Cape & Islands News

Homes in 'Sconset threatened; Consequences of the cut; Rental regs questioned; Kidnapper held without bail

   ^{The bluff at 'Sconset on the south shore of Nantucket has now eroded back to the front porches of many of the homes, see top story below.  Click image to see full sized.}

Nantucket news, April 27, 2007

LOSING GROUND
Baxter Road owners seeks emergency permit to move house
In the aftermath of last week's storm that caused a Sheep Pond Road house to topple onto the beach at Madaket, 87 Baxter Road owner Sam Furrow is working to move his house away from the edge of the crumbling 'Sconset bluff.

The CONSEQUENCES of THE CUT 
Smith's Point breach poses potential navigational, environmental problems Esther Island is likely to remain disconnected from Nantucket for quite some time because of strong tidal forces scouring out an old wound in this narrow section of Smith's Point. Heavy winds and high seas ripped through Smith's Point during last week's storm, separating yet again the western-most tip of Nantucket from the rest of the island.

Residents, realtors question the fairness of rental regulations
Health Inspector Richard Ray stressed several times that his proposed long-term rental regulations are meant to protect tenant's health and safety, but many at a Monday night forum to discuss the regulations voiced concern over how they single out landlords who rent year-round and could worsen an already serious housing shortage.

I ON THE COURT
Nantucket Court Report
 In Monday's District Court, Kimberly L. Baker, 25, of Florida, was scheduled for a status review of her case. She was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol on Nov. 17, 2005 and on Feb. 5, 2006.

Accused kidnapper is held without bail
Youth held on $6,500
After a set of special hearings in last Friday's District Court, the Polpis man charged with kidnapping and beating a former co-worker on April 12 was held in the Barnstable House of Correction without bail, and a high school student accused of threatening another student with a knife was held on $6,500 bail with a list of conditions in the event of his release.

Selectmen to review restrictions on Muse license
It has been two months since the selectmen restricted provisions of the entertainment license for the Muse nightclub, but the issues that led to that event may be resolved at tonight's board meeting. The restrictions that took effect Feb. 21 banned any music after 11 p.m.

Halberstam remembered for his grace, compassion
He filled a room with his voice, with his presence, and he captured the island with his heart. As the reality of David Halberstam's untimely death sank in, islanders and those who knew him through Nantucket remembered a life well-lived, and one that was tragically cut too short.

Read the rest of The Independent here.   

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On the Wing with David Gessner

What are those huge birds
Every year, Cape Cod's enormous and beautiful ospreys launch themselves on a precarious 8,000-mile round-trip journey to South America. A curious author joined them for what would be the ride of his life.

By David Gessner
"What are those huge birds" remarked a passenger on the ferry to The Vineyard.

I resisted playing the know-it-all. Ospreys, the only raptors that dive fully into the water for fish, were nearly wiped out in New England by our postwar use of the pesticide DDT. But we are in the middle of an osprey renaissance, and, thanks to their booming population and outgoing nature, the birds have become a visible presence on Cape Cod and other coastal areas. Ospreys are easy to observe at their large shaggy nests (they are pack rats, filling the sides of their homes with string, plastic bags, and, in the case of one Cape nest, a naked Barbie doll). But if you get too close, they might drive you off with a dive-bombing maneuver and their characteristic warning cries.

Because of the way the ospreys defend and commit to their nests, most observers think of them as homebodies. But there is another side to osprey life and another half of the year, during which “our” New England birds become world travelers. Ospreys are one of only six bird species to appear on every continent except Antarctica, and each September, they launch themselves on a precarious 3,000- to 4,000-mile journey to their wintering grounds on Amazonian rivers and Venezuelan lakes, returning north again in March.

I first got to know ospreys by studying them at their nests on the Cape, but I wanted to learn more about their hidden winter lives. So one year, instead of saying goodbye to the birds, as I had in the past, I followed them south on their epic migration down the East Coast to Cuba and beyond.

My trip kicked off on September 9, 2004, with a visit to a nest at Gray’s Beach in Yarmouth. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot and stepped out of the car, I heard it: the high-pitched kew kew kew that means osprey. Soon I was looking through my telescope at a bird standing on a nest above the marsh, ripping into a fish dinner. The bird’s brown-spotted necklace suggested it was a female, and its checkered feathering and orange eyes identified it as just-fledged. The bird’s huge talons pinned the flounder, and as it ate, it established a familiar osprey rhythm: dipping down to tear at the fish, then lifting its head back up before slurping strands of pink insides like spaghetti.

Born in May, this bird had emerged slimy, black, reptilian, no more capable of flight than a rock. Its transformation over the next month, from a miniature dinosaur stuck full of pinfeathers to an approximation of an adult bird, occurred at a pace that seemed like time-elapsed footage. That this awkward-looking creature had, after many clumsy attempts, learned to fly seemed surprising; that it had learned to dive for fish with any competence even more so. But that it was now, after barely earning its wings, ready to embark on a trip to South America and back, without the guidance of parents, was nothing short of astounding.

My original goal had been to follow the general course of osprey migration, not specific birds. But by happy coincidence, a North Carolina biologist named Rob Bierregaard had put satellite tracking devices on five birds on Martha’s Vineyard, so by simply checking the Internet, I could follow those individuals, too. Maps of osprey journeys show that their migrations are individualized to the point of quirkiness. For instance, a tagged bird that Bierregaard had named Tasha began her trip south the same day I did. Tasha was a youngster making her first migration, and she soon revealed her bold personality. Juveniles’ initial migratory flights are often tentative and short, but when Tasha took off from her summer nest on the Vineyard, she made a beeline south over the Elizabeth Islands and Buzzards Bay, keeping offshore and landing only briefly on Block Island before heading off again. Long Island would have been the natural place to rest, with plenty of good fishing nearby, but the winds were with her, and she must have felt the momentum of travel. She didn’t stop until she’d flown over New York City and crossed the Hudson to northern New Jersey.

Tasha could cover such long distances without exhausting herself because her mode of travel was one perfected by ospreys over millenniums: soaring. “Ospreys migrate for food,” says Keith Bildstein, a raptor authority and director of conservation science at the Hawk Mountain sanctuary in Kempton, Pennsylvania. “But they also do it because they can. Ospreys are built to soar.” Soaring allows raptors to move quickly and with relatively little energy from one good hunting ground to another, even if those hunting grounds are thousands of miles apart. To fly these long distances, the birds lift on columns of hot air called thermals, which form above treeless spots like beaches and parking lots, where heat rises off the earth. Or they use updrafts, which occur when wind hits the side of a mountain, creating a ski-jump effect. After the thermals and updrafts have lifted the birds nearly out of sight, they can pull in their wings and shoot forward for miles without having to expend effort by flapping.

But how does a young bird like Tasha first “get” the idea of thermals? Instinct, of course, but that’s too easy an answer. The popular birding writer Pete Dunne speculates that one way juveniles discover the phenomenon is simply by accident. Tasha might be flying along when suddenly she feels a little lift under her wings and – aha! – starts to understand. The elevator is going up, and she is on it. The next time may not be quite so accidental, and, according to Dunne, she may even keep an eye out for the airborne dust and rising debris that indicate a thermal. She may also be on the lookout for other raptors that have been scouting thermals.

In this manner, lifting and soaring, Tasha made her way along the coast to a barrier island in North Carolina, where near-hurricane winds forced her to lay low for a couple of days. Having watched ospreys on the marshes of Cape Cod during northeasters, I tried to imagine how Tasha would have responded to the storm. Though ospreys look large, their hollow bones give them little ballast; most actually weigh less than 4 pounds. Tasha would have flattened herself against the ground in a futile effort to avoid the winds, eyes squinting and feathers blowing back over her.

Migration is the most dangerous time of year, and for birds caught in the air – or worse, over the sea – during a storm, it’s all over. But when the weather lifted, so did Tasha. She rode tail winds to Bald Head Island, which became a launchpad for her long over-water flight to Florida, skipping South Carolina and Georgia entirely.

When Tasha arrived at Lake Okeechobee in south-central Florida, gathered gangs of ospreys let her know that she was on the right migratory track. She might have been forgiven if the warm weather, shallow waters, and abundant fish had tempted her to stay. But after a day or two, something prodded her to move again. On the afternoon of September 23, Tasha pushed off, leaving the United States behind. By the middle of the next day, she had put in another 190 miles and was flying down the mountainous green spine of Cuba.

My own mode of transportation was usually a rental car, not wings, but I took roughly the same route along the East Coast as Tasha. As well as watching ospreys, I watched osprey people, like the group of virtual birders I met on Long Island, part of a Web community that followed the daily (and nightly) life of a pair of osprey parents via a camera and microphone secured above their nest. By streaming continuous video on their computers, members of the group could eventually identify the cries of individual birds without looking. It was like Real World with ospreys, and as one member told me, “You get hooked on the plot and can’t stop watching.” Ornithology is one of the few fields in which amateurs can still make significant contributions, and this avid group had observed examples of active night behavior and sibling rivalry among osprey chicks that no scientist had noted before.

My goal had been to follow an osprey migration through Cuba, but I discovered that it was easier for a bird to enter that country than a human being, especially an American human being. By the time I managed to get a flight in, Tasha and the rest of Bierregaard’s tagged birds had already made their way across the island and down to South America. All except one. This bird, an adult male, had gotten a late start by staying on Martha’s Vineyard to feed his single offspring, which couldn’t seem to learn how to fish. Because it looked as if I might end up in Cuba at the same time as this dedicated father, I dubbed him Fidel and followed his daily travels.

Cuba is a central path in the greater osprey highway. Most other migrating birds, being hydrophobic, take the safer route to South America through Mexico, but ospreys use Cuba as their port of entry to the Caribbean. One of the people who helped discover this osprey route was Cuban scientist Freddy Rodriguez Santana. During my visit, we stood together atop La Gran Piedra in eastern Cuba and watched dozens of migrating ospreys stream overhead. The birds rode the updrafts of the Sierra Maestre, lifting and soaring past Guantanamo Bay and over to Haiti, before turning south and making the long over-water flight across the Caribbean.

It turned out that I had just missed Fidel in Cuba, but I followed him electronically as he headed to Colombia before crossing the equator and flying deep into the Amazonian watershed, nearly to Brazil. Then he stopped suddenly, on a small river, a tributary of the Rio Negro, a jungle world of vines and crocodiles quite different from his Martha’s Vineyard summer home. If he was like most adult ospreys, he would stay within just a dozen miles of this spot until late winter before beginning the trip back.

As well as tracking the birds online, I followed them physically throughout the year, including to Venezuela. Though I saw hundreds of ospreys during my trip, I never caught sight of any of the satellite birds Bierregaard had tagged. Tasha’s tracking device had stopped working over the Dominican Republic, so there was little chance I would ever see her. But I did finally catch up with Fidel in May 2005, back at his nest above the cliffs of Gay Head on Martha’s Vineyard. As I watched him through my telescope, I felt my own trip had given me some small understanding of the great cycle of exodus and return he had just undertaken. Though my adventure was over, Fidel was back where he had begun, already feeling the pressure of the year ahead, the need to mate and incubate so that his young could hatch and learn to fly and fish in time to make their own trip south. For me, this was an ending; for Fidel, it was just another beginning.

Excerpted from Soaring With Fidel: An Osprey Odyssey From Cape Cod to Cuba and Beyond, by David Gessner (Beacon Press, 2007). Reprinted with permission.
Mr. Gessner writes a blog for Cape Cod TODAY here.
He will be giving a talk and having his first Cape Cod book signing at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History on June 2 at 2PM. Immediately following, all museum guests are invited to view the OspreyCam in the Marsh View Room where our resident Osprey couple will be expected to become parents.

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Orleans wants to alter beach pact, rebuffs No Place for Hate; Wellfleet OKs church conversion; Flook wins Guggenheim; Red tide closes Eastham estuary to shellfishing

Headlines from The Cape Codder, April 27, 2007

Board’s rebuff dismays No Place for Hate group
ORLEANS - Residents this week expressed dismay at a majority of the board of selectmen who refused to reconsider a vote not to sign a proclamation that would enable the town to officially become a No Place for Hate community   “I am really disappointed you did not support this,” said Jennifer Smith, during public comment at Wednesday’s meeting.

Orleans seeks option to alter beach pact
Leave it to a strong nor’easter and water from the Atlantic streaming over a section of Nauset Beach to sideswipe an intermunicpal agreement between Orleans and Chatham that was reached after months of drawn out negotiations.Homeowners fined after cutting beach grass
PROVINCETOWN - The conservation commission ordered the Oceanside Condominium Association to pay $200 and replant beach grass removed by property owners for a violation of town wetland protection bylaws.  A group of condominium owners removed a large swath of beach grass near the condominiums in the farther East End of Provincetown using a Rototiller, which uprooted the important vegetation. Not done yet: Eastham school construction continues
The date for the completion of the Eastham Elementary School renovation project is now is June 15, principal Susan Helman told the members of the Eastham Elementary School Committee at their meeting Wednesday.  She said a meeting would be held later this week to deal with “our concerns about schedule coordination and project supervision.”

Selectmen offer advice to incoming board, town manager
PROVINCETOWN - It was the first meeting with the new town manager, but the last for most of the board of selectmen. In a relatively short and sweet meeting, David Nicolau, Richard Olson and chairwoman Cheryl Andrews said their goodbyes as they depart from the board. Sarah Peake resigned March 30 to attend to her duties as state representative.Towns need to recycle more, officials say
The ability of towns on Cape Cod to increase the amount of material that is recycled would not only be good for the environment but could save money, local officials say.  “How much you save is a loaded question,” said Robert Bersin, superintendent for the Brewster Department of Public Works.Voters OK church conversion
WELLFLEET - In less than 10 minutes, Wellfleet town meeting approved, with no debate, a $12.6 million operating budget, then went on to approve another $3 million in capital and marina budgets.All articles sail through Truro meeting
Voters completed their work in two hours at town meeting Tuesday night in what was a pleasant and harmonious evening.  All 21 articles passed, including a unanimous vote on a $13.5 million budget. Rising health care and fuel costs pushed the budget up by $1 million from the previous fiscal year.Lynn takes reins in Provincetown
Two weeks ago she watched town meeting from the balcony; this week she sat in the corner office of town hall.

Red tide closes estuary to shellfishing
EASTHAM — The entirety of Nauset Marsh was closed to shellfishing by the state’s Div. of Marine Fisheries last week due to a resurgence of red tide, an algal bloom that renders the meat of bivalves toxic to humans. As a result of the closure, about a half-dozen commercial fishermen in Eastham will be cut off from their livelihood until the shellfish filter out the algae, which is stored in the stomachs of mussels, clams, and oysters.

Firehouse funding flies at Wellfleet Town Meeting
WELLFLEET — Nary a whisper of dissent was heard as the town’s $12.6 million budget for 2008 was unanimously passed at Annual Town Meeting on Monday night. Voters further authorized spending for an additional $77,000 in design fees for a new fire station, as well as $110,000 to fund a study of Wellfleet Harbor’s wastewater contamination. But just as quickly, purse strings snapped shut as residents turned down a new salaried computer technician position in Town Hall and indefinitely postponed a $100,000 request for a new generator at the Senior Center.

Builder gets the boot
Rice given 30 days to clear off N. Truro property
TRURO — Builder John Rice says he was just looking for a place to put his “stuff.” His neighbors claim he’s lowered their property values, and in a letter to the zoning board of appeals, one abutter writes: “Save our neighborhood. Save our quiet, safe street.”

