Cape & Islands News

Mixed-use community comes to Cape Cod

Housing will ease the burden on veterans looking for a place to live

   An architect's rendering of a street in the commercial section of Forestdale Village in Sandwich. About 10,000 square feet of shops, a restaurant, a market and medical and professional offices--some with second and third floor apartments--will be built in the community. Courtesy of Bailey, LLC Brokerage and Consulting.

By Gerald Rogovin

A first in this part of the country -- a mixed-use community for military veterans, disabled people and seniors -- is about to rise in Sandwich.  Forestdale Village will include 148 single-family homes ranging in price from $140,000 to $180,000. Twenty-five percent will be offered at a reduced figure.  About 100,000 square feet of shops, a branch bank, medical and professional buildings, a restaurant and a market comparable to Peterson's in Yarmouth Port or Rings Bros. in South Dennis, are planned.   Second- and third-floor apartments will be added to some of the buildings.

One of the homes will be given to the Sandwich American Legion post by the developer to use any way it wishes.

In an effort to make the village a self-contained community, a pharmacy and/or a 60-bed assisted living facility could be added in the second phase of construction. A sewage treatment plant will also be built on the site.

The concept of thanking veterans for their service by reducing their struggle to find housing that meets special needs, and eases financing problems has begun to take wing in the nation. Ground was broken earlier this month in Palmetto, Florida, on a prototype community. Other sites are being considered in Alabama, Louisiana and New Jersey.

"It will be sort of a homogenized Mashpee Commons." - Jonathan Fitch

Impetus for communities focused on veterans has come from the American Ideals Foundation, a Ruskin, Florida-based organization that got
a 78-home subdivision under way in Palmetto. It enlisted local contractors, bankers and mortgage consultants to join forces, and create the
community there.

"Veterans have had problems getting homes they can actually move around in on walkers and in wheelchairs. It's been going on for decades.
This recognizes a glitch in giving vets what they need, and doing something about it," a foundation official told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Steve Powers, Forestdale Village's developer and a Sandwich resident, apparently shares that point of view.  He would not consent to an interview, but designated Jonathan Fitch, his attorney, and two realtors marketing the project to be his spokesmen. All three described Powers as a patriot, proud of his neighbors who work at the Massachusetts Military Reservation and veterans of wars in which Americans have been involved.

Forestdale Village will be located on a 75.9-acre parcel on the east side of Route 130 just south of a Mobil Mart and about three-quarters of a mile north of the Animal Inn. Until the 1980s, the parcel was considered one of the town's five commercial areas. A post office, gas station, restaurant and fire station were located in the vicinity.

Powers promised the town he would keep as many trees as possible on the site. When built out, roughly half of it will be open space with a
boundary of woods.

Interiors of the homes will be designed to make the lives of disabled residents, in particular, simpler and easier. To move around their homes
without difficulty, they will be provide with doors that open out from bathrooms. Access boards between rooms will be no higher than a half-inch
to accommodate wheelchairs.

All five styles of the homes will include attached garages. Ramps into the homes will be built from inside the garages onto front porches and
into the interiors to protect residents from snow and icy conditions.

An architect's rendering of the residential homes that will be part of the mixed-use community. Courtesy of Bailey, LLC Brokerage and Consulting.

Houses will be positioned to the fronts of their lots to shorten the distances to driveways and sidewalks. Lot sizes will be smaller than Sandwich has required in the past to increase the percentage of open space in the community.

Smart growth principles will be incorporated into the community, including "walkability", the term used by planners to emphasize the ability of
residents to walk from their homes to the commercial area to shop and for necessary services.

"It will be sort of a homogenized Mashpee Commons," said Fitch. The Commons was one of the first smart growth developments in the U.S.

Powers has worked with Sandwich and state officials for several years to bring the development to fruition, according to Fitch, Peter Hanson and Christoper E. Bailey, the brokers.  Simultaneously, after acquiring a contract for the land, Powers queried neighbors along Route 130 to get their ideas about how the site should developed.

"For a long time, Sandwich has not been known for accepting commercial development," Fitch observed. "But town officials have been responding to change, perhaps spurred by the probable loss of the Mirant plant and the changed economy."

"While this attitude change was taking place, along came Steve Powers, an entrepreneur willing to take a risk," Fitch added. He credited the
October, 2009, Town Meeting vote to change the zoning in the Forestdale area back to commercial with pushing the project along.

At that same meeting, the Town hired a planning firm to find ways to increase its tax base, amended the Sandwich comprehensive plan to
allow the Powers proposal to proceed, and created an economic development committee.

Prior to that meeting, the Town permitted the residential portion of Forestdale Village through a Local Initiative Program administered by the
state's housing and community development agency.

