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Archives for: June 2011

Caylee Anthony's dad died on Cape Cod; Cinema ceiling needs help; The best (and the worst) beaches; Three Vineyard towns go solar

The gorgeous Rockwell Kent Cape Cinema ceiling needs restoring


The Rockwell Kent ceiling will look down on "Midnight in Paris" starting tomorrow. Woody Allen's newest film is a fanciful time machine that allows him to indulge playfully in the artistic Paris of his and many other people's dreams.

Cape Cod's equivalent to the Sistine Chapel's frescoes

Did Caylee's dad die on Cape Cod

While millions of people are following the Florida trial of Casey Anthony, accused of murdering her daughter Caylee Anthony, one of the mysteries of this case has been who was Caylee's father.
      Now there's a report that Caylee Anthony's father was a Massachusetts man. Investigative reporter Diane Diamond on The Daily Beast website has identified Michael Patrick Duggan, a man killed in a car accident on Cape Cod, in 2007 in the photo above, as potentially being Caylee's father.
     In October 2007 Duggan was killed in a single car accident in Falmouth.
     Little Caylee Anthony died in 2008. Her mother is accused of killing her, and dumping her body in woods near her Orlando, Florida home.
      Read the FOX-TV story here.

Rockwell Kent's 6,400-square-foot mural on the domed ceiling of the theatre on Hope Lane, on the grounds of the Cape Playhouse, is easily the most famous, and certainly the largest, piece of art on Cape Cod, but you have to look up to see it at the Cape Cinema in Dennis.

It's Rockwell Kent's magnificent art deco fresco which cover's this historic theater's entire ceiling, and now it needs your help to be restored to its original beauty.

The Cape Codder reports that in 1981, the mural received its first restoration by conservators of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Cape Cinema president Eric Hart is now raising funds for another restoration. "There are some problems with the way it was attached to the ceiling," he says. "The mural needs to be cleaned, restored and attached again."

The 1981 restoration cost $50,000. Hart expects this one to cost at least twice that amount. "I need an army of volunteers to work on behalf of the Cinema," he said Monday afternoon, addressing the Friends of the Cape Cod Center for the Arts.

As owner of the Cape Cinema building, the Cape Cod Center for the Arts/ Raymond Moore Foundation is responsible for seeking restoration funds.

Read The Cape Codder story here.

The best - and the worst - beaches
Corporation & Old Silver Beach named on Cape Cod


Scroll down on this  NRDC page to read about Cape Cod's beaches in the report.

NRDC's annual survey of water quality and public notification at U.S. beaches finds that the number of beach closings and advisories in 2010 reached 24,091 - the second-highest level since NRDC began tracking these events 21 years ago, confirming that our nation's beaches continue to suffer from bacterial pollution that puts swimmers at risk.

Testing the Waters focuses primarily on bacteria-related beach water quality concerns. This year and last year, the report also highlighted closures, advisories, and notices issued at beaches impacted by last summer's BP oil disaster. From the beginning of the spill until June 15, 2011 there have been a total of 9,474 days of oil-related beach notices, advisories and closures at Gulf Coast beaches due to the spill.

Nearly three-quarters of the 2010 beach closings and advisories were issued because water quality monitoring revealed bacteria levels exceeding health and safety standards. Across the country, aging and poorly designed sewage treatment systems and contaminated stormwater are often to blame for beachwater pollution.

The Boston Globe reports that some 28 of Massachusetts' 614 coastal beaches exceeded state standards more than 20 percent of the time. Overall, 6 percent of all reported beach monitoring samples administered by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health exceeded the state's daily maximum bacterial standards. Here's the full report on Massachusetts.

Read the NRDC report here.

Three Vineyard towns go solar

The Martha's Vineyard Times reports that the island town of Tisbury expects to save about $1.3 million over 20 years, or about $65,000 annually in municipal energy costs, under a power purchase agreement and solar project development venture with the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative (CVEC).

CVEC board clerk and Cape Light Compact (CLC) administrator Margaret Downey presented details of the project and draft documents at the selectmen's meeting Tuesday, where selectmen approved the initiative. She said the agreements would establish a fixed price for electricity at 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour for 20 years.

Tisbury and Edgartown are two of seven CVEC member towns on Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod where the cooperative will install solar PV systems.

Read the Times story here.

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Falmouth soldier, Matthew Gallagher, 22, dies in Iraq;
Governor Patrick visits Cape Abilities Farm in Dennis;
Film about Chatham top secret war center;
Our teachers may have to learn CPR;
Whitey's lawyer defended the Tribe.

Falmouth soldier, Matthew Gallagher, 22, dies in Iraq; Governor Patrick visits Cape Abilities Farm in Dennis; Film about Chatham top secret war center; Our teachers may have to learn CPR; Whitey's lawyer defended the Tribe

Governor Patrick's visits Cape Abilities Farm in Dennis


   Ann Marie Campbell of Centerville, who works at Cape Abilities Farm, presented Governor Patrick with a basket of fresh produce and a bee adoption certificate naming one of the farm bees after the governor. Photo courtesy of Cape Abilities.

