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Searching the web for you every morning.Archives for: May 2009
Sixty bikers and one dog pedal "Coast to Coast " in Orleans Sunday
The Orleans Police and Rec Departments have fun teaching bike safety
The sixty bikers and one dog pedal by Beach Road in East Orleans on their way to Nauset Beach in the ninth annual "Coast to Coast" bike tour. Below the biker wait for stragglers before continuing, and an Orleans motorcycle policeman lead the way. Photos by Walter Brooks.
The Orleans Bike and Walkways Committee in conjunction with the Orleans Police Department takes pride each year in their Annual Coast to Coast Bike Tour celebrating Massachusetts Bike Week.
The event was postponed from two Sundays ago due to rain, and today's 70-degree weather was near-perfect as the motorcycle police lead the sixty bikers and one dog the five miles from Rock Harbor to Nauset Beach, thus "coast to coast." This was the event's ninth year.
Selectmen spare that tree; Cape's MLB brouhaha; Kennedy has enemy on health plan; Orleans ProCuts open despite news report; Tom Brady rides to Cape; 2 days, $200 on Cape Cod; Cape redefining fishing; Woods Hole acclaimed
Meeting to remove Brewster "Christmas Tree" Monday
Selectmen choose pavement over piety
Brewster will have to find a new tree to hang its Christmas lights on this year if the local s electmen have their way at Monday night's meeting at town hall at 7:30.
The tall spruce at the intersection of Stony Brook and Setucket roads is slated to be chopped down as part of an extensive remodeling of the Stony Brook Mill site. (Photo is from last Christmas.)
At a public hearing two weeks ago selectmen approved, by a 5-0 vote, a plan that would replace the tree, add parking and straighten the intersection.
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Brady rides in Best Buddies Challenge to Cape
Tom Brady seen here crossing the finish line in Hyannis was the event's honorary chairman for the second straight year. Video by David Curran
Celebrities and athletes alike went the distance on Saturday for a very important cause. Teaming up with people with intellectual disabilities, members of the Best Buddies organization made their way from Boston to Cape Cod by bike or by foot to raise money and awareness for the organization. As many as 1,500 riders headed home on Saturday night after making the trip.
New England Patriots quarterback was the event's honorary chairman for the second straight year, topping a list of celebrities that included actor Vern Troyer and Olympian Carl Lewis. Brady is coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL he suffered in a injury .. NECN.
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ProCuts in Orleans open since Wednesday despite newspaper story
Either that or I was dreaming about getting my hairs cut there
See the David Curran video of the crash scene last week.
The current May 29th. edition of The Cape Codder reported that the ProCuts hair salon on Route 6-A in Orleans, which was the scene of a tragic accident over a week earlier, was still closed and that the building had been condemned.
The newspaper went on to report "The extent of the damage is so great - the car's rear doors were inside the building - that the building has been condemned. ProCuts has put up a sign that directs patrons to its Dennis location."
Since this reporter had his hairs cut there this Wednesday when the salon had already reopened for a day or so, we can report that ProCuts is fully open and if the building is condemned, there is no notice posted on it as late as yesterday. The accident sent an 80 year-old man sitting in the salon to a Boston hospital, see story here.
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Wooden bat league faces splintering relationship
MLB licensing issue causes dilemma for Cape Cod teams
The relationship between the Cape Cod League and Major League Baseball always has been mutually beneficial. One in five major leaguers played summer league amateur ball for teams with names like the Cotuit Kettleers and the Brewster Whitecaps.
MLB recognized the importance of the league - one of the only leagues of its kind still using wooden bats - and takes the relationship seriously, as evidenced by an annual $100,000 grant it gives to the league. The league has become a paradise for scouts. The players, many of them fresh from the NCAA playoffs and the College World Series, are assembled from the best amateur talent in the United States... Herald.
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2 days, $200 on Cape Cod
Priceless and affordable, rare and rejuvenating, there is plenty to sample and savor if you look around this lovely peninsula
Those who know the outer Cape know that its subtle charms and salt-sprayed majesty are nestled nearly everywhere. An exit from Route 6 can quickly turn up perfect terrain for soft adventure or idle hours outdoors. So the outer Cape is a good place, particularly outside the high months July and August, for two travelers to spend two days for under $200 (not counting gas). Here is one way to do that... Globe.
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Just when you think you've seen it all
The Cape and its denizens perform, invent, collect, cook up, frame, save, resuscitate new things to do
There's little doubt that on Cape Cod, where thousands return annually to air out their summer cottages or book the same two weeks at the same guest house, familiarity breeds content. But even here, change can be good. Take the new "runway" into Hyannis: Route 132 has been widened from two lanes to four, and anyone who has joined the scrum for the Cape Cod Mall and the Christmas Tree Shops on a rainy summer day will applaud the upgrade. Among other new touches are the Hampton Inn on Route 28 in West Yarmouth, the first new motel in the area in more than 20 years, and Sweet Caroline's, an ice cream shop on Route 130 in Sandwich that, by virtue of its name alone, is likely to be an extra-base hit.
Here are 10 other promising new options for summer visitors... Globe.
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2 Democrats Spearheading Health Bill Are Split
"We can not afford the health plan we have already."
- Sen. Grassley
A significant split has eveloped between the two Democratic senators leading efforts to remake the nation's health care system. They disagree over the contours of a public health insurance plan, the most explosive issue in the debate. One of the senators, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, reasserting himself after months of treatment for brain cancer, made clear this week that he favored a robust public health care plan, a government-sponsored entity that would compete with private insurers.
As a starting point for his bill, Mr. Kennedy favors a public plan that looks like Medicare, the government-run program for older Americans created in 1965, when he was a young senator. By contrast, Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who is chairman of the Finance Committee, has been working for months with the panel's senior Republican, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, in the hope of forging a bipartisan bill, which would probably play down the option of a public plan.... NY Times.
Cape Air flies to Green; Bourne may ban whales; Final ocean plans; Turkey shoot; Pirate base; Homelessness network leadership in flux; Mr. Bornstein builds his dream house; Cape Air survives storm
Air service begins June 5 from Green to Cape Cod with 5 daily flights
Largest US independent airline flew 650,000 passengers in 2008
Cape Air soars into the summer season with its annual nonstop service from Providence to Cape Cod and the islands, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation announced Wednesday. Beginning June 5, flights will leave daily from T.F. Green Airport in Warwick. The carrier will offer eight daily flights to Martha's Vineyard and six a day to Nantucket. The summer schedule ends Sept. 10.
Headquartered in Hyannis, Mass., Cape Air began in 1989 with its first flight from Provincetown to Boston. It now offers year-round service for South Florida and the Keys, the Northeast, the Caribbean, Micronesia, New York and the mid-Atlantic. The carrier has more than 50 Cessna 402s planes offering 850 flights daily.
Last year, 650,000 passengers flew Cape Air, making it the nation's largest independent regional airline. Providence Journal.
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Cape Air weathers shifting travel patterns