Bailey agrees with Fitch's opinion that Sandwich residents have changed their view of themselves. "It shows in our dealings with Powers," he said, pointing to the work of town officials and the actions of the Town Meeting.

One consequence of those actions is the potential for the Town's economy. According to Powers, an estimated $650,000 in added tax revenues could be gained with minimal impact on the local schools because of the high percentage of Forestdale Villagers 55 years and older.

Gerald Rogovin began as a journalist in 1948 in dailies, weeklies, radio and magazines; and in the past 9 years back to weeklies and magazines. In between, for 36 years, he headed his own public relations firm in Boston. He lives in Yarmouth Port with a skepticism confirmed by 60 years in the inky trade.

Cape Cod Regional Tech wins $61,750 wind turbine grant

Lower Cape school one of seven recipients of $700,000 in state clean energy grants

In a release today, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) announced Commonwealth Wind Community Scale Wind Initiative grants in the amount of $700,000.  The grants will be divided among seven recipients across the state.

“With two dozen wind turbines already in place across the state, Massachusetts communities and businesses clearly recognize the important role wind power has to play in the clean energy future Governor Patrick envisions for the Commonwealth,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard Sullivan, who serves as chairman of MassCEC’s board of directors

The grants will be used for one design and construction project totaling 3.2 megawatts in capacity and six feasibility studies for wind energy that will total between 5.4 megawatts and 8.3 megawatts in capacity if built.

On the Cape, one such grant in the amount of $61,750 has been awarded to Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich. The CCRTHS grant will be used to conduct a feasibility study on constructing a 9oo kW wind turbine on campus. According to the release, the study will explore third party ownership, in which the third party will sell 50% or more of the energy to the school. The school would benefit by reducing electric and natural gas expenses.

The other grants were awarded to the Town of Dartmouth, the Town of Becket, the Blandford Ski Area in Blandford, EMC Corporation in Hopkinton, Harvey Electric LLC in Heath and the Massachusetts Broken Stone Company in Holden.

According to MassCEC, the grant program supports responsibly-sited wind energy projects. 

To learn more, click here.

Source: MassCEC.

Where knowledgeable folks go for a good time--Trivia takes the Cape

An insider's look at the Cape Cod trivia circuit

      Teams compete at the Land Ho in Orleans. Photo by John Foster.

By John Foster

Patrick runs the boards at Jake Rooney's in Harwichport. Photo by John Foster.

Enter the Land Ho Harwichport and warm up from the blasted heath outside.  The blond wood cheer of a sail loft is lit with brightly colored quarterboards, old license plates and two lovely waitresses, a redhead and a blond.  World-weary Emily and Jackie simmer down tables of excited dorks.  Our host tonight is Rich.  The teams:  Great Whites, young women in blue-and-white team shirts; Albacore, Purple Helmets; HeatWave; Wiseguys and the Dead Zombies.  Four rounds tonight, five categories each plus three bonus rounds.  Celebrity Drunks is a favorite category.  Cringe at photos of famous people soused! – or too much like a mirror?  Perhaps a new category should be Celebrity Drunks Sober. 

At Jake Rooney’s in Harwichport, trickery begins when a sparkling young woman, a riot of curves smiles and says hello.  Huh?  Yes, you have met her before, she’s just wearing Clark Kent glasses!  Patrick’s game features Proverbs, Best Actor, State Nicknames, Art Class and US History, which turns out to be UK History. 

Each Trivia Night comes with its own local color.  Some colors are louder than others.  Any of these games guarantees a fun two hours, especially if you like bickering with variety. 
     Prizes vary.  The Land Ho offers $50 gift cards for first place, $30 for second and $15 for third.
TUE: Land Ho, Orleans;  Red Nun, Dennis
WED: Land Ho, Harwichport;  Yardarm, Orleans
THU: Jake Rooney’s, Harwichport;  Chatham Squire, Chatham
SAT:  Parrot Bar & Grille, Cataumet
     The All-American Bar & Grille, South Dennis and the Wooden Shoe, Dennisport also feature trivia contests.

“WHO was the Lady with the Lamp?” he blasts.  A blowsy customer is surprised.  “That sounds kinda hahd.  I don’t know how he figures a buncha drunks’d know that.”  She has a point.  Florence Nightingale was the Lady with the Lamp, but in the Crimean War.  Few American casualties.  Patrick retracts the question.  “Draw the symbol for a resistor on an electric schematic.”  Uh-oh.  Trivia Newton-John, Plover Parmesan, Mubarak, and Albacore debate. 