On Saturday, Governor Deval Patrick visited Cape Abilities Farm on Route 6A in Dennis. According to Debi Stetson, Cape Abilities Manager of Community Relations, the governor toured the farm and learned about the creative way Cape Abilities, a non-profit organization, is providing jobs for people with disabilities. The farm employees about 80 people with disabilities. Jobs and responsibilities span all aspects of farm management, from seed planting to assisting customers.

Governor Patrick's stop at the farm followed a visit to the Centerville Pie Company, which operates a pie kitchen at Cape Abilities in Hyannis.

In addition to growing fresh produce, the Cape Abilities Farm is home to the Adopt a Bee program. Read more about Cape Abilities on CapeCodToday.com here and here. Visit the Cape Abilities website here.

From mackerels to murders
Whitey's lawyer defended Tribe

The Boston Globe reports that the lawyer who recently represented a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in a legal dispute over fishing rights is the defense attorney for Whitey Bulger too. Howard Cooper, a founding partner in the Boston firm Todd & Weld, is known as an aggressive cross-examiner also drawn to controversial causes. He once represented an Islamic group in its effort to build a mosque in Roxbury, despite a public backlash.

He and his partner Max Stern are the two prominent Boston lawyers poised to team up on one of Boston's most sensational criminal cases, representing Bulger against accusations that he is responsible for 19 murders.

Read the Globe story here.

Cape Cod's 11th fallen hero
U.S. Army Cpl. Matthew Gallagher of Falmouth dies in Irag


U.S. Army Cpl. Matthew Gallagher of Falmouth.

The Falmouth Bulletin reports that the Department of Defense has confirmed that U.S. Army Cpl. Matthew Gallagher Gallagher, 22, was killed Sunday in the Wasit Province of Northern Iraq. Corporal Gallagher had been conducting a house sweep when gunfire broke out. He would have turned 23 on July 5 and was serving his second tour of duty.

A graduate of Falmouth High School, Gallagher was assigned to the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, First Cavalry Division based at Fort Hood, Texas. Maureen Hall, the mother of Katie Hall Gallagher, the soldier's wife, said her daughter is trying her best to cope with the tragedy and will travel to Dover Air Force Base to be with her husband when he returns to American soil.

Read the Bulletin story here.

Film to depict secret wartime work of Chatham's Marconi museum


The center is open for the season today.
(Photo courtesy of Chatham Marconi Maritime Center)

 The Boston Globe reports that the Chatham Marconi Maritime Center, a new museum which opened just two years ago this week in Chatham, was a secret weapon for America. The paper says that during World War II, as German submarines circled like sharks off the Atlantic Coast, the US Navy plotted a secret attack against the Nazis using a nondescript red-brick building in this sleepy Cape Cod town.

The United States Navy converted tne WCC wireless maritime radio receiving station into an intelligence hub that intercepted coded messages from German submarines and transmitted them to Washington, D.C., to be analyzed. The initiative, which ran from 1942 until the end of the war, employed nearly 600 sailors, and many longtime Chatham residents are just hearing about it now.

Teachers may have to learn CPR

CBS reports that Beacon Hill is considering legislation that would require all teachers in Massachusetts be trained in CPR.
      The American Heart Association says, every year about 7,000 children suffer sudden cardiac arrest, most often at school.
      Read the CBS report here.

The Berkshire Eagle had reported earlier that for more than 600 other sailors assigned to the elite intelligence Naval base at the Marconi Maritime Center on Route 28 on Ryder's Cove, a ship-to-shore radio station built originally in 1914, the effort was more than fruitful. Their work changed the course of the war and gave fits to the German U-boat fleet, which suddenly had trouble finding American supply ships to sink.

The short documentary produced by Edward Fouhy, a local resident and journalist, is playing at the center now and is the first to detail the station's role in locating and sinking German U-boats that torpedoed American supply ships and tankers as they carried fuel and supplies to embattled Britain.

Read the Globe story here.

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Billy the Koch buys $2.3M photo;
Bourne newlyweds implore thief: give camera back;
Homemade speed sign in East Harwich;
A park in Greece for Maria's mom;
Child porn sentencing in Plymouth;
Samurai sword attack

Billy the Koch buys $2.3M photo; Bourne Newlyweds implore thief: give camera back; Homemade speed sign in East Harwich; A park in Greece for Maria's mom; Child porn sentencing in Plymouth; Samurai sword attack

Greece dedicates park for Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Maria Shriver speaks at ceremony in Athens, Greece, attended by Mrs. Joe Biden

Yesterday Maria Shriver was joined by dignitaries, family, and Special Olympics athletes and fans for the unveiling of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Park in the Maroussi municipality of Athens as part of the 2011 World Summer Games.

The peaceful park that honors her legacy is in the shadow of the OAKA stadium, which was built for the 2004 Olympics and is now home to many World Summer Games sporting events. The park is marked by a marble monument inscribed with the Greek word for Eunice, "EYNIKH" (ef-ni-ki), which translated means "Good Victory" -- a phrase that sums up so precisely Eunice Kennedy Shriver's lifelong commitment to human achievement.

Maria paid tribute to her mother's legacy as her children and her brothers -- Tim, Mark and Bobby, along with their spouses and children -- looked on. Second Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, and Olympians Michelle Kwan, Yao Ming, Dikembe Mutombo, Bart Conner, Edwin Moses and Donna DeVarona were also present for the ceremony.

See the Maria Shriver blog here.