"The European market was huge last year because they all flew into Boston. Even if Provincetown does well this year, if it's a drive market, that won't help us,"
It's an interesting time to be Dan Wolf. As president of Cape Air, the independent regional airline that got its start in 1990 flying just one route from Boston to Provincetown, he is facing a dicey summer vacation season that on paper right now doesn't look very good. But he is also overseeing the largest route expansion in the company's history, moving into 14 new cities in the past year alone. And in his spare time, he is trying to figure out how the company will replace its signature nine-passenger plane that Cessna has stopped manufacturing.
All in a day's work, he says, projecting infectious optimism about Cape Air's future. He is currently performing a balancing act to determine what level of service reductions should be implemented in the Provincetown market, which has seen a 30-percent drop in advance bookings for June, July and August, considerably above the 10-20 percent decline in bookings for the airline company-wide... Taunton Gazette.
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Whale disposal at Bourne landfill may come to an end
Bourne landfill crews buried a 10-ton washed up finback whale Tuesday morning, May 26, but this may be the last whale put in the disposal facility off MacArthur Boulevard for some time. The 30-foot whale was placed in a 10-foot-deep hole and covered with trash. It was the second whale burial at the landfill this year.
The whale washed ashore in Provincetown on May 21. The Cape Cod Stranding Network called Landfill Operations Manager Dan Barrett about disposal options... Barrett wanted the whale delivered to the landfill on Friday before the weekend. The whale arrived on Tuesday after the necropsy, however, and was sitting on a flat-bed truck.
The odorous load prompted a few complaints, but town officials were notified of the pending disposal following a communications policy for such matters. But the board of health was not pleased... Bourne Courier.
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Finding ways to fight pirates at maritime academy
Fearing for his safety and concerned about protecting his crew from the ever-increasing number of Somali pirate attacks, merchant mariner Shane Murphy said he planned to buy a gun as soon as he docked in Africa last month, reports the Cape Cod Times.
But Murphy, 34, didn't get a chance to buy a gun while at port in Kenya because four Somali pirates briefly hijacked his ship, the Maersk Alabama, and took his captain hostage. Yesterday at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Murphy presented testimony to a special session of the House Foreign Affairs Oversight Subcommittee and highlighted the need to allow merchant mariners to protect themselves from armed pirates.
"It was my intention to buy a gun in Africa and keep it in my room without telling anyone," Murphy said. "And that's because I felt like a mall cop with no way to defend myself"... Herald.
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Cannery crumpled on Freezer Point