Town cracks down on grease mismanagement
PROVINCETOWN – A refusal by some food service operations in town to comply with state laws regulating grease disposal has resulted in damage to the municipal sewer treatment plant. As a result, the Provincetown Licensing Board on Tuesday unanimously approved new regulations giving stricter enforcement powers to the health department.

Read the rest of The Banner here. 

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Lawsuit Filed on Cape Wind; County Seeks Disaster Funds;

Martha's Vineyard headlines, April 26, 2007

Notice of Lawsuit Filed on Cape Wind
Town of Barnstable and Citizen Groups Take Formal Steps, Preparing to Sue State Environmental Secretary.  Setting up another potential roadblock for the offshore wind farm proposed in Nantucket Sound, the town of Barnstable and two groups of Cape Cod citizens last week filed notices of intent to sue the state’s top environmental official for his endorsement of the project.  The three separate notices serve as formal appeals of the certificate signed last month by Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles, who found that developers of the Cape Wind project had fulfilled their environmental review requirements on the state level.

County Seeks Disaster Funds Following Breach at Katama, County Manager Joins Rush For State, Federal Money, And Takes Heat for It
Dukes County is in line to receive more than half a million dollars in federal disaster relief for erosion at Norton Point beach caused by last week's storm, but may spend little or none of it on repairing storm damage, county manager Winn Davis said yesterday.

Horticulturist Polly Hill Dies at Age 100
Polly Hill, the pioneering horticulturist whose internationally acclaimed work raising trees and shrubs from seed began 50 years ago on a former sheep farm in North Tisbury, died Wednesday morning at Cokesbury Village, her home in Hockessin, Del. She had turned 100 in January.

Journalists Collaborate on Book Exposing Politics of Wind Farm
A new book set for release early next month paints a picture of the Cape and Islands that will likely be unsettling for seasonal and year-round residents of Martha's Vineyard. It chronicles the influence that money and politics in the region have played in obstructing the nation's first offshore wind farm, proposed for the waters of Nantucket Sound.

J.B. Riggs Parker Prevails
Nearly half the registered voters in Chilmark turned out for the annual town election on Wednesday to reelect incumbent selectman J.B. Riggs Parker to a second three-year term.

Tristan Israel Reelected
Tisbury voters returned incumbent selectman Tristan Israel to another three-year term in the annual town election Tuesday. Both candidates won congratulations after the election — Mr. Israel for his win and challenger Jeffrey C. Kristal for making a good showing against a 12-year veteran of the board. The final count was 498 to 372.

School Committee Adopts New Budget; Town Votes Needed
At least four Island towns must call a special town meeting by early June in order to establish a budget for the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School for the fiscal year beginning July 1 — or risk having a school budget imposed by the state. 

Read the rest of the Vineyard Gazette here. 

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Vineyard Gazette is first with review of "Cape Wind"

Journalists collaborate on book exposing politics of wind farm
Describes blatant attempt by Delahunt to steal the democratic process

"A new book set for release early next month paints a picture of the Cape and Islands that will likely be unsettling for seasonal and year-round residents of Martha’s Vineyard.  It chronicles the influence that money and politics in the region have played in obstructing the nation’s first offshore wind farm, proposed for the waters of Nantucket Sound."

That's the start of an insightful sneak review of the new tell-all tome devoted to the skulduggery behind the blocking of America's entire offshore wind power industry.

 Martha's Vineyard Gazette's Ian Fein goes beyond a review of the book itself and reports his interviews with the two authors of "Cape Wind"  Wendy Williams and Robert Whitcomb.

Names names and tarnishes reputations

Among the scathing indictments in the book according to Fein are these;

• "A blatant attempt by Cong. William Delahunt to steal the democratic process from the public and use it as a platform for a political speech against the project."
• "The massive onslaught of lies perpetrated by Cape Wind opponents has frightened off less tenacious developers.”
• “Money and corrupt government officials are hijacking our nation’s economic and environmental future.”

The book's  authors Wendy Williams and Robert Whitcomb, both respected journalists with long ties to Cape Cod, also corrects a substantial amount of misinformation that was put out by project opponents and reported by regional press. 

"Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound" is due to be published in ten days and has already received extensive publicity due to the author's long association with the story.  MS Williams was a reporter for the Cape Cod Times which has mounted what has been described as an editorial jihad against the renewable wind power project having written over three score lead editorials excoriating the project and its builders.

Mr. Whitcomb is a highly respected journalist who is presently the Editorial Page editor and a Vice President of the Providence Journal, that state's largest daily.

"We're phonies in this country..." 

Whitcomb tells this reviewer, Ian Fein of The Vineyard Gazette, “We’re phonies in this country. We say we we’re in favor of energy independence, but we don’t embrace it if it involves a monetary inconvenience or changing the way things look.  Environmentalism out here has largely become a land protection thing for rich people.”

Read the article in today's Vineyard Gazette here.   "Cape Wind" can be pre-ordered from your favorite bookstore, Amazon or the publisher.

Read previous news reports about the book here; 

• Booklist raves about new "Cape Wind" book debut
  
• "Cape Wind", the book; Dirty politics, clean power on the Cape
• Coming soon to a bookstore near you

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What to charge for trash; Case against off-duty cop; 30 years at the library

   ^{You'll have to take a canal cruise to see Bourne's Railroad bridge from this angle. By John Fitts}

Upper Cape News, April 26, 2007

^{The Upper Cape Codder covers news in the towns of Sandwich and Bourne and is owned by Gateway Media.  The locally owned Enterprise covers the news in Falmouth, Sandwich, Bourne and Mashpee.}

Upper Cape Codder Headlines:
Case against Bourne officer goes to town adminstrator
- patrolman denies uttering racial slurs and acting in an intimidating manor while off duty
Bourne looks to future with transfer station
- town may retain interest in the Upper Cape transfer station
Bourne loves a parade: 4th of July event in planning stages
- planning begins for Independence Day celebration
Sandwich plan calls for more playing fields
- envisioning a central locale for exercise and athletics on Quaker Meetinghouse Road
Editorial: Sandwich gets the recycling message
- DPW pushes recycling, hopes to clean up town and save some cash
Cubellis, selectmen not talking about CanalSide
- selectmen have yet to contact developer about municipal use of land
Gear on ferries will monitor condition of ocean water
- SSA will help WHOI collect valuable oceanographic data
The art of the car
- Upper Cape Cod Regional Tech students tackle car design
Consultant's efforts fall short of expectations
- town tells consultant to bring more professional creativity to study effort
Monument Beach Marina will open May 1
- opening remains on schedule
Bourne library reacts to patron's comments
- odd remarks and off-hand comments being taken more seriously these days
Connor celebrates 30 years at Sandwich Library
- library director remarks, "it hasn't seemed like work." 

Read the rest of the Upper Cape Codder here.
____________________________ 

Headlines for the Enterprise:
Falmouth: Foster family provides safe harbor for teenagers
- Couple have opened their home to close to 400 strangers
Region: Governor weighs in on energy, economy
- Deval at Mattacheese
Mashpee: Ira Brown resigns post as business manager
- Brown leaving school department after eight years
Bourne: Waste from SEMASS a concern for some
- Lively debate sparked over per ton charge
Sandwich: Sea Shell Village gains planning board approval
- After two public hearings, project is approved

Read the rest of the Enterprise Newspapers here. 

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WHOI scientist discovers climate "Twilight Zone"

Ocean’s ‘Twilight Zone’ Plays Important Role in Climate Change
New study identifies a critical link influencing the ocean’s ability to store carbon dioxide

A major study has shed new light on the dim layer of the ocean called the “twilight zone”—where mysterious processes affect the ocean’s ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide accumulating in our atmosphere.

The results of two international research expeditions to the Pacific Ocean, published April 27 in the journal Science, show that carbon dioxide —taken up by photosynthesizing marine plants in the sunlit ocean surface layer—does not necessarily sink to the depths, where it is stored and prevented from re-entering the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. Instead, carbon transported to the depths on sinking marine particles is often consumed by animals and bacteria and recycled in the twilight zone—100 to 1,000 meters below the surface—and never reaches the deep ocean.

Using new technology, the researchers found that only 20 percent of the total carbon in the ocean surface made it through the twilight zone off Hawaii, while 50 percent did in the northwest Pacific near Japan.

The twilight zone acts as a “gate,” allowing more sinking particles through in some regions and fewer in others, complicating scientists’ ability to predict the ocean’s role in offsetting the impacts of greenhouse gases. It also adds a new wrinkle to proposals to mitigate climate change by fertilizing the oceans with iron—to promote blooms of photosynthetic marine plants and transfer more carbon dioxide from the air to the deep ocean.

“The twilight zone is a critical link between the surface and the deep ocean,” said Ken Buesseler, a biogeochemist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and lead author of the new study in Science, co-authored by 17 other scientists. “We’re interested in what happens in the twilight zone, what sinks into it and what actually sinks out of it. Unless the carbon that gets into the ocean goes all the way down into the deep ocean and is stored there, the carbon can still make its way back into the atmosphere. Without this long-term storage, there is little influence on atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that impacts the earth’s climate.”

Buesseler was a leader of the ambitious project, funded primarily by the US National Science Foundation, called VERTIGO (VERtical Transport In the Global Ocean). More than 40 biologists, chemists, physical oceanographers, and engineers from 14 institutions and seven countries participated in the two VERTIGO cruises in 2004 and 2005 to investigate how marine plants die and sink, or are eaten by animals and converted into sinking fecal pellets.
    These sinking particles, often called “marine snow,” supply food to organisms deeper down, including bacteria that decompose the particles. In the process, carbon is converted back into dissolved organic and inorganic forms that are re-circulated and reused in the twilight zone and that can make their way to the surface and back into the atmosphere.

The sites off Hawaii and Japan were selected because they had been the focus of long-term ocean observations by co-authors David Karl (University of Hawaii) and Makio Honda (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology). Biologists Deborah Steinberg (Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences) and Mary Silver (University of California, Santa Cruz) were needed to identify plankton species and understand differences in the food webs that propel the marine carbon cycle. Thomas Trull (University of Tasmania, Australia), Philip Boyd (University of Otago, New Zealand), and Frank Dehairs (Free University of Brussels, Belgium) all study the Southern Ocean and could provide important perspectives contrasting ocean carbon cycle off Antarctica and in VERTIGO. David Siegel (University of California, Santa Barbara) helped track the ocean currents and pathways of the sinking particles. James Bishop (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley) was funded by the US Department of Energy to deploy new autonomous optical sediment traps designed to follow the hourly changes in sedimentation as well as ship deployed particle sampling systems to quantify the abundance and composition of particles in the twilight zone.

“This combination of expertise could not be found in any single lab or country,” Buesseler said. “We were fortunate to attract such a diverse group of talented scientists willing to unravel the secrets of the twilight zone and its role in the global carbon cycle.”

While many studies have investigated the surface of the ocean, little research has been conducted on the carbon cycle below. The VERTIGO team examined a variety of processes to open a new window into the difficult-to-explore twilight zone. They successfully used a wide array of new tools, including an experimental device that overcame a longstanding problem of how to collect marine snow falling into the twilight zone.

The problem is that particles sink slowly, perhaps 10 to a few hundred meters per day, but they are swept sideways by ocean currents traveling many thousands of meters per day. To collect sinking particles, scientists use cones or tubes that hang beneath buoys or float up from seafloor. That, Buesseler said, “is like putting out a rain gauge in a hurricane.”

Buesseler and WHOI engineer Jim Valdes developed Neutrally Buoyant Sediment Traps (NBST)—free-floating devices that sink to a programmed depth within the twilight zone and neither sink nor rise. They are swept along with the currents for several days, collecting particles, and then programmed to resurface, transmit their position via satellite, and wait for recovery, more than 10 to 20 miles away from where they were dropped into the ocean.

“It’s a bit like finding a needle in a haystack, since they are so small and difficult to spot, especially in rough seas that are common in the open ocean,” Valdes said.  

On their first scientific mission for VERTIGO in 2004, Buesseler and Valdes could only wait and hope their devices would work. “Seven NBSTs went in the water and all seven came back with their precious cargo—a first in ocean sciences history,” Buesseler said.

Why more carbon reached the depths in the northwest Pacific might be due to many factors. Waters there are full of silica that plankton incorporate to make shells.  Do the silica-laden plankton weigh more and thus sink faster, giving bacteria less time to break them down? Do lower water temperatures in the northwest Pacific slow down the breakdown of organic carbon? Do different populations in the food webs at different sites change how organic matter is broken down and marine snow is produced? Scientists will continue to explore these regional differences in the ability of carbon to reach the deep sea.

In June, Buesseler and colleagues head to Bermuda to examine seasonal changes in the rain of carbon through the twilight zone. They will repeatedly sample at a single site, using a new and improved NBST called the Twilight Zone Explorer.

“Only with continued observations and new techniques can we hope to understand this often overlooked layer in the ocean that is as important to the global carbon cycle as the sunlit surface layer where atmospheric carbon dioxide first enters the ocean,” Buesseler said.

LINKS:

• A Journey to the Ocean's Twilight Zone – Oceanus Magazine
• Café Thorium
• WHOI in Woods Hole

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Coast Guard re-enters salvaged Lady of Grace

Police, Coast Guard nvestigators re-enter Lady of Grace

WOODS HOLE -  Massachusetts State Police and Coast Guard investigators returned to the Lady of Grace today to continue their investigation surrounding the sinking of the vessel on January 26th.  No bodies were discovered during today’s investigation.

A commercial contractor successfully hoisted the Lady of Grace onto a deck barge yesterday and transported the fishing vessel to Quonset, R.I., see photo on right.   While the vessel was moored at the Quonset facility, investigators boarded it to gather additional information and to search for two crewmembers who remain missing .

Investigators have now completed their physical examination of the vessel, and the captain of the Port of Providence has granted permission for the Lady of Grace to be moved at the discretion of the owner and commercial contractor.

Fishing boat sank 12 miles south of Hyannis on January 26
No bodies found, Cosat Guard to investigate cause

The fishing vessel Lady of Grace (shown going to sea last year) was raised today, and no bodies were discovered aboard.

 

The Lady of Grace sank in approximately 50 feet of water 12 miles south of Hyannis, Mass., January 26, 2007. The vessel was salvaged today by a commercial contractor, Donjon Marine Co., Inc., and placed on a deck barge. Once safely onboard the barge, Massachusetts State Police and Coast Guard investigators entered the vessel to recover any further bodies but were unable to conduct a complete search due to conditions inside the vessel. Investigators plan to re-enter the vessel with additional equipment tomorrow.

Rogerio Ventura and Joao Silva remain missing since the Lady of Grace sank.  Two other crewmembers, Antonio Barroqueiro and Mario Tavares Farinhas, were recovered from the Lady of Grace by State Police divers earlier in the year.

The Coast Guard enforced a safety zone around the vicinity throughout the operation, and a commercial environmental team, equipped with environmental response apparatus, was staged nearby and prepared to respond throughout the day in the event pollution became a concern as the vessel was lifted.  No pollution was reported.

The Coast Guard continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Read the sequence of the Coast Guard's search and rescue of this vessel here. 

