested were 20-year old Marie V. Piotte of Enfield, CT (left), and 17-year old Thomas M. Latanovich of West Yarmouth (right). They were both charged with possession of class B (cocaine) with intent to distribute, conspiracy to violate controlled substance laws, and possession of Class C (Valium). They were to be arraigned in court Friday. A minor child was taken from the room and placed in the custody of the Department of Social Services.

MAN UNINJURED AFTER CRASHING INTO POST OFFICE
YARMOUTH – A driver escaped injury after apparently crashing into the West Yarmouth Post Office on Route 28 Thursday. Officials believe the man hit the gas instead of the brake. The building sustained a hole in it but fortunately no one inside was hurt either. 

THURSDAY MARCH 16th, 2006
BLAZE DAMAGES MASHPEE HOME
MASHPEE – Fire damaged a house in Mashpee about 6:30 PM. The fire broke out at 149 Meetinghouse Road. A clothes dryer apparently erupted in flames and filled the house with smoke. There were no reports of injuries. Further details were not immediately available.

ONE INJURED IN CAR VS. TRUCK IN HARWICH
 HARWICH – One person was taken to Cape Cod Hospital after a collision between a dump truck and a car. It happened Wednesday evening on Route 39 at Meetinghouse Road. The condition of the injured person was not immediately known. The area was closed for a couple of hours while an accident reconstruction team tried to figure out how the crash happened. Reports from the scene suggest the car pulled into the path of the truck.

MASHPEE HIGH SCENE OF LATEST SCHOOL FIRE
MASHPEE – For the third time this month fire has broken out in a Cape Cod School. Like the other blazes at the Sturgis Charter and Barnstable High Schools this latest blaze at the Mashpee High School broke out in a bathroom and was quickly knocked down with an extinguisher. No one was injured.

TRAFFIC STOP LEADS TO DOUBLE ARREST
YARMOUTH – A routine traffic stop lead to both the driver and passenger being arrested. Ofc. Christopher Van Ness spotted a vehicle with an expired inspection sticker on Old Main Street shortly after noon. He determined the driver Lanerick D. Thomas (left) 23, of Hyannis had a suspended drivers license. He was charged with that, operating uninspected, and possession of cocaine discovered during an inventory search. The passenger 25-year old Fabian A. Curry (right) of Hyannis was arrested on two outstanding warrants and possession of cocaine.

STRUCTURE FIRE REPORTED IN DENNIS
 DENNIS – A two-alarm fire damaged a building at 510 Depot Street in Dennis Wednesday morning. The blaze reportedly broke out in the basement and was under control in about 30 minutes. Reports from the scene indicate sawdust may have spontaneously combusted and burned up through the floors. Smoke can be seen billowing out the cockloft. The house was under renovation and unoccupied at the time and no one was injured. Further details were not immediately available.

Read these Cape Wide News stories and more here, and comment.
Read fire/police news from earlier this week here.

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Vineyard may lose 2 RC churches, Survey of Water Supers, more...

 Martha's Vineyard news round-up

Roman Catholic Officials Envision Single Church to Serve Vineyard Parish
Roman Catholic Church officials are considering building a centralized church in Oak Bluffs that would serve the entire Island.
» Full Story

Survey Compares Terms of Contracts
Oak Bluffs, Tisbury Water Supervisors Rank Among Most Highly Paid Across Cape Cod and Islands
A sampling of water supervisor salaries on the Cape and Islands shows that the supervisors of the Tisbury systems and Oak Bluffs systems are among the most highly compensated in the area.
» Full Story

State Focuses on Tribe, Assessors in Review of Aquinnah Finances
Adopting a formal payment structure with the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and overhauling the town assessing department are among the recommendations provided to the town of Aquinnah in a state report released last week.
» Full Story

Purple Squirts Cap Off Season with Win Over Vineyard Rivals
It was 5:55 p.m. Tuesday, and the atmosphere on the ice was highly charged. The championship battle was about to begin. More than 80 people were on their feet at the Martha's Vineyard arena, shouting encouragement to two teams who had swept across the Cape and Nantucket since October to get here.
» Full Story

Fishermen, Regulators Brace for Spring Herring Moratorium
Alewives, one of the great harbingers of spring, have returned to Vineyard waters.
» Full Story

Fall Study of Cod Affirms Troubled State of Fishery
A survey of fish stocks completed last fall and released this month by the National Marine Fisheries Service continues to identify Atlantic cod as a depleted resource in need of help.
» Full Story 

Read these Vineyard Gazette stories and more here, and comment below. 

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OUI held without bail, D-Y funding dilemma, Auto death still being investigated

The Mid-Cape news from The Register

Optimistic orphan comes to Barnstable High School By Joe Burns/ jburns@cnc.com Franklin Delano Roosevelt fell out of his wheelchair while trying to pop a wheelie. Another main character, after overcoming initial stage fright, fell asleep during one of the biggest numbers.     "Annie" has come to Barnstable High School, and if the show is as entertaining as the rehearsals have been, the school has a hit on its hands.     The Broadway musical, based on the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie," tells the story of a Depression-era orphan who, through pluck and luck, triumphs over adversity and melts the heart of her billionaire benefactor Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks. Annie and her turn of fortune also are representative of an America struggling to loose itself from the grip of the Great Depression.... [more]

Repeat drunk driver held without bail By Craig Salters/ csalters@cnc.com A Yarmouth man convicted of six prior drunk driving offenses and arrested for a similar offense Friday is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for today (Thursday).     Mark A. Press, 54, of 11A Wallis Drive, West Yarmouth, was arrested shortly after 9 p.m. Friday after Yarmouth Police Patrol Officer Raymond Scichilone noticed a 1994 White Ford Astrovan driving erratically while traveling westerly on Route 28 in South Yarmouth.     According to police, Scichilone stopped the van and detected "a strong odor of alcoholic beverage" on Press' breath and arrested him.... [more]

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Penner's Place fire called arson

UP-DATE-
Call for witnesses to call the Arson Hotline at 800-682-9229

An early-morning fire that gutted a popular Bourne restaurant early Thursday morning has been ruled an arson.

When firefighters arrived at Penner's Place in the Buzzards Bay section of Bourne near the Wareham town line, they found the building fully involved in flames. The fire was out by daylight but the restaurant was pretty well destroyed.

Bourne Fire Chief Charles Klueber says the restaurant may have been spared such extensive damage if it had sprinklers.Investigators ask anyone who saw suspicious activity around the restaurant between the hours of 2 and 3 a.m.Thursday to call the state's Arson Hotline at 800-682-9229.

 ***********************

Two alarm fire dstroys Buzzards Bay restaurant
Penner's Place at the bridge on Bourne-Wareham line

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Sandwich board member convicted, Bourne awaits word from Commish

Bourne and Sandwich news round-up.

Prison, long probation for Eccleston By John Basile/ jbasile@cnc.com A former member of the Sandwich School Committee who presented himself as a friend and mentor to two teenagers is in prison after pleading guilty to raping them.     Robert Eccleston was sentenced Maarch 10 to two years in the Barnstable County Correctional Facility and 10 years probation with a long list of conditions attached.     In imposing sentence, Judge Gary Nickerson looked at the victims and their families and acknowledged that they will not be satisfied with the relatively little prison time Eccleston will serve. He said, however, that on probation Eccleston will be certain to get the kind of treatment he needs. Nickerson said he went along with the sentence recommended by the prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Brian Glenny, because he has complete trust in Glenny’s judgment in such cases.... [more]

Read these stories and more in this week's Upper Cape Codder here, and comment below. 

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UPI wrap-up on Cape Wind & the Don Young amendment

Amendment threatens offshore wind project

By Meredith MacKenzie, UPI Correspondent

WASHINGTON, March 15 (UPI) -- The nation's most-advanced offshore wind proposal may be stymied by language in the Coast Guard Reauthorization bill, now in conference committee, the project's head says.

The amendment shifting the offshore wind turbines to at least 1.5 miles from any shipping channels would prevent the project situated in the Nantucket Sound from being economically viable, said Jim Gordon, president of the Cape Wind project.

"We need a critical mass of wind turbines," he said. "(The amendment) would make the project uneconomic because to be in the regulated limit you would have to remove wind turbines; it takes you away from your critical mass."

Discussion on the Coast Guard bill is in limbo at a time the administration is embracing offshore wind energy's potential, a key element in President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative.

Last week, the Energy Department also announced a $27 million agreement with General Electric for an offshore turbine development project.

The nonprofit organization Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, which opposes the Cape Wind project's location in the sound, supports the amendment that is sponsored by House Transportation Committee chairman Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska.

"We are in favor of alternative energy and in favor of offshore wind, but we're opposed to the Cape Wind project because the Nantucket sound is an inappropriate site for this kind of project," said Charles Vinick, president of the alliance.

The alliance is opposed to the 130-turbine project for several reasons, primarily safety and environment. The alliance, citing a study conducted on offshore wind hazards in Britain, says the turbine's rotating blades will interfere with radar navigation. The group's Web site also stated that there is a risk of tankers and other vessels drifting out of the shipping lane and into the wind farm.

Gordon said that is impossible.

"The wind turbines are located on extremely shallow shoals outside of shipping routes," Jim Gordon (on right) said. "The ships would run aground before they could hit a wind turbine."

Walter Cruickshank, deputy director of the Department of the Interior's Mineral Management Service, said the effect of turbines on navigational equipment would be taken into account without a legislative requirement.

"The issue raised by the Young amendment, that is the effect of wind farms on radar and navigation is something we would look at any way," Cruickshank said. "We are working with the Coast Guard on those issues; they would be looked at on a case-by-case basis."

The alliance also argues that because Cape Wind is more advanced than any other project proposal, there are no regulations dictating how the project will affect the environment and scrutiny of Cape Wind is good for developing long-term regulations.

How to evaluate the environmental impact of the project has been a point of contention because the original environmental review was conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers, which had jurisdiction over permitting of offshore projects. But after the passage of the Energy Policy Act, the evaluation of offshore wind energy was handed to MMS, which must now conduct further environmental review.

"We don't have to start from scratch," said Cruickshank. "The mandate for the DOI from the policy act is broader than what the corps does in their evaluation. There are some things that we are going to look at that they didn't have to look at, but we are not going to redo what we have already done."

Gordon said he is frustrated by the amendment because Cape Wind has been playing by the rules and has completed the permitting process. The amendment, he says, threatens not only all he's worked for, but also other offshore wind projects.

"It will chill the whole industry at a time when the president is calling for offshore wind as part of the Advanced Energy Initiative," he said, speaking of the plan to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. "It flies in the face of common sense to deep-six a project that is going to help these goals."

If and when it goes on-line, the Cape Wind project is expected to generate 450 mW of electricity, enough to offset 113million gallons of oil or 500,000 tons of coal a year. It will cost about $1 billion to build the wind farm, funds expected to come from the private capital investment. Cape Wind has already invested $25 million in the project.

Proponents of offshore wind energy are worried that if Cape Wind, the only proposal to reach this stage of development, fails then investors will be discouraged from putting money into future projects.

"If Cape Wind is derailed by the Young Amendment, I can not see how it would not have a devastating effect," said Jamie Steves of the American Wind Energy Association. "It would simply be detrimental."

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound said there are 40 other offshore wind projects awaiting permit approval and they aren't waiting on Cape Wind. But Cruickshank said the review process for Cape Wind has been the catalyst, along with the Energy Policy Act, for the creation of a process for review of upcoming projects.

"With respect to our process, we are currently trying to put together a general program as to how to oversee offshore energy," Cruickshank said. "The sorts of issues that have come up during Cape Wind are the things we need to look at."

And now Cape Wind must wait to see whether its efforts to obtain a permit are in vain as the House and the Senate will likely decide the fate of the Coast Guard bill. Cruickshank said the outcome of Cape Wind's proposal will say a lot for the future of offshore wind.

"It is hard to say where offshore wind will be in the long term," he said. "Clearly the success or failure of initial projects will have a big impact on folks who are looking at future investment opportunities." (Comments to energy@upi.com)

This UPI story appeared here.
Read previous stories about the Young amendment here, and comment below.