“Robert Wagner murdered Natalie Wood!  There, I said it, that and prime-time television!  Name two of the four children on Roseanne.”  Patrick is deadpan and bald.  Bettors cash out Keno tickets by the popcorn machine.  Tonight’s first bonus … Marshall Applewhite?   The sickly Californian with the bugged-out eyes?   --Marshall taught tenth grade in Chatham.  No, Marshall led the Heaven’s Gate crew all to suicide.  They were looking to hitch a ride on a spacecraft chasing Comet Hale-Bopp, no word since. 

The Land Ho in Orleans has the best-known local game Tuesdays.  It’s quieter than in Harwichport, more genteel.  Tonight teams include Cobwebs; Rusty Tranny Beeyotches; CNN Fox Brooke and Mrs. Hennypecker & Her Flying Monkeys.  Four fetching young ladies sit at the rear.  A table of crewcuts, one guy in a long metal chain flanks six middle-aged guys in logo sportswear.  Rich’s categories:  In What Year?  Alive or Dead?    Reality TV.  Religion.  For a place with church steeples every 20 feet, Cape Codders are not strong on the Old Testament.  Rich has a strange fascination with (a) Canada, (b) counties.  Brush up on your provinces, but counties?  Most Cape Codders don’t know they live in a county.  They just pay the taxes.  Tonight’s Orleans house is more determined.  They clutch those answer sheets like Racing Form. 

Rich runs the show at the Land Ho in Harwichport. Photo by John Foster.

Back at the Land Ho Harwichport, Patrick comes by, tonight a guest.  “People are smart here, especially on the Lower Cape,” he says.  “I’m in Falmouth Saturdays at the Parrot Bar & Grille, but the Land Ho Harwichport and Jake’s are much more competitive.”  Patrick’s hosted up to twenty-five teams a night at Jake’s. 

The PA surprises with Sinatra.  “I’ve got you/Under my skin ….”  Swingin’ Frank is cool, but Songs For Losers, that’s the best.  Nerds consider everything.  Nerds see their entire lives as a spelling bee they are out to win, forgetting most of the world’s left sixth grade and doesn’t miss it.   At trivia we’re appreciated.  Be she Babe or Artiste, Fox or Sly, he Annoying, Laughing, or Disputing a Question, all are in plumage.  At trivia smart is OK.  No one likes smart people, they’re annoying.  “Well the actual name for marketable poultry is fowl, but …” –you’re bored.  Not on Trivia Night, tonight we are Out.  No one cares we know Zimbabwe was named first for the guy with the scholarships, we’re not out for vindication.  We’re out not to pay for drinks.

Wound up my night at the Harwichport Ho talking with Bob.  He likes Obama, I have sticker shock, we settle on Schopenhauer. “My girl wants to party-all-the-time, party-all-the-time, party all the ti-ime,” Eddie Murphy whines.   Bring your smarts to a Cape trivia game, a lot goes on.

'Touched by Angels' founder Gina Clark indicted on 32 counts

Founder of defunct charity indicted for allegedly stealing tens of thousands in donations intended for distressed families

The Massachusetts Attorney General has charged Gina Clark who promised to provide financial assistance to families who had lost loved ones or were dealing with serious medical conditions, allegedly stole money for herself

It began as a protest by a few victims, and grew until Gina Clark, age 40, of Marstons Mills, founder of Touched By Angels (TBA), was indicted by a Barnstable County Grand Jury on charges of:

Carol and Brian Harnois, allege on this video that out of all the raffle tickets sold help them after their daughter's death from leukemia, they received a total of $200 in gift cards from Touched By Angels.

• Larceny by Embezzlement over $250 (15 counts)
• Larceny by Embezzlement under $250
• Gross Fraud
• Illegal Lottery Scheme
• Minimum Wage Violations (10 counts)
• Overtime Law Violations (2 counts)
• Failure to Provide Proper Paystub
• Independent Contractor violations

She was the founder of a Cape Cod charity called Touched by Angels that was organized to provide financial assistance for families who had lost loved ones or were dealing with serious medical situations. But today she was indicted for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars for herself, according to indictments returned today by Attorney General Martha Coakley. The defendant and organization were also charged with fair labor violations and for operating an illegal lottery scheme.

Last August one protest sign read "Bernie & Gina - The Madoffs of Marstons Mill." See Fox video.

Her charitable organization and corporation, Touched By Angels (TBA), was indicted for the same labor violations plus 14 counts of Larceny by Embezzlement over $250, one count of Larceny by Embezzlement under $250, and gross fraud.

"These families were targeted by this defendant and sought her help after going through truly traumatic circumstances, either losing a family member or dealing with serious medical conditions," AG Coakley said.