The site of Bornstein's new home. Sources have reported that the property has been offered for sale ranging from $9,000,000 to as low as $5,500,000. Town officials would not comment on the ongoing negotiations relating to the purchase price. The 2008 newly released Town of Barnstable figures show an assessment of $2,667,200. cc2day file photo.
Stu Bornstein builds his dream house on Barnstable Harbor
When developer Stuart Bornstein and his wife, who live on the water in Mashpee, decided to downsize, they looked around for similar locations to buy - until they realized they already owned the perfect place.
Last week, after more than a decade of battles with villagers and historical commissions, Bornstein tore down the mid-20th century cannery building on Freezer Point in Barnstable village, making way for what he hopes will be his new home.
"We've been always looking to develop it, but we're really not looking to do that right now," Bornstein said. "We'll clean up the dock for a couple of boats and a small house and enjoy it. I've had a lot of calls from people congratulating us down there. Usually I get things thrown at me."
Bornstein had best hold on to his catcher's mitt. In his monthly progress reports, Friends of Barnstable Harbor President Ted Theodores wrote that he "sadly witnessed" the demolition. "Many of us continue to feel that the best and highest use of that property would be a Town-owned expansion of existing marina activities, thereby relieving some of the congestion on the Millway side, while also providing additional public access and services"... Barnstable Patriot.
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New Leadership in the County?
Homelessness network leadership in flux
Ron Bergstrom (on right) is the coordinator of the Regional Network to Address Homelessness on Cape Cod and the Islands - unless he isn't. Bergstrom said county human services director Beth Albert sent out an advisory stating that Bergstrom's appointment had been withdrawn due to a conflict with the county charter. As an elected county official - he's Chatham's member of the county Assembly of Delegates, and its speaker - Bergstrom is not allowed to be paid with county funds.
County commissioners chairman Sheila Lyons told the Patriot May 27 that Bergstrom was no longer in the position. She said the decision was the result of discussions with county attorney Robert Troy. But the nature of the funds for the homelessness network - flowing from the federal government to the state - remains at question, according to Bergstrom... Barnstable Patriot.
French rower gives up, again; Crack down on I-195; Charge in crash that killed girl; Canal Electric gets off cheap; Great rentals deals here this summer
The third time wasn't a charm for French rower Charlie Giraard

French rower Charlie Girard exits a Coast Guard rescue helicopter at the Coast Guard Air Station in Bourne, Massachusetts Friday afternoon (05-29-09) around 12:45 PM after being rescued approximately 130 mile out to sea. (Photo by David G. Curran)
Unable to finish Transatlantic voyage, says he won't try again,
The Coast Guard rescued a French rower off the coast of Cape Cod Friday after he failed in his attempt to across the Atlantic Ocean.
Charlie Girard, 28, called the Coast Guard at about 8:25 a.m. Friday to say he was unable to finish his 3,317-mile row that started in Orleans and was supposed to end in France.
Lt. Donald Baldwin, a Coast Guard spokesman, said that Girard was in his survival suit and about 130 miles east of Cape Cod. He started his journey at the Orleans Yacht Club 10 days ago in a 21-foot rowboat... WCVB.
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State police crack down on I-195 speeding
It took only two minutes of monitoring westbound traffic on Interstate 195 in Somerset for State Police Sgt. Michael Michno to clock six people driving more than 80 mph. Armed with a LYTE radar gun that allowed him to target individual vehicles, Michno could tell how fast motorists were driving from as far away as 2,000 feet.
A woman in a Jeep Liberty sped down the highway at 82 mph. Before she could spot the marked cruiser sitting in the median, Michno already was moving onto the highway and turning his lights on to pull over the offending motorist... Standard-Times.
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Dylan Butman, 18, charged in crash that killed girl

Flowers and a doll were left at the scene of the fatal car crash in January. Photo by David G. Curran.
A local teenager has been charged with motor vehicle homicide in the January death of his 16-year-old former girlfriend, reports the Cape Cod Times.
Dylan Butman, 18, pleaded innocent in Falmouth District Court Tuesday to charges of motor vehicle homicide by driving to endanger and speeding, according to court records.
Butman was behind the wheel on Jan. 19 - his 18th birthday - when he drove his car into a telephone pole on Currier Road, killing Shannon Thompson... Herald.
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Free market means cheaper power
Canal Electric gets off cheap
The high cost of electricity in New York is the subject of much confusion and criticism. Unfortunately, the misguided focus of this criticism has fallen on the operations of New York's successful competitive wholesale energy markets rather than on the obvious: New York's high taxes, labor costs and progressive environmental regulations have created a burdensome regulatory atmosphere for all businesses in this state. As a result, New York is one of the most expensive states in which to live and do business...
If we are playing the comparison game, one must also compare the costs for independent generators in New York with those in other states. For example, the Bowline Generating plant in Haverstraw, Rockland County, pays $30 million in property taxes, compared to the similarly sized and operated Cape Cod Canal Plant in Sandwich, Mass., which pays $2 million. That difference is staggering... Times Union.
Sen. Ted paints; $55k a week rent; Bones found; Fishing line; More GateHouse angst; Wychmere Property Historically Insignificant; $2 M for bad hire; Chatham Airport closed for 60 days; Swine Flu at MMA; Two Wamps sue town; Cop's missing gun found in pond
Chatham Airport Runway Reconstruction Starts This Summer
Facility will be closed for 60 days at height of season
The extreme makeover for the runway at Chatham Municipal Airport will be getting underway in August, and both pilots and neighborhood residents can expect some disruptions...
Work on the pavement will begin in August "so we can be assured that all paving can be completed before the asphalt plants close for the winter," Hunter told the board of selectmen last week. Construction will continue for about 30 days before it will be necessary to close the runway. During that closure, businesses at the airport will suffer, airport commissioner David Rauscher said... Chronicle.
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Firm pays $2M for bad hire
Man accused of rape, embezzlement
A Lynnfield investment firm is paying nearly $2 million to settle charges of failing to supervise a broker who, after arrested on a charge of rape, allegedly admitted stealing $3 million from clients.
Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced yesterday that Investors Capital Corp. agreed to cover $1.7 million of client losses and pay a $250,000 fine for lax supervision of Stephen Clifford... Clifford, 57, allegedly admitted the embezzlement to police after a 2008 arrest on a charge of rape. He was in custody for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend's 18-year-old daughter, whose father is reportedly a Bourne police officer. Acting on an alert from Massachusetts authorities, Connecticut police arrested Clifford on June 4, 2008, at Foxwoods Resort Casino. The police allegedly found a loaded .357 magnum handgun in Clifford's car. The man remains jailed on Cape Cod pending trial... Herald.
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Nantucket Offers Recession Prices for Summer Renters
Still available: 6 br, waterfront, only $55,000 a week
Seven bedrooms, pool, cabana, tennis court and six acres of waterfront privacy added up to $55,000 a week for a vacation rental on the island of Nantucket last summer.
Recession price: $45,000.
"Without question, it is the best summer to come to Nantucket," said Brian Sullivan of Maury People Sotheby's International Realty, who has been selling and renting estate compounds on the Massachusetts resort island since 1996. "Between the rentals, the restaurants, and the bed and breakfasts, all kinds of great deals are being offered"...
Ferry reservations confirm the trend: They're down almost 14 percent so far this year, said Wayne Lamson, general manager of Massachusetts' Steamship Authority, which transports vacationers and their vehicles between Nantucket and Hyannis... Bloomberg.
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More GateHouse angst
Another round of lay-offs at parent of local weekly newspapers
Two weeks after GateHouse Media laid off perhaps a dozen or so people at its Eastern Massachusetts papers, I'm hearing from sources that a mandatory, company-wide meeting has been called for Thursday at 10 a.m. No idea what it's about, but folks are bracing for bad news. MediaNation.
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Cape Cod Life to feature Ted Kennedy painting
JFK taught the senator to paint