Osterville's Bill the Koch pays $2.4 million for a $400,000 photo of Billy the Kid
The half million he spent to stop Cape Wind was chump change to Bill


Billy the Kid paid 25 cents for his photo in 1880. Billy the Koch paid $2.3 million for it last weekend.

Bill Koch is definitely a high roller, and he apparently loves Billy the Kid as much as he hates Jim Gordon, or that might explain why he has spent millions to buy the only known photo of Billy while also being the #1 financial supporter of the anti-Cape Wind farm NIMBYs.

The New Times in Palm Beach reports that  Bill Koch, one of the poorer Koch brothers -- by "poor" we mean he's worth $3.5 billion, compared to Charles and David Koch's $21.5 billion fortune, according to Forbes -- dropped a cool couple million on a rare portrait of Billy the Kid over the weekend.

Koch, the head of the energy holding company Oxbow Group in West Palm Beach, adds the tintype photograph to a ridiculous collection of top-shelf collectibles -- which you can get a taste of by this profile of his part-time home in Cape Cod.

Apparently Koch really wanted this photograph, since he dropped $2.3 million on the piece at a Denver auction on Saturday, a bit higher than the $400,000 maximum it was expected to go for, according to New York Daily News.

It's also $2,299,999.75 more that the photo cost Billy the Kid in 1880. He paid 25 cents for it.

Read the New Times story here.

Bourne newlyweds implore thief: give camera back
Their wedding photos are on the stolen camera


"It's my only wedding and it's gone. It's so emotional," said Joanne Barton who wedding photos were stolen.

WCVB reports that when thieves broke into the home of wedding photographer Joe Bruno last week, just 5 days after Forrest and Joanne Barton were married, the thieves took Bruno's camera which was the only record of the newlywed's wedding.

"It's my only wedding and it's gone. It's so emotional," said Joanne Barton, and newly married couple from Bourne is heartbroken over memories from their wedding day that have now been lost saying only a few snapshots taken by others are left, including one that captured a just glimpse of a rainbow that professional photographer Bruno said he had captured so well.

Barton said it only adds to the loss, "To have a rainbow at the time you're walking down the aisle and not see it."

Read the WCVB story here.

James Anderson, 61, charged with assault with intent to murder
Handicapped man used Samurai sword to attack another handicapped man

James Anderson who lives at 715 Main Street in West Dennis, was charged with assault to murder; assault & battery with a dangerous weapon, a knife or cutting instrument, on June 22 in Dennis. Pretrial conference scheduled for June 27.

According to police reports, Anderson, who is disabled, was aggravated by neighbors next door "drinking and fighting" all day. He asked the neighbors to be quiet. One man took exception to this and a fight ensued. The victim, also disabled, sustained deep lacerations to the neck. The weapon used is in dispute, and was described variously as a pocket knife and a samurai sword.

The Register reports that a little after 11:30 p.m. Dennis police arrived at the Whip O Will Cottages on Route 28 in West Dennis, where they found a 45-year-old South Yarmouth man suffering from multiple stab wounds to the neck and abdomen following an altercation with Anderson.

To see the total mayhem scene on Cape Cod, check out our free, daily Court Reports here. See the story here.

Oversize, handmade speed limit sign, pops up in East Harwich

Residents, apparently tired of complaining to the local police about speeders tearing down Pleasant Bay Road as it approaches Route 28 at the Wequassett in East Harwich, have erected their own sign to get speeders' attention. cc2day photo.

Plymouth man sentenced in federal court on child pornography charges

Judge George A. O'Toole, Jr. sentenced George H. Lunt, 27, to 96 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release for transportation and possession of child pornography.

On March 15, 2011, Lunt pleaded guilty to two counts of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. In pleading guilty, LUNT admitted to possessing thousands of images and videos of child pornography that included depictions of prepubescent children and toddlers, and sadistic conduct. LUNT admitted to distributing child pornography through online peer-to-peer file-sharing software.

This case arose from an FBI investigation of individuals sharing and trading child pornography over the Internet. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer; and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Boston Field Office made the announcement today.

The case against LUNT was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael I. Yoon of Massachusetts and CEOS Trial Attorney Bonnie L. Kane of the Criminal Division.

(from www.FBI.gov )

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National Grids to buy more wind and solar power;
Mashpee School Board doesn't rehire 22 year veteran;
Mass Tank to build monopoles for Cape Wind farm.

National Grids to buy more wind and solar power; Mashpee School Board doesn't rehire 22 year veteran; Mass Tank to build monopoles for Cape Wind farm

National Grid new president sees utility as leader
Defends power deal with Cape Wind as crucial to saving environment

When the media reports on the higher cost for producing renewable energy with solar and wind, it never includes the huge costs of polluting the air we breath or the damage left by strip coal mines and oil spills.

Luckily for future generations there are business people who are willing to take the heat today for saving our planet's future. National Grid's new president is one of those people.

The Boston Globe reports that Marcy L. Reed, National Grid's new president, defended the utility's decision to purchase power from Cape Wind, saying clean energy projects like the massive offshore wind farm are essential to progressive energy policies, even if they initially cost customers more.

Ms. Reed said she also plans to advance National Grid's use of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, and position the company as a leader in promoting clean energy technologies. Support from companies of National Grid's size, some believe, is the key to making renewable energy more widely available and eventually less expensive.