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Chatham Town Offices cost $100k more, Harwich Board endorse Wind Power Bylaw

In the Cape Cod Chronicle this week

Planning Board Endorses Wind Energy Bylaw For Special Town Meeting
HARWICH- When Bill and Tina Maloney look out their window they can see the blades of a wind turbine (click image to enlarge) on the abutting Cape Cod Regional Technical High School spinning in the sky, capturing wind and converting it into electricity. “I want the right to reach up and grab my own,” Bill Maloney said last week of his desire to place a renewable energy system on his 1.8-acre property on the hillside north of the school...

‘Water Women’ Launch Campaign Against Bottled Water
CHATHAM- Next Wednesday, Chatham resident Laurie Gates will become a walking water bottle. Gates and other members of the Cape Cod branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom will don water-related costumes for a series of street theater presentations in Chatham and several other Cape communities as a prelude to a public meeting they will sponsor that evening in recognition of the United Nations’ World Day of Water...

Shining The Light On Public Access
CHATHAM- A recent request to view memos and letters sent by the Chatham Board of Selectmen and Town Manager William Hinchey was met with an inquiry as to the specific ...

Town Offices Addition More Expansive Than Anticipated
CHATHAM - With estimates of the cost of an addition to the downtown town offices building higher than anticipated, officials will be asking voters to appropriate more money for the project at the May annual town meeting. Estimates to add space to the Cross Street side of the Main Street building came in at about $200,000, more than twice the amount appropriated for the project, according to Town Manager William Hinchey ...

Hearth To Hearth by Donna Tavano
by Donna Tavano. Creativity was my mantra this week. Not because my problem- solving thermostat was on fire, or I had whipped out ...

Selectmen Accept $7.8 Million Police Station Building
HARWICH - Selectmen Monday night accepted the final report of the preliminary police station building committee, calling for a $7.8 million building to be constructed between the present police and fire station...

Selectman Want To Review Information Before Making It Public
HARWICH - Members of the board of selectmen here have taken issue with newspapers being the initial source of information regarding decisions that impact the ...

Linnell Family Holds Bone Marrow Drive Saturday
CHATHAM — When Sammy Linnell of Chatham was diagnosed with cancer last summer, he got plenty of help from complete strangers...

Read these stories and more in the Chronicle here, and comment below.

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Canal Watch group catches Bouchard violations

By JOSEPH R. LaPlante, Standard-Times staff writer

A network of watchdogs on Buzzards Bay caught Bouchard Transportation Co. allegedly breaking the very law enacted to prevent the kind of oil spill a Bouchard barge caused three years ago, said the man who tipped off state officials to the violation. (^{_{Click photo to see dramatic scene of oil spill barge unloading after accident in '03.}})

Ben Bryant, a marine policy specialist for the Coalition for Buzzards Bay, came forward yesterday as the tipster.

He told the Department of Environmental Protection that the New York company on Feb. 11 and Feb 18 transported, without tug escorts, barges carrying more than 6,000 barrels of oil, the legal limit for unescorted vessels, through the bay and the Cape Cod Canal.

"We don't mind if Bouchard knows we are watching them," Mr. Bryant said. "We have sources on the bay who are watching, and they reported to me that they saw Bouchard barges without the escort tug boats that are supposed be alongside. I called DEP."

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., when told about the latest allegations against Bouchard, said yesterday, "It is just outrageous. This is what happens when some of these private companies see there is no drive for enforcement. ... They should be fully prosecuted, for of all people, for them to do this is outrageous."

Mr. Bryant found bitter irony in the allegations.
"It is surprising that Bouchard, the company that fouled the beaches and caused so much heartache here, would be the first to break the law," he said... Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here, and comment below.

Read story about how the Canal oil spill culprit violates new spill law [here]

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Another OUI, Shoppers evacuated, Falmouth drugs, Murder suspect arrested -again

TUESDAY MARCH 14th, 2006
WELLFLEET MAN ARRESTED ON OUTSTANDING CHARGES
TRURO – A man wanted for several incidents on the Outer Cape has been arrested. Daniel Ellis had outstanding warrants for operating under the influence, operating to endanger, failing to stop for a police officer and three counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon stemming from incidents in 2004 and 2005 in Provincetown and Truro. Police learned he was living at 100 Gull Pond Road in Wellfleet where he was arrested without incident.  

TUESDAY MARCH 14th, 2006
SHOPPERS EVACUATED AFTER SMOKE IN AUTO STORE
YARMOUTH – Shoppers were evacuated from the Autozone store on Route 28 in South Yarmouth after smoke began filling the business. Firefighters used a thermal imaging camera to locate the source of the problem and then cleared out the smoke. Further details were not immediately available.

MONDAY MARCH 13th, 2006
FALMOUTH MAN ARRESTED ON GUN, DRUG CHARGES
FALMOUTH – A Falmouth man was arrested on several gun and drug charges. According to the Times police responded to Paul Lorenco’s residence to investigate the latest in a series of car vandalism complaints and found his car windshield smashed and Lorenco wearing a bulletproof vest on. He consented to a search of his house where cops seized an unlicensed 9 MM handgun, ammo, cocaine, marijuana, and prescription drugs. Lorenco was charged with carrying an unlicensed gun, possession of a large capacity gun, possession of a gun without a FID card and possession of Class B,C,D, and E drugs.

ATTEMPTED MURDER SUSPECT ARRESTED AGAIN
ORLEANS – Douglas McCracken the Orleans man accused of stabbing his wife in Orleans in February is in more trouble with the law. The Times reports he checked out of rehab in violation of a court order. He allegedly also violated a restraining order taken out by his wife by leaving a phone message.

ROBBER UNABLE TO OPEN STORE REGISTERS
DENNIS – A would be robber was stymied in his attempt when he couldn’t figure out how to open the Tedeschi’s register at a West Dennis store. The suspect eventually fled and the clerk who was in the back of the store was not hurt.

FIRE FORCES EVACUATION OF SCHOOL
BARNSTABLE – A small fire in the girl’s locker room at Barnstable High School forced the evacuation of the building about 10:40 AM Monday. The fire was quickly put out but heavy smoke had to be ventilated from the structure. The fire comes six days after a similar incident at the Sturgis Charter School in Hyannis. Officials are still investigating the incident...

Read the rest of Cape Wide News here, and comment below.

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Harwich seeks synergy with Dennis, parents demand article back

Watchdog wanted, seeking Jonathan Walker...

Man with a branded hand By Douglas Karlson/ dkarlson@cnc.com John Bangert had lived in Harwich for 35 years and never heard of Jonathan Walker. But since launching No Place For Hate in Harwich, a group dedicated to fighting prejudice, Bangert has become fascinated by the famous Harwich abolitionist, so much so he’s throwing Walker a birthday party of sorts (his 207th). The whole town’s invited.     Better known as the man with the branded hand, Walker is, to Bangert, a kindred spirit and source of inspiration. If Walker were alive today, he’d probably be on the No Place for Hate committee, said Bangert. ... [more]

Read these stories and more in this week's Oracle here, and comment below. 

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Canal oil spill violator breaks law again

Tuesday, March 14, 2006, Standard-Times

Bouchard Transportation Co., whose oil spill in April 2003 prompted new protections in Buzzards Bay and the Cape Cod Canal, violated one of the major requirements of the oil spill prevention law twice last month by not using tug escorts for its barges, state environmental officials said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of noncompliance to the Melville, N.Y., company last week for trips by the Tug Barbara Bouchard on Feb. 11 and Feb. 18. Both times, the tug was pushing a barge with more than 6,000 gallons of oil through Buzzards Bay and the Cape Cod Canal without a tug escort, the DEP said in its notice...  The 2003 Bouchard spill polluted 93 miles of shoreline, washing up gobs of oil on Buzzards Bay beaches. Besides killing at least 450 birds, it temporally shut down 180,000 acres of shellfish beds. At the time of Hill's sentencing last fall, the federal government estimated the cleanup cost at $38 million, with expectations that it would surpass $50 million... 

Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here, and comment below.

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8th OUI for Yarmouth man

''There is no way this person should be driving," said Registry of Motor Vehicles spokeswoman Aime O'Hearn.

It happened Friday night just after 9 p.m. when Officer Raymond Scichilone observed an erratic vehicle on Route 28 in Yarmouth. Mark A. Press was arrested for the ninth OUI, operating revoked (from a previous OUI), and an outstanding warrant for a previous OUI. It was not immediately clear if this is Press’ first arrest since Melanie’s Law went into effect strengthening penalties for repeat offenders.

The Cape Cod man's driver's license was last active in 2001 after his seventh drunken-driving conviction now faces an eighth charge after being arrested over the weekend for allegedly driving drunk in South Yarmouth, police said.

When Patrolman Raymond A. Scichilone pulled over the white Ford van and spoke to the driver, he said, he smelled alcohol on Press's breath and witnessed other unspecified signs of impairment. After running Press's license through a criminal database, the officer also found Press was using a driver's license that had last been active in 2001 after a drunken-driving conviction in Palmer.

Press, a summertime chef on the Cape who has moved from apartment to apartment in the Hyannis area for the last decade, also has an outstanding warrant related to the Palmer case. A clerk in the Palmer District Court did not have any details.

Yesterday, Press was arraigned on charges of drunken driving, operating on a suspended license, and failing to stay within marked lanes. He was ordered held without bail at his arraignment in Barnstable District Court, with a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Read more in the Globe here, and comment below.

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Editor calls for selectwoman to resign

In this corner:
Selectwoman Mary Jane Pillsbury should resign

By Robert Slager/ rslager@cnc.com, Wareham Bulletin

Mary Jane Pillsbury sat with stone-faced defiance Tuesday night, waving off her inquisitor with a dismissive sweep of her hand before a single question had been asked.

"I have no comment," said the selectwomen, her voice dropping to a low grumble.

But there was a question that needed to be asked, a question that needed to be answered. Last week the Wareham Bulletin broke a story describing how Pillsbury apparently committed an ethical violation while she engaged in battle with a business competitor several years ago. STF Enterprises of Brockton is now suing the selectwoman and her husband for $1 million in damages, claiming Pillsbury used her political influence to prevent its company from opening up a self-storage facility in Wareham.

The case will go to trail at Plymouth Superior Court in July.

According to her own attorney, Pillsbury paid for an appeal for some abutters following a zoning board decision that would have allowed STF Enterprises to construct a 68,000 square-foot facility at 3128 Cranberry Highway. Charles and Mary Jane Pillsbury own Community Mini Storage of Wareham Inc., located at 2370 Cranberry Highway.

Two others members of the board of selectmen - Bruce Sauvageau and Brenda Eckstrom - suggested that Pillsbury, who also serves as library director, step down as selectwomen until the matter has been resolved.

They got their answer during Tuesday's selectmen meeting.

"My presence here tonight should give you your answer," Pillsbury told the Wareham Bulletin.

It did. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one...

Read the rest of this Wareham Bulletin editorial calling for her resignation here, and comment below

STF Enterprises suing Pillsbury
$1 million suit alleges she is trying to block competition

By Joao Ferreira, Standard-Times staff writer

Mary Jane Pillsbury is being sued for $1 million for allegedly trying to block competition with her self-storage business.

Mrs. Pillsbury, a Wareham selectman, is president of Community Mini Storage at 2370 Cranberry Highway. Her husband, Charles, is the treasurer.

The Zoning Board of Appeals last year gave STF Enterprises Inc. of Brockton a variance and special permit to build a 68,000-square-foot storage facility at 3138 Cranberry Highway.

But a group of neighbors decided to appeal the board's decision in Superior Court.

A suit filed by STF in Superior Court on March 4 alleges that the Pillsburys offered to pay the attorney fees on that appeal.

"We're claiming that the Pillsburys and Community Mini Storage have unfairly and improperly interfered with our right to develop that land," said Robert Kraus, attorney for STF. "Our concern is that we've been wronged. We'd like to have these issues redressed."

Mrs. Pillsbury said she hasn't paid any fees for the abutters but believes that if she did, it would be legal. She also said that any attempt to connect the case to her position as a public figure is groundless.
"I in no way used my office of selectman for anything to do with my business or my husband's business," she said. "This whole situation really can't be linked to me being a public official"... 

Read this Standard-Times story about the suit here. 

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Cape man saved by new heart stem cell treatment

Stem cell heart treatment
Baxter machine for separating cells is key to an attempt to counter disease in clinical trial

By Bruce Japsen, Tribune staff reporter

A treatment that uses adult stem cells to rebuild failing hearts--once believed to be impossible--will undergo a pivotal test starting this week in a 150-patient clinical trial under the watch of Baxter International Inc.