Edward Kennedy painting on the cover of Cape Cod Life.
This summer could be smooth sailing for Cape Cod Life magazine's redesigned arts supplement thanks to a cover painting by Sen. Edward Kennedy depicting the senator and his wife on their yacht Mya...
The painting, signed "Ted K.," is one of about three dozen the senator has painted over the years.
He learned to paint at an early age from brother John F. Kennedy.
The Cape Cod Life cover painting was created in 2002 from a photograph; the original hangs in Teddy Jr.'s Connecticut home.
"I've always liked to paint," Kennedy said. "It's been my favorite hobby for years... Herald.
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Orleans fishing line recovery program launched
Cecil Newcomb of the Shellfish and Waterways Improvement Advisory Committee told selectmen that residents and visitors would soon be seeing tubes in various coastal spots around town.
The tubes, paid for by the Orleans Pond Coalition, are for "spent" fishing lines, Newcomb said, adding that monofilament lines can exist in the environment for 600 years and be deadly to wildlife. "It's a great idea," said Selectman David Dunford. The Cape Codder.
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Ptown cop's missing gun recovered
A handgun reported stolen from a Provincetown police sergeant's home three months ago has been recovered, but the incident remains under investigation.
Chief Jeff Jaran says the Sig Sauer P229 gun belonging to Sgt. Thomas Steele was found in a Brewster pond this week after police received a tip that it was there...
Steele reported the .40-caliber gun missing on Feb. 24. It was unloaded and stored under lock and key...WTEN.
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Human Remains Unearthed In Chatham Sand Pit
Two boys playing ball in the sand pit behind their house made a grisly discovery when they unearthed human bones earlier this month.
State officials are now working to confirm what police suspect: that the remains are those of a Native American, buried at least 100 years ago. The remains are part of a load of sand excavated from one of several building sites in Chatham, Police Lt. Michael Anderson said.
William Rogers (left) and his cousin, Matthew Adams, show the spot where the saw the human remains last week.
On May 3, 12 year old William Rogers and a friend were playing ball in the J.W. Dubis and Sons sand pit behind Rogers' house on Middle Road when they made the discovery. They had just thrown the ball behind one of the mounds of sand "and we didn't know where it landed," Rogers said. They started to search "and then we found the bones"... Chronicle.
Ptown's new urgent care; Sex life of horseshoe crabs; Our prettiest golf course; Big come-back for Right Whales; Kayak, boat access to Ockway and Popponesset Bays; DEP fines Cape firm; Willow St. input wanted; Gay hater pleads; Listen to Veckatimest
Chaperones needed for horseshoe crab mating season

Upon finding a mate, the male horseshoes hook their pedipalps (the specially modified second set of clawed appendages) onto the opisthosoma of a female as she heads toward the beach. Sometimes additional males will attach themselves to the male, forming a chain.
Maybe you've almost stepped on a spiky tail. Or have seen the prehistoric-looking creatures scuttle through the Cape's shallow water. I used to pick up the helmet-like shells and run after my sister to scare her.
Yet horseshoe crabs - in existence for some 350 million years and seemingly as much a part of Cape Cod as sand grains - may be disappearing. Now, state officials are asking for your help this spring to figure out where the crabs spawn and how many are left.
Scientists are growing increasingly concerned about the fate of crabs whose milky blue blood is critical for detecting contaminants in medical equipment and injectable drugs... Globe.
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Winthrop man pleads not guilty to Provincetown hate crime
Alleged P-Town Basher Called A 'Good Kid'