Read the Globe report here.

Mashpee parents rally around Asst. Principal Brian Hyde
School Board doesn't rehire 22 year veteran

The Mashpee Enteprise reports that Asst. Principal Brian Hyde confirmed last Monday that "at this time, I have not been appointed as the Mashpee High School assistant principal for the 2011-12 school year."

Mr. Hyde, who has been with the district since 1989, was appointed last year to a one-year stint as interim assistant principal after the previous assistant principal, Jane A. Day, was promoted to Mashpee High School principal.

Read the Enterprise story here.

Mass Tank to build monopoles for Cape Wind farm

The New England Business Bulletin in the Standard-Times reports that Mass Tank is literally getting in on the ground floor of Cape Wind by building the monopoles that will support the wind turbines.

The monopoles are tank-like in shape and are thus a perfect product for Mass Tank to include in its manufacturing repertoire.

Read the NEBB story here.

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Doctor shortage here drives up healthcare costs;
Ptown has hosted 2,000 Gay weddings;
Falmouth water stinks again, but you can drink it this year anyway;
Half a wooden drawbridge is better than none; The Canadians are coming!.

Primary care doctor shortage here drives up state healthcare costs; Ptown has hosted 2,000 Gay weddings so far; Falmouth water stinks again, but you can drink it this year anyway; Half a wooden drawbridge is better than none; The Canadians are coming!

2,000 Gay couples wed in Ptown

While Provincetown is still known for its resort ambiance and proximity to the Cape Cod National Seashore, it's also now known as a destination wedding spot for gay and lesbian couples. Since gay marriage became legal in the state in 2004, the small resort town has issued more than 2,000 marriage licenses.
   Even nonresidents can wed there. For the town's rules to get hitched, see here. Read the Detroit Free Press story here.

The Canadians are coming!

No, not the Vancouver puck wielding types, the one bearing credit cards rather than hockey sticks, and most are coming from the nearest Canadian province Quebec.
   The Brockton Enterprise reports that the tourists at this very moment are headed to the South Shore and the Cape Cod for some summertime R and R.
   A dead giveaway to the Canadian tourist invasion is the number of motels and resorts in our region that fly the Canadian flag right next to the Stars and Stripes as the busloads of visitors from the north ride into town.
   In 2010, the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism reported that of the 1.3 million international visitors to our state, over half were from Canada, well ahead of the British and the Germans.
   The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce is preparing for another banner year of Canadian tourism and Plimoth Plantation reported a 20 percent increase in Canadian tourists from 2009 to 2010.
   Read the Enterprise story here.

If Falmouth water smelly icky, drink it
Residents remember last June's e Coli scare?

The Falmouth Enterprise reports that town Water Superintendent William R. Chapman claims that by its very nature, Long Pond, the town's primary source of drinking water, is subject to odor and taste issues.

He said he had fielded a number of calls from residents over the past week concerning the drinking water, but assured the public that recent tests have all come back fine and there are no health risks.

But Martha H. Cox said the first thing that came to her mind was that "it smelled like it did last year when the town had an issue" referring to the discovery of E. coli bacteria in the water supply that eventually led to a week-long town-wide order to boil water just one year ago this month.

Read the Enterprise story here.

His Brother's Keeper
Spotlight returns to Whitey's bro

The Boston Globe reminds us today about the "other Bulger brother", former State Senate President William Bulger.

The newspaper reports it's not just about Whitey. It's also about Billy, and always will be.

The arrest of James "Whitey'' Bulger, the longtime fugitive wanted for 19 murders, puts a spotlight back to William M. Bulger, his younger, ever-loyal brother. The two men exchanged smiles as the handcuffed Whitey was led out of the Boston courtroom on Friday.

The paper says some Bulger loyalists still buy into the Hollywood feelgood story of a good brother and a bad brother who, after 16 years on the lam, turned up in, of all places, Santa Monica. Just like lobster and Cape Cod sunsets, support for the former Senate president is part of Bay State political culture. Staying loyal to ex-House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, even after his conviction on corruption charges, is a variation on the theme.

But for most people, Bulger will be recalled as the man who said only "No comment'' and "Thank you'' when a Globe reporter knocked at his door and told him of his brother's arrest.

Read the Globe story here.

Primary care doctor shortage here drives up state healthcare costs
But ‘RomneyCare' is a revolution that basically has worked


It worked here, but it's not working for Mitt in Iowa.

The Boston Globe has a thoroughly detailed main feature today about the success of the state's 'first in the nation' healthcare system. But the report also points out that one of the causes which have driven cost up is a shortage of primary care physicians on Cape Cod and Western Massachusetts. This long-standing problem tends to drive patients without easy access to a doctor to an emergency room for care because the early years of the Massachusetts health law coincided with a sharp decline in the percentage of physicians practicing internal and family medicine who were accepting new patients.

Despite that, former governor Mitt Romney's health plan is a political policy fiasco in his quest for the GOP nomination for president. However, this detailed Globe review finds the overhaul has achieved its main goals without devastating state finances.

Read the Globe reports here.

Maybe half a wooden drawbridge is better than none


The present Mitchell River bridge on right is next to the Stage Harbor Coast Guard Station.

