EXTRA...

Chatham beach cottages denied historic status; Crowded Teaticket Highway to get a little elbow room; Catch share battle continues; Did whales once walk the land?

TODAY's quote: "That's very brazen of the EDF." - Tina Jackson, commercial fisherperson on a recent claim by the Environmental Defense Fund.

What's cooking this Thanksgiving

   Things haven't changed too much through the years--women still spend today in the kitchen creating a Thanksgiving feast.  Although the men folk were most likely kept busy by something other than football. Above, costumed interpreters prepare blood pudding (not on our Thanksgiving menu this year) at Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth.  Photo by Jane Booth.

Chatham beach cottages denied historic status

The Boston Globe reports that the five North Beach cottages scheduled for demolition are again facing their final fate after being denied historic status by the National Register of Historic Places. In August, Cape Cod National Seashore Superintendent George Price announced that the tenants would be evicted and the Seashore-owned cottages would be demolished.

Fear of the cottages beginning destroyed during a storm and the resulting debris entering Chatham Harbor and other bodies of water led to the Seashore's decision to tear down the rustic homes. Shocked by the decision to destroy their family summer homes, the tenants turned to the Town of Chatham for assistance and eventually the National Register of Historic Places, which this week, denied their request for federal historic protection.

According to the Globe, Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places Patrick Andrus ruled that the cottages do not meet the criteria for federal protection. Superintendent Price has yet to announce exactly when, or how the Seashore will move forward with the demolition.

Read the story in the Globe here.

Crowded Teaticket Highway to get a little elbow room

A commercially-crowded section of Falmouth's Teaticket Highway will get a little elbow room according to the Falmouth Bulletin.  The 300 Committee is planning on purchasing what was once Joe's Driving Range and turning it into a park.

Joe's, which has been a place to practice your golf swing since the 1950s, closed shop this October, according to the weekly.

The 300 Committee is looking to purchase the land and convert it into a conservation area with walking paths. Once the land is purchased, the group estimates the project to take a year or two from start to finish.

Read the story in the Falmouth Bulletin here.

Catch share: the battle rages on

The Gloucester Times reports that the catch share battle rages on. This week the Environmental Defense Fund, a pro-catch share organization, announced that, "Congress supports catch shares" and local fisherman Tina Jackson told the Times, she finds that to be a "very brazen" statement.

Jackson doubts that Congress supports the locally-unpopular policy that was put into effect in May 2010.  Amanda Leland of the Environmental Defense Fund cited a letter in support of catch shares as having influenced a recent House-Senate conference committee meeting. Critics of the letter have labeled it pro-catch share and said the majority of the 100 signatures on the letter were those of members of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association, a pro-catch share group.

Of the letter, Jackson told the Times, given two weeks, she could gather two or three times that number of signatures for an anti-catch share letter. To that end, Jackson plans on submitting her own petition to Congress.

Read the story in the Gloucester Times here.

Did whales once walk the land?

The Week poses a very interesting question in a recent article--did whales have legs? The seemingly odd query is a result of a very interesting find in Egypt--the remains of a more than 40-million-year-old whale.  The discovery in the Tarfa Valley of Egypt lends credence to the scientific belief that at one time, whales split their time between land and water.

Although there was evidence of legs--the legs were no where to be found--probably eaten, according to experts.

Researchers have named the creature aegyptocetus tarfa, or Egyptian whale from Tarfa.  The discover makes the possibility of whales roaming the land at one time, even more probable.

Read the story in The Week here.

Yesterday's Extra:
Only hours old, new gaming law triggers first lawsuit; First Thanksgiving: better story, than actual history; Pilgrims: Bloggers with quill pens?
Lawsuit could muffle the voice of NPR on the Vineyard; Former Secret Service agent shares personal account of JFK's assasination