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Experts: washover will close; Lighthouse tours; Dredged sand; Hot bats

Lower Cape News, April 26, 2007

^{The Cape Cod Chronicle is locally owned and covers the towns of Chatham and Harwich. The Gateway owned Harwich Oracle cover news in the town of Harwich.}

Cape Cod Chronicle Headlines:
CHATHAM
Experts expect beach washover to close, but it may take time
- speculation about the North Beach break
Breaks, washovers part of barrier beach cycle
- all part of the natural evolution of the barrier spit
Committee proposes accelerated schedule for affordable housing
- plan to create at least 27 new units each year for the next three years
Chatham woman testifies in DC
- the FDA and the big business of organic foods
Lighthouse tours expect 50,000th visitor
- tours of the Chatham Lighthouse begin next week
Teardown forum Saturday
- forum sponsored by the Chatham Alliance for Preservation and Conservation

HARWICH
Harwich beach nourishment to become board priority
- private property owners look to purchase dredged sand
Town funding on the line for Chase, Harwich Port Libraries
- finance committee and selectmen may not approve $22,630 for satellite libraries
Wastewater management funding before town meeting
- town meeting asked to fund study
Harwich Port parking dispute
- argument over lot between Waystack Realty and Cranberry Liquors
E. Harwich Village Center looks at sustainability
- looking to prevent sprawling commercial zone
Culture roundtable planned
- council presents "an afternoon of authors"

SPORTS
Blue Devils break out hot bats after vacation break
- Chatham's high powered performance
Rough Riders cruise past Cohasset for 16th straight win
- team comes out strong after break

EDITORIAL
A moveable beach
- people crowd Scatteree town landing to get a glimpse of the breakRead the rest of the Chronicle here.
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Headlines from the Harwich Oracle:
Saving Chase
- Harwich satellite library in jeopardy
Village planners eye smart growth options
- workshop planned to address development in East Harwich
Crusaders start season with six-pack of wins
- so far, so good at Cape Cod Tech
"Bloom" banks on good weather
- Brewster in Bloom planners pray for blue skies
Around town
- more Harwich news

Read the Oracle here.

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Bismore vision; Yarmouth votes May 1; Barnstable Getty goes dark

Mid-Cape News, April 24, 2007

^{The Barnstable Patriot  covers the town of Barnstable and is owned by the Ottaway Newspapers Co. the parent company of the Cape Cod Times. The Register which covers Dennis, Yarmouth and Barnstable is owned by Gatehouse Media which owns three other weeklies here.}

Register Headlines:
At Bismore, it's about the vision: improvements come to harborside park
- $1 million dollar project slated for Bismore Park
Dennis Water District will design treatment plants: voters approve spending $400K
- pleasant news at the annual Dennis Water District meeting
Yarmouth goes to the polls May 1
- Voters will have a lot of decisions to make come May Day
Bastian, Reed vie for school committee seat in Yarmouth
- both candidates have lots of experience
Leadership not new for Hoben
- Hoben comfortable with dealing with controversial issues
Granger would emphasize sound management
- Candidate for Yarmouth selectman used to exercising sound judgement
Post pledges common sense speech
- More from another candidate for Yarmouth selectman
Sullivan has experience and looks to the future
- Incumbent selectman feels next board will be instrumental in shaping town's future
Sears sees Route 28 as big piece of puzzle
- Yarmouth selectman candidate sees revitalization of Route 28 as key
Robertson: don't forget about seniors, second homeowners
- Yarmouth as a "three-legged stool" of service

Read the Register here.
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Barnstable Patriot Headlines:
West Barnstable Fire District meets Wednesday
- voters have decisions to make regarding hydrants, firefighters and a new ambulance
Getty goes dark on Barnstable Road
- Gas station closed, leaseholder could no longer afford the monthly rent
Earth Day connects Northside villages
- a joint meeting of the Barnstable Village Civic Assoc. and the W. Barnstable Civic Assoc.
Visting Meetinghouse Farm Way
- dawn of a new era
West Barnstable: eat now, celebrate later
- it's time for the annual West Barnstable Spaghetti Dinner
Library walk reveals contents of conservation land
- Whelden to Sturgis Library, through the woods, sans car
OPINION: Roots of AAA rating got back to McGann
- on the town's recently received triple A bond rating
A landmark for Bismore Park?
- time to make it more like Nantucket?
Shellfishers support pier and dock ban
- Barnstable Shellfish Committee supports a ban on new construction in recreational shellfishing areas

Read the rest of the Barnstable Patriot here.

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Do Massachusett lobsters taste sweeter?

And how about the problems they have with whales?
The effects of lobster buoys on these gentle giants

The American Lobster, Americanus homarus, can be found from Cape Hatteras, NC to Newfoundland but is most abundant in the Gulf of Maine, from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia. It is in this area where it is most heavily targeted by commercial fisheries. And no wonder, according to a recent New York Times article, the retail price has doubled since last spring, now about $15 for a one lb lobster.

For the millions of tourists that visit New England each year, the sweet taste of a New England lobster is worth the price. However, few of those shelling out their hard earned dollars to crack into the shell of this delicacy realize the conflict between lobsters and whales.

The colorful buoys that dot the surface of the waters up and down the coast of the Gulf of Maine, marking the locations of the traps beneath are the snapshots we see on a postcard; the muse for local artists; or an iconic symbol of New England. Yet it is what we don’t see beneath the surface that is the source of conflict between managers, conservationists and fishermen, and, sometimes, the source of death to endangered whales.

Fishermen are not trying to catch whales, it happens incidentally. The lines that connect the traps below the surface can float as much as 25-30 feet above the sea bed. The line to which the colorful buoy is attached can run hundreds of feet down to the bottom. 

It is these lines in which whales will sometimes get ensnared. No one knows why whales don’t seem able to detect the lines- maybe there are just too many in one area, or maybe whales are just too busy feeding and become oblivious. But what is known is that when whales and line interact, it can be lethal to the whale. As the whale becomes entangled it appears to roll further into the gear, causing a tight wrap. While some whales do shed the gear on their own, others carry it with them for years. The line can become imbedded in the skin or worse, cut through bone. This can result in a painful and slow death as they may be unable to feed or swim properly, or their wounds become hopelessly infected...   Read the rest of this Whales.org release here.

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Buried, Residual Oil is Still Affecting Wildlife Decades After a Spill in Falmouth

WHOI scientists find crab behavior is altered by oil
Barge Florida sank in Falmouth Harbor in 1969

Nearly four decades after a fuel oil spill polluted the beaches of Cape Cod, researchers have found the first compelling evidence for lingering, chronic biological effects on a marsh that otherwise appears to have recovered.

Through a series of field observations and laboratory experiments with salt marsh fiddler crabs (Uca pugnax), doctoral student Jennifer Culbertson and colleagues found that burrowing behavior, escape response, feeding rate, and population abundance are significantly altered when the crabs are exposed to leftover oil compounds from a 1969 spill.

The study builds on previous work by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), which showed that oil compounds from the 1969 wreck of the barge Florida are still lingering in the sediments 8 to 20 centimeters below the surface of Wild Harbor in Falmouth, Mass. Burrowing fiddler crabs in the marsh still won’t dig more than a few centimeters into the sediments in the areas most affected by the spill.

Culbertson a graduate student from the Boston University Marine Program (BUMP) and a guest student at WHOI, conducted the research in collaboration with WHOI marine chemist Chris Reddy, ecologist Ivan Valiela of the Marine Biological Laboratory, and several student colleagues from WHOI and BUMP. The findings were published in the online version of Marine Pollution Bulletin on April 19, 2007 and it will appear later this spring in a printed edition.

Culbertson’s experiments and field work were conducted in the summer of 2005 and 2006 in the Great Sippewissett and Wild Harbor marshes of Falmouth. On the surface, these neighboring marshes look quite similar, with common plants and animals, sediment types, and geologic histories. The difference is that WHOI researchers have detected residues of No. 2 fuel oil buried in the sediments Wild Harbor, while Great Sippewissett has no detectable residues of the 1969 spill.

“There are outward signs that the marsh in Wild Harbor has recovered,” said Reddy, whose lab group has been studying Cape Cod oil spills for nearly a decade. “But there is still chemical warfare going on just a few centimeters beneath the surface.”

To study the burrowing behavior of Uca pugnax—which digs burrows for shelter while aerating the soil—Culbertson and colleagues poured Plaster of Paris into 31 burrows in the two marshes. They later removed the casts of the burrows from the marsh mud and measured dimensions and shape.

Crabs that burrowed into the relatively pristine marsh of Great Sippewissett made holes that were straight and stretched an average of 14.8 centimeters (the longest was 18 cm). In Wild Harbor, the burrows averaged 6.8 cm (none were deeper than 14) and showed erratic shapes as the fiddler crabs halted or turned laterally. The locations of the stunted, twisted burrows mapped closely with the location of residual oil in the sediments.

Researchers also observed the escape response of the crabs, both in the marsh and in the lab. After catching fiddler crabs from both marshes, the scientists fed them sediments from either the oiled or clean marsh and used visual stimuli—a 5 by 5 cm weighted black square, swinging in front of the crab—to test how long they took to move away from it. Crabs fed with oiled sediments were significantly slower to respond, which matched what Culbertson observed in the wild.

“It was shocking that you could bend over and poke the crabs, even flip them over, and they were slow to get up,” said Culbertson of the fiddler crabs who are difficult to observe, no less catch, when healthy. “It was as if they were drunk.”

Culbertson and colleagues also examined how quickly crabs consumed food when exposed to oil (much more slowly) and counted the numbers of crabs in each marsh (there were half as many in the oil-tainted marsh).

"It has been difficult to demonstrate the biological effects of oil spilled long ago,” said Valiela. “This work provides clear evidence. Jen was able to establish a link between residual oil contents and the onset of biological effects, which will help establish guidelines for management actions after future oil spills."

The research by Culbertson builds upon similar Plaster of Paris studies conducted by WHOI graduate student Kathy Burns and BUMP student Charles Krebs in the 1970s. It also continues research by Reddy, his lab mates, and students, who first showed in 2002 that residues of the oil from the 1969 spill are still present in marsh sediments. Most recently, graduate student Emily Peacock has mapped and modeled the concentrations of oil at various locations in Wild Harbor; Culbertson relied on Peacock’s assessment of oil “hot spots” for the new research.

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Nantucket loses homes, Man arraigned for kidnapping, assault.

    ^{The breakthrough on the lower left severig Smoth's Point, Nantucket, occured on April 16. Click this image to see full sized. The rest of the Independent's superior coverage and photo can be seen here.}

Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard headlines, April 20,2009

 ^{Both our neighboring islands have handsome, well-edited and locally-owner newspapers, the Nantucket Independent and the Vineyard Gazette.}

Nantucket Headlines 

Powerful storm rips across island
House tumbles onto beach; 'Sconset erosion control structure is decimated; 75-year-old elm falls against J.C. House; Esther Island is, once again, an island
Though technically not a nor'easter for Nantucket, a powerful storm packing southeast wind gusts up to 64 mph and 18- to 20-foot waves re-severed Esther Island from Smith's Point, knocked a Sheep Pond Road house onto the Madaket beach, toppled a massive elm on Broad Street and decimated erosion control structures on Baxter Road.

Polpis Road man arraigned on kidnapping and assault charges
APolpis area resident was arraigned in District Court yesterday on charges of kidnapping and assault after his alleged victim reported to police that he had been held overnight against his will by Paul D. Waggoner, who allegedly beat, drugged and threatened him during the incident.

Airport Commission optimistic about new terminal funding from the state
When the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission meets today, it will take a highly anticipated vote on whether to give Nantucket Memorial Airport the $12 million it needs to build its new terminal. "For the first time in three years, the airport feels quite good about the prospects about confirming this money," said Airport Operations Manager Al Peterson.

ENVIRONMENT  Island celebrates Earth Day
The 38th annual Earth Day is Sunday, April 22. As part of observances held world-wide, Earth Day Nantucket will sponsor informational programs and activities throughout the day and multi-media presentations from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Church on Orange Street.

Town Meeting 2007
Voters ax six of nine government study articles, approve sewer commission, support noise bylaw amendment
 Voters at last week's Town Meeting nixed six of nine Town Government Study Committee warrant articles - including a controversial proposal to have the Planning Board, Historic District Commission and Shellfish and Harbor Advisory Board changed from elected to appointed bodies, agreed that a sewer commission should be established and amended the town's noise bylaw.

Life-Saving Museum expansion to enhance visitors' experience
Additional space will house children's gallery
Fifteen miles off Sankaty Head, the cargo vessel H.P. Kirkham caught up on the Rose and Crown shoal on Jan. 19, 1892, but the surfmen of the Coskata U.S. Life-Saving Service Station rescued all on board in 24 hours.

Airport, Shaw find common ground
 In the hours leading to the start of last Wednesday night's Town Meeting session, Eric Shaw, his attorney, Airport Manager Al Peterson and Airport Commission chairman Foley Vaughan reached common ground, allowing the commission to support Shaw's Article 71 that sought a settlement with the town to grant him ownership of the land beneath his home.

Hutch's to become Alice's Restaurant
"You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant." Those are words from the famous Arlo Guthrie song of the 1960s, and it is the sentiment the new managers of the airport eatery hope their customers will feel when Nantucket Restaurant Group opens Alice's Restaurant there this spring.

Read the rest of the Nantucket Independent here.
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Martha's Vineyard headlines

Spring Gale Roars Through Island; Norton Point Beach Is Breached
A powerful spring storm that inundated the entire East Coast pounded the Vineyard south shore with heavy seas this week, marrying with extreme tides to carve a substantial breach through Norton Point Beach at Katama at the extreme southeastern end of Edgartown.

Geology of Vineyard Coastline Written in Cliffs and Boulders, From Lucy Vincent to Katama
Geological time mostly runs incredibly slowly, in measures of hundreds of thousands, if not millions or billions of years. No wonder Bob Woodruff was excited about what happened over the weekend.

Chilmark Voters Address Fishing Concerns At Annual Town Meeting on Monday Night
The Island’s troubled fishing industry will be a major focus of the Chilmark annual town meeting on Monday night.

Tisbury Voters Go to the Polls Tuesday; Selectman’s Race Is Sole Ballot Contest
The loose ends of Tisbury’s three-day-long town meeting last week will be tied in the ballot box next Tuesday, as voters revisit eight Proposition 2 1/2 override requests. The selectmen put all non-emergency expenditures over $10,000 on override questions this year, but because the bulk of the spending and borrowing items failed on town meeting floor, the main focus for voters next week will be a single contested race for town selectman.

Body Washes Ashore in Edgartown Harbor
A fisherman checking on his boat in Edgartown Harbor made a grisly discovery Monday when he found a dead body on a small stretch of beach at the end of Morse street.

Chappaquiddick Ferry Owner Contemplates Sale of Business
Ownership of the Chappaquiddick ferry clearly seems a good deal to a lot of people, judging by the offers Roy Hayes has received since he revealed that he is looking to sell after 19 years.

Read the rest of the Vineyard Gazette here. 