The Cape Codder reports that a letter from Charlene Dwin Vaughn, assistant director of the council, received by the town late last week, said one of the wooden options put forward by the state's consultants is "the best alternative from a preservation perspective" and that its life cycle costs are "nearly the same" as the bridge the state is favoring and which the selectmen voted to support.

In Chatham the Friends of the Mitchell River Wooden Bridge appealed the state historic commission's decision that the bridge wasn't eligible for the historic register, the federal council was sympathetic to the group's cause.

Read The Cape Codder story here.

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Nona's marriage proposal by Cardinal Borgia;
Klimm given 'walking papers';
Relatives continue search for missing boater;
The Thin Blue Line holds for drunk driving Officer Tebbetts.

Nona's marriage proposal; Klimm given 'walking papers'; Relatives continue search for missing boater; The Thin Blue Line holds for Officer Tebbetts

Barnstable Town Council takes back control of town government
Town Manager Kilimm given 'walking papers' three years early

"People don't stay in a leadership roles forever or they become their own fiefdoms. I believe in term limits."
- Councilor  Henry Farnham.

The Barnstable Enterprise reports that a couple of weeks ago, Town Council President Frederick Chirigotis formed a subcommittee tasked to look at Mr. Klimm's contract. He did not mince words about what is at stake.

"The most important thing we do is hire and fire the town manager. That is the most important thing that happens in this town," Mr. Chirigotis said.

According to the town of Barnstable personnel department, Mr. Klimm, who earns $148,000 a year, started his tenure as town manager on December 1, 1999. The Town Council will 'buy ot' the last years of his contract for $200,000, and he will depart this Fall three years early.

Read the Enterprise story here.

Relatives continue search for missing boater in Mashpee
21-year old Danny Andrade was simply too experienced for this to happen

The Boston Globe reports that although the Coast Guard called off the search Wednesday afternoon, about 24 hours after Andrade's empty boat was found circling on its own in Nantucket Sound off Mashpee, dozens of relatives from East Falmouth and elsewhere have gathered to continue the task. Mashpee police and firefighters are continuing their search.

The newspaper reports that 21-year old Daniel Andrade's relatives and friends said that Andrade, whom everyone in the tightknit seaside community called Danny, was the kind of young man people could trust with their expensive boats. The kind of person his boss could trust with his boatyard business, his grandchildren, or his sick wife, his boss said. The kind of person his family could trust to take a big boat onto open water by himself.

Read the Globe story here.

Orleans officer stopped for drunk driving, disciplined but not charged
The 'Thin Blue Line' holds for Travis Tebbetts

The Cape Codder reports that Officer Travis Tebbetts was stopped by a state police trooper on Route 6 after allegedly driving erratically and at speeds up to 80 miles an hour, but was never charged.

Officer Tebbets was disciplined for the incident after an internal investigation into whether he violated department rules with conduct unbecoming an officer and a hearing was held April 18.

Orleans Police Chief Jeffrey Roy spoke with The Cape Codder at his office. He said that when the Orleans police were notified by the state police that Tebbetts had been detained, a decision had already been made not to arrest him and "they were not asking us ‘Should we arrest him?'"  At the time of the incident, State Trooper Stephen Culver did not arrest Tebbetts for driving under the influence, nor is there any indication that Culver administered a field sobriety test.

Read The Cape Codder story here.

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Bipartisan coalition backs legalizing pot;
Five years for stealing $1,300,000;
Ptown lover's assault charge raised to murder;
"The White Sharks of Chatham" filming here;
Cape's Ridleys released; $85 M solar projects coming here.

Bipartisan coalition backs legalizing pot; Five years for stealing $1,300,000; Ptown lover's assault charge raised to murder; "The White Sharks of Chatham" filming here; Cape's Ridleys released; $85 M solar projects coming here

Just in time to scare away a few tourists - "The White Sharks of Chatham"

Shark film to be filmed in Chatham this July and August

WCBV reports that the son and granddaughter of the late sea explorer Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michael and Celine Cousteau, are working with the production company Mammalfish Inc. of Brooklyn, N.Y., to make a 60- to 90-minute movie tentatively titled "The White Sharks of Chatham." The aim is to raise awareness of the ecosystem and sharks' role in the circle of life. See their Facebook here.

The production team expects to begin interviewing people this week and return for a week in July and three weeks in August.

Read the WCVB report here.

Five year sentence for defrauding Ocean Spray Cranberry
James Repetto split $1.3 million with partner in crime

 The Sandwich Broadsider reports that federal prosecutors say from 1999 through 2008, while former Sandwich resident James Repetto was an operations manager and plant manager for Ocean Spray, he ran a scheme to defraud his employer along with his co-defendant, Stanley Wheeler.

They managed to defraud the company of over a quarter million a year for a grand total of $1,300,000

Repetto had faked being lost at sea earlier this year to avoid capture, but he was sentenced this Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro to five years in prison and ordered to pay back Ocean Spray $1.3 million.

Read the Broadsider story here.

Cape towns get $85 million solar projects

The New England Real Estate Journal reports that American Capital Energy, Inc. (ACE) was awarded a landfill contract to construct $85 million, 18.2 MW of solar generating facilities by Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative.

The project will convert town owned property and landfills in six Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard communities into solar farms which will produce approximately 25% of the energy needs of the participating communities.