On Tuesday the Deerfield-based medical products giant is expected to announce the launch of the first U.S.-approved phase II study of adult stem cells to create new blood vessels in the cardiovascular system. The phase II study--a second, larger and more detailed experiment allowed after basic safety is established--is designed to investigate whether injecting adult stem cells directly into the heart can help patients rebound from severe coronary artery disease.

The first trial of just 24 patients was impressive enough to allow Baxter to move on to the second of three phases typically required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In the first phase, most patients needed to take fewer nitrate tablets and could resume routine activities such as walking or retrieving the mail--tasks they were unable to do before the trial began.

A successful trial could put Baxter in the lead in U.S. development of a potentially lucrative business. Heart disease is the single leading cause of death in America, responsible for an estimated one in every five deaths.

Successful treatment could have profound impact

Two years ago, Ronald Trachtenberg said, the severe heart condition that hounded him for more than 20 years essentially had confined him to his recliner. Within six months of having his own stem cells injected into damaged areas of his heart, the 60-year-old retired accountant said, he began feeling like a new man. (Ronald Trachtenberg lives at  147 Center Street, YarmouthPort)

Today Trachtenberg reports dramatic reductions both in chest pain and in the need for the nitrate pills he previously took by the handful on days he had severe heart spasm. He said he can walk 500 feet back and forth in front of his Cape Cod, Mass., home and takes a nitrate pill, a common medication for people suffering severe angina, just "once in a blue moon."

"I used to be a frequent flier in the ambulance," said Trachtenberg, who had his first bypass operation at age 34, and another at 39, before he was so ill he was forced to sell his accounting firm in 1992.

In 2004 Trachtenberg was among 24 people in a randomized initial clinical trial in which his own stem cells were injected into his heart.

Trachtenberg said in a telephone interview Monday he believes the treatment helped him and has potential for others.

"This will be on the same level as the Salk and Sabin polio research. . . . This is going to save more people who have not had a chance," he said... Read the rest of this Chicago Tribune story here, and comment below.

Baxter's site.
Baxter's PR Release.

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New tattoo closes Plymouth prison print shop

Inmate’s tattoo draws attention to print shop

By Casey Meserve/ cmeserve@cnc.com, Plymouth Bulletin

The pride and joy of the Plymouth County Correctional Facility has been closed for more than a week as a result of a preliminary investigation into an "unauthorized tattoo," said John Birtwell, director of public information for the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department. (Click image to enlarge.)

The jail’s print shop was closed last Tuesday after an inmate was discovered to have a tattoo he did not have when he first entered the facility.

Birtwell would not specifically say that a new tattoo was found on an inmate, but he said it is a "fair deduction."

According to Birtwell, when an inmate comes into the correctional facility, he is bodily searched and tattoos, piercings, and even scars, are specifically categorized.

"If you didn’t have it when you walked in the door it’s unauthorized," he said. He said the jail "very strictly and specifically prohibits tattooing," and that inmates are informed when they enter the facility that they are not permitted to tattoo themselves. "It’s not uncommon but it’s still a serious infraction of the rules," Birtwell said.

Birtwell said that if an inmate gains a tattoo or piercing while they are incarcerated, the sheriff’s department begins an investigation to discover where and when the inmate received the mark.

He said that health issues are the main reason for such an investigation. "The best of possibilities is that an inmate could develop infection or allergic reaction (to a tattoo or piercing). On other end of spectrum, there are the dangers of hepatitis-C or even HIV... Read the rest of this Plymouth Bulletin story here, and comment below.

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Falmouth insurer investigates Police Department

Falmouth- Town's Insurer Hires A Lawyer To Investigate Police Department
even members of the police department have filed complaints with MCAD

By Laura M. Reckford, Enterprise Newspapers

The Town of Falmouth’s insurance company has hired a lawyer to conduct an “independent investigation” of allegations of harassment within the Falmouth Police Department.

Police personnel received a memo from Falmouth Police Chief David F. Cusolito this week that attorney Donna Brewer McKenna of the Boston law firm Casner and Edwards has been retained “on behalf of the town” to conduct an investigation “into the conditions in the police department that have led several members recently to file complaints of discriminatory treatment with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.”

According to information from the office of Falmouth Town Counsel Frank K. Duffy Jr., Ms. McKenna has been hired by the town’s insurance company, Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA), which is paying for her services.

Since December, seven members of the police department have filed complaints with MCAD.

Six of the complaints are from white patrolmen. They say that Falmouth Police Sergeant Arthur R. Gonsalves, who is of Cape Verdean descent, has harassed them by accusing them of being racist... Read the rest of this Falmouth Enterprise story here, and comment below.

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Congressman Don Young's gift to Alaska

Spill the largest in Alaska's Northern Slope's history

INVESTIGATION: Pipeline's leak detection system is under scrutiny after 200,000 gallons were lost.

By WESLEY LOY, Anchorage Daily News

State pollution regulators are focusing on a pipeline leak-detection system as they investigate what led to a 201,000-gallon oil spill, the largest by far in the 29-year history of oil production on Alaska's North Slope.

The regulators and field operator BP on Friday said the spill, discovered last week along a major, 34-inch pipeline near the heart of the country's largest oil field, was more than five times the size of the next largest oil spill.

The discharge, however, is small compared to the nearly 11 million gallons spilled from the tanker Exxon Valdez in 1989.

The pipeline and wells capable of producing about 95,000 barrels of crude oil, or 12 percent of total North Slope output, remained shut down Friday as BP workers tried to clean up the spill and figure out a way to restore oil production. The stalled oil flow is worth close to $6 million a day.

Vicious cold, with wind chill as low as 64 below, hampered all efforts.

Bill Hutmacher, a state Department of Environmental Conservation official who enforces industry spill-prevention regulations, said a joint government-industry team will investigate whether the pipeline's leak-detection system performed as required.

Under state law, the system must sound an alarm for field workers if the pipeline's oil flow dips by 1 percent or more in a 24-hour period.

If oil leaked over a period of days or weeks at a rate too low to trigger the alarm, BP and its leak-detection system might have met the legal standard, Hutmacher said, even though oil reached the tundra. Determining the rate of the leak is key, he said.

"That's part of what we have to determine," said Hutmacher. "Were they in compliance with the regulations? Was the system functioning?"

Beyond that, state officials will consider whether spill-prevention regulations are stringent enough, he said.

Daren Beaudo, spokesman for BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., which runs Prudhoe, said his company remains unsure how it could have missed 201,000 gallons of oil, or 4,790 barrels, that leaked from the pipeline.

That's enough oil to fill 25 tractor-trailer tank trucks commonly seen on U.S. highways.

"We hope to have some preliminary results by early next week," Beaudo said of the investigation.

Asked whether the pipeline's leak-detection system sounded an alarm, he said: "I don't know."

A BP field worker who happened to be driving on a gravel road alongside the pipeline discovered the leak early on the morning of March 2. The smell tipped him off.

"Even when we went looking for the source of the oil smell, responders had trouble finding the oil due to snow," Beaudo said.

Workers this week pinpointed the source of the leak: a quarter-inch hole, likely caused by internal corrosion, at a point where the steel pipe crosses under a gravel caribou crossing. A caribou crossing is a mound of gravel placed over elevated, above-ground North Slope pipelines to allow the animals to walk over.

The spill size estimate DEC and BP announced jointly Friday is subject to change. The spilled oil, which covered just shy of 2 acres including the edge of a frozen lake, could range from 135,000 to 268,000 gallons, they said. Cleanup workers had recovered 53,000 gallons as of Friday morning.

BP is studying alternatives for restoring oil production, Beaudo said. One is restarting the pipeline once the now-patched 3-mile line is permanently fixed. Another is rerouting oil production through another, smaller pipeline.

Either way, it "will be a couple of weeks before we have a solution," he said.

The frozen ground will make the cleanup easier and more effective, BP and state officials said.

Hutmacher added: "This is the last thing that any oil company wants to have happen. Just think of the extreme costs involved in dealing with the incident."

BP runs Prudhoe and owns 26 percent of the production. The biggest Prudhoe owners are Exxon Mobil and Conoco Phillips, each with about 36 percent. See the Anchorage Daily News story here, and comment below

ANOTHER SPILL: Kuparuk River spill halts oil flow at 15 wells
NORTH SLOPE: Trace of crude mixed with water leaks onto tundra.

By Wesley Loy, Anchorage Daily News

State pollution regulators on Friday reported another North Slope pipeline leak, this time in the Kuparuk River oil field west of Prudhoe Bay... see story here.

See recent Cong. Don Young stories here. 

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STATE OF THE COAST

Cape Cod to Virginia buzzing over the possibility of wind turbines rising in coastal waters

ATLANTIC CITY — With coastal communities from Cape Cod to Virginia buzzing over the possibility of wind turbines rising in coastal waters, the wind power industry's biggest advertisement is right here alongside U.S. Route 30.

"There's hundreds of these in the country, and thousands in the world. But most of them are in the middle of nowhere," said Richard S. Dovey, president of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority, where five turbines at the wastewater treatment plant stand 380 feet tall — higher than most of the city's casino hotels.

^{_{On right, Gregory A. DeBrosse, manager of the Rutgers University Cape Shore Laboratory, with oysters under commercial cultivation on Delaware Bay. The lab supplies disease-resistant seed oysters to growers.}} 

These are slightly smaller, land-based versions of wind-generator arrays that have been proposed for offshore areas of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Since the Atlantic City installation started cranking power Dec. 12 for the utility's wastewater treatment plant here, the plant has had no shortage of electricity — or visitors.

One delegation came from Suffolk County, N.Y., to get some idea of what's being proposed in Long Island waters. A consultant for the Coast Guard has called, to see how turbines might work at its stations at Cape May and Sandy Hook.

When the utilities authority signed the contract with its wind-power vendors,projections were that wind would provide 50 percent of the plant's power over the course of the year. In windy February, the turbines churned out 70 percent.

Reliability is over 90 percent, and the on-site engineer has less maintenance than expected, Dovey said: "They thought he would have to go up once a week. But they've been running so well he's only had to go up four times."

Wind power is here, and in a new coastal assessment report, the state Department of Environmental Protection is increasingly concerned about the possibility of offshore windmills — along with potential oil and gas drilling after a 2012 federal moratorium expires.

Energy industry to grow

The draft report calls industrialization of the ocean "a major emergent issue." Changes to federal tax incentives, improved wind generation technology, escalating energy prices and tightening supplies have all combined to make offshore energy development more likely, the report says... Read the rest of today's Asbury Park Press story here, and comment blow.

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Goodbye leaves, here come the Gypsy Moths

A severe caterpillar outbreak expected, putting foliage at risk
"It looked like spray-on insulation," she said. ''It's just unbelievable"

By Matt Carroll, Globe Staff | March 12, 2006

Area communities can expect to be hit next month with another massive outbreak of leaf-eating caterpillars, which have defoliated thousands of acres of trees in Southeastern Massachusetts over the past few years, said officials who track such infestations.

Deborah C. Swanson, a horticulturist with the Plymouth County Cooperative Extension office in Hanson, which educates people about agriculture and horticulture, said she expects an especially heavy outbreak of gypsy moth caterpillars because of the number of eggs that have been laid.

It could be the worst hatching since the period between 1979 and 1981, when millions of the voracious, 2-inch, hairy caterpillars munched their way across the state from the Connecticut River to the ocean.

Swanson said two other pest caterpillars that have left their mark over the last few years -- the winter moth and forest tent caterpillar -- also could have strong years, based on the numbers of eggs laid. Because all three species are expected to reproduce in large numbers this year, the caterpillar invasion could be the biggest in recent memory, she said.

The gypsy moths lay tan or buff-colored oval egg masses, which are about the size of a quarter or half-dollar, and are covered with fine hairs. Each mass contains about 500 eggs.

In Hanson, Swanson said she recently saw a 20-foot branch of an oak tree covered with the egg masses. ''It looked like spray-on insulation," she said. ''It's just unbelievable"...

With no known predators, its population has exploded south of Boston and across Cape Cod. Eggs hatch in late March or early April as buds are swelling but not yet open, and the caterpillars eat foliage and some flower buds of oaks, ash, and blueberry and crabapples, according to information from the UMass Extension service... Read the rest of today's Globe story here, and comment below.