"We allege that this defendant took advantage of their vulnerable situation to victimize them again for her own personal gain. By promising these victims financial support and then keeping the money for herself, we allege that this defendant stole tens of thousands of dollars from families in need," the Attorney General continued.

Targeted the most vulnerable people

From October 2007 through August 2010, Clark operated Touched By Angels, a non-profit charity and corporation which raised funds to help local families in financial need due to a tragedy or illness. Clark promised to raise funds on behalf of deserving families, selected by TBA usually for a one month period each. The financial stresses that the sponsored families were dealing with arose either from the recent death of a family member (a parent or a child), or from costs associated from serious medical conditions. Clark promised to pay out a percentage of the proceeds TBA raised to help the sponsored families with necessary medical and funeral costs and other living expenses.

Gina's Christmas gifts seemed never to leave her home. Above, wth husband Chris on left at their home below.

Investigators from both the AG's Criminal Bureau and Fair Labor Division began an investigation after being contacted by two former employees who alleged that Clark was not giving the designated amount of proceeds to these families. Investigators discovered that TBA would solicit funds for these families by: setting up tables in front of local businesses; holding fundraisers; selling merchandise; or offering numerous prizes through auctions and raffles. Clark and the families would then agree on what percentage of the proceeds would go to the family or the organization after a particular fundraising campaign was completed.

Although TBA used a variety of fundraising techniques that resulted in thousands of dollars in donations from local businesses and members of the public, investigation has revealed that families only received a small portion of the proceeds raised on their behalf. In some cases families received as little as $50-$200. Investigators discovered that she defrauded over a dozen families out of tens of thousands of dollars, claiming that that under TBA's agreements with the families, they would only be entitled to receive proceeds from checks or online donations that specifically referenced the particular family - all other donations would become the property of TBA.

Even an illegal lottery scheme charged

Further investigation revealed that Clark's fundraising techniques also included operating and promoting an illegal lottery scheme, in which she and TBA staff solicited local businesses to donate items, such as merchandise, gift cards, and gift certificates. Clark and TBA staff informed these business owners that the items would be raffled off and the proceeds used to help the sponsored families.

However, none of the proceeds raised through these unauthorized raffles went to help any of the sponsored families.Authorities also learned that Clark and TBA committed numerous wage and hour violations by misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Clark allegedly classified and paid all of TBA's workers as if they were independent contractors, even though they operated under TBA's direction and control, the services they performed for the organization were within the usual course of TBA's business, and the workers were not engaged in any similar independently established businesses. Many of these workers were allegedly not paid wages for all of the hours they worked, and in some cases Clark did not pay them the required overtime. In August 2010, the AG's Non-Profits and Charities Division did not renew TBA's application to solicit funds.

In court today

Gina wasn't smiling in Barnstable Court Friday.

Today, a Barnstable County Grand Jury returned indictments against both Clark and her organization. Her arraignment date has not yet been scheduled.

In August 2010, the Attorney General's Not for Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division notified Clark and TBA that the organization's certificate to solicit funds would not be renewed and that it must cease all solicitation activities because of multiple complaints regarding the misuse use of funds and solicitation methods.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Steve Adams, with the Criminal Bureau and by Assistant Attorney General Karla Zarbo, with the Fair Labor Division. The investigation was conducted by Fair Labor Inspectors Paul Gordon, Liz Valadao, Celina Pendexter, Mario Paiva and Chief of Investigations Amy Goyer, and Criminal Bureau Investigators Jen Chaves, Jack D'Isidoro, and Director of Financial Investigations Paul Stewart, along with assistance from, Victim Witness Advocate Nikki Antonucci, Patricia Tapper, and state troopers assigned to the Attorney General's office. Barnstable Police Detective Edward Scipione and the Massachusetts Insurance Fraud Bureau also provided support.

See the back stories below:

• New year, new beginning for Touched by Angels families
  Posted in Cape & Islands News on February 15, 2011
• Ex-head of closed Marstons Mills charity to be arraigned on witness intimidation charges
  Posted in Cape & Islands News on January 6, 2011
• Head of alleged charity fraud implicated in $472K elder scam
  Posted in Cape & Islands News on October 6, 2010
• Cape Cod Times editor in chief offers no explanation for paper's lack of coverage about alleged fraudulent charity
  Posted in Cape & Islands News on August 18, 2010
• Protest in Marstons Mill shuts down local charity
  Posted in EXTRA... on August 14, 2010
• Protest against alleged fraudulent charity to take place Friday the 13th
  Posted in Cape & Islands News on August 11, 2010
• Exclusive: Interview with Gina Clark, head of alleged fraudulent charity
  Posted in Cape & Islands News on August 6, 2010
• Owner of alleged fraudulent charity tells her side of the story in a tearful video
  Posted in Op-Ed on April 23, 2010
• Local families allege fraud by charity
  Posted in Cape & Islands News on March 29, 2010

Laptops for KidZ places sixth of "IFAW 8" at Nauset Regional High School

High school student will be able practice skills during morning, afternoon commute

The Laptops for KidZ project of the Masonic Angel Foundation has placed the sixth of the eight computers donated by Yarmouth-based International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).  This article is number six in an exclusive CapeCodToday.com series that follows each of the IFAW 8 computers.  Laptops for KidZ was introduced to IFAW through a partnership with Cape and Islands United Way.