Mark Sylvia, commissioner of the Mass. Department of Energy Resources, said, "This is a significant game-changing model." The project is projected to save participating towns $1.42 million in energy costs in the first year.

Read the NTREJ story here.

Cape's Ridley sea turtles heading for the Bay

The Baltimore Sun reports that five endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles nursed back to health by the National Aquarium are being returned to the wild on Sunday. The rarest and smallest of all sea turtles, the five were found stranded last winter along Cape Cod suffering from cold stunning, not unlike hypothermia. They were shipped to Baltimore by the New England Aquarium, where they've spent the past six months rehabilitating in the local aquarium's marine animal rescue program.

If you can't make the release event Sunday, some of the turtles will be fitted with small satellite transmitters so their movements can be tracked. The aquarium plans to plot the animals' locations on a map on its website, which you can see here.

Read the Sun story here.

Provincetown campground domestic assault charge raised to murder
James Costello strangled his boyfriend David Walton

The Provincetown Banner reports that the autopsy on David Walton, 41, who was strangled by his boyfriend James Costello, 45, has resulted in the charges against Costello being raised with murder.

Previously charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery domestic, Costello and was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail at the county correctional facility in Bourne. Prosecutors asked that he now be held without bail, but Judge Brian Merrick set bail at $100,000

Read the Banner story here.

Pot legalizing legislation introduced in congress
Measure would decriminalize marijuana smoking for adults

'Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act' seeks to federally deregulate the personal possession and use of marijuana by adults.

House lawmakers introduced legislation in Congress today to end the federal criminalization of the personal use of marijuana. The LA Times reports the bill's authors, Reps. Ron Paul and Barney Frank, believe marijuana laws should be set at the state, not federal, level, and the goal of the bill, HR 2306, is not to legalize marijuana but to remove it from the list of federally controlled substances while allowing states to decide how they will regulate it.

The bipartisan 'Odd Couple'

No two members of congress could be further apart on most issues (except perhaps basic common sense), and this bipartisan measure -- HR 2306, the 'Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011' is sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank and Texas Republican Ron Paul along with Reps. Cohen (D-TN), Conyers (D-MI), Polis (D-CO), and Lee (D-CA) -- prohibits the federal government from prosecuting adults who use or possess marijuana by removing the plant and its primary psychoactive constituent, THC, from the five schedules of the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Under present law, all varieties of the marijuana plant are defined as illicit Schedule I controlled substances, defined as possessing 'a high potential for abuse,' and 'no currently accepted medical use in treatment.' Said Rep. Cohen, "The federal government shouldn't be spending its time on marijuana."

Take our POT POLL here.

The 'Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act' seeks to federally deregulate the personal possession and use of marijuana by adults. It marks the first time that members of Congress have introduced legislation to eliminate the federal criminalization of marijuana since the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.

Language in this Act mimics changes enacted by Congress to repeal the federal prohibition of alcohol. Passage of this measure would remove the existing conflict between federal law and the laws of those sixteen states that allow for the limited use of marijuana under a physicians' supervision. It would also allow state governments that wish to fully legalize and regulate the responsible use, possession, production, and intrastate distribution of marijuana for all adults to be free to do so without federal interference.

Speaking today at a press conference in support of the measure, NORML Executive Director (and cc2day blogger) Allen St. Pierre said, "The federal criminalization of marijuana has failed to reduce the public's demand or access to cannabis, and it has imposed enormous fiscal and human costs upon the American people. It is time to end this failed public policy and to provide state governments with the freedom to enact alternative strategies -- such as medicalization, decriminalization, and/or legalization -- without running afoul of the federal law or the whims of the Department of Justice."

NORML, along with representatives from the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), and the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), worked closely with members of Congress in drafting the measure.

Additional information regarding this measure is available here.

Scroll down to:
Sturgis and Sandwich High Schools make Newsweek's
list of 500 best high schools in America;
Possible 5-year ban on lobstering here;
Cape Cod Potato Chips goes solar.

Possible 5-year ban on lobstering here; Cape Cod Potato Chips goes solar; Sturgis Charter School and Sandwich High School make Newsweek's list of 500 best high schools in America

Cape's lobster industry in deep crises, more restrictions coming
May face 5-year ban on lobstering here


Possible 5-year ban on lobstering coming.

The Boston TV stations are all reporting that next month, the Division of Marine Fisheries will consider several proposals to increase the  lobster stock.

One plan would be a five-year ban on lobstering south of Cape Cod to Virginia.

Another would close lobstering for one season next summer. The third would be to change the minimum catch size.

According to the state, the number of lobsters in southern New England is about 15 million, down from 35 million more than a decade ago. Some experts believe warming waters are causing problems for the cold weather species, pushing them further off shore into cooler, deeper water.

Read the WCVB story here.

Sturgis Charter School and Sandwich High School make Newsweek's list of 500 best high schools in the US

Sturgis is #301 and Sandwich is #484


Too bad Sandwich fired their superintendent, especially since her tenure placed the Sandwich High School in the top 500 in America under Dr. Johnson's leadership.
     It makes one almost like the "self-perpetuating boards at charter schools which keep town politics out of the classroom.
     Read the Newsweek story here.