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Meet the new TM; Eastham's water woes; RE slump hits Outer Cape builders

   ^{The new break from Old Wharf  Road, Chatham. By AndyBuckley} 

Lower & Outer Cape News, April 19, 2007

^{The Provincetown Banner is a locally owned weekly which overs the Outer & Lower Cape. The Cape Codder is owned byGatehouse Media.} 

Headlines from the Cape Codder:
Couple deals with possible rabies exposure
- E. Orleans couple treated after pet cat was attacked
Seashore's amphibian study clsoes Province Lands Road
- Road shutdown as scientists study the state-threatened spadefoot toad
Anti-defamation league program axed again
- Orleans No Place for Hate Steering Committee fail to convince selectmen
Chatham family charges wrongful death
- Family of suicidal shooting vicitim inform town they plan to sue
Wellfleet Charter changes could generate debate
- voters set to decide on $12.6 million budget
Welcome to the "Promise Land"
- new cable show features eclectic Provincetown
Roadside memorial must come down
- Memorial at site of Eastham shooting ordered to be removed
Gov. Patrick meets Cape Cod
- Deval does Matacheese
Nor'easter takes big bite out of Nauset
- results in big break in Chatham 
Storm causes break on North Beach
- storm causes two breaks along Chatham's North Beach
Blue Knights too much for Warriors
- Sandwich bests Nauset on the lacrosse field

Read the rest of The Cape Codder here.
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Headlines from the Banner: 
Interactive sculpture brings old fishing harbor to life
- presenting Kinetic Sculptor Candice Crawford's latest
Meet the new town manager
- event will allow residents to meet Sharon Lynn
Water discourse draws crowd
- Eastham's $75 million; 20 year construction schedule for proposed water project
Builders feeling sting of real estate drop
- real estate slump reaches Outer Cape builders 
Hardware stalwart goes "green"
- new blood and a new vision at Conwell Lumber Co.
ARTS: Egeli's painterly film explores the "Art of Passion"
- 1993 film shot in Provincetown, now available on DVD
SPORTS: Fishermen win 8-0 in auspicious start to season
- Friday 13th all luck for Ptown baseball

Read the rest of The Banner here. 

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Cape families caught in VA Tech chaos; Pulling out of the Commission; Golf on an upswing; Mirant for sale?

Upper Cape News, April 19, 2007

^{The Upper Cape Codder covers news in the towns of Sandwich and Bourne and is owned by Gateway Media.  The locally owned Enterprise covers the news in Falmouth, Sandwich, Bourne and Mashpee.}

Upper Cape Codder Headlines:
Report recommends fixes for Bourne estuaries
- estuarine systems in better condition compared to others on Cape
College visit turns into close call with shooting
- Cataumet mother and daughter in building adjacent to scene of bloody rampage at VA Tech
Threat was test of security plans
- bomb threat at SHS tested security plans
Sandwich Hollows expects more green this season
- Thing at the Sandwich course are on an upswing
Pay to play is here to stay
- The price of school sports
Bourne budget will top $52 million
- up to voters to vote on budget in May
Will Bourne follow Yarmouth's lead?
- is it time to pull out of the Cape Cod Commission?
Park improvements would attract all ages
- efforts to make the Sandwich Adventure Playground more appealing to all ages

Read the rest of the Upper Cape Codder here.
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Headlines for the Enterprise:
Falmouth: Falmouth family caught in chaos at Virginia Tech
- returned to campus for a second visit during rampage
Region: MMS delays wind farm project
- MMS aims for a late summer release
Mashpee: Selectmen give EIDC major challenge: develop hotel conference center
- looking to put town land to good economic use
Bourne: Water district considers building wind turbine
- commissioners trying to determine if turbine would help save money
Sandwich: Power plant owners consider sale
- Mirant considers putting itself up for sale

Read the rest of the Enterprise Newspapers here. 

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Cape's largest wedding website changes hands

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Harbormaster fires back; Goodbye guardrails; Hello Chief Flynn; More

 
   ^{The wind all wind was a blessing for these windsurfers in Chatham harbor.}

Lower Cape News, April 18, 2007

^{The Cape Cod Chronicle is locally owned and covers the towns of Chatham and Harwich. The Gateway owned Harwich Oracle cover news in the town of Harwich.}

Cape Cod Chronicle Headlines:
CHATHAM
Persistent storm pounds North Beach; erosion, washovers force vehicle closure
- mainland damage minimal; North Beach pounded
Film brought excitement of the movies to Chatham
- Final scenes shot Saturday...it's a wrap!
Harbormaster fires back  at boatyards
- calls recent letter "a misguided personal attack"
Selectmen nix guardrails
- selectman vote; listen to voice of constituents
Search on for middle school principal
- resume review underway
Sewer, traffic issues with South Cape development
- questions remain regarding 12 unit condo proposal

HARWICH
Wind proponets want larger turbines for commercial use
- proponents say planning board's zoning amendments are too restrictive
Attorney for Marini Trust claims health board violated laws
- allegations that board violated legal due process rights & the state Open Meeting Law
Attendance rule at issue
- How to deal with an absence at a planning board vote
Former superintendent dies
- Rosemary Joseph, 54, passes away
400 Club gets review waiver
- board finds work did not substantially change the relationship of the structure
Wychmere Shores plan OK'd
- Owner receives an "as-is" site approval

SPORTS
Chatham, Harwich tennis teams serve up early season wins
- Chatham coach hopes last year will be a good one

EDITORIAL
Cut
- For awhile, there was magic in Chatham.

Read the rest of the Chronicle here.
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Headlines from the Harwich Oracle:
Meet Bill Flynn
- Deputy Chief Bill Flynn becomes Chief of the Harwich Fire Department
Toast of Harwich, a rite of spring
- 6th annual to be held this May 11th
Articles spotlight solar energy
- two energy petition articles head to the town meeting next month
It's National Library Week!
- time to celebrate at the Brooks Free Library
Around Harwich
- Cape Tech's Art Show
- Help spruce up the Chamber
- Meet the Brooks Ladies
- School benefit: luau
- Fundraiser: Turning Wine into Food
- Men's club announces openings

Read the Oracle here.

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Traffic; Patrick meets the Cape; The fate of the tax collector; An armory for performing arts

   ^{This weather is not even fit for the birds...Fortes Beach Hyannisport. Photo by Frank Paparo}

Mid Cape News, April 18, 2007

^{The Ottaway owned Barnstable Patriot and the Gatehouse Media owner Register covered similar stories this week. The Patriot covers Hyannis and the villages of Barnstable while the Register covers the towns of Barnstable, Yarmouth and Dennis.}

Barnstable Patriot Headlines:
Expect DCPC to address traffic by end of June
- traffic congestion called "number one issue" raised by residents
Tax filing deadline extended due to storm
- Midnight, Thursday April 19th is the new deadline
Taking care of Bismore
- Bismore Park brainstorming session to be held Wednesday night at 7pm
Keeper of the light
- for Jim Walker, Race Point Light is a labor of love
Charter drive goes over the top
- enough signatures received to get question on November ballot, but collection will continue
Tax collector could move from elected to appointed
- designation may find its way to the November ballot as a question
Armory liked for center
- National Guard armory recommended site for new performing arts center
Fire study request ends with tie vote
- town council fails to approve study
OPINION: From this corner - absorb fire hydrant rental costs in general water rates
- time to think outside the box
OPINION: Wind farm debate - Cape Wind's bounty of benefits
- using free wind will benefit us all
OPINION: So he goes
- on Kurt Vonnegut

Read the rest of the Barnstable Patriot here.

___________________________________________________

Register Headlines:
Patrick meets the Cape
- the governor stops by Mattacheese
Signs of change: Dennis code amendments reflect 21st-century business
- warrant seeks to bring uniformity to town sign-code regulations
Pay to play is here to stay
- the cost of playing school sports

Read the rest of the Register here.

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Govenor held forum last night despite the storm

Patrick Touts Accomplishments, Hopes in Visit to Cape Cod
Jokes about his foibles, talks about jobs, tourism

Special to Cape Cod Today by Steven Leibowitz

Speaking before a crowd of 500 at Mattacheese Middle School in Yarmouth, Governor Deval Patrick urged people to stay involved in government, "not just every 4 years or 2 years, but every day". Patrick made some brief remarks on goals and accomplishments on his first 104 days in office, before throwing it open to questions covering a wide range of issues from tourism to off-road vehicles.

Job creation a highlight all evening 

Arriving an hour late for the event, due to rain and traffic, Patrick opened with the joke that several in the crowd had made before his arrival, "I was thinking, if only I had a helicopter....". Putting that aside, Patrick pointed out that a lot more has happened in the Corner Office other than "decorating and picking out cars". Job creation was a highlight through the evening, as Patrick pointed out how permitting processes have been streamlined, that an Ombudsman for businesses position has been created and there is a sales team charged with promotion and development of business in Massachusetts. Patrick added that this approach can create 100,000 new jobs in the Commonwealth during his first term.

Patrick referred to the news today of Evergreen Solar announcing an expansion of their Massachusetts facilities to include a new $150 billion plant and the creation of over 300 new jobs, in part because of the Governor's solar incentive program and public financing. Patrick cited Evergreen Solar as an example of commitment to alternative energy and business.

Several questions were very specific to Cape Cod. One question on tourism asked that school years be adjusted to start after September 1'st, as Cape Codders are losing the last half August because of early school starts elsewhere in the state. Patrick remarked that there is a panel looking a wide range of education issues and continued reform, adding that it may be time to rethink how school calendars are done. In replying to a question on beach renourishment, Patrick told the audience that this would be part of a 5 year capital plan to be released this Spring.

Tourism got his attention too 

Tourism was also on the mind of Etta Goodstein, owner of a small business in Dennis. She asked that the state not have a tax free day in the summer, as it was hurting small businesses on the Cape. Patrick responded that he has heard a lot about whether the tax free day was a good idea and asked the crowd for their feedback. Applause was even for both sides.

While there were several sign holders both pro and con the Wind Farm outside the school, only one question was asked related to this, a request that the language used on Patrick's website indicating the state had approved Cape Wind, be changed to the state had approved the process to continue. Patrick was amenable to that change.

The Governor also pledged to look into Speaker DiMasi's Green Communities Act. The bill as it stands could jeopardize Cape Light's ability to administer funds for their programs and reduce monies available to the Cape.

One questioner asked the Governor to consider a plan that has been previously discussed to move the regional airport from Barnstable to Otis. Patrick was not familiar with the previous plan and indicated he would get more information about this.

Also of interest to the Cape was the issue of homeowner's insurance. Patrick replied that it is a priority for the Insurance Commissioner to make the FAIR plan work better and not have the increases of 25% we have seen. He added, the problem is growing beyond the Cape to all coastal communities and the South Coast.

Steven Leibowitz writes a blog for Cape Cod Today which includes his  thoughts, commentary and humor focusing on the Democratic Party.

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WHOI heading back to North Pole

WHOI heading back to the North Pole for Global Warming research
Team to examine Arctic Changes from under the ice

Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) are venturing this month to the North Pole to deploy instruments that will make year-round observations of the water beneath the Arctic ice cap. Scientists will investigate how the waters in the upper layers of the Arctic Ocean—which insulate surface ice from warmer, deeper waters—are changing from season to season and year to year as global climate fluctuates.

The Arctic expedition is part of a multi-year, multi-institutional program to establish a real-time, autonomous Arctic Observing Network. The WHOI researchers will work out of the North Pole Environmental Observatory, a yearly research camp on the ice that is organized and led by the University of Washington’s Polar Science Center.

Arctic research specialist Rick Krishfield and engineering assistant Kris Newhall will lead the WHOI expedition this spring, deploying two autonomous ice-based observatories between 88° and 90° North. The observatories are similar in design to moored, open-ocean buoys, though they will be anchored to the ice instead of the seafloor. The instruments will slowly drift with the natural movement of the ice while observing water properties in the top 800 meters of the Arctic Ocean. The buoys are designed to last three years, about the same lifespan as the ice floes that support them.

“The goal of the WHOI observing system is to document and understand annual change through sustained observations of the polar ice pack, the overlying atmosphere, and upper ocean water properties,” said John Toole, principal investigator for the project and a senior scientist in the WHOI Physical Oceanography Department. “Many climate models suggest the Arctic ice cover will melt within 50 years. We want to measure the changes in the water—particularly the layered structure of the ocean—in order to understand what mechanisms might lead the ice cap to melt from below. The impacts for the ecosystem, the regional and global climate, and for commerce would be enormous.”

A key element of WHOI’s contribution to the observing system is the ice-tethered profiler (ITP). Invented by Toole, Krishfield, and colleagues, the ITP climbs up and down a mooring string each day, detecting the temperature, salinity, and oxygen content at various points in the water column. The instrument sends data through the mooring wire to the surface buoy on the ice, which relays the data by satellite phone back to researchers in Woods Hole. That data is made available to the science community and public within hours via the Internet.

In the past, scientists have studied Arctic waters through expeditions on icebreakers and ice-locked ships, or by setting traditional moorings that had to be recovered after months or years of data collection. But few have tried to send Arctic Ocean data back in real time, year-round, for multiple years. Six WHOI ice-based observatories have been tested in the waters north of Alaska over the past three years, and researchers are confident that they can take the ice-tethered profiler system all the way to the top of the world.

The water measurements are necessary because there is more than enough heat stored in the waters entering the Arctic from the Atlantic and Pacific to quickly melt the entire ice cap. That warmer water, however, gets sequestered about 300-500 meters down in the ocean, beneath the “halocline,” a layer that separates the fresher and cooler water near the surface from the deeper waters. Toole, Krishfield, and colleagues want to see if that phenomenon is stable or changing with time.

After installing their observatories in April 2007, WHOI researchers plan to deploy 11 more this summer in collaboration with scientists from the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and Canada. Several more ITPs will be deployed in 2008, as Krishfield, Toole, and colleagues work toward spreading an array of autonomous observatories across the region and sustaining them over time.

“We envision putting as many as 20 of these systems in the central Arctic, distributing them over the pack ice, and having them simultaneously send data back,” said Krishfield. “That would allow us to provide a snapshot of the ‘weather’ in the Arctic Ocean for at least the next couple of years.”

In addition to their own ice-tethered profilers, Krishfield and Newhall will deploy ice mass balance buoys and an Arctic Ocean flux buoy for colleagues from the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) and the Naval Postgraduate School. WHOI is also collaborating with scientists from the University of Washington, Oregon State University, the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, all of which are deploying instruments to measure what is happening above, within, and below the ice.

The ice camp team will be accompanied by a photographer and writer, who will file daily dispatches and conduct live teleconferences with students and museum visitors across the United States as part of an education effort known as “Live from the Poles.” 

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The "Gift of a Lifetime" for Your Mom

    ^{This is the million dollar 85.91-carat Lazare Kaplan square emerald cut diamond necklace from Alpha Omega Jewelers which is just one part of this "Gift of a Lifetime for Mom" at the Four Seasons in Boston on May 13.} 

A Million Dollar Weekend for Mom on May 13
Boston's Four Seasons pulls out all the stops for this one

by Walter Brooks 

BOSTON - The thankless job of motherhood doesn't always go without a show of gratitude.  Four Seasons Hotel Boston and Boston-based Alpha Omega Jewelers are partnering to offer a seven-digit thank you to one lucky mom.  This May, the Presidential Suite at Four Seasons Hotel Boston will be the scene for a decadent overnight stay including pampering spa treatments, a private Sunday brunch and a million-dollar one-of-a-kind gift for mom from Alpha Omega Jewelers.

Here's what's in the $1,000,000 package

The "Million-Dollar Mom” package invites a family to stay in the $9,000/night, three-bedroom Presidential Suite on Saturday, May 12, 2007.  Dav-El Transportation will pick-up the family in a Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL and transport them to the hotel.  On arrival, a full-time butler will greet mom with Spring flowers and a million-dollar, 85.91-carat Lazare Kaplan square emerald cut diamond necklace from Alpha Omega Jewelers.  Soon after, a stylist from Mario Russo salon will arrive for a family makeover, just in time for the family portrait.  Commercial lifestyle photographer, Heath Robbins, will capture the evening with a portrait in the elegant Presidential Suite living room (shown on right) as well as candid shots throughout the evening. 