Soon after the IFAW 8 were donated, the Masonic Angel Foundation received a request from one of the counselors at Nauset Regional High School.  They had a fourteen-year-old boy who lives out-of-district and needed a computer for skill practice as well as to complete homework assignments.  This student also derived an additional benefit from the laptop because it enabled him to email with his mother who lives outside Massachusetts.

“Skill practice” is the most common use of LFK machines when a high school requests a machine for one of their students.  Any child or adult that wants to learn a technical skill such as graphic design or computer programming needs to work at it far longer than what is permitted during the course of a busy school day.  A motivated student will sequester himself at home for hours as he practices the finer points of web page design or how to write the next great Android application.

For a child who lives far away from the school a laptop lets the student work on some of his assignments during the bus or car ride each way.

Established in March 2010, Laptops for KidZ (LFK) places laptop computers with local schools to be sent home with children who would not otherwise have computer access outside school hours.  LFK tries to focus on situations where there is a demonstrated educational need for which the school has a plan that requires the use of a computer to address that need. 

As with all activities of the Masonic Angel Foundation, the program's volunteers never know the identity of a recipient child. All transactions are conducted at arm's length with the school professionals working as a go-between to preserve privacy. LFK does not accept direct requests from potential recipients. Requests for laptops must come through a school or other partner agency.  LFK computers are configured in English and are only available to legal residents of the United States.  The volunteers at Laptops for KidZ have refurbished and placed 140 computers since April 26, 2010.

For more information about the Laptops for KidZ program visit www.laptopsforkidZ.org.

Read more about the IFAW 8 here:

• Laptops for KidZ places first of "IFAW 8" at Falmouth High School
• Laptops for KidZ places second of "IFAW 8" in Provincetown
• Laptops for KidZ places third of "IFAW 8" in Osterville
• Laptops for KidZ places fourth of "IFAW 8" in Provincetown
• Laptops for KidZ places fifth of "IFAW 8" in Provincetown
  

Columbia Journalism Review does profile on CapeCodTODAY

CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS — CapeCodToday, one of the first hyperlocal news websites in the nation, reports on all things Cape Cod.

Topics the newssite covers include politics, arts and culture, business, education, and sports. Walter Brooks, founder of CapeCodToday, is a veteran journalist with over half a century of experience.

Prior to establishing the site, Brooks worked for The Village Voice, the New York Post, and The Cape Codder, a weekly newspaper in the area. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Brooks sensed that newspapers were too reliant on national wire services for stories, rather than reporting local news. Brooks founded CapeCodToday in February 1997 as a response to public demand for the kind of hyperlocal news that area newspapers lacked.

Over 80 percent of the site is comprised of original content.

Over the years, CapeCodToday expanded its media content, and now hosts over 300 local blogs. With over 75,000 regular readers, CapeCodToday looks to distinguish itself from other local media outlets by providing news that is “hyperlocal, fun, and informative,” according to Brooks.

Hyper-local and locally-owned

CapeCodToday employs four full-time staffers including two editors (Walter Brooks and managing editor Maggie Kulbokas), a president/CEO (Julie Brooks, Walter’s daughter-in-law) who runs eCape.com, and a general manager/treasurer (Jay Brooks, Walter’s son).

The site also employs four online sales people and ten to twelve part-time and freelance writers. Approximately 80 percent of the site is comprised of original content and blogs, and the remaining 20 percent are aggregated stories from various media outlets reporting on Cape Cod.

The newssite produces at least eighty original stories weekly, and the vast majority of these are on local political and environmental topics. The community blog hosting feature was added in April 2005, and each of the 300 plus blogs is devoted to commenting and writing about Cape Cod and the surrounding area. According to Brooks, the most popular blogs are those that discuss local news.

Covers today, and yesterday, plus police, courts and e-books too

Regular editorial features include a daily column written by Brooks on Cape Cod history; he writes a brief story on a significant event that occurred in Cape Cod’s past on that day. CapeCodToday also provides reporting on the local courts, and has just begun to provide its online readers with a digital version of that smalltown newspaper classic, the police blotter.