Cape Cod Potato Chips goes solar in a big way

Snyder's-Lance, the makers of several popular brands of potato chips and pretzels, announced the completion of the largest ground-based solar farm in Pennsylvania.

The parent company of Snyder's of Hanover, Lance, Cape Cod (Potato Chips, etc.), and Tom's is just the latest in a list of corporations in the Northeast US that have recognized the economic and environmental benefits of installing on-site solar.

Covering 26 acres and comprised of 15,092 solar panels, the 3.5 megawatts (MW) solar farm is located across from the corporate headquarters and manufacturing plant in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

The solar plant is expected to reduce electricity costs at the Hanover facility by 30%. Over 11 million trees would have to be planted to equal the same level of carbon dioxide reduction.

Read the IB Times story here.

Regional Dispatch, new South Chatham fire station, recommended in report

The Cape Cod Chronicle reports that Chatham officials may have to rethink plans for a new fire headquarters, based on the recommendations contained in study of the department. The report, which is still in draft form, recommends that a substation be built in South Chatham and that the proposed new headquarters station on Depot Road be scaled back.

The report also recommends that fire dispatch operations be transferred to a regional center in order to free up firefighters for emergency responses.

The report was commissioned late last year to determine if there are ways to make the department more efficient, and the two most far reaching recommendations in the report are that the town pursue a fully-staffed substation in South Chatham and that dispatch services be "transitioned to a regional platform."

Read today's Chronicle here.

Harwich STAND Students testify on Beacon Hill on Genocide Bill

Four Harwich High School students are leading the charge on Beacon Hill to change educational standards in public schools in the commonwealth to include at least two case studies of genocide within history and social science curriculum frameworks.

The effort is not a new one, but it seems to be gaining support among state legislators, Harwich High School teacher and STAND (Stand Taking Action Now: Darfur) Advisor John Dickson said on Monday. A slightly different bill was submitted to the Legislature last year, Dickson said, including a request for money, and it died in the ways and means committee.

The legislation is House Bill 1064, "An Act Concerning Genocide Education." It seeks to have at least two case studies of genocide taught in public schools. Examples given are the genocide of Armenian Christians, Bosnian Muslims, Cambodians, Rwandan Tutsis, Darfurians and the Holocaust.

The legislation directs the department of education to recommend curricular materials detailing the underlying causes, international reaction, progression and aftermath of the genocides.

Read today's Chronicle here.

Scroll down to:
Kingston town administrator named
new Chatham town manager;
Sen. Brown is Boy Scout "Citizen of the Year";
Which are the state's prettiest towns?
Lawsuit against Sandwich School Committee in court tomorrow;
Bourne Selectmen still say "no lifeguards this summer".

Kingston town administrator new Chatham town manager; Sen. Brown is Boy Scout "Citizen of the Year"; Which are the state's prettiest towns? Lawsuit against Sandwich School Committee in court tomorrow; Bourne Selectmen still say "no lifeguards this summer"

Boy Scouts honor Scott Brown
Junior Senator will receive Distinguished Citizen Award Friday

The Cape Cod & Islands Council of Boy Scouts of America's Eleventh Annual Distinguished Citizens
Award Dinner will honor Senator Scott Brown and the 2011 Eagle Scouts
for their service to the community.

The event is Friday, June 24, 2011 at the
Yarmouth House Restaurant, 335 Route 28, West Yarmouth.
6:30 PM Social Hour
7:00 PM Dinner & Program

Lawsuit against Sandwich School Committee to be heard tomorrow

The Sandwich Broadsider reports that the recent lawsuit against the Sandwich School Committee is scheduled for a hearing Thursday, June 23 in Barnstable Superior Court.

The lawsuit, filed by former school committee members Aleta Barton and Bob Guerin, as well as resident Richard Augustine, alleges a violation of the Open Meeting Law regarding a May 3 executive session meeting attended by four members.

Read the Broadsider story here.

Bourne Selectmen still say "No Lifeguards this summer"

Even Boston news crews with their satellite trucks camped out at Monument Beach during the afternoon, attracting wide community attention to last night's selectmen's meeting didn't change anyone's mind.

The Bourne Courier reports that despite residents safety and security concerns, common sense arguments about the value of lifeguards, questions about legal and insurance liability and the rationale for at least not putting rafts in the water, the selectmen refused to change their decision to cancel the lifeguard program naming budget as the problem.

Read the Courier story here.

Kingston town administrator named Chatham town manager


Ms. Goldsmith is Chatham Town Manager.

The Cape Cod Chronicle reports that Jill Myers Goldsmith, currently town administrator in Kingston, was the board of selectmen's top choice Tuesday to serve as Chatham's new town manager. The board voted unanimously to offer the job to Goldsmith, pending contract talks.

Ms. Goldsmith prides herself on being a quick learner. She was called in as interim town administrator in Princeton after the long-time town executive there died suddenly, and had to negotiate contracts with town employees and put together a budget in a very short time. It was the type of challenge the California native and UCLA graduate likes.

Currently the town administrator in Kingston, where her contract was recently extended, she said she was recruited to apply for the Chatham position by consultant Richard Kobayashi. She said she was attracted to the community partly because of its charter, which is almost identical to one she worked under as town manager in Uxbridge from 2006 to 2009. Also, she added in praise of the town, "There's Chatham, and there's everywhere else."