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Nantucket Sheriff released after arraigment yesterday

Sheriff pleads innocent, released
Had violated his wife's reatraining order Friday

Adding ever more luster to a career out of the old Western movies, Nantucket's "cowboy" County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider pleaded not guilty to a charge of violating a restraining order that was taken out against him by his wife.

Bretschneider was arraigned yesterday morning in Nantucket District Court. He had been arrested Friday after allegedly violating the "no contact" provision of the restraining order.The sheriff did not appear in court where lawyer, James Merberg of Boston, entered a not guilty plea for his client.

Judge W. James O'Neill reminded Bretschneider that his weapons, previously seized by police, would remain confiscated, and that the island's cheif law enforcement officer was due back in court April 10.

His estranged wife,Elizabeth Bretschneider, did not appear. She had filed for a divorce in February when she also filed an affidavit for an abuse prevention order, saying she feared for her safety.

What he violated Friday

A police report said the sheriff followed his wife into the home of a female friend last Tuesday, and eventually left without incident.

Bretschneider won re-election over three opponents in 2004, though he was accused of violating state ethics rules when he wore his uniform during a television interview. The state Ethics Commission prohibits using public resources, including uniforms, for political or private purposes.

Last year, Bretschneider agreed to forfeit $15,000 of his own money to the state for violating campaign finance law in 2004, according to documents from the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. The agency suspended half of the payment pending compliance with campaign finance law in his next election. Read the beprevious stories about the sheriff below.

 The contentious career of Nantucket's "Cowboy" Sheriff

Nantucket's sheriff has always been controversial, but his career took on a new twist a week ago when he was given a restraining order to stay away from his wife who filed an affidavit with the court saying that she was seeking the restraining order because she feared for her safety.

Yesterday the sheriff violated that order and was arrested. A Google search this morning brought these recent stories about his career. They are linked here, and you can comment below.  The sheriff can be reached at  (508) 228-7263 , and by email at sheriff@nantucket.net.

Nantucket sheriff arrested for violating restraining order
Boston Globe, United States - Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider was arrested for allegedly violating a restraining order that was taken out against him by his wife....

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Lower Cape Cod news round-up

Lower Cape news from The Cape Codder

Selectmen place 'letters' in chief's file
By Matthew Belson/ mbelson@cnc.com
Selectmen Monday voted to place two "letters" into Fire Chief Roy Jones's personnel file in response to what they viewed as unprofessional... [more]

Read these stories and more in The Cape Codder here, and comment below.

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Job benefits: New challenge for gay & lesbian couples

 Job benefits for gay partners targeted
Alaska alters state constitution to ban benefits to gays

Alaskan voters were the first in the nation to amend their state Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman to keep gay and lesbian couples from marrying.

Nearly eight years later, Alaskan lawmakers now want to amend their Constitution a second time to prohibit gay couples not only from marrying but also from winning any other marriage-like rights, such as employee partnership benefits...

Unlike marriage -- which is off-limits to gay couples in every state but Massachusetts -- employee benefits are becoming more widely available to same-sex partners in several states. Many large private employers offer domestic partnership benefits to gay employees, and it is not clear how the state marriage amendments would affect these benefits... In 11 of those states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington), lawmakers or government officials decided to offer the benefits without being challenged in court... 

Read the rest of this Stateline.org story here, and comment below.

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Boatline profits drop, Vineyard hospital gains, Tisbury questions contracts

News from Martha's Vineyard  

Hospital Posts Financial Gains
Chief Executive Officer Cites Primary Care Doctors as Factor; Windemere Finishes in Black for Second Consecutive Year
An increase in the number of primary care physicians employed at the Martha's Vineyard Community Hospital is improving its financial performance, according to the chief executive officer...» Full Story

Town Challenges Legality of High-Priced Contracts
Tisbury town officials are challenging the legality of multi-year contracts negotiated with the two people who supervise the Tisbury Water Works and Oak Bluffs Water District systems...» Full Story

Boatline Reports Profit Drop in 2005
The Steamship Authority continued to make money last year, though not as much as boat line managers anticipated...» Full Story

Read these stories and more in The Vineyard Gazette here, and comment below. 

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Council's $6M plan, Rights Panel wants some & Do your own taxes

Barnstable news from The Patriot

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Another Delahunt ploy to scuttle wind farm

Congressman Delahunt, shown on left at last year's Cuba Action Day, is asking for a congressional hearing on whether the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm's 130 turbines could hamper civilian and military radar systems in the area, possibly endangering homeland security.

"It has national implications," Delahunt said. "We need answers... Otherwise we put the country at risk and air travel at risk."

On Thursday he asked the House Committee on Homeland Security to hold an oversight hearing on the issue as soon as possible. He personally delivered a letter to the panel's chairman, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.

"What I'm after really is a full exposition of the potential adverse consequence to national security and homeland defense," said Delahunt. "I want it done in a way that's transparent, that once and for all sets the record straight."

Cape Wind says the proposed nearly $1 billion project is a way to meet the region's energy needs in an environmentally friendly way. Opponents say the massive towers will create a visual blight, hurt fish and birds, and hamper the fishing and aviation industries, all matters the USACE examined in 17 different studies over a four year period.

Supporters of the project scoffed at Delahunt's move, saying the Federal Aviation Administration has already provided the needed permits.

"They've already looked at these issues," said Cape Wind spokesman Mark Rodgers. "Delahunt just wants a different outcome."

Delahunt's move comes as both sides await the fate of an amendment to the $8.7 billion Coast Guard reauthorization bill that could doom the wind farm.

See these recent stories on similar stealth moves:

• Gambling Money, Don Young PAC & the Boston Ferry [cct]
  
• Patrick calls Delahunt, Romney & Reilly "Gang of three" on Cape Wind [cct]
  
• Congress deadlocked, Cape Wind may die [nef]
• Delahunt and Chavez [cct]
  
• Cape Wind vs. the Influence Peddlers [cct]
• Delahunt  Sound pitch is dead in the water [cct]
  

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D-Y trims budget, new lamb gets help, Selectmen oust dog, more...

The Mid-Cape  news this week from......

Peace Corps values By Joe Burns/ jburns@cnc.com All they were saying was give peace a chance. That was what three former Peace Corps volunteers offered for consideration to those who attended a... [more]

Newborn lamb gets by with a little help from her friends By Craig Salters/ csalters@cnc.com Sure, she’s cute, but can she fetch the newspaper? Chloe, a newborn lamb living at Yarmouth Port’s Taylor-Bray Farm, got a rough welcome... [more]

New uses add costs to school storage building
By Craig Salters/ csalters@cnc.com
The anticipated cost of a new storage building at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School has more than quadrupled since the building was first proposed... [more]

Toxicology report subpoenaed in liquor license hearing
By Nicole Muller/ nmuller@cnc.com
The owners of the Lost Dog Pub in East Dennis are accused of serving alcohol to an already intoxicated patron, and the charge could cost them their... [more]

Hyannis man charged with raping child
A Hyannis man faces two counts of rape of a child with force and one count of assault with intent to rape. Thomas. S. Dickerson, 20, was arrested... [more]

Read these stories and more in The Register here, and comment below.  

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First Bourne recall, Sandwich budget concerns

 Upper Cape new this week;

First recall signatures submitted in Bourne By Paul Gately/ pgately@cnc.com A bit of town history was recorded Friday morning at 10:01 when the Bourne Concerned Citizens submitted 600 signatures in their first step to recall from office Selectwoman Carol Cheli and Selectman Galon "Skip" Barlow. Town Clerk Barry Johnson, on left, systematically stamped each page of affidavit signatures for the recall. Once the initial 450 signatures are certified, Johnson will produce the actual recall petitions requiring signatures of 20 percent of the Bourne electorate.... [more]

Andrea Silbert: It's all about the economy
By Douglas Karlson/ dkarlson@cnc.com
Andrea Silbert, the Harwich Democrat running for lieutenant governor, says her goal is simple: help rebuild the Massachusetts economy. She believes... [more]

Read all these stories and more in the Upper Cape Codder here, and comment below. 

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Ptown murderer sentenced to life, parole in 15 years

MIKSCH FOUND GUILTY
Provincetown murder could be out in 15 years

Mary Ann Bragg, Banner Staff

The boyish and troubled Nathan Miksch, 36 on right in Barnstable Court, a former resident of Provincetown, was found guilty of second degree murder today (March 8), in the death of his friend Tim Maguire of Provincetown on Oct. 25, 2003. The 12 member jury made its decision after seven hours of deliberation in Barnstable Superior Court. The trial began on Monday, Feb. 27, and testimony concluded Tuesday.

Miksch, who took the stand himself in the trial, managed to evade the first degree murder charge sought by Assistant District Attorney Sharon Thibeault which would have come with life in prison without a chance of parole. Instead Miksch, 31, was sentenced to life but is eligible for parole in 15 years with credit for time served. Since his arrest on Oct. 28, 2003, Miksch has been confined to a county jail... Read the rest of this Banner report here, and comment below.

Witness testimony lays out timeline of murder
Internet sex liaisons near dead body revealed

Mary Ann Bragg, Banner Staff

Without a doubt there were uncomfortable moments in the courtroom last Wednesday in the trial of Nathan Miksch, a former resident of Provincetown who was charged with first-degree murder there in 2003.

Jurors learned that, after the murder, Miksch had at least two casual sex dates in the bedroom where he allegedly killed victim Timothy Maguire (on right being removed from murder scene), and that Maguire’s body was likely a few feet away in a closet.

... Read this Banner report here, and comment below.

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Chatham 400th event, Monomoy So. Beach join, the barge

Chatham has quadricentennial, half built barge and a new boundry

400 th Anniversary Of Champlain Visit to Chatham
Four hundred years ago, the area that is now Chatham was heavily wooded and sparsely populated by the Monomoyick branch of the Wampanoag nation.  Imagine sailing into a pristine Stage Harbor, ringed with small hills and clearings where small patches of corn and other grains were being grown.  Imagine the reaction of the natives, as the first Europeans set foot on the soil of what would become Chatham.

Samuel de Champlain, the leader of the expedition, dubbed the place “Port Fortune.”  

“This would prove a very good site for laying and constructing the foundations of a state, if the harbour were a little deeper and the entrance safer than it is," he wrote later.

Champlain and his crew spent two weeks here in October 1606, until relations with the natives deteriorated and a skirmish left four Frenchmen, and reportedly many more Monomoyicks, dead.

That critical event --- the arrival of the first European and the meeting of two cultures --- will be the subject of a year-long commemoration jointly sponsored by the chamber of commerce and the Chatham Historical Society.

The year of events officially kicked off Tuesday when the board of selectmen endorsed a resolution declaring 2006 “a time of commemoration” of Champlain...  MORE

Chatham May Sell Incomplete Mooring Barge
CHATHAM --- Work has halted on the town’s 90 percent complete mooring barge. The steel-hulled vessel will remain drydocked behind  the harbormaster’s workshop on Stage Harbor Road until officials decide what to do with it.

Last week, selectmen voted to halt construction on the barge and to use contract services for the work that the vessel was slated to do.  The board also cut more than $48,000 from the harbormaster department’s budget.

The barge was to be used to remove illegal and improperly placed moorings, to install and replace pilings and install a new mooring grid in Stage Harbor ...  MORE.

Agreement Draws Jurisdictional Boundary
CHATHAM --- It could happen any day.  It may, in fact, have happened already.

That’s the way officials describe the pending merger of South Beach with the northern tip of North Monomoy Island.  The channel between the two, known as the Southway, has been slowly shoaling up for almost two years, and the most recent observations indicate that the process is continuing.

“It’s more closed now than it was,” said Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge Manager Mike Brady.  Last month, he went through the channel in a skiff that draws six inches of water.  “We were bumping. And that was at high tide.”Federal and local officials have long been concerned about what would happen when the narrow gap between the two barrier beaches fills in.  Where would the jurisdictional line be between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which controls Monomoy, and the U.S. Park Service’s Cape Cod National Seashore and the town, which jointly oversee South Beach? ...  MORE.

Artificial Fishing Reef Proposed Off Harwich Shoreline
HARWICH --- State officials are examining placement of an artificial fishing reef off the shoreline in Nantucket Sound. Funding for preliminary study has been approved and additional monies could be voted within the month for detailed surveys.

“It’s preliminary, but the train is running and we’re meeting regularly and Harwich is providing us with information on the best sites,” Kristin Decas, deputy director and program coordinator for the Governor’s Seaport Advisory Council, said on Tuesday.