For the sake of public safety as well as Patten's own safety, "We took him into custody as quickly as possible, so he would not incite the large crowd that was gathering," said Sgt. Lopes.
A judge in Orleans District Court has rejected a prosecutor's request for a $10,000 cash bail for Eric Patten, the 20 year old charged with assaulting two young gay women in Provincetown over the weekend. A young man from Winthrop, Massachusetts, who faces possible jail time for charges in connection with the alleged assault on two women in Provincetown, was described by his neighbors as a "good kid."
23-year-old Eric Patten allegedly hurled anti-gay slurs at two women as he assaulted them on the evening of May 23, shoving one woman into a window, which broke, and then reportedly punching one of the women as she lay on the sidewalk near the broken window.
The article in the Herald quoted one of Patten's neighbors as saying, "I was surprised. I just can't believe it."
Instead Judge Brian Merrick decided to maintain the existing $1,000 bail requirement, after Patten's attorney used the professional status of his parents as a partial assurance for future court appearances. Patten pleaded not guilty as his arraignment this morning on a charge of assault and battery under the state hate crime statute... edge.
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Provincetown clinic to offer evening urgent care
Trying to fill a need for emergency-type health care, Outer Cape Health Services is planning a pilot program that will put emergency room doctors in the Harry Kemp Way facility at night this summer.
While emphasizing that the program will offer "urgent care," not true emergency services, OCHS is partnering with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston to provide after-hours services by Beth Israel emergency room doctors. The idea is to offer medical and trauma services in Provincetown for sudden occurrences such as severe lacerations and fevers... Banner.
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Right whales reproduce at record rate

Scientists had all but written off the species, so depleted that even 50 years without hunting hadn't seen it bounce back. But now the majestic creature has them scratching their heads.
The northern right whale is as big as a house and has a face only a mother could love, but it has no worries in the dating department. In fact, the species that old-time whalers dubbed the "right" one to kill is a 80-tonne sex fiend, its females promiscuous and its males adorned with the largest testes in the animal kingdom (together, they weigh nearly a tonne).
Truly homely, the right whale has a head that takes up a third of its body length and is covered with "callosities," unsightly raised patches of discoloured skin whose only saving grace seems to be the fact that each pattern is unique and can be used to identify its owner... After giving birth in the warm south, the northern right heads north to spend the summer feeding off Cape Cod and southern Nova Scotia and in the Bay of Fundy... Globe & Mail.
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Cape Cod Commercial Linen fined for Delayed Notification of Spill
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has fined Cape Cod Commercial Linen Service Inc. $1,150 for failing to provide notification of a hazardous material spill in Hyannis, Mass., within a two-hour timeframe.
A Cape Cod Commercial Linen Service employee emptied approximately two gallons of the laundry bleaching agent sodium hypochlorite from a drum into a catch basin, when the chemical combined with other materials in the basin to create fumes, according to MassDEP. A passerby noticed the chemical reaction and contacted the Hyannis Fire Department, which blocked access to the site and contacted MassDEP.
Cape Cod Commercial Linen Service hired an environmental firm to remediate the spill that afternoon. State law requires that MassDEP be notified within two hours after a company has knowledge of the release of hazardous material, and in this case, that contact wasn't made, MassDEP says... American Laundry News.
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Kayak and boat access to Ockway and Popponesset Bays on Cape Cod

The town of Mashpee on Cape Cod has several public saltwater launch sites but parking is restricted during the summer months. You can reach Nantucket Sound or head up the Mashpee River from Ockway and Popponesset Bays which connect with each other. Here are some places to get onto the water here without getting a ticket.
Cape Cod's Ockway Bay access for boat and kayak launching
The Ockway Bay launch ramp is on Great Neck Road South, which is accessed off of the Mashpee Rotary. Just past the Cape Cod Children's Museum on the left you'll see the parking lot. This lot is restricted to Mashpee residents from Memorial Day to Labor Day but anyone can use the boat launch...
Using the Pirate's Cove launch to Popponesset and Ockway Bays
A little further long Route 28 from the Mashpee Rotary on the right is Quinaquisset Road, which leads to Mashpee Neck Road and the Pirate's Cove launch ramp. As with Ockway Bay, parking closest to the launch ramp is restricted to Mashpee residents from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The launch ramp itself is free to the general public. In fact, this launch tends to be quite busy in summer. As with Ockway Bay, kayaks, canoes and even some of the smaller boats will be better off using the little beach to the right of the ramp as their launch. There is a dock for tying up to the left of the ramp... Boston Examiner.
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On Cape Cod, the options range from the upscale to the unpretentious
The prettiest none-hole course he ever played