Brooks says it’s time my old newspaper friends remember the warning Henry Luce’s wife, Claire Booth Luce, gave us all a half century ago;
“The money is always out there - only the pockets change.”

The website has ventured into publishing e-books that readers can access for free. cc2day Magazine—tagline: “When online readers want to read books”—provides readers with a whole host of original books set in Cape Cod and Massachusetts. Some books are published in their entirety, while others are published chapter by chapter, as they are still works in progress.

All revenues for the website are garnered through advertisements. Currently, CapeCodToday showcases 500 of its past and current advertisers through the business directory section of the website. The directory serves as a hyperlocal listing for Cape Cod businesses.

Concerned for the future of local print newspapers

Success hasn’t made Brooks greedy. The newsman is concerned for the future of local print newspapers throughout the country, and wants to encourage their publishers to visit a website he’s set up (with Lou Phelps of Phelps, Cutler & Associates and Julie Brooks of eCape.com) - communitydailynews.com - for advice on how to start a CapeCodToday-style online revenue earner in their own communities, thus staving off print atrophy and saving local reporting.

“It’s time my old newspaper friends to remember the warning Henry Luce’s wife, Claire Booth Luce, gave us all a half century ago,” he says. That advice: “The money is always out there - only the pockets change.”

-Dohini Patel. Columbia Journalism Review, March 24, 2011.

Verizon service disrupted on Outer Cape Wednesday

Communications company working to restore service to Outer Cape towns

According to a joint release from Wellfleet Police Chief Ronald Fisette and Wellfleet Fire Chief Dan Silverman, a system failure has disrupted phone and internet service throughout Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown.

A Verizon representative has told both public safety heads that they are working to restore service as soon as possible.

The chiefs ask that residents not call 911 for updates on the phone service. Emergency calls to 911 should still go through and most likely will be answered by a back-up 911 dispatcher in another town.  Customers are currently experiencing a variety of  issues at this time.

The Purr-fect Cape & Islands License Plate

Feline editors give the new pet plate twelve claws-up
It is the best possible replacement for my 34 year old 'greenie'

By CapeCatMan

My Toyota is the tenth & last vehicle to 'wear the green.'

But the only C & I plate I support is the 'Pet Friendly' one.

In 1977 Massachusetts introduced the single “green” license plate.  Coincidentally, the then sixteen- year-old CapeCatMan got his very first car.  It was a light green Ford LTD coupe featuring doors the size of a Volkswagen, a 351 V-8 and MPG that made one shudder even at 46 cents per gallon.

Fast forward 34 years.  The cat man is now on the wrong side of 50 and the venerable green plate rides proudly on a Camry Hybrid.  Some accuse the cat man of being “green,” but the truth is he’s downright penurious with 12 hungry cats to feed.  

The Toyota is the tenth vehicle that has flown the green plate.

Imagine my disappointment when I took the car to Orleans Toyota for its annual inspection and they failed it because the plate was faded.  Faded?  That plate has character!  Considering the plate is older than the little whippersnapper who did the inspection, he might have shown a tad more respect. 

Faded? 
That plate has character! From my cold dead hands you’ll get my green plate!

If you have a green Massachusetts plate that fails inspection, the Registry of Motor Vehicles will give you a set of two red plates free of charge.  To get the new plates you have to turn in your old green plate.  I read that and said, “From my cold dead hands you’ll get my green plate!”

Upon a little research I learned that if you upgrade from a standard license plate to a Massachusetts “Special Plate” – and do it on the Internet – you don’t have to turn in the old plate.  Wanting to keep my heirloom plate, for the first time this stingy Yankee considered paying the extra money for a special plate.

A murder threat if I got the Cape & Islands plate

My cat Trevi Googled the C & I plate and it's funding, and said she'd return to the shelter if I ever bought one.

When I mentioned this to a colleague she immediately said she’d murder me if I got a Cape and Islands plate.  She went into all the evils of the Cape Cod Commission and the other local “organizations” that get about $1 million in Cape and Islands plate revenue.  I read this Cape Cod Today article about the scandal of the C&I Plate.  Most special plates’ proceeds benefit 501(c)(3) charities but the Cape and Islands plate supports a select group of non-profits that are primarily engaged in business development.  Nope, that’s not happening!

When I went through the RMV’s special plate web site I discovered some plates that benefit far more worthy groups.  Being a loving pet owner, I was drawn to the Massachusetts Animal Coalition plate.  The “spay/neuter plate” supports programs that provide affordable services such as spaying and neutering of cats and dogs.  That seemed worth a look so I fired up Guidestar to take a look at the Coalition’s financials. 