The selectmen interviewed four finalists including Robert Whritenour, former town manager of Falmouth, and Richard Brown, city manager of East Providence, R.I.

See the Chronicle Thursday more details.

Channel Five picks states prettiest towns

The slideshow on WCVB's website lists 53, and several are here on Cape Cod. See if you can find the over half dozen on the Cape.

See the WCVB slideshow here.

Scroll down to:
What did Rory McIlroy use for a champagne goblet?
Seal killings aren't new to Cape Cod;
Woods Hole Film Fest turns 20;
Brewster dogs may no longer poop in the park.

What did Rory McIlroy use for a champagne goblet? Seal killings aren't new to Cape Cod; Woods Hole Film Fest turns 20; Brewster dogs may no longer poop in the park

Dogs won't have their day in Brewster
They are drummed out of Drummer Boy Park, even better, bigger location found


Selectman got 50 emails about poop in the park.

The Cape Codder reports that the dog committee voted 3-1 Tuesday to reconsider its previous recommendation to fence in eight-ninths of an acre at Drummer Boy Park for the exclusive use by dogs and their owners. By another 3-1 vote, it decided to proffer a second plan to selectmen, razing several acres behind the police station to create a dog park, and most likely prohibit dogs from Drummer Boy Park.

The weekly says that at the earlier meeting, the committee rejected the police department site due to the cost of clearing the woods, removing the stumps and seeding the area. But Selectman Ed Lewis, who chairs the dog committee, received 50 emails complaining about the possible dog park at Drummer Boy so he looked into the police station site once more and came up with an estimate of $12,000 to $13,000 an acre.

As previously reported here this historic park has been used for the recent years as an "unofficial dog park" in late Fall through Summer when there is little use of the area by others.

But people using the park have complained about the puppy poop left by careless dog owners.

Read The Cape Codder story here.

Woods Hole Film Fest turns 20
Free film on the Wampanoags to be shown


Heidi Ewing as the Filmmaker in Residence for the 20th Woods Hole Film Festival.

The Woods Hole Film Festival  turns 20 this year, running July 30-August 6, 2011. Beyond films, the fest boasts panels, parties and other insanity done Woods Hole-style. From the official press release:

One film with an area connection include We Still Live Here, a remarkable story of cultural revival by the Wampanoag of Southeastern Massachusetts, and Losing Control by Harvard grad Valerie Weiss, a quirky romantic comedy about a female Harvard graduate science student who wants proof that her boyfriend is "the one."

From Saturday, July 30, through Saturday, August 6, the Woods Hole Film Festival observes its 20th anniversary with a celebration befitting the oldest film festival on Cape Cod and the islands.

Dedicated to showcasing and promoting the work of independent, emerging filmmakers, particularly in New England, it will screen nearly 20 narrative features and feature documentaries, many of which are world and US premieres, and 60 short films (narrative, documentary, animation and experimental) in competition, as well as hold a number of special screenings, parties, panel discussions, and workshops by this year's Filmmaker-in-Residence-all at the water's edge in the quaint village of Woods Hole.

Read the story in Film Threat here.

Seal killings not new to Cape

Take our Poll:
Who do you think
is killing grey seals?

The New York Times reports that last fall, a gray seal had to be euthanized after it was found shot in the head in Truro. And in 2007, a young harp seal was shot in Sandwich. Todd Nickerson, a special agent with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who is investigating the new cases, said the odds of finding the culprit were long.

"It's difficult," Mr. Nickerson said, adding that bullet fragments were the main evidence and that his agency was encouraging people to come forward if they had any leads.

A few tips have come in, Mr. Nickerson said, though he would not elaborate. Several groups, including the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Humane Society, are offering a reward of nearly $15,000, he said.

Read the Times story here.

Why McIlroy went to bed early
He had to get home and celebrate with his chums back in Ulster


After a couple bottles of the bubbly, Rory drank from the Trophy itself, then headed for bed.

Rory McIlroy headed for the bar, but if the manager of the Marriott Suites hotel in Bethesda, just a 15-minute drive from where the Ulsterman had wreaked carnage at Congressional, was raking about for crates of Cristal he needn't have bothered.

Rory's order was a bit like himself - down to earth and a little bubbly. That accounted for the four bottles of (non-vintage) champagne to sit alongside two cases of Heineken, two cases of Guinness and three bottles of vodka.

But the 22-year-old headed for bed long before most of his entourage - he had a 6:30 am flight to a prearranged corporate day on Cape Cod to catch before he could return home to enjoy what he will regard as his proper party with pals in Holywood, Northern Ireland.

Read the Daily Record story here.

Scroll down to:
Stars soak up sun here;
MA energy policy;
Chatham beach safety;
Orleans man drowns;
Harwich mulls middle school;
Chatham sewer impact;
Ptown to get more bike friendly;
Zoo birth control;
Ted a loss to health care debate.

Please see the archives menu on the right for access to older articles in this column.

About

CapeCodToday.com searches the web every day to bring you stories about Cape Cod and the Islands found in thousands of media sources.
When possible we add local insights to enhance this coverage.
If you have a news tip, please email the managing editor here.
Walter Brooks, Editor, CapeCodToday.com
Maggie Kulbokas, Managing Editor

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