Truro's Highland Links: the prettiest 9-hole course ever.
As the father of two young children, late summer for me means a six- or seven-hour drive from New York to Provincetown, at the farthest tip of Cape Cod, the trunk stuffed with strollers, pack'n'plays, beach towels, enough diapers to furnish a nursery, and, somewhere in there, my driver, utility club, 5-iron, 8-iron, pitching wedge, sand wedge and putter. After a day at the beach, or in town, heaven is driving 10 minutes down Route 6 to North Truro, placing the half-set on my back, and stepping onto the tee at Highland Links.
Perched atop steep cliffs overlooking the Atlantic, the course, which dates to 1892, is fescue-lined and wind-swept, with dramatic ocean vistas and close-up views of Highland Light, made famous by Edward Hopper. Even if the greens are a bit shaggy, it's, without a doubt, the prettiest nine-hole course I've played.
After a few days of family duty, I duck out and drive a bit farther down to an 18-hole layout -- the Pines or Highlands courses in Dennis or the Port or Starboard courses at the Captains Golf Course, in Brewster. All are well-maintained and reasonably priced... Golf Digest.
EDITOR's NOTE: Heralded as Cape Cod's oldest golf course, perhaps its most scenic, the Highland Links in North Truro is one of America s golf treasures, perched high along windswept bluffs overlooking the Atlantic next to the vintage Cape Cod Light. Founded in 1892, Highland recently celebrated a hundred years of golf. More than significant than its age is Highland's heritage; circumstances keep it a genuine links, as close to the Scottish tradition found anywhere in the eastern United States, with deep natural rough, Scotch broom, heath, non irrigated open fairways, and spectacular ocean views. (Thoreau) The original "Highland House Golf Links" was part of an ocean hotel and cottage resort operated for year by the Small family of Truro, who promoted the course as "2000 yards around...in attractiveness not equaled in the New England coast."
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Grizzly Bear soars with layered vocals
New album named for Veckatimest, an Off-Cape island
Kewl new album named for the smallest of the Elizabeth Islands.
Four years ago, the newly formed band Grizzly Bear was booking its own tour, playing empty venues and encouraging music piracy: It would give away compact discs to whoever would take them.
Edward Droste, singer and guitarist for Grizzly Bear, spent much of the spring writing to Snoop Dogg via Twitter, hoping to cajole the rapper into a collaboration. Snoop never replied, but no matter: Grizzly Bear's third full-length album turned out just fine without him.
The Brooklyn indie band clears away the sonic clutter of its earlier efforts on "Veckatimest" (named after an uninhabited island off Cape Cod), for a sound that's more focused, but no less eclectic. The quartet favors intricate songs with an experimental bent: layers of boxy guitars and dry bass mix with deep, rolling cymbal crashes, synthesizers alternate with piano and several tunes feature string arrangements and vocal contributions from the Brooklyn Youth Choir.
Veckatimest, will be released today; around the same time the members begin a summer tour, including stops at major festivals such as Bonnaroo...Baltimore Sun.
Figawi revelers trash Nantucket; Ted watches race from a stinkpot; Business summit study views new jobs with clean energy
Nantucket is getting tired of the Figawi trash

A few of the messy scenes around Nantucket this Memorial Weekend.
When they sail off from Hyannis Harbor every Memorial Weekend, their hull tanks are full of fuel and their storage bins are full of booze according to insiders on Nantucket.
cc2day received several links to Facebook pages and others with comments like, "The Boat Basin was trashed. It reeked of urine and beer. There were piles of puke all over the place. I refuse to post those pictures here," "My pigs are cleaner.... disgusting. Why does Nantucket put up with this nonsense... $$$$$$," and "...couldn't believe how many empty's were floating out in the mooring field yesterday morning." Source.
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Kennedy watched from a powerboat
For the first time in memory, Senator Ted Kennedy watched the Figawi Race from a powerboat. He is shown here with his son Ted Jr., Vicki and Ted Kennedy III and a daughter-in law .
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Carbon climate: Business summit study views new jobs, cleaner energy with market approach

United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon (left) and Denmark's Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller visit an offshore windmill park outside Copenhagen on Monday.
Business leaders vowed Monday to help world governments set a price on carbon, establishing a market that governments can use to cut greenhouse gases... That approach requires governments to join a new United Nations-administered treaty for regulating greenhouse gases that proponents hope to hammer out by December.
It would set limits on carbon dioxide and then issue permits to companies that divvy up how much of the overall pollution each of them can emit. Any unused portions can be traded to other companies... The Copenhagen Climate Council study said the U.S. would gain that many jobs if its electricity use grew by just one-half of 1 percent a year and a quarter of its electricity came from wind energy and other renewable sources... Commercial Appeal.
Four rescued; Diver's body found; Boat ends up in trees; Brewster to chop down Christmas Tree; How Route 6 got named

Sunday afternoon found these two, young entrepreneurs selling lemonade and snacks on Chatham Bars Ave. alongside a tee of the Chatham Links golf course. They were visiting their grandmother who lives across the street, and turned the Memorial Weekend into a portable bistro.Walter Brooks photo.
3 injured in spectacular boat crash in Maine
Cape Codders reported involved in 1:30 a.m. mishap

