EXTRA...

Most Cape towns make "Most Liquor Licenses" list

13 Cape towns in Top 75 list with most liquor licenses per resident

Only Bourne, Mashpee and Sandwich not on list with Wareham the "driest"

By Walter Brooks

It's a lot easier to get a bottle of booze in Brewster than in Boston. That's because Brewster has a liquor license ratio of one license for every 501 man, woman and child in that bucolic seaside town.

Brewster is on a list of the 75 Massachusetts town with the most liquor license per resident, and only three Cape town escape the list.

Is tourism to blame, or to thank

Apologists claims it's because Cape Cod is a major vacation destination, so we must have more restaurants - with liquor available - to accommodate this major part of our economy.

In fact, most research suggests tourism (euphemistically now renamed the hospitality industry) accounts for well over half of all the dollars spent on Cape Cod each year, and it is spent in a four-month period. Tourism also employs huge numbers of our residents, and half the restaurants here would be out of business in a heartbeat without the credit cards being flashed by our the 5-8 million visitors every summer.

What towns are "driest"?

The just-off Cape town of Wareham is at the "driest" of  the 75 towns with the most liquor licenses with one for every 556 residents while Provincetown has a liquor license for every 54 residents, and is the "wettest."

That works with the vacation area explanation - who vacations ion Wareham?

Wellfleet is the "third wettest" with a license for every 103 residents and two Martha's Vineyard towns, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, are next wettest with 128 and 130 residents per license.

Plymouth is among the "driest" with 535, and Fair Haven is drier with 556 per capita.

Of the fifteen towns on the Cape, only Bourne, Mashpee and Sandwich are not in the top 75 towns listing per capita liquor licenses.

Cape Cod is a sandspit held together by liquor stores

The list goes on with almost every Cape Cod town in the top 75 statewide. Here's the breakdown showing number of residents per license across the Cape and on The Islands and the South Shore starting with the "driest" to the "wettest", but "dry" ain't too dry when you are among the 75 wettest in Massachusetts which has more than 350 towns:

• Wareham - 556
• Fair Haven 556
• Cohasset - 552
• Mattapoisett - 536
• Plymouth - 535
• West Bridgewater - 513
• Brewster - 501
• Eastham - 495
• Foxborough - 479
• Harwich - 442
• Falmouth - 437
• Yarmouth - 428
• Barnstable - 417
• Tisbury - 345
• Dennis - 291
• Chatham - 258
• Orleans - 233
• Truro - 213
• Aquinnah - 177
• Nantucket - 144
• Edgartown - 130
• Oak Bluffs - 128
• Wellfleet - 105
• Provincetown - 57

And you all thought Wareham was such a wicked place - phooey.

Move to The Vineyard and get blitzed easier.

Boston TV Channel 5 WCVB makes it fun to see whether your town is on the list of the "Top 75 Massachusetts Towns with the Most Liquor Licenses per Resident" here.

To see all the Xtras, click here, and to write a Letter to the Editor, click here.

Kennedy home given to Boston charity

TODAY's quote: "I hope for an America where neither "fundamentalist" nor "humanist" will be a dirty word, but a fair description of the different ways in which people of good will look at life and into their own souls." - Ted Kennedy, Oct. 3, 1983.

Ted Kennedy's home donated to Kennedy Institute

The late senator promised his mother it would be given to charity

The flag at half-mast has been an all too familiar sight at the Kennedy home in Hyannisport. File photo.Half the media on earth today is reporting that "The Compound was sold." The details are a little different.

The late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy's home in Hyannisport overlooking Nantucket Sound has been given to the institute in his name, fulfilling wishes outlined in his will.

The rest of what is commonly known as "the Kennedy Compound" belongs to other family members.

The Boston-based Kennedy Institute issued a statement yesterday about the transaction. The statement said that Ted had promised his mother Rose that the Hyannisport home would be preserved for charitable use.

The institute said the house would host seminars and educational programs and eventually would be opened to the general public, so Cape Cod will still remain the host for famous folks and world leaders which is certainly good for our tourism businesses.

The 12-bedroom, 9,000-square-foot house hosted the family’s famous touch football games, the wedding of Patrick Kennedy and the wedding reception for Ted Kennedy’s niece Caroline Kennedy. It was the summer White House for President John F. Kennedy and was the place the family gathered after he was assassinated in 1963.

Read the detailed report in today's Boston Globe.