Decas said the concept was initiated by Clem Kacergis, owner of the Yankee, a head boat operated out of Saquatucket Harbor. She said Paul Donovan, owner of the Golden Eagle, which operates out of Wychmere Harbor, has also been active in pursuing this initiative.

Decas said Kacergis recognized the success of the artificial reef developed off Yarmouth in the 1970s and began pushing two years ago for a reef to be constructed off Harwich. Kacergis is in Florida until April and could not be reached for comment. Donovan also could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

While the proposal is in preliminary stages, Decas said a year ago the Seaport Advisory Council approved $10,000 from the Seaport bond bill to leverage the project. They are now poised to meet in April to vote another $40,000 to conduct survey work to determine the most appropriate location for the reef...  MORE.

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The world reacts to the smell of Cape Cod

^{_{Eric Estrada, a student at Chelsea High School, and Sothear Chan, who attends Revere High School, smelled perfumes inside Bath & Body Works at the Cambridgeside Galleria Mall. (Bill Greene/ Globe Staff)}}

On Cape, air of worry over student fragrances
Allergies spur call to go scentless

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Harwich names acting admin, 9 seats open this Fall, no override

Harwich fairly bristles with news today

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Both sides deadlocked over Young Amendment

US House, Senate at odds over anti-offshore wind amendment 

The US House of Representatives and Senate are deadlocked over a proposal that would limit the construction of offshore wind turbines, Capitol Hill sources have said.

A majority of Senators on the panel charged with finalising a Coast Guard reauthorisation bill have objected to a measure that would ban offshore turbines from within 1.5 miles of commercial shipping lanes, according to a spokesman for the Democrats involved in the negotiations and another source with direct knowledge of the talks.

Representative Don Young of Alaska’s proposed amendment specifically targets the proposed 420MW Cape Wind project in Massachusetts, which he has argued would cause navigational problems in the waters south of Cape Cod. The project’s developers, Cape Wind Associates and corporate parent Energy Management, say the wind farm would cease to be economically viable if forced to comply with a 1.5-mile no-turbine zone. Wind advocates have complained the measure would stymie offshore development elsewhere too.

Andy Davis, a spokesman for Democratic members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee said the Young amendment was a non-starter with a majority of Senators on the conference committee: “When it came to the Nantucket specific language... it never went anywhere. It was a proposal that was floated but there was never any traction.”

Davis said that Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, ranking Democrat on the Commerce committee and a member of the conference committee, was concerned the Young measure would impair offshore development elsewhere.

House members support Young, Senators Snowe & Stevens oppose him 

Meanwhile, a majority of House members on the conference committee support the measure, according to Hill sources. Majorities of members from both chambers must approve Young proposal for it to be included in the final version of the bill.

Others opposing the Young measure as it was originally presented included Republican Senators Olympia Snowe of Maine and Ted Stevens of Alaska, according to a source close to the talks who asked not to be identified. “They’re against parts of it and maybe the way it’s worded,” said this source, adding that the Senators are seeking to craft compromise language acceptable to representatives from both houses of Congress but talks have stalled in recent days.

The spokesperson Young did not return calls seeking comment. If the conference committee can agree on a final version of the bill it will be sent to the floors of the House and Senate where it is expected to pass quickly. Ultimately, the president would then need to sign the legislation into law.

If the committee cannot agree on final language, the legislation will die and lawmakers will be forced to start the reathorisation process again from the beginning. That is an unappealing prospect to both parties and both chambers, given the Coast Guard’s important role in homeland security.

Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for developer Cape Wind Associates and its parent Energy Management, said he was aware of the stalemate between the Senate and House but declined to speculate where particular members of Congress might stand on the Young amendment.

Privately, supporters of the Cape Wind project say they are concerned that even a milder version of the Young proposal would hurt Cape Wind. The American Wind Energy Association has argued against the proposal saying it could hurt future offshore development.

Young’s efforts have galvanised supporters of the Cape Wind project and garnered widespread media attention in the US, including an editorial in the New York Times denouncing the Alaska congressman.

Coast Guard against amendment too 

For its part, the Coast Guard has said that Young’s proposal is too prescriptive and the agency should have the power to make decisions independently on the siting of turbines.

Opposition to Cape Wind has been spearheaded by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a non-profit representing a diverse group of Cape Codders and funded primarily by wealthy summer homeowners in the area. Ernie Corrigan, a communications consultant to the group said: “I would say the reason why there is still an internal debate on the Young amendment is because it’s a serious amendment not an oblique attack on Cape Wind as Cape Wind has been charging for two weeks.”

He continued: “If the amendment does indeed undercut Cape Wind’s economics they need to move their project out of harm’s way.”

Read New Energy Finance here, and comment below. 

36 comments »

Newport Daily News on wind power

Embracing wind power makes sense

Middletown RI has joined the ranks of municipalities considering wind power as an alternative source of energy. Given the increasing costs of electricity, and the priority local communities have given to protecting the environment, this is a positive step. 

The idea already is picking up steam in Portsmouth, where Portsmouth Abbey is erecting a wind turbine that officials estimate could provide half of the energy for the school there. The town itself is exploring the idea of installing one to three turbines on town property to generate electricity for town government use. Any excess would be sold to further offset the town's bills, officials said. Bristol also is researching the concept.

Wind power may be cutting-edge in terms of technology, but it also has historical roots in the area.

Planning Board member John M. Tucker, in a recent letter to the Town Council, noted that the town crest has a windmill on it.

"Hearing about (wind power) quite a bit in the news and following different projects across the country and right in our back yard in Portsmouth, it seems to make sense to look into," Tucker said. "If you look at the bills for the town and schools, the cost of energy is one of the ones we can do something about."

The American Wind Energy Association estimates on its Web site that wind could supply more than 20 percent of the nation's electricity needs. In fact, with increased transmission capabilities, North Dakota alone could provide a quarter of the electricity used annually in the United States, according to the association.

There are many good reasons for local communities to consider wind power, among them:

Wind turbines use no fuel and have no emissions, and, therefore, are more environmentally friendly than power plants burning fossil fuels. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is threatening states that do not meet federal ozone caps by 2007 with severe penalties that will threaten job growth. So adding wind power to the energy mix would help Rhode Island, which does not currently comply with federal ozone cap requirements, said Eleftherios Pavlides, a Roger Williams University professor and advocate for wind power.

Any reduction in pollution also would result in lower health-care costs for the region. The Army Corps estimated that a wind project in Nantucket Sound, would save about $53 million a year in health-care costs by lowering the incidence of asthma, bronchitis and hospitalizations related to the burning of fossil fuels in power plants.

Some Rhode Island companies, such as TPI Inc. in Warren, make wind turbine blades and would stand to benefit from any increase in wind power facilities.

Recent increases in gas and oil prices show the volatility of the fossil fuel market, but wind is not subject to market pressures and would provide some much-needed stability to energy costs.

"It's the only energy we can produce that stays constant," Pavlides said. "You can predict with great accuracy how much it will cost in five years, 10 years, 18 years. And once you build it, the bulk of your (infrastructure) costs are done."

All of these factors make the discussions in Portsmouth and Middletown especially encouraging.

- March 7, 2006

See the original Newport Daily News Editorial here. 

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IFAW named educational sponsor of Whale Trail event

IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) announced today that it is the educational sponsor of The Whale Trail, a public art and conservation event that begins in May and runs through September. The Whale Trail will feature more than 100 whale sculptures displayed publicly across Cape Cod and the Islands. The sculptures are six-foot long fiberglass replicas of sperm and right whales -- each decorated by a local artist.

"We hope these inspiring works of art will help encourage an appreciation of whales, which are some of nature's greatest masterpieces," said Patrick Ramage, IFAW's director of communications.

The whales will be unveiled on May 22 at The Four Points Sheraton in Hyannis and displayed publicly through September. The final Whale Trail event will be an auction held on Sept. 23. Proceeds from auctioned whales will be split between non-profits and artists.

IFAW protects whales by opposing commercial whaling, supporting responsible whale watching, promoting whale sanctuaries, conducting scientific research and educating the public about the threats facing whales.

The Whale Trail is sponsored by IFAW and the Creative Arts Center in Chatham. It is directed by an advisory committee of community and business leaders and coordinated by K&M Productions LLC in Mystic, Conn. For more information visit the Whale Trail site here.

The Whale Trail Advisory Board:

• Nancy Barr, International Fund for Animal Welfare

• Judy Cicero, Eastham resident, Provincetown business owner

• Judy Day, Cape Cod Theatre Project / Falmouth Cultural Alliance / CONNECT

• Chris Diego, Chatham Bars Inn

• Gabrielle Hanna, Provincetown Business Guild 

• Lisa Hergenrother, Arts Foundation of Cape Cod

• Andrea Kovalencik, Company of the Cauldron, Nantucket 

• Jeff Kristal, Crocker House Inn, Martha’s Vineyard

• Gigi Ledkovsky, Cape Cod Museum of Art

• Jean Mangiafico, Creative Arts Center, Chatham

• Kristen McMenamy, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce

• Karen O’Connor, Lightship Learning Services

• Judy Selleck, Heritage Museums & Gardens

• Kathleen Schatzberg and Natalie Dubois, Cape Cod Community College

• Tiffany Swan, Sotheby’s Int’l Realty, Osterville

• David Willard, Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank

• Pam Wise, Creative Arts Center, Chatham

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Barnstable Drug Bust, Brewster & Hyannis Cop Car crash

MONDAY MARCH 6th, 2006
TRAFFIC STOP LEADS TO DRUG BUST
BARNSTABLE - A routine traffic stop early Sunday morning netted police a large quantity of cocaine and cash and put two men in jail. Shortly before 2 AM Ofc. Sean Brewer noticed a Chevy Tahoe operating erratically on Route 6A and subsequently stopped the vehicle on Weir Road near Starbuck Lane.

Officer Brewer detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle and as backup officers arrived the driver John F. Dailey 41, of Hyannis (top) was arrested for operating under the influence of alcohol, operating to endanger and marked lanes violation. An inventory search of the vehicle turned up 48.5 grams of cocaine in the center console and $1,189 in cash. Both Dailey and the passenger Christopher R. Tanner 46, of Sandwich (bottom) were charged with trafficking in cocaine. They were held on $10,000 bail pending arraignment in court Monday.

CRUISER STRUCK IN BREWSTER
BREWSTER – A Brewster police officer got quite a surprise responding to a possible drunk driver on Millstone Road when the alleged suspect vehicle collided with his cruiser. The officer was not hurt in the crash. The suspect John T. Ramirez of Brewster tried to get away but then hit a parked car before being taken into custody. He was to be arraigned in Orleans District Court today operating under the influence of alcohol, operating to endanger, marked lanes violation, failing to stop for an accident, and failing to stop for a police officer.

OFF DUTY COP INJURED IN HYANNIS CRASH
HYANNIS – An off duty Yarmouth police officer was injured in a collision in Hyannis this afternoon. Neither driver was seriously injured. The impact of the crash at Nautical Way and Sea Street about 3:45 PM caused the officer’s SUV to rollover. An eyewitness told Cape Wide News it appeared this small vehicle ran a stop sign causing the crash. Barnstable Police are still investigating the crash. Photos courtesy of Frank Paparo

DRIVERS ESCAPE SERIOUS INJURY IN HEAD-ON CRASH
HARWICH – Officials are amazed both drivers escaped serious injured in this head on crash between a Jeep and a Toyota Rav4.

The crash happened about 1 PM on Division Street at the Harwich/Dennis town line. Rescuers from both towns responded and one person was taken to Cape Cod Hospital. Both Harwich and Dennis Police are investigating the crash which shut down the road for a time until the wreckage could be cleared. Photos courtesy of Jake O’Callaghan.

Read these and other Police/Fire stories on Cape Wide News here, and comment below.

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Nantucket Sherriff has restraining order filed by his wife

Nantucket Sheriff ordered to surrender weapons
Wife files restraining order, "feared for her safety"

By Jason Graziadei, I&M Staff Writer

County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider was ordered to surrender his firearms last week after his wife filed for a restraining order against him with the Nantucket Police Department.

Officers seized the weapons without incident, and they will be held as long as the restraining order remains in effect. The action also required Bretschneider, on right, to turn over any gun licenses, ammunition or firearms identification (FID) cards, in addition to the firearms. Police would not comment on how many weapons were surrendered.