Next the family is off to a four-course dinner at AAA Five Diamond Aujourd'hui, prepared by chef de cuisine William Kovel paired with rare wines by sommelier Brick Loomis.  The next morning, brunch for ten will be served in the Presidential Suite dining room, prepared by Executive Chef Brooke Vosika.  Mom will spend the remainder of the day being pampered in the Four Seasons Spa where she will receive body polish, face-firming massage and hot stone massage treatments.  After the luxurious 24-hour stay, Dav-El will return the family home. 

The entire gift inludes;

• Overnight in Presidential Suite: $9,000
• Private car: $1,000
• Flowers: $300
• Lazare necklace from Alpha Omega: $1,000,000
• Hair styling/make-up: $2,000
• On-call butler: $500
• Family portrait: $8,000
• Dinner in Aujourd'hui (on right): $1,500
• Brunch for 10 in Presidential Suite: $1,500
• Spa treatments: $800 

Although the list above totals $1,024,600 but the rate is only $1,000,000 (plus applicable taxes).  Reservations can be made by calling (617) 351-2161. You may wish to check your credit card limit or your local bank for a quick loan.

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Vandalism closes Sandwich skate park; Bourne: Cash from trash; W. Falmouth nitrogen load; Mashpee Selectmen want hotel/conference center

    ^{The daffodils are abloom at Spohr Gardens in Falmouth . Take a leisurely walk in this beautiful 6
   acre garden located on Oyster Pond.  See directions here.}

Upper Cape News, April 11, 2007

^{The Upper Cape Codder covers news in the towns of Sandwich and Bourne and is owned by Gateway Media.  The locally owned Enterprise covers the news in Falmouth, Sandwich, Bourne and Mashpee.}

Upper Cape Codder Headlines:

Vandalism, trash force closure of Sandwich skate park
Instead of being a place in which skateboard enthusiasts can enjoy their pastime, the skateboard park in Sandwich has become the victim of vandalism.
The combination of vandalism, the amount of trash that has collected there, the creation of makeshift wooden ramps and cracks in the asphalt forced the town’s insurance carrier to suspend insurance on the park Friday.
dump

Cash from trash: Bourne landfill coping with increased work load
The Bourne landfill’s staff is coping with the additional workload due to the fire that temporarily closed the SEMASS waste-to-energy facility.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection had to scramble to find disposal facilities in towns willing to take more trash now that SEMASS is offline.

Bourne landfill took in $85,000 last week
The Bourne landfill is averaging 1,100 tons of trash disposal each day, 700 tons above average as the SEMASS waste-to-energy plant remains out of service.

Five towns critique UCT budget planning
The $7.7 million Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School budget for next year remains in fiscal and political limbo.

Bourne looks for wastewater options
A consultant has identified three tracts north of the canal where a wastewater treatment plant might be constructed to help prod business investment and redevelopment in Buzzards Bay as well as service emerging needs in other villages.

Read the rest of the Upper Cape Codder here.
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Headlines for the Enterprise:

Falmouth
DEP Reports On West Falmouth Nitrogen Load
The message from state environmental officials last night came as no surprise. The deterioration of Falmouth’s estuaries can be directly linked to excess nitrogen entering into the watershed.  “Primarily that comes from septic systems,” Steven G. Halterman, an environmental engineer from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, told residents on Wednesday night at the Gus Canty Community Center.

Mashpee
Selectmen Give EDIC Major Challenge: Develop Hotel Conference Center
Town officials suggested to members of the Mashpee Economic Development and Industrial Corporation at a meeting on Tuesday that the fledgling group look into developing a hotel and conference center on the same site as the old Inn First Place and The PharmHouse proposal.

Bourne
Water District Considers Building Wind Turbine
The commissioners of the Bourne Water District want to determine whether it would be cost effective to erect a wind turbine to pay for the electrical costs of providing water to the district, costs which run about $100,000 a year.  A measure that would allow the board of commissioners to apply for a grant and proceed with a feasibility study to answer that question will be on the warrant for the annual district meeting, to be held Monday, April 23, beginning at 7 PM at James F. Peebles Elementary School.

Sandwich
Power Plant Owners Consider Sale
With a commitment to improve stockholders’ shares, Mirant Corporation, owner of the Mirant Canal Plant in Sandwich, announced Monday that it is considering putting itself up for sale.  “The company is considering all possible options for enhancing stockholders’ share.  Selling is just one of the options. It is something they are looking at but no firm decision has been made yet.

Read the rest of the Enterprise Newspapers here. 

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Island news; Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket

News from The Islands, April 6, 2007
  Headlines

Voters in West Tisbury Decide Against School District Pullout
In a strong show of support for the value of regional education, West Tisbury voters at their annual town meeting this week opted to stay in the Up-Island Regional School District and fully fund their share of the $7.5 million district budget.

Regional School Assessment Is Cut Drastically in Oak Bluffs
In a town well known for emotional and sometimes acrimonious town meetings, this year's two-day annual meeting in Oak Bluffs on Tuesday and Wednesday lived up to expectations, as residents debated everything from a new baseball diamond at Veira Park to the regional high school budget.

Tisbury Voters Reject Energy District, Proposed Land Buy for Fire Station
Tisbury voters cheered like they had just landed after a turbulent flight when the last warrant article came up just before the stroke of midnight last night, wrapping up three days and about ten and a half hours of annual town meeting, which began on Tuesday.

Edgartown Voters Zip Through Warrant
While other towns agonized over their town meetings, Edgartown residents breezed through theirs on Tuesday night, approving a $24 million annual town budget in minutes and working through 67 warrant articles in a little over two hours.

Oak Bluffs Voters Reelect Kerry Scott
Kerry Scott, the incumbent selectman who campaigned for reelection on a platform of continued reform and openness in town government, easily defeated challenger Mac Starks during the annual town elections yesterday to win a second three-year term on the five-member board.

Dianne Powers Is Elected West Tisbury Selectman
Faced with the difficult task of replacing a longtime town leader, West Tisbury voters yesterday elected Dianne E. Powers to the board of selectmen.

High School Budget Must Be Redone
The Martha's Vineyard Regional High School budget now goes back to the drawing board.

Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Marks Recognition Anniversary
When the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) broke ground on a community center building in the spring of 2004, tribal leaders envisioned it as an important gathering place, and said young members would be shooting hoops inside the new gymnasium by the end of the summer. 

 Read the rest of the Gazette here.
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   Headlines

Government study article denied
Town Meeting voters on Tuesday night overwhelmingly rejected the Town Government Study Committee’s most controversial proposals, defeating articles that would have changed the Planning Board, Historic District Commission and Shellfish & Harbor Advisory Board from elected to appointed bodies. 

Great Harbor Yacht Club buying tennis and swim club
The Great Harbor Yacht Club has ann- ounced plans to buy the Nantucket Tennis and Swim Club off Nobadeer Farm Road by May 15 from the club’s founders and owners, John and Carol Luyrink and Gary and Paula D’Ambra.

Land Bank puts controlled burns on hold

The Land Bank has suspended controlled-burn activity on its properties pending a review of the prescribed burn that flared out of control last Sunday, torching approximately 75 acres of Conservation Foundation land in the middle moors near Altar Rock. . .More

Tax rate going down again as total vaulation tops $20 billion

Despite the cooling island real estate market, property values have continued to rise, leading to a drop in Nantucket’s tax rate for the current fiscal year. . .More

Dock and pier ban extended

Town Meeting voters on Monday extended a ban on the construction of all docks and piers in island waters until April 30, 2008 to give the Harbor Plan Advisory Committee more time to solidify language in a handful of related articles which were tabled at this year’s meeting

 Read the rest of the Inquirer & Mirror here.

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Patrick on gambling, may veto budget to get reforms

Patrick promises to fight for reform, may veto budget
Seems to favor casino and race track slots

BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick vowed yesterday to fight for his budget priorities — including a local option meals tax and the closing of so-called corporate tax loopholes — despite resistance from Democrats in the state Legislature.

Gov. Patrick said he "respected" House and Senate leaders, but is also planning to take his case to individual legislators. He also made it clear he is willing to veto initiatives in the final budget to get what he wants....    Gov. Patrick said his task force is studying the gambling experience in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Louisiana, Mississippi and Illinois.

"We're trying to get at some information about what the differences were in projected revenues versus actual revenues, and then what states have quantified as social costs, and whether there is any difference in those social costs if they are in cities versus in more remote areas," Gov. Patrick said.

He said if the state goes ahead with slot machines at race tracks, it should also legalize casino gambling.  "Race-track owners ought to be told, you are in the real estate business or the gambling business," he said. "I do think we owe them and others a decision."   Read the rest of this Standard-Times story here.
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Governor prepared to use his veto power, aide says 

A day after the House released a spending plan that eliminates or scales back many of Governor Deval Patrick's banner budget proposals, a spokesman for the governor said the chief executive is willing to defend his budget priorities by exercising his veto power.  "The governor is prepared to wield his veto pen if need be," said Kyle Sullivan, press secretary to the governor.

Sullivan would not be specific about which initiatives Patrick would insist on having in the budget for fiscal year 2008, which begins July 1. But the administration has stark disagreements with the House on a number of fronts.

In order to mend a structural deficit in the budget, Patrick proposed closing so-called corporate tax loopholes, which would net $295 million next year and about $500 million in 2009. But House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi has strongly opposed the idea, saying it could hurt the economy. Instead, the House balanced the budget by dipping into reserves, which Patrick believes is ill-advised...  Read the rest of this Globe story here.

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WHOI, Chinese, discover seafloor vents gushing super hot

Scientists Discover First Seafloor Vents on Ultraslow-Spreading Ridge
WHOI's Autonomous Benthic Explorer join Chinese in discovery

Scientists have found one of the largest fields of seafloor vents gushing super-hot, mineral-rich fluids on a mid-ocean ridge that, until now, remained elusive to the ten-year hunt to find them.

“The discovery of the first active vents ever found on an ultraslow-spreading ridge is a significant milestone event,” said Jian Lin, leader of a team of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists who participated in a Chinese expedition to the remote Southwest Indian Ridge in the Indian Ocean in February and March.

Since deep-sea hydrothermal vents were first discovered 30 years ago in the Pacific Ocean, scientists have studied them all along the Mid-Ocean Ridge, a 40,000-mile-long mountain range that zigzags through the middle of the world’s ocean basins like a giant zipper. The ridge marks the area where the Earth’s giant tectonic plates spreads apart and new ocean crust forms from hot lava rising from deep within Earth’s mantle.

 Most studies of the chimney-like vent structures have taken place along ridges in the “fast-spreading” East Pacific Rise (100 to 200 millimeters per year) and the “slow-spreading” Mid-Atlantic Ridge (20 to 40 millimeters per year). Only in recent years have scientists explored “ultraslow-spreading ridges” (less than 20 millimeters per year) in the Arctic and Indian Oceans—remote areas tough to get to, and therefore the least studied.  

Scientists initially thought ultraslow-spreading ridges would be too cold to host large hot vents. But in the past decade, some scientists began to hypothesize that the slower a ridge spreads, the fewer vents it would have—but the bigger the vent fields would be.

“This cruise confirmed that hypothesis,” said Lin, a marine geophysicist and U.S. Coordinator of the 20-day expedition aboard the Chinese research vessel Dayang 1. “People have been looking for active hot vents on ultraslow ridges for more than 10 years,” Lin said.

In 2005-06, as part of China’s first around-the-world oceanographic expedition, Lin had sailed as a US chief scientist on Dayang 1 to the Southwest Indian Ridge, where scientists found tantalizing evidence of active hydrothermal venting. They gathered critical data that led them back to the site this year.

During the February-March expedition, the team nailed the discovery with the aid of ABE, WHOI’s Autonomous Benthic Explorer, which has been instrumental in recent years in helping scientists find vents on the bottom of the ocean much quicker than ever before. ABE acts like a robotic deep-sea bloodhound: In a sequence of dives, its sensors “sniff out” clues indicating a plume of fluids emanating from a vent and collect data scientists use to home in on the vent.

ABE also uses sonar to create maps of vent fields and takes photographs about 5 meters above them. ABE snapped 5,000 images of the robust Southwest Indian Ridge vent site, which is among the largest known to date. It is larger than a football field (120 meters by 100 meters).

The discovery was a first for China.  “This discovery reflects China’s increasing contribution to ocean science in general, and ridge science in particular,” Lin said.  

The China Ocean Mineral Resources R&D Association (COMRA) in Beijing, China, funded the 2005-06 expedition and ABE’s participation in the current one. COMRA, which represents China in the International Seabed Authority, has been exploring the deep sea for mineral resources since the early 1990s.
China is increasing investments in ocean science, Lin said. COMRA’s primary interests lay in the large sulfide deposits created by hydrothermal vents, which are rich in copper, zinc, gold, and other minerals, he said.

“Our Chinese colleagues were the happiest people I’ve ever seen at sea when they brought the first samples aboard,” said Dana Yoerger, scientist in the WHOI Deep Submergence Laboratory and co-designer of ABE, who participated in the expedition. Once ABE pinpointed the site’s exact location, the Chinese team sent down its “TV grab”— a grappling device guided by a television camera—and retrieved a reddish chunk of a vent chimney, Yoerger said.

The researchers outran a tropical cyclone and collected the data they needed in just six days and three ABE dives. “It was the most ruthlessly efficient science we’ve ever done,” said Christopher German, chief scientist of the WHOI-operated National Deep Submergence Facility, who also participated in the expedition.  “We had no margin for error.”

The Chinese science party was led by chief scientist Chunhui Tao, a geophysicist at the Second Institute of Oceanography in Hanzhou, China.

“The two international teams worked exceedingly well for this kind of complex operation,” Lin said.

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Chatham blocks Harwich wind, Family blames cops for suicide; Wants to demolish old CG Station; Harwich Selectmen square off; Seeks vernal pools

     ^{The town of Chatham wants to get rid of the old Coast Guard Station on Stage Island, see story below.} 

Chatham-Harwich News, April 11, 2007

Headlines from The Chronicle
HARWICH
Selectmen Candidates’ Pitch Voters For Another Term
HARWICH – The terms “collegial” and “civil” were used on several occasions Thursday night by incumbents to define the relationship of the present board of selectmen.

SolarBee Creates A Swirl In Skinequit Pond
The SolarBee circulator arrived this week from North Dakota and is the first of its kind on Cape Cod, and the third system to be put in place in ...

HCT Seeks Vernal Pools
Warrant May Be Jaw Buster
Thompson's Field Blitz Planned
Solar Power For Town Buildings?

CHATHAM
Downtown Chatham Gets Extreme ‘Retro’ Makeover For Film
Signs for Howes Fabric and Notions, Atlantic Tea, Bearse’s Grocery and Reid’s Clock Repair replaced those of Cape Cod Craftsmen, Dolli Llama as Downtown Chatham 2007 was transformed into downtown Chatham 1905 Tuesday for the final week of shooting the independent film “Chatham.”

Police Mishandling Of Incident Caused Death, Family Alleges
The family of a Cross Street man who died in an apparent suicide two years ago has notified the town of its intent to sue over how police handled the incident.