To see all the Xtras, click here, and to write a Letter to the Editor, click here.

Sticker shock school budget for Harwich

TODAY's quote: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." - Derek Bok.

Draft school budget gives Harwich sticker shock

Biggest extra cost in FY 13, $1,185,813, for 8 new special education students

   The Ashland High School in Massachusetts will be the style for the new Monomoy High School.

Carolyn Cragin, the new Monomoy School District Superintendent, showed her draft budget for the new district last week, and it had a couple of shocks for Harwich voters.  Because the two towns' elementary school are a part of the district budget for 2013, the incensed potential is shared by both towns. After the new high school is open in September 2014, the two towns will again control their own elementary schools and their budgets.

The Cape Cod Chronicle reports that while rough projections last year called for Harwich taxpayers to be spending about $400,000 more on education in the first year of the region, the draft budget this week hints that the extra cost could be as much as $2.4 million. 

Three-quarters of that extra expense would be to cover the cost of eight new special education students. Because of a reporting error, an item about the Monomoy Regional School District budget proposal for fiscal 2013 included an incorrect estimate of increased special education costs. The costs are expected to be $1,185,813 higher than predicted.

Special Education cost to increase 63 percent in one year

The Special Education goes from $1,872,796 in the FY 12, to $3,058,609 in FY  13, which is $1,185,813, and represents an increase of 63.3 percent.  Local districts have no control over the Special Education costs as they are mandated by the state.

Click here to read the FY13 budget presentation.

Ashland High School style chosen for new regional school

Monomoy regional school officials also revealed this week that they have chosen the Ashland High School as the design model for the new Monomoy Regional High School scheduled to open in September of 2014.

In a unanimous vote Thursday evening, the building committee expressed its support for the design, which features a bright, open layout and "neighborhoods" of classrooms, public spaces and administration rooms off a central hallway.

The predictable objections will probably be that the design is not "Cape Coddy" enough.

To see all the Xtras, click here, and to write a Letter to the Editor, write to info@capecodtoday.com or click here.

Only seven percent reply to D-Y school survey

TODAY's quote: “Most respondents indicated they left the district in pursuit of more effective teachers and school administrators... for more academic opportunities and college preparation."
- Carol Woodbury, D-Y Superintendent.

Only seven percent of D-Y School Choice parents answer why they left district

Superintendent Dr. Carol Woodbury.Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District Superintendent Carol Woodbury wants to make her system the best on the Cape. She wants not only to  stop the outflow of students using School Choice to attend out of town schools, but she also wants to start attracting students outside of Dennis and Yarmouth to chose D-Y instead.

In her efforts to get the information necessary to do that, and save tons of money for her two towns in the process,  she is more than a little stymied by the lack of help from the taxpayers in her own district who won't take the time to fill out the questionnaire she mailed to them last October asking why they left.

The Register reports that only 32 of 485 parents who sent their children to out-of-district schools responded to a survey that Superintendent Carol Woodbury sent in October. Most of those responding to the survey chose Harwich schools.

Since it cost the Dennis-Yarmouth School District over $2 million to pay other districts to educate its students this year, one would think the 485 parents receiving Dr. Woodbury's questionnaire would have eagerly taken a few minute to save their own tax dollars, but they didn't.

Schools are a business. Failing businesses which can fly to pieces with horrifying speed.dThis district along with Mashpee and Sandwich has a year - maybe two - to learn how to market themselves because a school district today with School Choice is, in fact, a business. 

And in business, once it’s in free-fall, a failing business can fly to pieces with horrifying speed.

To see a chart below showing the profit and loss through School Choice for all the districts on Cape Cod, and to read the previous story on this problem click here.

To see all the Xtras, click here, and to write a Letter to the Editor, write to info@capecodtoday.com or click here.

Yarmouth doesn't want more old ladies

TODAY's quote: “The committee felt they had answered what they were asked to do and they feel it is appropriate to the setting." - Colleen McLaughlin, Yarmouth King’s Highway Committee.

Yarmouth doesn't like windmills OR old ladies

Folks who chose to live along Route 6A tend to regard their area as not only precious, but historic, and they object to modern nuisances like wind turbines, although they apparently are oblivious to the thousands of telephone and electricity poles littering their view.

Now four, possibly even five, elderly Yarmouth women with physical or developmental disabilities want to live as a group in a one-story frame house which looks much like most Cape Cod houses with a farmer’s porch.