"They were out going for a ride and it was dark and pretty much lost the direction of where they were going and hit the point of land out here." - Sgt. Place.
Authorities say someone from Massachusetts suffered life-threatening injuries when a boat flew out of a Maine pond and landed eight feet off the ground in some trees. The Maine Warden Service said four people, all from Massachusetts and all in their late-teens or early-20's, were aboard the boat in Square Pond in Shapleigh when it crashed around 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Two of them were injured. One woman was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland with life-threatening injuries.
Neighbors say they were asleep and only learned of the crash when rescue crews arrived.
Sgt. Place said both speed and alcohol were probably involved. Wardens, State Police and the York County District Attorney's office were all investigating the crash. Sgt. Tim Place says alcohol was probably involved.
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Brewster "Christmas Tree" to be chopped down
Selectmen choose pavement over piety
The town will have to find a new tree to hang its Christmas lights on this year. The tall spruce at the intersection of Stony Brook and Setucket roads is slated to be chopped down as part of an extensive remodeling of the Stony Brook Mill site. (Photo is from Christma 2008.)
Selectmen spared the 70-foot, 60-year-old white spruce from the ax last year, when the topic came up, but extensive studies by Russell Kleekamp of Stearns and Wheeler environmental engineers of Hyannis determined there was no viable alternative.
Monday night at a public hearing selectmen approved, by a 5-0 vote, a plan that would replace the tree, add parking and straighten the intersection... The Cape Codder.
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Four rescued after boat capsizes off Yarmouth's Great Island
Massachusetts authorities say four people were rescued after their boat capsized off Cape Cod. Hyannis firefighters say people on another boat pulled the four to safety Sunday morning off Great Island in West Yarmouth and brought them to Hyannis Inner Harbor, where paramedics evaluated them.
It's not clear why the 20-foot vessel capsized. Authorities have not released the names of the people on the boat.
Fire officials say one person who nearly drowned and developed hypothermia was brought to Cape Cod Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
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Did you know?
How Route 6 got it's name
It's appropriate that on Memorial Day 2009 we take a minute to remember another time and the worse U.S. war ever, our own Civil War when brother fought brother fron 1860 to 1865.
The vicorios northern army was called "The Grand Army of the Republic", and America's lonest highway of the era was named for it.
The road which today we call Route 6, from Cape Cod to California, was dedicated in 1953 as the "Grand Army of the Republic Highway." See Wikipedia for more.
Ptown hate crime; Dunkin' Donut dust-up; Fumes close Harwich Town Hall; Ted skips Figawi; Auto dealer vows to fight; Capt. Phillips honored at MMA

A tugboat pushes a barge westbound through the Cape Cod Canal in Bourne yesterday. In the background is the Bourne Bridge. (Photo by David G. Curran)
Figawi begins on Cape Cod, but a familiar face is missing
Ted Kenndey wave from the dock, may sail return leg Monday
Video from the last Figawi.
About 195 sailboats took off from Hyannis this morning for the Figawi Race, but US Senator Edward M. Kennedy's boat remained at the dock.
Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, is normally a fixture at the race, having competed in it many times since its inception in 1972.
Kennedy sailed the second leg of the race last year, only a few days after being diagnosed, and finished second.
People ranging from novices to seasoned crew raced today toward Nantucket Island, along a 19-nautical-mile course. The return leg is scheduled for Monday.
It wasn't clear if Kennedy would race in the second leg this year... Globe.
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Man charged with assault & hate crime
Saturday morning incident in Provincetown
A Winthrop man is facing a battery of charges after an early morning fight that ended with a woman being pushed through the front window of a restaurant. According to Sgt. Carrie Lopes, the suspect who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs allegedly mistook two women for gay men.
A fight ensued and one of the women ended up through the window of the Post Office Cafe on Commercial Street.
Twenty-year-old Eric Patten was arrested and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (window), intimidation based on sexual orientation (hate crimes statute), assault and battery on a police officer, wanton destruction of property over $250, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Patten was bailed Saturday morning and is scheduled for arraignment on Tuesday in Orleans District Court... Banner.
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Tempers Flare Over Dunkin' Donuts
Tension over plans to open a Dunkin' Donuts at the former Sou'Wester building in West Chatham bubbled over at Tuesday's special meeting of the planning board. Planning Board Chairman Mark Zibrat had just explained that formal site plan review of the project was not required, when he was challenged from the audience.

The site is at the former Sou'wester next to the Shop Ahoy shopping center. cc2day photo.
"How do you know it's not required? How do we know that?" yelled Chairman of Selectmen Ronald Bergstrom. Others believe site plan review is required, he asserted. "I want to show how these decisions are made," Bergstrom stated.
Developer Ronald Rudnick and Bergstrom sparred briefly, with the developer suggesting that Bergstrom may be committing an ethics violation by trying to influence a board that the selectmen appoint. Zibrat cut things off, however, saying he only allowed Bergstrom to speak because he is a selectman. "I will not tolerate that again," he said, referring to the outburst. He also... Chronicle.
Hijacked skipper named ‘09 Mariner of the Year' at Mass. Maritime Academy
The skipper of the hijacked Maersk Alabama has been to the White House, met President Obama and visited the "Today' show. Captain Richard Phillips (on right), however, returned Wednesday afternoon to the Taylors Point campus where he started his sea-going training 35 years ago at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
Phillips, after National Maritime Day festivities and a Change of Regimental Command, told reporters that his life after his rescue by the Navy off Somalia on Easter amounted to a "surreal experience"... Falmouth Bulletin.
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Harwich Chrysler dealer vows to weather the storm