Former Coast Guard Dock To Come Down
Restaurant, Neighbors Agree On Parking
Season Of Transition For Refuge
New Floats In Place

Read the rest of The Chronicle here.
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Headlines from The Oracle 

More turbulence for Harwich wind power
Wind power for Harwich is still up in the air.  Selectmen learned Monday that some locations in North Harwich – thought to be suitable sites for wind turbines – are off limits due to proximity to Chatham Municipal Airport.

Selectmen candidates square off
After losing his bid for a seat in the State House last fall, Don Howell wants back on the board of selectmen. But the two people who stand in his way, incumbents Ed McManus and Larry Cole, say things are good the way they are.

Appeals board to weigh 40B
The Harwich Zoning Board of Appeals will convene Wednesday, April 25, to again take up the matter of affordable rental housing proposed for Route 28 in South Harwich.

Around Town
Meet the Brooks ladies
Brooks men became sea captains, bankers, educators and merchants. Now, for the first time, there is an opportunity to meet the wives, daughters, in-laws and granddaughters of the Brooks patriarch Obed Brooks Esquire. Learn more about the female members of the Brooks family at a lecture by Joan Maloney on Sunday, April 29, 2 p.m. at Brooks Academy Museum, 80 Parallel St., in Harwich. Admission for the talk is $4 per person; $3 for members. Refreshments follow the talk. For more information, call 508-432-8089 or e-mail harwichhistoricalsociety@verizon.net.

Read the rest of the Oracle here.

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Turner to get Fest Award; Locals in new movie; Testy TM ends; Motel, A-House in violations; Beach brouhaha; Turbine turmoil

    ^{Abutters to town-owned beachfront property near Skaket Beach in Orleans are concerned that unregulated use of vehicles to access the public beach is a growing safety and environmental concern.  See story.}

 Lower & Outer Cape News, April 11, 2007

^{The Provincetown Banner is a locally owned weekly which overs the Outer & Lower Cape. The Cape Codder is owned byGatehouse Media.} 

Headlines from The Cape Codder 

Turbine articles get blown away
EASTHAM — It looks like the wind has been knocked out of the two town meeting articles that sought to create bylaws regulating public wind turbines. The town has been grappling with a controversial proposal to construct up to four 400-foot-tall wind turbines on 12 acres of town-owned land off Nauset Road.

Management plan urged for bay parcel
ORLEANS—Abutters to town-owned beachfront property near Skaket Beach are concerned that unregulated use of vehicles to access the public beach is a growing safety and environmental concern.

The eggman cometh
TRURO — John Bates has four alarm clocks that go off at 4:30 a.m. no matter what time he really wants to get up.

Contentious town meeting wraps up
PROVINCETOWN — In a town known for long town meetings, Provincetown wrapped things up in only three nights. But the lingering effects of town meeting will go on for some time, not so much for what passed or failed, but for the contentious tone of the meeting and the evident fracture in the community, most notably about affordable housing.

IFAW, stranding network join together
HYANNIS — Mergers are not just the domains of mega corporations; here on Cape Cod the Cape Cod Stranding Network of Buzzards Bay and International Fund for Animal Welfare will be legally merged by August.

Read the rest of The Cape Codder here.
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Headlines from The Banner 

Turner to receive Film Fest award
Kathleen Turner will receive the Bacardi Lifetime Achievement award at this June’s Provincetown International Film Festival.  Turner has received numerous Golden Globe nominations as well as an Academy Award nomination.

Locals to play part in Movie
PROVINCETOWN – A casting call for local actors/disco dancers was held in the Atlantic House on Thursday, as producers looked to finalize casting for a film that will begin shooting here and in Dennis next week.  Suzan Crowley, co-producer of “American Primitive,” the first feature film from Cape Cod Films, said locals will be used in a pivotal scene to be shot in the Atlantic House. The scene, where the main character, a 16-year old girl named Madeline, sees her father dancing with a man, is set in 1973 and the music and dress for the actors will be vintage disco.

Testy Town Meeting
ATM gives thumbs up to Sandy Hill funding & firehouse restoration
PROVINCETOWN — Annual Town Meeting, which began Monday night immediately after Special Town Meeting, was a little less contentious than its predecessor but no less controversial.

Tides Motel project permits in violation
PROVINCETOWN – Building permits for a 10-lot subdivision on the site of the old Tides Motel were issued by the town building department in error, interim building commissioner Matt Mulvey has ruled.  In addition, Mulvey said, the project developers did not formally extend the building permits, which were good for six months before construction was required to begin. .

Bar shut down for foul discharge
PROVINCETOWN — The state Dept. of Environmental Protection is investigating the Atlantic House for allegedly pumping raw sewage, possibly for years, into a town storm drain that empties directly into Provincetown Harbor.  Theresa Barao, a DEP public information officer, said the state agency is looking into whether a basement sump pump in the Atlantic House has been discharging sewage into a catch basin in front of the bar, how long the alleged violation had been occurring, and whether it was deliberate or accidental.

A laudable legacy
Bergman leaves with a lengthy list of achievements, to town’s gain
PROVINCETOWN — No one has neutral feelings about Keith Bergman.  Provincetown’s town manager for 17 years, Bergman is leaving the position and the town on Monday, ending an era — some have termed it a dynasty — for both the man and the town. Like or dislike him, or perhaps a little of both, Bergman’s tenure, the longest of any of Provincetown’s municipal managers, has touched everyone in town.

Walking the line between life and death
Anne D. LeClaire offers Cape fans another of her warm and well-written novels with this month’s newly released “The Lavender Hour” (Ballantine Books). This is her eighth book of fiction.  LeClaire, who lives in South Chatham, has the knack for delivering female protagonists who are very human in being both vulnerable and tough enough to get through what life throws down in front of them.

Read the rest of The Banner here. 

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Cape Cod Stranding Network to Merge With IFAW

Cape Cod Stranding Network to Merge With IFAW
Network had responded to 132 standing so far this year

Great things are on the horizon for the dolphins, whales, and seals that strand on Cape Cod and beaches around the world.

The Cape Cod Stranding Network (CCSN), a small non-profit organization founded in 1998 and dedicated to responding to stranded marine mammals on Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts, today announced it is in formal discussions to merge with IFAW (the International Fund for Animal Welfare).

With a staff of only five individuals and a dedicated corps of more than 300 local volunteers, CCSN responds to 500-700 reports of stranded marine mammals each year. Under the proposed agreement, CCSN, including its employees, volunteers, and expertise, would become part of IFAW. "The entire CCSN staff is incredibly excited about this move. Utilizing the existing resources at IFAW will lessen our administrative burden, give us access to IFAW's international scientific and animal rescue experience, and will allow us to better focus on our mission of stranding response, research and public education.

This is a huge leap forward for us and for the animals," said Katie Touhey, Executive Director and Senior Scientist of CCSN."This merger is a great fit for both organizations," said A.J. Cady, IFAW's Director of Animals in Crisis and Distress, "As a founding member and long-time supporter we have been thrilled to see CCSN emerge as a leader in stranding response. By joining forces, IFAW is in a better position to provide our international connections and Emergency Relief staff to grow the stranding team on Cape Cod into the world's best.

The combined team is stronger, but we will always need the support of the Cape community.  This is, and will remain, a network of caring people giving their time and energy to save marine mammals. "CCSN and its many dedicated, trained volunteers will continue to respond to all reports of stranded marine mammals on Cape Cod and southeastern, Massachusetts.  "This is the next step in our long partnership with IFAW," said Sarah Herzig, Stranding Coordinator at CCSN. "Together we can be even more effective, but we can't succeed without help from the public and our partners at the New England Aquarium and the National Marine Life Center."

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Yarmouth drops out of CC Commission; Art Committee likes armory; Doctor's lawyer claims "self-defence"; Hyannis housing market still active; Restaurant questions ratings integrity

Mid Cape News of the week, April 10, 2007

^{The Barnstable Patriot  covers the town of Barnstable and is owned by the Ottaway Newspapers Co. the parent company of the Cape Cod Times. The Register which covers Dennis, Yarmouth and Barnstable is owned by Gatehouse Media which owns three other weeklies here.}

Barnstable Patriot headlines:

Yarmouth votes to go its own way on Cape Cod Commission
138-110 tally to be followed by 2008 ballot on withdrawal
Yarmouth -- Concerns about overdevelopment brought the Cape Cod Commission into existence in 1990. Fears that it has stymied growth -- specifically of the commercial variety -- led town meetings voters to instruct their selectmen “to petition the Massachusetts Legislature to withdraw the Town of Yarmouth from the Cape Cod Commission.” The vote was 138 to 110

Arts center committee likes the armory
A committee working with town officials on a proposed performing arts center in downtown Hyannis has recommended the site of the former National Guard armory on South Street.

Hyannis active despite housing market lull
A down housing market and a cap on new living units hasn’t affected building activity in Barnstable all that much says Building Commissioner Tom Perry, but at least one major local developer sees a lag in downtown condo sale

Forging light from darkness
Ten years ago next month, Jay Blake, then 31, was working on a large truck tire and wheel assembly for a transportation company in Hyannis when the assembly inexplicably exploded, the wheel striking him forcefully across the brow and forehead.

Action delayed on Pond Village DCPC regs
The town council delayed action on implementing regulations for the Pond Village District of Critical Planning Concern to allow time for comments received at last week’s public hearing to be considered.

OPINION:
GAUVIN: Absorb fire hydrant rental costs in general water rates
Just because something has been done the same way for a hundred years doesn’t mean it can’t evolve into a more efficient and transparent way of doing it. It’s called “thinking outside of the box.”

Pier ban for shellfish areas proposed
A proposal to ban new piers and docks in areas designated for recreational shellfishing and relay areas is expected to be presented to the town council in the next month.

Altered forms raise questions
When Arthur Beatty saw that his Sunnyside Restaurant on Main Street received a “C” in the town’s first public grading of food establishment, he got curious.

Town explains grading system
In the week following the Patriot’s publication of the health division’s list grading restaurants on health inspections, the paper received a number of calls, some anonymous and some not, questioning the accuracy of the list and ratings.

Human services plea heard by county Assembly
Most weeks. the room is empty. Some weeks, not even all those assigned to the room are in attendance.

 Read the rest of the Barnstable Patriot here.
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The Register headlines:

Shooting shocks community
The Easter Sunday shooting of a Barnstable contractor and charter boat operator shocked the community and focused attention on the often-hidden issue of domestic violence.
Dr. Ann Gryboski, 51, is accused of the murder of her husband, Patrick Lancaster, 50, in their home on Coach Lane, Barnstable.  Gryboski was freed on $50,000 bail Monday after pleading not guilty to a murder charge.

Commission withdrawal passes Town Meeting
Call it a working deadline or an ultimatum, but Yarmouth has given the Cape Cod Commission one year to make good on promises of substantive change.

Accused doctor ‘endured a great deal:’ Lawyer says shooting followed abuse
The defense attorney for a Barnstable doctor accused of killing her husband says the shooting was a clear act of self-defense.

Jehovah’s Witnesses set sights on South Dennis
The Dennis Planning Board will meet at 7 p.m. Monday, April 9 to consider the application of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to build a Kingdom Hall at 316 Old Bass River Road at Town Hall.

 Read the rest of The Register here.

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Falmouth Guns vs. Hoses;

Upper Cape News, April 5-11, 2007

^{The Upper Cape Codder covers news in the towns of Sandwich and Bourne and is owned by Gateway Media.  The locally owned Enterprise covers the news in Falmouth, Sandwich, Bourne and Mashpee.}

Headlines for the Enterprise:

 Falmouth
Police And Fire Departments Face Off, Friendly Rivalry Nets $3,500 For PAL
Region
Cape Wind Wins State Round With MEPA - Next Steps: County’s DRI, Federal Report
Mashpee
Mashpee’s On The Menu For More And More Tastes
Bourne
Town Agrees To Shoulder Trash Burden In Wake Of SEMASS Emergency
Sandwich
Cape Students Take Steps To Improve ‘Human Condition’

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Upper Cape Codder Headlines:

 

Read the rest of the Upper Cape Codder here.

 

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Federal relief sought for fishermen

Governor Patrick finds $22 million loss for fishing towns
Seeks Federal disaster relief

BOSTON – On TNuesday Governor Deval L. Patrick submitted to the federal government documentation showing regional economic losses of $22 million due to recent changes in federal commercial fishing regulations and called for federal relief for the Massachusetts groundfishing fleet.   He filed a report detailing the regional economic losses due to new regulatory restrictions, signals need for immediate aid and new approach to conserving fish stocks while preserving the fishing industry

 “Everyone agrees that the stocks of groundfish in the waters off the coast of Massachusetts need to be replenished,” said Governor Patrick.  “Everyone also agrees that the fishing industry needs to remain part of the life of the Commonwealth.  The revenue declines experienced by fishing communities represent a true economic disaster.”

The Standard-Times today reported that in New Bedford, fishermen welcomed the governor's appeal for federal aid but questioned how it would be distributed.

The newspaper quoted Toby Lees, captain of the dragger Seel, saying disaster relief would be a "good thing," but only if it was given not just to boat owners, but to individual fishermen "who are losing their jobs right and lef." and Deb Shrader, executive director of the fisherman's advocacy group Shore Support, said she'd like to see the money find its way to fishermen's families who "are really in distress."

 Details sent to Washington

Governor Patrick sent the report – compiled by the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) - to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez in support of his earlier request for a federal declaration of economic disaster affecting the Massachusetts commercial groundfishing fleet.  Declaration of a “fisheries resource disaster” due to regulatory restriction, under provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act as amended by the Reauthorization Act of 2006, is a necessary first step toward obtaining emergency relief from the federal government that could allow the fishing fleet to survive a period of regulatory restriction on groundfish that is having a disproportionate impact on Massachusetts vessels.

 In his letter transmitting the DMF analysis to Secretary Gutierrez, Governor Patrick wrote: “I urge you, upon reviewing this report, to declare a fishery resource disaster in the Massachusetts commercial fishing industry, and to make available the disaster relief that will allow this historic and vital Massachusetts industry to survive a period of severe regulatory restriction.  I look forward to working with you toward our shared goals of conserving natural resources and preserving our fishing communities.”

The DMF report finds a substantial and disproportionate reduction in revenue suffered by the Massachusetts groundfish fishery attributable to the implementation of emergency interim action in May 2006 and Framework 42 in November 2006.  These two federal regulatory changes in the Northeast Multispecies Fisheries Management Plan sharply reduced allowable Days at Sea for the Massachusetts groundfish fishing fleet.  As a result, revenues of Massachusetts groundfish vessels fell from $44.6 million in 2005 to $36.5 million in 2006, a decline of 18 percent.  Using a multiplier of 2.7 to account for the impact on fisheries-related businesses, the total economic impact of this decline for related industries and communities is a decline of $22 million.  This decline in revenues is greater than the corresponding decline that occasioned the declaration of a fishery resource disaster by the Secretary of Commerce in 1994.

 A series of regulations imposed under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan since 1994 have reduced the area and the number of days Massachusetts vessels are allowed to fish. The fishery management plan’s most recent revision, Framework Adjustment 42, which went into effect November 22, 2006, further reduced the fishing days available to the inshore groundfishing fleet by an additional 50 percent.