The Massachusetts Animal Coalition was founded in 2001. According to their 2010 IRS Form 990EZ, the MAC had $188,195 in income and gave out $159,000 in charitable grants and other reasonable expenses that brought their total expenses to $184,510.  Yes, you read that right!  MAC is a charity that gives out virtually everything that they take in during the year.   How impressive is that?

So who gets their grants?  From the look of it, MAC gives out relatively modest grants to smaller animal protection and welfare groups.  For a small, volunteer-operated program like the Osterville-based New England Society for Abandoned Animals, Inc., the $4,000 grant they received in 2010 from MAC makes a real difference.  A Helping Paw in Buzzards Bay also received $4,000 from MAC.

The Massachusetts Animal Coalition’s grants for 2010 included:

• New England Society for Abandoned Animals, Inc., Osterville, $4,000
• Ashima Haven, Winchendon, $2,500
• Feline Rescue and Adoption Society, Natick, $2,500
• Mass PAWS, Winthrop, $5,000
• Second Chance Animal Shelter, East Brookfield, $8,000
• Commonwealth Cats, Peabody, $6,500
• Town of Orange, Orange, $1,550
• Second Chance Fund for Animal Welfare, Bolton, $7,500
• Woburn Feral Cat Coalition, Woburn, $3,000
• City of Fall River, Fall River, $7,000
• Animal Rescue Merrimack Valley, Bradford, $5,000
• Poundhounds, Inc, Bolton, $5,000
• Coalition of Animals of Greater New Bedford, $20,000
• MRFRS, Salisbury, $14,000
• Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society, Springfield, $14,000
• Medfield Animal Shelter, Medfield, $2,500
• Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine Shelter, Grafton, $6,000
• Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control, Springfield, $10,000
• Hull Seaside Animal Rescue, Hull, $5,000
• Hilltop Humane Society, Randolph, $5,000
• Lowell Humane Society, Lowell, $5,000
• A Helping Paw, Buzzards Bay, $4,000
• Community Cat Connection, Webster, $2,500
• Homeless Cat Project, Springfield, $7,500
• South Shore Humane Society, Braintree, $2,500
• Wily’s Kitty Angels Rescue, Dudley, $950
• Second Chance Shelter for Cats, Jamaica Plain, $2,500

I ordered my “spay/neuter” plate on the RMV web site, paid the $90 and received it in the mail about 14 days later.  The plate is colorful and has brought many positive comments.  In the past three months dozens of folks who saw the plate in local parking lots have asked me about it.   Sadly, this special plate has not received as much publicity as some of the “marquee” plates like Cape and Islands, Red Sox and others.  Even at area vet clinics, animal shelters and pet-related businesses these plates are rarely observed.

As for the CapeCatMan’s Mass. Animal Coalition license plate, our dozen feline editors give it twelve claws-up

Bourne Bridge work for March 22, rescheduled for March 29

Same travel restrictions will be in effect

Today, the US Army Corps of Engineers announced that work that was to be done on the Bourne Bridge tomorrow, March 22, 2011, has been rescheduled  to take place next Tuesday, the 29th between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.  The work has been rescheduled due to predicted high winds.

Next Tuesday's repairs will be done weather permitting and the same travel restrictions will be in effect: wide loads will not be permitted over the bridge span and traffic in each lane will be restricted to one lane.

See the original story here (and reprinted below):

Weather permitting, maintenance work is scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, 2011 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the Bourne Bridge according to a US Army Corps of Engineers, New England District release.

Hy-Line/Cape Wind, announce Hyannis Visitor Center, Eco Tours

Hy-Line Cruises named official Cape Wind agency for Eco Tours

This is an artist's conception of the type of tour boat Hy-Line Cruises will be employing to take visitors to view the Cape Wind farm in Nantucket Sound. The tours may begin as early as next summer as the construction starts offshore. The conference room below overlooks the harbor at the site of the new visitor center, but today the room was chock full of media.

More Jobs, Economic Development for Cape Cod
Eco Tours expected to give tourism a major boost.

By Walter Brooks

Sometime late next summer or early Fall, visitors will come to Cape Cod to view America's first offshore wind farm. As gas prices skyrocket upwards and nuclear power plants frighten their neighbors, this Cape Cod-only attraction will separate us from every other family destination in the country.

In Palm Springs, California, the 30-year-old wind farm has been the area's second most popular attraction for decades, and Eco Tours will soon vie with whale watches as the Cape's most popular according to tourism officials questioned for this story.

"It will stand as a testament to the spirit, ingenuity and progressiveness of Cape Cod and how our community harnessed the wind to protect and preserve our environment."
- Jim Gordon, Cape Wind.