“Our standard policy is we don’t comment on domestic violence orders, but I will say that he complied with everything in the order and was cooperative,” Detective Lieutenant Jerry Adams said Tuesday.

Must stay 25 yeards away from wife 

Technically known as an abuse prevention order, or a 209A, the restraining order was requested by Elizabeth Bretschneider at the police station on Feb. 21 and entered in Nantucket District Court a day later.

The order prohibits the sheriff from abusing or contacting his wife, requires him to stay away from her residence, and forbids him from coming within 25 yards of her.

In District Court Monday, the case was continued to March 6 for a hearing on a motion to extend the order and transfer the matter to Nantucket Probate and Family Court.

Did Sheriff lie to press? 

In an affidavit filed with the court, Bretschneider’s wife wrote that she was seeking the restraining order because she feared for her safety... Contacted by phone yesterday, however, Bretschneider said the restraining order had been withdrawn and he was planning to retrieve his firearms from the police station. Yet according to District Court officials, the order remains in effect and cannot be withdrawn without a hearing. 

Read the rest of this I&Q story here, and comment below.
Read these other stories about the sheriff:

• Sheriff's budget questioned. Depending on their degree of satisfaction with budget information submitted by the sheriff on Monday, the selectmen may vote on the county budget tonight. After making recent revisions, Sheriff Richard Bretschneider's budget totals $978,795. The county budget is viewed as the most problematic at this point because of significant increases in the sheriff's expenditures. Read the story here.
• Sheriff bought eight assault rifles: two for his office and six for NPD  Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider confirmed this week that the firearms removed from an auxiliary building outside the Nantucket Fire Department at the request of Town Administrator Libby Gibson two weeks ago were automatic assault rifles purchased by his department late last year.
  Bretschneider said he removed the weapons from the special operations building in front of the fire station, but would not disclose their current location. He claimed the firearms were purchased for “homeland security and law enforcement purposes” and that he was the only person authorized to use them... Read the rest of the story here.
• Bill would make Bretschneider highest paid sheriff in the state 
  A supplementary spending bill passed last week by the Massachusetts Senate would make Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider the highest-paid sheriff in the state.
  If approved by a joint House-Senate conference committee and signed into law by Gov. Mitt Romney, the bill would boost the salaries for all 14 Massachusetts sheriffs to $123,209, a shift that would mean a 45 percent pay increase for Bretschneider and Dukes County Sheriff Michael A. McCormack on Martha’s Vineyard.
  But since Bretschneider is the only sheriff in the state allowed to keep the fees he collects for the service of civil process, and the fact he also collects longevity pay from the town from his years of service as a police officer, Bretschneider’s net pay would greatly exceed the salaries of the other 14 Massachusetts sheriffs... Read the rest here.

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Cape's underground architect moves south

Burrow is a place like no other
Cape Cod's Malcolm Wells wins new praise

By JASON NARK, Courier-Post Staff

CHERRY HILL, Monday, March 6, 2006

Malcolm Wells shunned the concrete and steel buildings he created and went underground decades ago.

Beneath the dirt and ivy, the Camden-born architect found the inspiration that changed his life.

Wells, 80, of Cape Cod, Mass., arguably is the most well-known architect of underground structures in the world, and his first foray beneath the earth's surface was in Cherry Hill.

"Underground buildings are an attempt to stop asphalting everything in the world," said Wells, a graduate of Haddonfield High School.

When he focused primarily on above-ground structures, Wells produced many well-known buildings in South Jersey, including the former Cherry Hill Library, the Moorestown municipal complex, and the Camden County Library in Voorhees, a building that showcased his growing interest in combining architecture and nature.

Wells built the Cherry Hill underground structure in 1973 and used it as part of his adjacent architecture office for three years.

It has fallen into several hands since then -- and several states of disrepair.

Dr. Rick Dunlap of Haddonfield purchased the underground buildings for $73,000 and has since invested about $50,000. Most of that money went into rehabilitating the property, which was neglected and home to "more than a few" spiders after sitting empty for more than two years.

His wife, Bonnie, currently uses the buildings for her home cosmetics and life-coaching business.

Now you can own it for $269,000.

The structure -- with shrubbery, trees, and vines growing on its roof -- is indistinguishable from the landscape under which it sits off North Park Drive. (Click the image on left and below on right to see them larger.)

You have to focus to see the skylight popping out of the ground and the small, narrow stairwell that leads down to the courtyard that separates the two buildings.

It resembles Hobbiton, the fanciful, eco-friendly home of the hobbits in J.R.R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.

That's a comparison Wells can accept.

"It's a very peaceful, quiet place," Wells said of the Cherry Hill building. "I like to have green on top."

Many people assume that an underground office would come with a plethora of problems, Dunlap said. But he notes the structure is solid, dry and remarkably energy efficient -- a goal Wells shoots for in all his structures.

"We have air-conditioning but you absolutely don't need it," Dunlap said.

The first building has floor-to-ceiling windows, which bring in a surprising amount of light and views of the crushed-stone courtyard.

"It's definitely not a cave," said Wendy Kreifels, Dunlap's sister and the listing agent for the home.

Across the courtyard, a double door leads to the structure's second building, a large, open room with a massive skylight and a long, narrow hallway that ends with glass doors looking out on a tributary of the Cooper River.

This side door to the tributary was Wells' favorite feature of the home. (That's Wells on the left framed by his wife, artist Karen North Wells.)

"It's very nice on a summer day," he said. "It's just a very peaceful place."

The home is zoned for commercial use, and one potential buyer expressed interest in making the subterranean digs a pizza parlor, Kreifels said.

"People call me and want to know what it's all about, and I tell them you just have to come see it," she said. "You either get it or you don't."

See the Courier Post here, and comment below.
See Malcolm Wells work here.

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Slots: Revenues Versus Moral Reservations & Millions for Racetracks

Slot Machines: Revenues Versus Moral Reservations
Would mean $1/2 Billion extra state revenue

By MICHAEL C. BAILEY, Enterprise Newspapers

The House is expected to discuss a proposal to legalize slot machines in Massachusetts some time this month.

In October, the Senate approved a bill that would allow racetracks in East Boston, Plainville, Raynham, and Revere to install slot machines. A total of 2,000 machines would be allowed between the four tracks, and 60 percent of the take would go to the state for local aid, the state’s general fund, and the Rainy Day reserve fund.

The slot machines would bring in an estimated $350 million to $500 million a year in additional revenue for the state. Supporters claim they would boost lagging business at state racetracks and stimulate job growth, while opponents say the machines open the door for full-blown casinos and enable compulsive gamblers.

State Representative Matthew C. Patrick (D-Falmouth) shares both concerns. “It’s a moral issue for me. It has nothing to do with economics,” he said in regard to the latter point. “I’ve seen what gambling addictions do to families up close and I’m not going to contribute to that.”

As for the possibility of casino gambling coming to Massachusetts, that concern was validated by Donald Widdiss, chairman of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe on Martha’s Vineyard. Mr. Widdiss was quoted in a recent Nantucket Inquirer & Mirror article as saying the tribe is watching the bill “very closely,” and that the tribe has already identified “two or three viable sites in the Commonwealth that I think would be appropriate for Class III gaming.”

Class III games includes most casino-style games of chance such as slot machines, craps, roulette, and blackjack.. Read the rest of this Falmouth Enterprise story here,

Racetracks could be biggest winners under new gambling bill
Could make millions in added profits under a controversial proposal

By Scott Van Voorhis, Boston Herald, March 6, 2006

Massachusetts racetrack owners would walk away with hundreds of millions of dollars in added profits under a controversial proposal for Vegas-style gambling now steadily gaining support on Beacon Hill.

Lawmakers are preparing to hand over a gold mine in the form of gambling licenses to dog and horse track owners at prices that critics say amount to bargain basement deals.

Track owners could acquire a license to operate 2,000 slot machines for about $25 million under a state Senate bill that passed last year.

The return on investment: A staggering $200 million in estimated annual revenue for each track.

The proposed $25 million buy-in is but a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars that huge casino operators have shelled out to operate similar slot parlors in Pennsylvania, a new study shows.

The debate comes as state lawmakers prepare to vote later this month on the slot proposal, which is seen as having the best chance in years of passing. Track owners in Revere, East Boston, Taunton and Plainville - as well as their employees - are lobbying fiercely, arguing their struggling racing venues can’t survive without slot machines.

"You spend a few million on lobbying and political contributions, and you get a $300 million to $400 million license,” said Jeff Hooke, a Maryland investment banker and activist who says all gaming licenses should be auctioned to the highest bidders... Read the read of this Herald story here.

Read how the candidates feel about slots here.
Read the recnt survey on how YOU feel about it here.
Read how to win at Roulette here, and comment below.

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New cancer therapy is hot

Getting warmer in bid to kill tumors
Cape woman saw skin tumors disappear

By Judy Foreman, Boston Globe

A year ago, when Gayle Driscoll's breast cancer spread to her skin, the 63-year-old retired teacher from Barnstable tried an experimental treatment that gave her radiation therapy some extra oomph. Every time she lay down for radiation treatment on her chest, her tumors were also heated with a special device that emitted microwaves. After six weeks, the tumors were gone.

The therapy was meant only to treat her skin -- and the cancer ultimately spread to Driscoll's bones -- but it was ''psychologically important" to her to see the tumors in her skin disappear, she said.

Heating tumors has not yet been proved to save lives, but several new studies suggest that so-called hyperthermia can boost the tumor-killing power of chemotherapy and radiation. Hyperthermia, an old treatment idea that is enjoying a resurgence, uses microwaves to raise the temperature of a tumor to 104 to 106 degrees Fahrenheit.

At least eight studies in recent years have shown that adding hyperthermia to chemotherapy or radiation increases the effectiveness of those treatments against melanoma, tumors in the esophagus, cervix, head, neck, and brain, and breast cancers that have spread to the chest wall, said Dr. Mark Dewhirst, director of the hyperthermia program at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.

Scientists who have seen the effects of hyperthermia are impressed. ''I'm amazed at some of the tumors that just melt away with the combination of radiation and heat," said Dr. David Wazer, chief radiation oncologist at Tufts-New England Medical Center.

Hyperthermia could turn out to be among the most powerful anticancer weapons yet... Read the rest of this Globe story here, and comment below.

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Storm cost Hyannis car dealer $250k

A timely snowstorm could force a Hyannis, Cape Cod car dealership to cough up about $250,000 to some of its customers.

During a promotion for their President's  Week sale, Dick Beard Chevrolet and Suburu promised anyone who bought a car from them that week that they would get $5,000 back if more than five inches of snow fell on March second.

"Well, it's about quarter of a million dollars," said Gary Beard, the dealership's owner. "But, thankfully we bought insurance..."

Well, it appears that Thursday's snowstorm  produced more than six inches of snow. The general manager of the Hyannis dealership, Glenn Barkley, says the snow total must still be officially certified. Once it is, about 50 car buyers would be eligible for the $5,000 rebates...

See the CBS4 video here, and comment below.

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Go on a whale watch from your desktop this morning

Or take a short Day Trip along the canal, all from your laptop or desktop RIGHT NOW

The new Google vlogs are short, low res, high speed videos of Cape Cod and many other colorful locales.

The Cape Cod whale watch one on the right is a kewl example. Just click on the humpback's nose to see this video. 

For your first excursion, we suggest you view these dramatic amateur videos of a humpback whale off the Cape recently.

Now sit back and click here.

Your other Cape Cod Day Trip choices are here, and make your comment below. 

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Listening to a humpback whale off Cape Cod

Ocean scientists can now plunge into the middle of the sea without leaving their offices.

Six-foot, 100-pound underwater gliders (on left being lowered into the ocean by a crew from Rutgers) are swimming the oceans of the world and dutifully sending data home on everything from whale calls to the massive waves produced by hurricanes.

Several ocean scientists reported on the use of underwater gliders at the biannual ocean sciences meeting this week sponsored by the American Geophysical Union.

"The ability to be in the ocean all the time and do it over a sustained period _ people are doing it now," said Oscar Schofield, professor at the Institute of Marine and Coastal Science at Rutgers University.

The gliders suck in and shoot out water to change their buoyancy and move up and down. Small wings on their missile-like bodies create lift to move horizontally.

Without a noisy propeller or engine, the gliders run silently and on very little power. A small battery pack can keep them gathering information 24 hours a day on monthlong missions. They can also be programmed to surface and send data to land-based labs via satellite.