A typical such home by Group7 Design, is on the right.

According to this week's Register, the design firm even removed the garage and reduced the size to make it look more "Cape Coddy."

Neighbors complain that the house is still a little larger than those in the 'hood, and the 'hood is Route 6A, a.k.a. "Old King's Highway", and they think it "looks like a doctor's office."

To see all the Xtras, click here, and to write a Letter to the Editor, write to info@capecodtoday.com or click here.

Big price tag for Sandwich's new public safety facility; Mashpee helps family after fire destroys home; Rabies victim ID'ed

TODAY's quote: “Actually, I was surprised that the number wasn’t higher."
- Sandwich Capital Committee Chairman John W. Juros.

New Sandwich Fire/Police facility will cost each taxpayer $4,940

The Falmouth Enterprise reports that the preliminary plans were unveiled for the new $26M public safety facility in South Sandwich. As currently proposed, the facility would cost the average taxpayer roughly $247 a year for 20 years, a total of $4,940.

Mashpee move to help family whose home was destroyed by fire last weekend

There was nothing left after firemen doused the flames.

The Mashpee Enterprise reports that Mashpee Fire Chief George W. Baker Jr. said the fire at the two-story colonial style home owned by single-mother Christine Mackie who has three children was caused by careless disposal of cooking debris, and is considered accidental.

Chief Baker said there is physical evidence that a plastic microwaveable container was placed in an oven by one of the children, caught fire, and was disposed of in a trash can in the garage.

An online site is collecting donations to help the family.

As of this morning 144 people have pledged over $14,500, see and donate here.

Marstons Mill man who died of rabies is identified

Fox-TV reports that Kevin Galvin was the  63-year-old Marstons Mills man who contracted rabies in December died this week.

Galvin’s death is the first fatal rabies case contracted in Massachusetts since 1935.

To see all the Xtras, click here, and to write a Letter to the Editor, write to info@capecodtoday.com or click here.

Special Town Meeting article targets Pilgrim Nuclear

TODAY's quote: “Pilgrim Coalition is a coalition of individuals and groups concerned with safety issues related to Pilgrim. Our initial focus is stopping relicensing until lessons learned from Fukushima are instituted. There’s a lot of support.” -Mary “Pixie” Lampert.

Duxbury will have their say on Pilgrim nuclear plant

Town also canceled emergency training session after plant reneged on funding

When it comes to wiping the glow off Entergy, one can always count on Duxbury, the off Cape town just north of Plymouth.

At the March 10 Special Town Meeting voters will consider an article, sponsored by Pilgrim Watch, which would call on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission not to grant a new license to Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station until recommended safety improvements are made.

The Fukushima disaster in Japan frightens residents near Pilgrim Nuclear. NRC photo.Those recommendations are based on a report done for the NRC after the Fukushima disaster in Japan last year.

According to the Duxbury Clipper, Selectman Chris Donato and Fire Chief Kevin Nord are among those supporting the question.

Plymouth voters will see a similar question on the ballot at their spring town election.

At the same time, the town has canceled training for a nuclear emergency due to a dispute with Entergy over how much money the town should get from the company.

According the Boston Globe, town officials say they were promised $187,000 annually for the next five years in emergency management funds, but new management at the company reneged on the agreement. Given the lack of funding, Duxbury canceled the training.

Nuclear power plant operators are required to help fund local emergency preparedness in towns located within 10 miles of the plant.

Read the Duxbury Clipper story here. Read the Boston Globe story here.

To see all the Xtras, click here, and to write a Letter to the Editor, write to info@capecodtoday.com or click here.

$3 billion cargo of gold, platinum and diamonds found off Cape

TODAY's quote: “There is nothing more frustrating for each of our crew, as well as our financial supporters, to see, touch and feel the bullion box and not be able to quickly and simply retrieve it."
- Greg Brooks, SSR.

World's most valuable wreck now confirmed found off Cape

   She was only 23 when she died, but the British steamer Port of Nicholson died very rich.

The Britsh steamer Port of Nicholson was carrying a nation's treasure to safety

By Walter Brooks

The story about the discovery of a British cargo ship carrying over $3,000,000,000 (that's BILLIONS) was first reported here exactly three years ago, and salvagers first discovered what was then believed to be the Port Nicholson in 600-800 feet of water off Cape Cod in 2008.