Today at a news conference on the Hyannis docks, Jim Gordon of Cape Wind  will announce that his company has named  Hy-Line Cruises as the official Cape Wind Eco Tour and Visitor Center operator at a joint news conference to be held overlooking Hyannis Harbor.

Hy-Line Cruises plans to initially acquire a passenger vessel to be dedicated to providing the public with narrated Cape Wind Eco Tours that can be expanded with additional vessels embarking from additional ports in the future.

The Visitor Center will educate visitors of all ages about the history of the Cape Wind   project and energy use on Cape Cod, the U.S. and around the world. Specific emphasis will be placed on the history of energy use on Cape Cod and the Islands ranging from historic windmills to whale oil, to fossil fuels and the new transition to a clean energy economy led by citizens of Cape Cod and Massachusetts.

David Scudder, Vice President of Operations at Hy-Line Cruises said, "Hy-Line is confident that the Cape Wind Eco Tour and Visitor Center at Hy-Line Cruises will promote the continued growth of our company and stimulate economic development and job growth and creation in Hyannis, Cape Cod, the Islands, and the Massachusetts tourist-based economy. The creation of this world class tourist attraction will provide yet another great reason for people all over Massachusetts, New England, the United States and the World to visit Cape Cod and the Islands."

"The creation of this world class tourist attraction will provide yet another great reason for people all over America and the World to visit Cape Cod and the Islands." - David Scudder, Hy-Line speaking with Jim Goron and Phillip Scudder to his right.

Cape Wind President Jim Gordon said, "The Cape Wind Eco Tour and Visitor's Center at Hy-Line Cruises represents more than creating a world class tourism attraction and drawing visitors from around our region, nation and globe. It will stand as a testament to the spirit, ingenuity and progressiveness of Cape Cod and Massachusetts and how our community harnessed the wind to protect and preserve our environment, to revitalize our economy and to create a healthier more secure future."

Congressman Keating, Senator Wolf, CCCC President Schatzberg, others applaud historic decision

According to Hy-Line's David Scudder, "Ecotourism is one of the fastest-growing segments of tourism globally." He added, "The new business could create hundreds of jobs for the region" referring to the experience in Denmark and other European countries which have offered Eco Tours for over a decade.

U.S. Rep. William Keating, who will be among the officials to speak at an 11 a.m. news conference at Hy-Line, said the benefits of the Cape Wind Hy-Line partnership will give an economic boost to the region's vitally important tourism industry. Most estimates say tourism brings in well over half of all the income annually to Cape Cod businesses.

"It will will give an economic boost to the region's vitally important tourism industry." - US Rep. Bill Keating. He's on the right with Dan Wolf, Rick Sullivan, TomCahir and Kathy Schatzberg to his left.

Mr. Keating was the only candidate running for the 10th District Congressional seat last Fall who supported Cape Wind, and he said bringing tourists to the Cape Wind farm has news and economic benefits well beyond the tourism season.

"People will travel from all over the U.S. to see America's first offshore wind farm", Keating said, adding that the Cape and Islands have even more to offer visitors than Denmark while has long benfited from the ecotourism associated with its offshore wind farms.

State Senator for the Cape and Islands Dan Wolf said, "My hope is that this creative collaboration helps us realize a long-term energy vision for our region that includes a plan for responsible and sustainable consumption, production and distribution."

Hy-Line officials are committed to developing a green vessel to be used for this purpose and they are exploring the use of an innovative hybrid engine and they are also pursuing the possibility of this vessel being made in Massachusetts.

Hy-Line Cruises is working closely with the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) and others to tie into the inter-modal transportation system to service its site by using green shuttle buses servicing offsite parking at the CCRTA.

Hy-Line Cruises and Cape Wind look forward to working with Cape Cod Community College to develop a curriculum of credit and non-credit courses that can be used to educate and train students and others in our community so they can attain jobs created both by the Eco Tour Cruises and at the Visitor Center.

"The College is thrilled to be the educational partner in this new venture that will have multiple economic impacts throughout the region."
  - Kathleen Schatzberg,
Cape Cod Community College.

Cape Cod Community College President Kathleen Schatzberg said, "The College is thrilled to be the educational partner in this new venture that will have multiple economic impacts throughout the region. We anticipate that students in multiple disciplines will be involved, from providing local historic as well as ecological/environmental information as tour guides, to serving as customer service and operational personnel for tour services. As the business develops, we look forward to creating the workforce training programs needed to build its success."

Cape Wind will build America's first offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal that will supply most of the electricity used on Cape Cod and the Islands from clean, renewable energy - reducing this region's need to import oil, coal and gas. Cape Wind will create new jobs, contribute to a healthier environment, increase energy independence and establish Massachusetts as a leader in offshore wind power.  For more information visit the Cape Wind website here.