And while the cost for a large research vessel can mount up at $15,000 per day, a single, reusable glider costs about $25,000.

Five years ago very few scientific labs had even one of the gliders. Today, as many as 15 labs across the country have up to 20 each to deploy on projects from the Mediterranean Sea to just off the New Jersey coast, Schofield said...

In May, Baumgartner's team used a glider to capture the soulful calls of a humpback whale off the coast of Cape Cod, despite a storm that whipped up 17 foot seas and more than 30 knot winds during the five-day project...

Read the rest of this CBS story here, and comment below. 

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Bubble tougher than expected, sellera await warm weather

By VIKAS BAJAJ and DAVID LEONHARDT, New York Times

Along much of the East and West Coasts, home buyers and home sellers are engaged in a stare-down.

Many buyers, having heard that the real estate market is a bubble in danger of popping, are refusing to offer the asking price on a house, convinced that it will soon drop. But many sellers are not blinking either, thinking that offers will improve when the weather does and biding their time until then.

As a result, the housing market is now in a deeply confusing state, with average prices still rising even though homes are taking much longer to sell and the number on the market has soared. Sometime soon — probably in the spring, the peak sales season — one side or the other will have to capitulate, many economists and industry executives predict.

"In my opinion, the jury on housing is still out," said Antonio B. Mon, the chief executive of Technical Olympic USA, a home builder. "The period from now until May will tell the tale."
Many real estate agents argue that the current slowdown is merely a pause, pointing out that interest rates remain low and that Americans still seem convinced that houses are a great investment. Buyers, on the other hand, are hoping that the rising number of unsold homes is a signal that a slump is coming. It was an early sign of the last housing slump, in the early 1990's.

Homes for sale up 36% in past year 

Nationwide, the number of existing homes for sale jumped 36 percent between January 2005 and January of this year, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

In Manhattan, 42 percent more co-ops and condominiums were available for sale at the end of last month than was the case a year ago, according to Miller Samuel, an appraisal company in New York. More Manhattan apartments were on the market in late February than at any point in at least five years.

For now, though, average selling prices have continued to rise, even in the markets that had already experienced the biggest leaps in prices and the increases continued even in the final months of last year. Prices rose 40 percent in the Phoenix area during 2005, according to the federal government. In Manhattan, the median price of an apartment was $760,000 at the end of last year, up from $605,000 at the end of 2004.

The latest statistics on house prices appear to be dominated by sellers who, for one reason or another, quickly received good offers. That has kept average prices rising. Builders of new homes have also offered bonuses to buyers, like enclosed sunrooms or top-of-the-line appliances. So the builders have been able to continue selling homes without cutting the list prices.

But many houses in the Northeast, Florida and California are, in fact, selling for less than they would have six months ago. In parts of the Northeast, the drop has been about 5 percent, estimated Robert I. Toll, chief executive of Toll Brothers, the biggest luxury home builder in the country. Other sellers have cut their price and still not found a buyer.
In Buxton, Me., a suburb of Portland, Geof and Cheri Toner put their three-bedroom Cape Cod-style house on the market for $379,900 late last year, shortly before moving to Raleigh, N.C., for Mr. Toner's job. They have received only one offer — for $350,000, which they rejected — and recently reduced the price to $374,900.

Mr. Toner said he assumed that more buyers would look at the property as the weather warmed up. In the spring, they would not have to wonder whether snow covered up flaws in the lawn or the roof. He expects that the eventual buyer will be a transplant from elsewhere in New England who is willing to pay significantly more than $350,000...

Read the read of this NY Times story here, and comment below.
Read the Real Estate Cafe  here.

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Tree turmoil, Juice Bar squeeze and Dog bite ban

The Cape Codder round-up of news:

Tree turmoil
By Bill Fonda/ and Donna Tunney
ORLEANS - Anita Karsky sensed something was different when she pulled into the driveway at her Long View Drive home one day last week. Looking into her yard, Karsky realized what it was - her trees were gone, victims of an NStar crew that had cleared access to power lines that run behind her property.

According to Jason Kolnos, story in Cape Cod Times, "Twenty mature maple and oak trees that shielded the south side of her Long View Drive property from high-tension power lines and towers had been clear-cut. Flower beds were uprooted. Garden ornaments were knocked over. Skid marks from bulldozers left gashes in her snow-covered lawn..." 

Eastham sour on Juice Bar By Marilyn Miller/ mmiller@cnc.com EASTHAM - This week, Eastham officials put the squeeze on the Juice Bar, a teen hangout operated by Nauset Together We Can Prevention Council Inc., and funded by the four Nauset towns, trying to make sure they’ll get every drop out of the money being asked to give.     Together We Can will place petitioned articles for $5,000 each on the Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans and Brewster Town Meeting warrants this spring to help pay the costs of running the Juice Bar in Orleans. As in past years, questions are coming up about how and where this money will be used.     Don Powers, chairman of the Together We Can board of directors, presented the petitioned article to the Eastham Board of Selectmen for its consideration Feb. 20 and got an earful of suggestions and comments from both selectmen and finance committee members who were at the meeting.     And this past Monday, although Powers was not present, talk about the petitioned article surfaced once again during a joint meeting of the selectmen and finance committee.     A new wrinkle with the Juice Bar is that the building has been sold to Cuffy’s and the Juice Bar needs to find a new home. The building owners have offered Together We Can to vacate the premises this month, in exchange for $10,000, as the Juice Bar’s lease doesn’t expire until Aug. 31. ,... [more]

Selectmen veto Smith's choice for gatekeeper
By Marilyn Miller/ mmiller@cnc.com
For the first time, selectmen Tuesday, by a split vote, vetoed Town Administrator Tim Smith's choice for a new hire. He had picked an Orleans woman... [more]

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Ptown explosion over fireworks ban

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

Certain things are just not to be messed with in Provincetown. There's the right of drag queens to roller-skate through the center of town blowing kisses, the special New England brand of democracy known as Town Meeting, and the more-than-half-century tradition of July Fourth fireworks.

But the Provincetown Board of Selectmen messed with two of those things this week, prompting a backlash the size of which has not been seen for years in the tiny Cape Cod resort town. Citing safety concerns, the board voted to cancel this year's Independence Day fireworks. And they did so despite a nearly unanimous Town Meeting vote to keep them.

''When you think of P-town, here's a town that's self-governed, very much a piece of traditional American democracy, supporting personal rights and fun," said Michael Valenti, owner of White Wind Inn and a board member of the local business guild. ''We were totally blindsided. [July Fourth fireworks] are such a piece of Americana, such a tradition; for that to go away brings tears to my eyes."

There's even been talk of trying to remove some of the selectmen from office.

''For them to make that decision without any input from the town, it's an outrage," longtime resident Michelle Haynes lamented yesterday. ''It's absolutely ridiculous."

Last year's fireworks display ended with drunken brawls on Commercial Street, and town officials say there aren't enough police officers to make sure it doesn't happen again this year, or ambulances to respond if it does.

''It is a tiny town, and there's just no way that we have the resources," said Cheryl Andrews, chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen.

In some ways, the town has come smack up against its capacity to handle its growing popularity, officials said, and canceling the fireworks is the price residents and business owners have to pay.

The town's population already explodes from about 3,000 residents in the off season to between 30,000 to 60,000 during summer months.

But July Fourth events have been drawing more people in recent years, with last year's crowd as large as 100,000, according to some reports... Read the rest of this Globe story here, and comment below.

Provincetown police shortage concerns chief
Closing Commercial Street suggested by some, effect on business decried

By Steve Desroches/ sdesroch@cnc.com

The Fourth of July fireworks might be canceled, but one thing is for sure: Once the warm weather returns, so will the crowds to Provincetown, fireworks or no fireworks.

But public safety officials are not only worried about covering the town for the Fourth, but all summer. Police Chief Ted Meyer said that the eight summer officers provided to the force with the current budget are not enough to manage the town, which swells from about 3,400 year-round residents to more than 60,000 in July and August.

"It doesn’t give us enough people to patrol the street normally, never mind the Fourth of July," said Meyer. "It is going to be a very rough summer for us."

With only eight summer officers added to the 16 full-time year-round officers currently on the roster, both Meyer and Staff Sgt. Warren Tobias say that the force will be spread very, very thin this summer... Read the rest of this story in The Cape Codder here, and comment below.

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Centerville gil who died and others are Barnstable High students

Barnstable High offers grief counciling today
16 year Melissa Gifford pronounced dead at Boston hospital

More than a dozen grief counselors will be on hand this morning when Barnstable High School holds its first classes since students and faculty learned that one student had been killed and another critically injured Friday in a car crash in Brewster, officials said.

Students will be told by their homeroom teachers that counselors are available, Thomas F. McDonald, the superintendent of schools, said yesterday. No student assemblies are planned.

Slippery roads may have been a factor in a horrific crash in Brewster just before noon Friday. Questions are being asked about why the three Barnstable High students were driving anywhere during shool hours.

The crash happened at Routes 124 & Route 137 when one vehicle broadsided another leaving several people seriously injured and one, a 16 year Melissa Gifford, died at the hospital late Friday afternoon. The second 16 year old girl was undergoing surgury last night in Boston.

Both girls and the driver of the car were students at Barnstable High School where officials plan grief counciling  availability today in time for classes on Monday.

Two Medflights were called to land at a field at Brewster Town Hall to airlift the  two teens most seriously injured to Boston Medical Center. An unknown number of other people were taken to Cape Cod Hospital by ambulances from as far away as Dennis and Orleans.

The intersection has a signal light at it. Both roads were closed for several hours while accident reconstruction worked the scene and the wreckage is removed.

Melissa Gifford, 16, of Centerville died after the Toyota Camry she was a passenger in collided with a pickup truck driven by 31-year-old Todd French of Brewster.  She was in the right, front passenger seat where the truck hit the Camry.

The Camry spun out as it was traveling south on Route 124 between Route 6A and Route 137, according to French.

A medical helicopter had to land in a field behind the Brewster Town Hall a quarter mile from the accident to take the injured girls to Boston. 

On Sunday the Cape Cod Times reported that Police continue to investigate an accident.

The accident happened "very fast," according to French, who was driving back to his office on Main Street in Brewster at the time of the crash.

"My heart really goes out to the families. I can't imagine what they're going through," French said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Another passenger in the car, Clinton Perry, 17, of Marstons Mills remains in critical condition at Boston Medical Center. Nobody answered the door at Perry's home yesterday afternoon.

The Camry's driver, Daniel Stapleton, 17, also of Marstons Mills, was treated and released at Cape Cod Hospital Friday afternoon, according to hospital spokesman David Reilly.

"We don't have anything to say," said a woman who answered the phone at Stapleton's home.

A relative of Gifford's at a home in Centerville said that it was "too soon" for the family to talk about the accident.

See the CBS4 video here,
Read the rest of the Times story here, and comment below.

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How great newspapers write editorials

OPINION

OUR VIEW: Stealth attack on Cape Wind project
Kennedy, usually quick to criticize backroom deals led by Republicans, thinks Young’s amendment is worth consideration

By The Patriot Ledger

The behind-the-scenes maneuver led by an Alaska congressman to sink the Cape Wind turbine project in Nantucket Sound is Washington skullduggery at its worst.

How ironic that, just as President Bush is awakening to the need to wean Americans from their addiction to oil, a Republican congressman has decided the wind turbines proposed for the sound are a hazard to shipping lanes.

Rep. Donald Young - whose district is about as far from Cape Cod as you can get and still be in the United States - is so exercised about the wind farm that he wants to add an amendment to the Coast Guard authorization bill to stop it. That would be standard legislative procedure if Young had chosen to do it in the standard way, by suggesting an amendment when the Coast Guard budget was being debated on the House floor. But that is not what’s happening.

Young, who declines to speak publicly about the issue but two weeks ago solicited support from his House colleagues, wants to tack the amendment onto a bill now in a conference committee. He wants to kill Cape Wind with no discussion of the merits of the proposal.

The amendment would ban wind turbines within 11/2 miles of a shipping channel or ferry route, allegedly to protect navigation. For the moment, it would scuttle Cape Wind’s plans for 130 wind turbines, but it would also stifle future development of offshore wind farms.

Does Young object to wind power because it competes with oil, which is Alaska’s gold? Who knows? He’s not saying.