Three years ago Sub Sea Research LLC (SSR), a Portland Maine based company, said it had located the world's richest shipwreck, the Port Nicholson, carrying a secret cargo of 71 tons of platinum sunk by a German submarine U87 off the coast of Cape Cod.

According to a publicity release in today's Yahoo News, SSR says it has proof that this is the Port Nicholson.

The project was shrouded in secrecy due to the enormous wealth involved. The cargo being transported to the United States was to help pay for America's Lend Lease gifts to Russia during the Second World War, and as GOP Senator Everett Dickson once said, "A billion here, a billion, there - pretty soon you're talking about 'real money'."

The scale of the treasure trove is likely to lead to a series of competing claims. Salvage laws are notoriously complex and experts say there could be years of legal wrangling ahead for SSR before anyone gets to buy a new Rolls Royce or two.

The sinking in June, 1942, Soviet envoys disappear

It took two torpedoes and about 7 hours to sink the Port Nicholson, a steel-hulled, 481 ft. merchant ship, coal fired freighter built in 1918 at the Tynes & Wear shipyard. A U-87 also fired at the troop ship in the convoy, the Cherokee, quickly sinking her with a heavy loss of lives.

She was carrying two special envoy Russian (USSR) agents overseeing the delivery of a very important Lend-Lease payment from the Soviet Russia to the United States. She along with four other commercial vessels were being escorted by an unusually high number of military ships.

The normal ratio at the time was near 1:10 or less, but this convoy ratio was 6:5. Maybe it was the fact that they were delivering 1,707,000 oz. troy, in 400 oz. bars of platinum. Strangely the two USSR special envoy individuals quickly disappeared after being rescued and brought to American shores. They were not de-briefed like all the other survivors were.

To see all the Xtras, click here, and to write a Letter to the Editor, write to info@capecodtoday.com or click here.

Warren vs. Stewart; Mental Health alert

TODAY's quote: "We need to put together an organized base to help ensure that critical mental health services are provided to patients in Southeastern MA, Cape Cod and the Islands."
- State Senator Marc R. Pacheco.

Elizabeth Warren on Tom Brady

John Stewart asks Elizabeth Warren "who's the best quarterback, Tom Brady or Eli Manning?"

Meeting Sunday on Mental Health Services crises in Southeastern Massachusetts

Concerns over the available mental health services for Cape Cod and the rest of Southeastern Massachusetts has led to calling a meeting this Sunday at the First Parish Church in Taunton at noon.

Federal, state and local officials, municipal, community and religious leaders, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the Coalition of Social Justice will be invited to the meeting to plan a strategy to protect and to ensure the continuation of quality mental health service.

Interested parties can contact Senator Marc R. Pacheco of the 1st Plymouth and Bristol District  at (617) 722-1551 or (508) 822-3000 or email Colby Marques at colby.marques@masenate.gov.

To see all the Xtras, click here, and to write a Letter to the Editor, write to info@capecodtoday.com or click here.

Falmouth Lip Dub; Cape property a "steal"; Cod stocks tumble

TODAY's quote: “The government expects that the parties will agree that Waters suffered some amount of loss. The question at sentencing will be, how much?” - Assistant U.S. Attorney Karin Bell

Morse Pond School Lip Dub of "Lean on Me" for "No Guff Week" in Falmouth

The Falmouth Enterprise reports it took a week of work to coordinate the video. It is about seven minutes long and will be shown to students for the first time at the assembly as part of the town's "No Guff" week.

Mendon man steals $2 million from employer, buys Cape Cod house and a boat

At least Glen Dias knew where to spend his ill-gotten gains. The Milford Daily News reports that Assistant U.S. Attorney Karin Bell says Glen Dias of Mendon stole $2 million from his employer in the 1990s and used the money to buy property on Cape Cod and a Stingray boat.

From at least 1998 to November 2007, Dias stole lab equipment, parts, software and confidential product materials from Waters Corp. He then sold the equipment to third-party distributors with the help of his best friend, Richard Panorese, and a fellow Waters employee, Kenneth Cucksee, Bell wrote the court in the sentencing phase of the trial this week.

Alarm over new report on Cod stock

The Standard-Times reports today that the news sent shock waves through fishing circles, but the survey results were greeted with disbelief by fishermen who operate in the Gulf of Maine which extends from north of Cape Cod to Maine.

Fishermen say they are catching a lot of cod and see plenty of evidence of stock abundance.

To see all the Xtras, click here, and to write a Letter to the Editor click here.