"I'll sell used cars, I don't need Chrysler to stay in business," Peter Stagg. (cc2day file photo)
The downsizing of the auto industry has hit the Cape, but Peter Stagg, owner of Stagg's Cape Cod Auto Mall in East Harwich, says he's not going out of business "with or without Chrysler"...
"They're trying to use the bankruptcy laws to beat us out of business - to not renew our franchise," said Stagg, whose dealership is on Route 137, just north of Route 39...
The Chatham resident and longtime Rotary member has owned the East Harwich Chrysler dealership for 29 years; before that he sold cars in Chatham. Stagg owns all the cars on his lot... Oracle.
Cheaper gas means busier roads; Ted not in Figawi; Box turtles saved; Evidence missing; Cape Cod makes the Top Ten Beach list again; Wampanoag Canoe Trail Passage; WHOI proves climate change danger to Polar Bears
Cheaper gas, busier roads expected for holiday weekend
More people are expected to be traveling by car this holiday weekend, taking advantage of gas prices that are far below what was being paid a year ago. State Police said they expect heavy traffic on local highways, especially those leading to Cape Cod.
The American Automobile Association says the increase in Memorial Day travelers will be greater in New England than in any other part of the country. And with good weather forecast through Monday, that projection is likely to hold up... Enterprise.
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Polar Bear-Climate Connection Supported
New WHOI Study refutes criticism of population drop

To feed themselves and their cubs, polar bears rely on sea ice for platforms to hunt for their main source of food: seals. Largely because of reduced amounts of sea ice, the polar bear is listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. (Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Forecasts of polar bear populations and their likely responses to climate change have been strengthened by a new publication that refutes criticisms of the scientific basis for listing the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act.
The new paper, by a team of scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), University of Alaska, University of Maryland, Canadian Wildlife Service and the US Forest Service, refutes point-by-point a widely publicized critique of polar bear population predictions. The new rebuttal reinforces the reports written by the scientists and accepted by the Department of Interior in its May 2008 decision to list polar bears as a threatened species on the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
"The decision to list the polar bear as threatened was politically charged, and the scientific research on which it was based attracted some criticisms. Our new study shows that the critique is incorrect and based on misconceptions about climate models, the Arctic environment, polar bear biology, and statistical and mathematical methods," said WHOI biologist Hal Caswell, an author on two of the USGS reports and of the rebuttal.
The rebuttal was published in the journal Interfaces online on April 22, 2009, and will be published in the July-August print edition. The journal recently made the article available for free to the public... WHOI.
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Evidence missing, Brewster teen's mom says
A criminal case against Brewster teen Lasco Larrain, who prosecutors say has information about a police officer's stolen handgun, has been continued to June 17, but Larrain's mother expressed skepticism about the case yesterday after her son's appearance at a pretrial hearing in Orleans District Court. arrain, 17, pleaded not guilty April 10 to a felony charge of receiving stolen property valued over $250.
The property Larrain is alleged to have received or have knowledge of is a Sig Sauer P229 handgun owned by Provincetown police Sgt. Thomas Steele... Herald.
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Youth rediscovers the Wampanoag Canoe Trail Passage
Nik is paddling the 72-mile Wampanoag Canoe Trail Passage, which connects Massachusetts Bay to Narragansett Bay via the North and Taunton rivers... it will take at least three days to paddle the rivers, streams, and ponds, and portage around the dams, culverts and highways that have been built since the days when the Wampanoag traveled via these streams.
In the time of the Native Americans and early colonists, rivers provided many things: fish and shellfish for food, clear passage and clean drinking water. Rivers literally provided the basis for living. Today they are used more as a receptacle for our waste, a place to shunt our polluted stormwater to or to withdraw water. We rarely think of its origins, and we often don't even see it.
While the tidal sections of our rivers are still very much used for recreation, even they are not as valuable as they could be if they weren't contaminated with bacteria from failing septic systems or stormwater road runoff after it rains. What would the Native Americans think of the way we treat our rivers? Most likely they would think we were demented and not long for this world, given our unsustainable use of what they considered the sustenance of life... Scituate Mariner.
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National Grid to begin laying pipeline in South Dennis
Great Western Rd box turtles to be protected
National Grid, formerly KeySpan, will begin work June 1 on the Dennis stretch of the gas pipeline that will extend from Highbank Road in South Yarmouth to Great Western Road in North Harwich.
Tuesday night, selectmen authorized Town Engineer Joe Rodricks to issue a road-opening permit to allow work to proceed east of Route 134. Work will start on Great Western Way and move east along Great Western Road throughout June.
In compliance with Cape Cod Commission mandates, National Grid will provide fencing in the work areas along Great Western Road where box turtles have been found... Register.
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