People are left to speculate on why a powerful Republican from Alaska is aligned with Democrats such as Sen. Ted Kennedy and Rep. William Delahunt, both of whom oppose the offshore wind farm. Kennedy, usually quick to criticize backroom deals led by Republicans, thinks Young’s amendment is worth consideration.

On Capitol Hill, reform is a fleeting concept, praised in the abstract but practiced rarely.

Cape Wind has been subjected to numerous reviews over the past few years and has passed muster thus far. As for the basis of Young’s criticism, the Coast Guard, which knows a lot more about the waters off Cape Cod than the Alaska congressman does, opposes it.

This project deserves to be judged on the merits and not sacrificed to the whim of a legislator who won’t even explain his reasons for trying to sabotage it.

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Cape Wind may be #2, work begins on Texas offshore wind farm

Giant windmills towering over the Gulf of Mexico could soon provide electricity to Texas homes.

A small dedication ceremony in Galveston Thursday officially launched a plan to construct 50 windmills in the nation's first offshore energy wind farm.

Though it won't be visible from the shore, this windmill energy farm could have a powerful impact.

Thanks to Texas history, though, that hasn't been a problem here. (Click here to see the KHOU-TV video)

The reason dates back to 1836, when Texas won its independence from Mexico. When Gen. Sam Houston defined the boundaries of the new Republic of Texas, he specified that the boundary in the Gulf of Mexico "[begins] at the mouth of the Sabine River, and [runs] west along the Gulf of Mexico three leagues from land."

(Click the map here or here on right to see details) 

That three leagues, or 10.35 miles, was included when the boundaries were adopted by the First Congress of the Republic on Dec. 19, 1836, and the United States acknowledged it when it recognized the Republic's independence. When negotiations started for Texan statehood, Houston insisted the boundaries be kept — and though the U.S. has since tried to take back some of the land (in the lengthy Tidelands Controversy), Texas won firmly established title to the three leagues in 1960.

So now a company that wants to build a windmill energy farm in the Gulf can cut its deal with regulators in Austin rather than regulators in Washington.

"So we wanted to move forward and we found out Texas was set up to do so because of all the wind farms in West Texas. We are offshore people and we found that Galveston would be an excellent position," said Hermann Schellstede, Offshore Wind LLC.

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YMCA exempt? Old Wreck ID'ed & an unsung hero

  
fairly bristles with news this week:

‘Old wreck’ now seen as a wreck
Photos from Hyannis woman tell the tale

By David Still II, dstill@barnstablepatriot.com

When Priscilla Stone Houston first saw photographs of large timbers on Craigville Beach in the Patriot’s Dec. 23 edition, she knew immediately what it was: the old wreck.

She also knew that she had photographs of her parents, then “an engaged couple,” sitting atop the wreck from about 1910. But she also figured that no one would be interested.

When she read a follow- up story relating Centerville native Laurence Bearse’s recollections of “the old wreck,” Houston understood that her photographs could be helpful and wrote to the paper...

Clarification-Rectrix liens from contractor dispute, not lack of cash

Last week’s story about Rectrix Aerodrome’s issues with the Town of Barnstable referenced more than $400,000 liens placed against the company.

According to Rectrix president and CEO Richard Cawley those are the result of an ongoing dispute regarding the quality of work performed by Lohr Construction in the building of the $6.5 million facility. Cawley said that all of the money in question has been placed in an escrow account and will be released when the dispute is resolved.

A closer look at the liens on file with the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds shows Rectrix to be the main defendant in only the $252,000 lien filed by Lohr Construction. The remaining liens are against Lohr by itS subcontractors on the project, with Rectrix as a secondary party...

The Unsung Heroine of Barnstable
Longtime volunteer to be honored at Statehouse ceremony

By Kathy Manwaring, news@barnstablepatriot.com

Friends calling on Lilly Tu are often surprised to find her at home. Depending on the day, she’s usually busy at one of her numerous volunteering positions.

Today, you’ll find Tu at the Statehouse in Boston, where she’ll be honored by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women as the Unsung Heroine of 2006 for the Barnstable community.

Warm reception for plan to control growth
Some questions remain for Cape Cod Commission

By Edward F. Maroney, emaroney@barnstablepatriot.com

The consequences of unchecked growth were evident at Barnstable Superior Court House Wednesday night: it was hard to find a seat as the Cape Cod Commission’s planning committee heard the Town of Barnstable’s request to control more of its own development.

The room was full of Commission members and planners, and also a good number of representatives of the town’s new growth management department. The presentation by the visiting team from Main Street, Hyannis was led by Patty Daley, who once played on the Main Street, Barnstable team as the Commission’s legal counsel.

Congratulations rather than confrontations were the order of the day, as the commissioners praised the quality of the town’s proposal to assume the Commission’s review role up to certain thresholds for residential and commercial growth. It helped that the Commission and the town have kept in touch during preparation of its Growth Incentive Zone plan...

Y not?
Commission exemption for YMCA expansion advances

By Edward F. Maroney, emaroney@barnstablepatriot.com

A Cape Cod Commission subcommittee is likely to recommend that a major expansion and renovation plan for YMCA of Cape Cod be exempted from full Development of Regional Impact review as a Project of Community Benefit.

The subcommittee will meet April 6 to vote a recommendation with conditions, which will be reviewed by the full commission at its April 20 meeting.

Hyannis attorney Pat Butler, representing the Y, stressed his client’s record as a good partner with the Town of Barnstable, noting collaborative programs with the public schools, recreation department, and council on aging.

Town Attorney Bob Smith lauded the "intimate" relationship between the town and the Y, and the town’s growth management director, Ruth Weil, submitted a letter noting that the Y "operates on town-owned land and functions as a quasi-municipal community center..."

Read these Patriot stories and more here, and comment below. 

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Summer rental boom, new fishing rules

The Vineyard Gazette reports
on new Groundfish Rule, a Summer Rental Boom and Washington shenanigans

Summer Rental Market Booms Unexpectedly; Brokers Scramble
Some brokers up 62% over last year at this time
Blame it on the economy, blame it on the Republicans, or blame it on that tried and true scapegoat - the weather. Whatever the reason - and no one knows for sure - Island real estate brokers report that the demand for summer rentals has suddenly exploded.

"We passed through the new year and all of a sudden it was crazy," said Rebecca Conroy of Conroy and Co. Real Estate in Chilmark. "In the last several weeks we have received a ton of inquiries - much, much more than where we were last year at this time. Looking at my files I would say we are close to what we did all of last year."

"It's really booming again," agreed Suzanne Lanzone of Hob Knob Realty in Edgartown. "It's been telephone rage around here."

"We are up 62 per cent over this time last year, and that is only homes that have been booked," said Sharon Purdy, who owns Sandpiper Realty in Edgartown. "Not only are the number of leases up but the number of inquiries as well, so we have really seen a huge uptick."

The early surge in interest comes after several years of an up-and-down summer rental market, where inventory generally outpaced demand. Bucking a trend of holding out for last-minute bargains, summer visitors this year appear to be booking their vacation homes early, leaving brokers speculating on the reasons...
» Full Story 

Secretary of Commerce Proposes Even Stricter Groundfish Rules
Concerned about severe overfishing of key stocks in the waters off New England, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on Tuesday stepped in to propose strict emergency measures to curtail overfishing this spring. The proposal supersedes measures enacted by the New England Fishery Management Council, the regional regulatory body that has struggled over the last year to meet a federal deadline for developing a sound plan to save the troubled fishery...
» Full Story

Bill Takes Aim at Wind Farm
Retreating Behind Closed Doors, Lawmakers Debate Amendment Tacked Onto Coast Guard Bill That Would Ban Turbines
The fate of the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm hung in the balance in Washington, D.C. this week, where a small group of congressmen met behind closed doors to consider an amendment to a U.S. Coast Guard bill that would effectively kill the controversial project...
» Full Story

Read all this week's Vineyard Gazette  stories, and comment below. 

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Cape's Cashman to build two more wind farms

UPDATE: When we ran this story on March 3, 2006, we didn't know the location of the proposed wind farms, but now we do.  A story in today's New Bedford Standard-Times reveals, "In a proposal that would dramatically change the appearance of Buzzards Bay, a Boston developer wants to build a $750 million offshore wind farm comprised of 90 to 120 turbines in the ecologically sensitive waterway... The proposed sites are about 3 to 4 miles off the coast of Sconticut Neck in Fairhaven, Barneys Joy in Dartmouth and Naushon Island, one of the Elizabeth Islands. An estimated 30 to 40 turbines would be erected at each of the three sites..." Here is our original story:

Builder to test waters with major offshore plan
Jay Cashman earlier announced his desire to build Cape Wind project

Constructor Jay Cashman (on right) is planning to invest at least $500 million in two wind-powered developments off the Massachusetts coast - the first of what could be a multi-billion dollar wind enterprise for his Quincy firm.

 Jay Cashman, shown on right receiving the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service from the B.U. School of Management last summer, has a long history in New England: his great-grandfather’s firm erected Ptown's Pilgrim Monument

Jay Cashman, wh0 helps build everything from marine facilities to bridges to office towers, said yesterday he’s planning to soon file plans for two 30-turbine offshore wind projects that would generate a combined 200 megawatts of electricity - or enough power for 200,000 homes.

According to the Cashman web site, his construction company is well equipped to handle an innovation like America's first offshore wind farm on Nantucket Sound as well as two more.  Mr. Cashman has homes in Falmouth and Chatham.

At this time he declined to disclose the locations of the two proposed projects, which likely will spark intense controversy among ocean-front property owners.

Cashman, who last September said he planned to get involved in the wind-energy business in a big way including handling the construction of the Cape Wind project, said he hoped to file detailed plans in January. But it took longer than he thought, he said.

Each 30-turbine project will produce about 100 megawatts. But one of the off-shore sites will have enough room for about 60 more turbines to produce another 200 megawatts, doubling the power generation if there’s an expansion, he said.

The initial build-out would cost about $500-$750 million, and any 200-megawatt expansion would cost about the same at today’s rates of roughly $2.5 million for each megawatt.

“I’m not going to take it out of my piggy bank,” joked Cashman, when asked how the project will be funded. Banks and other investors will be brought onboard, he said.

He indicated he’s also looking at land-based wind projects.

Cashman, who helped build a wind turbine at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay shown on right, said more wind power is needed to reduce the country’s reliance on foreign oil and to cut pollutants.

But Cashman warned that the fate of his projects rests with whether a separate wind farm proposal for Nantucket Sound, planned by Cape Wind Associates, is blocked by Congress. If however, his projects are in state rather than federal waters as believed, the regulatory process is vastly different.

Read the rest of this today's Standard-Times story here, and comment below. The first 23 comments were posted after this story first appeared here on March 3, 2006.

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Get ready to move your house to high ground

By Bill Blackmore, ABCNews 

For the first time, scientists have confirmed Earth is melting at both ends, which could have disastrous effects for coastal cities and villages.

Antarctica has been called "a slumbering giant" by a climate scientist who predicts that if all the ice melted, sea levels would rise by 200 feet. Other scientists believe that such a thing won't happen, but new studies show that the slumbering giant has started to stir.

Melting at Both Ends Recent studies have confirmed that the North Pole and the South Pole have started melting.

Experts have long predicted that global warming would start to melt Greenland's two-mile-thick ice sheet, but they also thought the more massive ice sheet covering Antarctica would increase in the 21st century.

First the melt, then the collapse 

It seems they were wrong.

Two new studies find that despite the increasing snowfall that comes with global warming as a result of the increased moisture in the air, Antarctica's ice sheets are losing far more than the snow is adding.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, Earth's surface temperature has risen by about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the last century, with accelerated warming during the last two decades. Most of the warming over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities through the buildup of greenhouse gases -- primarily carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Although the heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed, uncertainties exist about exactly how Earth's climate responds to them.

"The warming ocean comes underneath the ice shelves and melts them from the bottom, and warmer air from the top melts them from the top," said NASA glaciologist Jay Zwally. "So they're thinning and eventually they get to a point where they go poof!"

Zwally explains that the ice shelves, which the Antarctic ice cap pushes out into the ocean, are responding more than they expected to Earth's warming air and water. If the melting speeds up to a rapid runaway process called a "collapse," coastal cities and villages could be in danger...

Read the rest of this ABCNews story here, and comment below.
Read about the damage in Falmouth this winter here (the top photo), and
Read about the loss in year already at Orleans' Nauset Beach here, (the second photo).

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Motels grow, Irish march, Nurses unhappy & IFAW moves