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VINEYARD: Energy question on ballot, Cost of living rises, H2B woes. NANTUCKET: New selectman, chair, sworn in, Fire had dsetroyed 75 acres

News from The Islands, April 6, 2007
  Headlines

Energy Question Goes to Voters
As Climate Change Takes Over the Conscience of a Nation, Vineyard Towns to Decide Fate of Energy District
When Island residents file into auditoriums next week to conduct the annual business of their towns, voters in three towns will face a common question and a possible turning point.

State Approves Cape Wind Plan
Secretary of Environment Clears Jim Gordon's Wind Farm; Federal Review Expected to Last Through Year
The state's top environmental official ruled last week that developers of the Cape Wind project have fulfilled their environmental review requirements on the state level, and that the offshore wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound would provide significant benefits to air quality and energy reliability in New England.

Cost of Living Found Shockingly High Here
The cost of living on Martha's Vineyard is about 60 per cent above the national average, and housing costs are almost double, according to a study carried out by the Martha's Vineyard Commission.

Those Who Hire Foreign Workers See Maze of Red Tape This Year
Peter Martell, owner of the Wesley Hotel in Oak Bluffs, is in deep trouble with his summer staffing. He opens for the season next month, and he has just learned he will not get the staff he needs to make the place run.

Sewer Department Autonomy Topic for Town Meeting Debate
Wastewater officials in Oak Bluffs say that an article on Tuesday's annual town meeting warrant would bring necessary changes to the department, some critics are questioning the logic of a proposal that would hand considerably more power to the wastewater commission.

Family, Friends Gather to Greet Naval Reservist
Naval reservist Matthew Bradley of West Tisbury returned home Saturday afternoon from a 10-month volunteer tour of duty that included seven months in Iraq, serving as a medical corpsman with a U.S. Marines unit.

 Read the rest of the Gazette here.
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   Headlines

Reinhard, Roggeveen win Selectmens' seats 
In a tight race for two open seats on the Board of Selectmen, Conservation Foundation ranger Allen Reinhard and Community School director Patty Roggeveen claimed victory with 1,239 and 1,180 votes respectively in Tuesday's Annual Town Election.

Willauer reelected selectmen chairman
The board voted 3-2 to reelect Whitey Willauer as selectmen chairman during Wednesday morning's swearing-in ceremony

Moors wildfire torches 75 acres
A prescribed burn being conducted by the Nantucket Heathlands Partnership flared out of control on Sunday, burning approximately 75 acres in the middle moors

Town Meeting Monday
Nantucket’s yearly exercise in democracy begins Monday, when islanders will convene at Nantucket High School for the 2007 Annual Town Meeting. The town’s registered...More

Pellicone gets 5.5% raise and bonus
Within six months of signing a contract for $130,000 a year plus a housing allowance, superintendent of schools Robert Pellicone was given a 5.5 percent raise, increasing

Soldier's homecoming: Duane King, back from Iraq
Sitting on the couch of his mother’s home, New York Air National Guard Staff Sergeant and Nantucket native Duane King took a long pull from his beer

 Read the rest of the Inquirer & Mirror here.

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Ptown nixes transfer tax, Tennis court condos; Brewster Clear-cut costs $50k; Harwich SolarBee

 Headlines from The Banner, April 6, 2007

TM nixes housing articles Wed.
PROVINCETOWN – A roller coaster of a Special Town Meeting opened on Wednesday night, with affordable housing taking front and center.  Impassioned speeches from the floor, surprising defeats of some housing articles and attempts to reverse those defeats, which were voted down themselves by the packed Town Hall auditorium, kept the four and a half hour meeting lively.
DEP calls for access from Poor Richards
  PROVINCETOWN — Poor Richard’s Landing, a summer artist commune since the 1930s, is being pressured by the state Dept. of Environmental Protection to open the property to the public as part of the conditions to receive a Chapter 91 waterways license.
Tennis courts serve up condominiums
PROVINCETOWN — Nine months after declaring they were “not in a huge hurry” to turn the 60-year-old Bissell Tennis Center into condos, the new owners are proposing to demolish eight seasonal rental apartments on the property, remove one of the five public tennis courts and build 16 new condominium units.
PHS triumphs with ‘Godspell’
“As long as you are green, brother, you can grow” — such is the message of “Godspell” to all of God’s children. Provincetown High School spread it with terrific, infectious spirit in last weekend’s production of “Godspell.”

Read the rest of The Banner here.
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 Headlines from The Cape Codder, March 30, 2007 

Ospreys are back, right on cue
 It doesn’t feel like spring and it doesn’t look like spring, but it is. One sure sign of the season is the return of ospreys to their nests, high on salt marsh platforms along the Cape Cod coast.
Voters nix transfer tax
PROVINCETOWN — A proposed 1.5 percent real estate transfer tax to fund affordable housing initiatives — which would have raised an estimated $10 million over the next 10 years – was twice shot down at town meeting Wednesday.
The proposed bylaw would have given exemptions of up to $540,000 for primary residence owners, and $700,000 for senior citizens, and wouldn’t have applied to inheritances.
Clear-cut restoration could top $50K
BREWSTER—The Brewster Conservation Commission gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a restoration plan to restore a 100-foot section of buffer zone in a protected wetlands resource area adjacent to Namskaket Marsh that was illegally clear cut last November.
Bourne landfill gets Cape trash
The Bourne landfill will be the recipient of solid waste from towns throughout the Cape, following the explosion and subsequent fire that caused extensive damage Saturday, March 31,  to the SEMASS Resource Recovery incinerator in Rochester.
Commission to determine scope of Cape Wind review
The state’s approval of Cape Wind Associates’ final environmental impact report regarding a wind farm in Nantucket Sound has triggered a 45-day window during which the Cape Cod Commission must open a public hearing on the project.
SolarBee slated for Skiniquit Pond
 HARWICH — Residents who live on Skinequit Pond have taken matters into their own hands, and purchased a $45,000 SolarBee to aerate and clear up their pond. The solar-powered device was scheduled to be installed Thursday (weather permitting) in the South Harwich pond, which has a history of fish kills.

 Read the rest of The Cape Codder here.

    De Lory's gas station in Wellfleet by Edward Hopper,1940. Mr Hopper, who died forty years ago next month, painted many of his most famous canvases here will be given a major show at the Boston MFA  May 9-August 19, and then exhibit will go on to D.C. and Chicago.  Orleans native  Andrew de Lory has photographs the Hopper  house in Truro for a photo essay in a Boston area magaine this summer.

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MMS says internal reviews taking longer

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Bourne cashes in trash; "Chatham" eyes Sandwich; Bourne cop faces hearing

Upper Cape News, April 5, 2007

^{The Upper Cape Codder covers news in the towns of Sandwich and Bourne and is owned by Gateway Media.  The locally owned Enterprise covers the news in Falmouth, Sandwich, Bourne and Mashpee.}

Upper Cape Codder Headlines:
Election results: Bourne voters choose Mealy and Ford
- Retired Bourne Police Chief one of two elected to seletman seats
Is there gold in rubbish?
- Boure approves Dept. of Environmental Protection request to accept more Cape trash
Cape-based company helps dreams take flight
- Local company makes kid's flight suits and helps make dreams come true
Politics and partisanship in Sandwich
- Grassroots politics is alive and well in the town of Sandwich 
Selectmen want SHS back on track
- Unanimous vote to fix school track
Five towns to discuss UCT 2008 budget
- Wareham, Sandwich, Falmouth, Bourne and Marion meet to discuss tech school spending
Bourne briefs
- Seawalls, dredging, sewers, site plans and more
Bourne officer faces hearing for "hate motivated" comments
- On paid leave officer accused of making inappropriate remarks to a woman last month
Sandwich briefs
- CPA and zoning warrants, "Chatham" eyes Sandwich, ballot change and more
Scope of review is big question for wind farm
- 45 day review opens
Industry tackles overfishing crisis
- Looking for ways to end overfishing and rebuild stock
Bourne mulls ways to strengthen human services
- Better ways to help the homeless
School access may include ancient way
- Emergency access sought for proposed elementary school
Landfill purchase to come via borrowing
- Looking to fund purchase through capital borrowing

Read the rest of the Upper Cape Codder here.

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Headlines for the Enterprise:
Falmouth: CPA funding approved in twelve articles
- Community Preservation Act funding approved for a variety of projects
Region: Cape Wind wins state roundwith MEPA; next steps county's DRI, federal report
- Project inches closer to becoming a reality
Mashpee: Mashpee's on the menu for more and more tastes
- Cotuit's lost may be Mashpee's gain
Bourne: Town agrees to shoulder trash burden in wake of SEMASS emergency
- Trash to be diverted to Bourne and other communities in wake of SEMASS fire
Sandwich: Cape students take steps to improve "human condition"
- Barnstable County HRC  invited students to the Cape's first ever Human Rights Academy

Read the rest of the Enterprise Newspaper here. 

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CBI to foot the dredging bill; Churches help the homeless; Peepers & pools

Lower Cape News, April 4, 2007

^{The Cape Cod Chronicle is locally owned and covers the towns of Chatham and Harwich. The Harwich Oracle cover news in the town of Harwich.}

Cape Cod Chronicle Headlines:
CHATHAM
CBI offers to dredge mooring basin, keeping sand for private beach
- Chatham resort offers a "win-win" situation
Chatham church helps shelter homeless women
- One of forty-four churches that participate in "overnights of hospitality" program
Selectmen: start sewer plant work now
- Pushing for progress in waste management plan
Community Center a blank slate
- The greatly anticipated process of meetings, planning and design draws to an end
Maritime Fest added to Spring Fling
- The Chatham Maritime Festival returns this May after taking a year off
Three running for selectman
- And then there were three for the May 17th election

HARWICH
Traffic, density, costs of HECH development under review
- Neighbors not happy about proposed affordable housnig in South Harwich
Harwich students bring Darfur activism to Beacon Hill
- Students head to the state house to speak out
HCT seeks vernal pools
- And the peepers will show the way to the pools
Warrant may be jaw buster
- Lots for voters to wade through
Thompson's Field blitz planned
- Time once again for the annual restoration workfest
Solar power for town buildings?
- Alternate power to power town government

SPORTS
Harwich softball aims at making a return to state tournament
- Looking to make it another big season
Danby steps down as Harwich hockey coach
- Stepping down after five winning seasons

EDITORIAL
A small thing
- Many reasons for homelessness...

Read the rest of the Chronicle here.
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Headlines from the Harwich Oracle:

The Oracle headlines will be added when available.

Read the Oracle here.

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Immigrant forum flap; Water rate rebellion; D-port A&P still empty; Scope of Commission's review a big question

Mid Cape News of the week, April 3, 2007

^{The Barnstable Patriot is covers the town of Barnstable owned by the Ottaway Newspapers Co. the parent company of the Cape Cod Times. The Register which covers Dennis, Yarmouth and Barnstable is owned by Gatehouse Media which owns three other weeklies here.}

Barnstable Patriot headlines:

Commission withdrawal question spurs discussion
The pros and cons of Yarmouth’s possible withdrawal from the Cape Cod Commission were discussed by selectmen Tuesday night as the board finalized its recommendations for the April 10 annual Town

State says Cape Wind review is adequate Cape Wind Associates is free to file file for permits from the state agencies for its proposed wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal.

Forum for immigrant students and parents strikes spar
A forum regarding the treatment of immigrant and minority students on Cape Cod may have been planned with the best of intentions, but quickly dissolved into accusations of deception and underhandedness on the part of South Coastal Counties Legal Services.

Fire district balks at water rate proposal
Hyannis Fire District commissioners are balking at the 30 percent increase in fire hydrant rentals proposed by the Hyannis Water Board, while one commissioner wonders why the fire district should continue to pay anything at all for hydrant rentals, as the town has taken over the water system.

Will council warm to fire district study?
The town council is expected to vote this week whether to form a committee to develop a “comprehensive and objective study of fire services of the five fire districts.”

State says Cape Wind info adequate
State and local permitting agencies have enough information to begin action on Cape Wind’s Nantucket Sound wind farm proposal, state Secretary of Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles ruled last week.

Author Donalson back in town
Barnstable’s Melvin Donalson, now a college professor in Los Angeles, will talk about his new book, Hip Hop in Ameican Cinema, April 5 at 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble bookstore at the Cape Cod Mall.

Senator at town hall Friday
State Sen. Rob O’Leary will hold district office hours April 6 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. in his office at Barnstable Town Hall across from the town council office. To make an appointment, call 617-722-1570.

OPINION:
GAUVIN: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Average Joe versus the predators
Today is Good Friday. Whether you are religious, agnostic or atheist, the operational word in “Good Friday” is the secular “good.”

Read the rest of the Barnstable Patriot here.
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The Register headlines:

Store for rent; Owners has interest in attracting new tenent
With the fourth anniversary of the closing of the Dennisport A&P approaching, the owners of the vacant building are looking for new tenants.

Gearing up for the Red Sox
The hottest Japanese import since sushi is Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. The demand for shirts bearing his name or those with his newly coined nickname, “Dice-K,” has sports store owners grinning, and it may be just the beginning.
Steve Smith, owner of Hyannis Sportscards, says that a contract agreement between Major League Baseball and the Players Union has limited the marketing of Matsuzaka to only a few items, such as the red T-shirt with Japanese writing that hangs in Smith’s store window

Scope of review is big question for wind farm
The state’s recent decision to approve Cape Wind Associates’ final environmental impact report regarding a wind farm in Nantucket Sound has triggered a 45-day window in which the Cape Cod Commission must open a public hearing on the project.  But the commission’s scope of review — what it should consider in determining the pros and cons of the project — has yet to be fully determined, according to Margo Fenn, the Commission’s executive director. Fenn said the Commission has sought the advice of its lawyer on how best to proceed

at Bruce Dern’s old-fashioned tweed waistcoat, the lapstrake dory resting on the sandbar, and the fishing net drying on the roof of a fisherman’s shack on Oyster River, it’s easy to imagine the year is 1906. In fact, we’re on the set of “Chatham,” a film written and directed by West Barnstable resident Dan Adams.

Dennis Chamber of Commerce moving into the season
It’s not coincidental that the Dennis Chamber of Commerce tripled its floor space last month as it prepared for its golden anniversary. “We bought 1 1/2 acres, including a 1,200 square-foot-building, more parking and a great view,” said executive director Spyro Mitrokostas.

Gessner talk highlights Yarmouth’s ‘One Book’ program
In Yarmouth, David Gessner’s “Return of the Osprey” has been the topic of conversation for several book discussion groups in the past few weeks

An Incan journey: Peruvian musicians bring their culture to Ezra Baker 
Dressed in native garb reflecting the colors and geometric symbols of the Incan gods, Cesar Villalobos and his band Inca Son recently brought a little Peruvian mountain village culture to Ezra Baker School.

West Dennis man charged with three arsons
Kevin M. Gannon, 46, of West Dennis, is charged in connection to three arson fires in the village over the past week.

 Read the rest of The Register here.

 

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NANTUCKET: Sheriff fined; Toolan pleads insanity; 8 teachers let go; Fire controlled; VINEYARD: Tribe, Island sign pact; Sewer Plant panned next to H.S.; Town may seceded from school district

  ^{Martha's Vineyard is adding another big hunk to it's conservation trusts. Long eyed by the land bank for preservation, the sheep pasture is located next to Brookside Farm, straddles the Chilmark-West Tisbury town line and offers up-close views of a freshwater pond created by a dam on the Tiasquam River.}

News from The Islands, March 30, 2007

Headlines
 
Town, Tribe Sign Historic Land Use Pact
At a characteristically informal event that was more potluck dinner than Yalta Conference, town and tribe officials in Aquinnah this week signed the intergovernmental land use agreement approved by town meeting voters earlier this month.

Sewer Plant Proposed Close to High School
Package Plant Would Treat Growing Wastewater Flows from Existing, Proposed Facilities Along Corridor
Island officials for years have discussed creating some type of a common sewage treatment plant near the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School that would serve the growing number of Islandwide institutions locating along the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven road.

Land Bank Acquires Beachfront Properties, Inland Sheep Pasture
The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank this week announced a series of conservation acquisitions that will expand the size of two of its existing up-Island preserves.

West Tisbury Will Consider Secession from School District
An in-depth study by an independent consultant says that it would cost West Tisbury more money to operate its elementary school independently than remain part of the Up-Island Regional School District.

Edgartown Voters to Confront Increases in School Spending
Edgartown residents will be presented with a proposed operating budget increase of some 5.4 per cent, and ballot questions costing a total of about $3.9 million at the April 10 town meeting.

To Indifference of Oak Bluffs, Shark Tourney Issue Returns
Like an ominous dorsal fin appearing behind unsuspecting bathers set to the familiar theme music from Jaws, debate over the Boston Big Game Fishing Club Monster Shark Tournament resurfaced these past few weeks just as the countdown to the summer season began in earnest.

John Maloney Hones Poetry, Island Stones
Chilmark poet and stonemason John Maloney can understand why some people might wrongly think one job is a metaphor for the other.

Read the rest of the Gazette here.
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   ^{The building is the beacon for lining up planes to the airport.  It apparently survived Sunday's fire. Photo by Jamie
Ranney}

   Headlines
 
 Moors fire under control
A planned burn near Altar Rock flared out of control for several hours Sunday afternoon before being largely contained by 5 p.m.

Sheriff fined by ethics commission
Nantucket County Sheriff Richard Bretschneider has been fined by the State Ethics Commission for violating the Massachusetts conflict of interest law.    Related

Community Pool closing for over a month

The Nantucket Community Pool will close April 16 for four to six weeks to replace its dehumidifier system and regular maintenance 

Selectmen approve Loring property restriction

The president of the United States will have exclusive permission to land his helicopter on Linda Loring’s 270-acre property off Eel Point Road

Town election campaigns in the home stretch

A five-way race for two seats on the Board of Selectmen highlights Tuesday's 2007 Annual Town Election. . . .  More   Endorsements  Campaign Finance Reports

Toolan attorney files insanity plea

The attorney representing murder suspect Thomas Toolan will argue a type of insanity defense during his upcoming trial, set to begin on Nantucket June 4

Court's demand for Spanish-speaking interpreters shows steady increase
English seemed to be the second language spoken Monday during Nantucket District Court’s criminal session. 

Pink slips going out to eight teachers lacking certification
Eight teachers will be receiving pink slips on or before April 1 as part of an effort by school officials to make sure teachers in the district are properly licensed

Perks for new dept. heads not sitting well with other employees
Nantucket Memorial Airport manager Al Peterson was recently granted a housing stipend to help pay off a second mortgage he took out on his Fair Street home to settle

Applicants sought for committee openings

The town administration is currently accepting applications for appointment to a number of boards and committees...More

New property assessments available
The statistical analysis of fiscal year 2007 proposed property assessments is finished, and taxpayers are encouraged to view their new values at the Assessor's Office 

 Read the rest of the Inquirer & Mirror here.

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Lobsterman Ted; Cape has the tenth best beach;

Cape makes Ten Best Family Beaches list (again)
This time it's a TripAdvisor.com survey

Summer is only school vacation away, and the national media is already asking their readers which are the best beaches to get a tan on on this summer (especially since our local legislature is about to curtail teen tanning time in spas, see here). The best beaches in the U.S. for families, according to a TripAdvisor.com survey are listed below, and for the second year one particular cape beach has made the list, presumably due to the family atmosphere and the very shallow waters:

1. Nags Head Beach, the Outer Banks, N.C.
2. St. George Island State Park Beach, Fla.
3. Glorietta Bay Beach, Coronado, Calif.
4. Bowman's Beach, Sanibel Island, Fla.
5. Hilton Head Island Beach, S.C.
6. Indiana Dunes State Park Beach, Michigan City, Ind.
7. Bathtub Beach, Stuart, Fla.
8. Stewart Beach, Galveston, Texas
9. Higbee Beach, Cape May, N.J.
10. Mayo Beach, Cape Cod, Mass. (on right)
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Ted Kennedy is a Lobsterman
New book by family chef reveals hidden skill

After reading the preview copy of In the Kennedy Kitchen, by the Kennedy family chef Neil Connolly, we discovered yet another skill of our senior senator from Massachusetts; he's a lobsterman too.

The book which is available today is full of Cape Cod menus ideas and tips on how to make the best chow from even the cheaper fish, but you won't believe how Connolly got those crustaceans for the compound's lobster bisques and stews.

Neil Connelly writes "My second year working for the Kennedys, the Senator came up with an idea, 'Neil,' he said to me one afternoon, 'why don't we get some lobster traps for the harbor?'"   Ted got a license, put out a dozen lobster traps in Nantucket Sound, and painted Styrofoam buoys blue and white, "Kennedy's colors."

Connelly says Kennedy liked to check the lobster pots himself and "when we were lucky, I'd often boil a lobster or two right away for salads ... "  We hope Mr. Connelly explained to his old boss how much better the lobster catches will be when there are 130 turbine bases for them to cluster around. Amazon offers the book at 34% off starting today.

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Locals pols stampede to endorse Cape Wind; Vinick whacks Willy; Cape women rebel

Delahunt proposes a wind farm on Stellwagen Bank
Chas. Vinick to hunt whales, Cape women rally for fashion

By Lirpa Loaf, Hyannisport correspondent

Long derided as the worst-dressed women in American,  Cape Cod women have organized to boycott the sale of bluejeans and Woolrich shirts in local stores. Spokeswomen for the group Women Against Grunge (WAG) Rene Wallace and Tap Skroob (shown on right) said the group will continue to picket until all local stores stock nothing but "frilly frocks for fillies" in their words.

This effort by these local women followed within hours the awarding of the annual "Worst Dressed Women" award to Barnstable County by the Fashion Institute of America on Friday.  The institute, whose motto is "Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we must change it every six months", said in a press release that they even had difficulty telling the women from the men on Cape Cod, but that the men dressed considerably better.

This indictment so angered MS Wallace and Skoorb that they organized their nearly 7,000 member grassroots organization within seven hours and will begin their boycott at Puritans and the Orleans Army & Navy store on Monday. 

Stellwagen Bank Wind Farm project proposed by Delahunt
Claims it was "last wish" of Studds

His predecessor Gary Studds had created the Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary a few miles north of Provincetown, and yesterday Congressman William Delahunt proposed turning that area at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay into a giant wind farm with over a thousand turbines each taller than the Provincetown Monument shown on right. 

Delahunt said that he had a private conversation with Studds last month, and the former congressman made him promise to make this proposal if the Bay State approved the Cape Wind project, a step which occurred Friday.

"I promised my friends at the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound also that I would stop Cape Wind any way possible, and this seemed like the best way to do that", Mr. Delahunt said in a prepared statement.

He added that the completed Stellwagen wind farm would be nearly eight times the size of Cape Wind's proposal would create enough energy to electrify the entire state, and possibly ensure his reelection.

Alliance head quits, moves back to West Coast to hunt whales
Service in National Guard during '67 Peace Protests noted

Saying that he is "sick to death of you do-gooder, east coast liberal green-heads" and the problems he has encountered both here and in his previous efforts to save a whale who died from his efforts, Chuck "Free Willy" Vinick abruptly quit his leadership job at the Alliance to Save Nantucket Sound Friday afternoon.

Complaining that "none of that filthy $16 million in oil money we raised to stop Cape Wind ever found its way into my pocket" Vinick cleaned out his desk and headed back to California.

Chuck Vinick continued,  "I'm looking to join the crew of a Japanese whaler to kill as many of those ungrateful behemoths as I can" adding that even a smelly whale hunt ship would be better than the garage they gave him to live in here in Osterville. 

Shortly after the state energy agency report was released Friday morning, strollers along Hyannis' Main Street said they could hear the grinding and gnashing of teeth from the Alliance offices above "Hooters". 

Alliance ex-employee  Arda Rekrap grumbled to reporters, "Chuck was more effective during the Peace March on the Pentagon back in 1967 when he was a National Guardsmen fending off the peaceniks with his M-1 rifle than he ever was trying to stop the environmentalists here." 

Cape Cod Chamber's new brochure touts Cape Wind
'America's Environmental Hometown' promotion funded by local daily

The impact of Friday's state report and it's glowing approval  of the wind farm, had another major  repercussion yesterday when Wendy Norcross, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce President, announced that this regional group had received a grant from The Cape Cod Times to underwrite the cost of a four-color brochure which the chamber will use to lure visitors here to visit the wind farm when it's up and running later this summer.

MS Norcross said she had finally come to understand that the huge, mountain-top wind farm outside Palm Springs CA was that up-scale vacation area's second-biggest tourist draw.  She added "as a proud alumnus of Cape Cod Community College, I was taught to admit the error of my ways and now see tremendous potential for attracting visitors to the cape by promoting us as 'America's Environmental Hometown'."  

Newspaper announces LOGO design contest winner, reforms Edit Board

As a sidebar to the story above, the local Dow Jones-owned newspaper has revamped their infamous Editorial Board as of today to exclude any staff members who have not worked in a newspaper newsroom for at least a decade.  Since 2000 they board had written nothing except anti-wind farm editorials, 275 to date, and that "editorial stuck record" as the Editorial Page ditor William Mills called it had finally been noticed. The six-year time delay was due he said to the fact that apparently no one in the newspaper or elsewhere had actually ever read a Times' editorial.

Times Publisher Peter Meyer also announced the winner of their contest to redesign the daily's logo to replace the legless seagull with an offshore wind turbine. The prize was won by Bill Koch of Osterville who will be honored by having one of the Cape Wind turbines named in his honor later this summer when the Nantucket Sound wind farm is completed.

Rob O'Leary demands Wind Technology training at MMA
Quits Alliance & takes their spokeman with him

State Senator Rob O'Leary, a longtime supporter of any group's efforts to block the proposed wind farm in Nantucket Sound, said yesterday that his students at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy are being "short-changed of their God given rights to work with Cape Wind"  by the obstructionist actions of the Alliance to protect nantucket Sound.

In the middle of a televised news conference Friday at the Alliance's offices above Hooters in Hyannis, O'Leary surprised his former friends by walking out of the meeting along with Alliance PR flack Ernie Corrigan when Susan Nickerson said that the state's approval "was a scam".

O'Leary told reporters on the street below that The Alliance and Director Nickerson had just cut themselves off from any support from Beacon Hill by their "careless, angry and histerical statements" about Ian Bowles the state's secretary of environmental affairs and by saying that agency had accepted the Cape Wind FEIR without examination or thought after a five year-long study.

At a hastily arranged news conference this morning. Mr. O'Leary, standing alongside his friend and newed appointed chief of staff Ernie Corrigan, announced the creation of an annual "O'Leary-Corrigan Renewable Energy" trophy which will be awarded at this June's graduation ceremony at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne.

Senator Kennedy endorses Cape Wind
Senator Warner, Congressman Young to assist him in DC

In another startling developement yesterday, US Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) gave his full endorsement to the previously controversial Cape Wind farm.  The senator even urged the project's builder to move the turbines closer inshore and thus nearer to his home at the family compound in Hyannisport saying "they're kinetic art, and given the overpriced installation art market today, I want them near enough for my guests to see."

Urges other Senators, Congressmen to help

In addition Mr. Kennedy said he had managed to get fellow US Senator John Warner (R-VA) to agree to insert a midnight amendment into pending federal legislation to increase the extra subsidy they both are proposing to offset any cost to Jim Gordon for moving the project nearer to Osterville.

Warner, whose daughters have a home nearby, said he will ask Alaska Congressman Don "A bridge to nowhere" Young (R-AK) to do the same in the House of Representative.  "If Young can build that foolish bridge to an uninhabited island in the tundra, I can certainly get some free kinetic art moved closer to my daughter's private beach." 

Continue to the most shocking revelation of all today here, or scroll down a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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"Chatham" the movie; Cape Wind wins big; Fending off fraud; Housing articles top Ptown warrant

Headlines from The Cape Codder, March 30, 2007 

On the set of "Chatham"
Looking at Bruce Dern's old-fashioned tweed waistcoat, the lapstrake dory resting on the sandbar, and the fishing net drying on the roof of a fisherman's shack on Oyster River, it's easy to imagine the year is 1906. In fact, we're on the set of "Chatham"... (On right is the filming last Wednesday at the Bangs Hallet House in Yarmouthport)
Big victory for Cape Wind
BOSTON - Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles has determined that the Final Environmental Impact Report submitted by the Cape Wind wind farm project "adequately and properly complies" with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. It means that Cape Wind is free to file for permits from the various state agencies needed to proceed with construction.
Orleans faces $466k in overrides
Orleans Town Meeting is shaping up to be one or more nights of serious debate, as voters will grapple with the decision to approve one-year general overrides totaling $466,000.
Fending off fraud
Less than a generation ago, scary sounding "identity theft" conjured images of alien body snatchers and SciFi thrillers, and credit card fraud - while it occurred - was not universally feared the way it is now. Today, according to the Federal Trade Commission, these activities are counted among the country's fast-growing crimes - the illegal use of personal or commercial data for financial gain.
Return of the terns
Rebecca Harris and her co-conspirators are hatching plots on Tern Island in Chatham, 60 of them in fact. But there is no nefarious purpose, unless you're a coyote.
Police Log: March 30
Eastham police said they are investing an alleged rape by force at a home on Samoset Road that was reported to them at 8:15 p.m. Thursday, March 22. Detective Ben Novotny said no charges have been filed at this point. "I don't want people to think that there is a rapist roaming the street. But this is still under investigation," he said.
Lobster Pool has a new owner
EASTHAM - The purchase and sale has not yet gone through, but Michael J. Ferro expects the closing will happen in mid-April and he and his wife, Sue, will be the new owners of the Lobster Pool, that landmark of Eastham that shut its door for the last time last season.
Housing articles top Ptown warrant
Provincetown town meeting begins Wednesday, April 4, at 6 p.m. Due to religious holidays, the next night of town meeting is Monday, April 9, and then Tuesday, April 10, at 6 p.m.

Read the rest of The Cape Codder here.
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Headlines from The Banner, March 30, 2007

Robin sets sights on ‘oldies’ station
TRURO — As early as this summer, it’s likely Provincetown restaurateur Ron Robin will be returning to his roots on the airwaves of his own radio station.
In the news
In this week’s Banner read about how the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies whale disentanglement team attempted to detangle a rope-entwined right whale mother.
Archives team turns up gems
You don’t have to be a historian to fall under the spell of the riches that are being unearthed in the town’s “attic.”
Spring Playwrights' Festival
The Spring Playwrights' Festival will occur between April 1 and 28 with many readings and a workshop with renowned playwright Sinan Unel.
Eggebrecht shows still life of human activities
Anderson will be reading from her book at the Provincetown Public Library. The event is free and open to the public. Ten percent of book sales will be ...

Read the rest of The Banner here. 

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