Cape & Islands News

Attorney General Martha Coakley negotiates merger deal with NSTAR

Agreement includes rate freeze

Immediate savings of $217,000,000 for ratepayers

By Matt Nadler, Editor, Plymouth Daily News.

NSTAR customers will receive approximately $217 million in savings through a settlement agreement negotiated by Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office with NSTAR and Northeast Utilities.

The word on the street is that Martha Coakley is preparing to run for governor when Deval Patrick's term ends in 2014.The company serves Carver, Duxbury, Kingston, Plymouth, Plympton and Wareham. On Cape Cod the company serves Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Dennis. Eastham, Falmouth, Harwich, Mashpee, Orleans, Provincetown, Sandwich, Truro, Wellfleet and Yarmouth.

The agreement was reached as a condition for approval of a merger between the two companies.

The agreement includes a four-year distribution rate freeze, an immediate $21 million merger savings credit to customers and protection for customers from inappropriate merger costs such as “golden parachutes” and executive retention payments

The Department of Energy Resources also signed on to the agreement. The has an agreement requiring NSTAR to execute a 15-year power contract with the Cape Wind Project as a condition of the merger.

The proposed agreement now goes before the Department of Public Utilities.

Group formed to fight creation of Wastewater Authority

Group wants top mitigate Cape Cod Regional Wastewater Authority creation

Members gathered from nine towns, some fear they may have to leave Cape

By Walter Brooks

A group of Cape Cod residents, some of whom fear they will be forced to move off-Cape because of the prohibitively expensive sewer rates and excessive tax burden that will result from the establishment of an autonomous and unaccountable Cape-wide wastewater authority, are forming an organization to mitigate or even stop the new bureaucracy being promoted by local out-of-work politicians and the Cape Cod Commission.

 The Group so far

The Coalition members and interested parties number a dozen and a half and are from Wellfleet, Orleans, Dennis, Yarmouth, Barnstable, Sandwich, Falmouth, Bourne and Mashpee.
   It includes at least 2 environmental engineers, former Selectmen, current selectmen, retirees, housewives, business-persons, community/political activists, real estate professionals, and educators. At this point, our primary focus is to facilitate communication among the various interested parties as well as to expand and establish the formation of the group/coalition.The Cape-wide group is tentatively calling itself the Coalition Against an Undemocratic Regional Wastewater Authority. The independent regional wastewater authority was recently recommended by the Barnstable County Special Commission on County Governance, and subsequently given a provisional go-ahead by the Barnstable County Board of Regional Commissioners.

One member of the new group said, "I am desperately afraid for my home and family here on the Cape. I fear we will be forced to move off-Cape because of the prohibitively expensive sewer rates and excessive tax burden that will result from the establishment of an autonomous and unaccountable Cape-wide wastewater authority."

What is the new authority?

The group's statement explains that a regional wastewater authority is a distinct type of local government that is separate and independent from any other government entities within a county. The geographical and political boundaries and/or limits are not a “city limit” line or property line, but the water and sewer infrastructure that they own and operate.  The primary purpose of a wastewater authority is to provide wastewater and sewer services throughout a general area.

The members of the group claim that the regional wastewater authority has rate setting and taxation powers. Such a government entity has a legally separate governing board.  The board members are not elected, but are appointed by other government officials, such as the Governor, County Commissioners, or unelected state bureaucrats. Since the leadership is not elected by the voters, the people have little if any meaningful input or recourse regarding decisions and actions taken by the regional wastewater authority.

A statement we received from the new group states:

Such an autonomous authority would unilaterally seize specific decision-making, fee imposition, and taxation powers from the fifteen municipalities of Cape Cod regarding wastewater infrastructure issues and/or services. Wastewater/sewer rates and relevant taxes would most likely continuously go up year after year.The position of the Coalition is that any such county-wide government entity should only possess and provide advisory, logistics, coordination and source funding assistance to the respective town governments of Cape Cod. It should not be allowed to become the undemocratic government institution previously described.

The still-forming coalition is planning to hold an organizational meeting in early April. Any concerned Cape Cod residents and municipal officials interested in participating in this effort or desiring further information may call: 508 364-3282 or email: caurwa@gmail.com and leave their contact information including: name, phone number and email address.

Read previous reports on this subject:

• Freaky February - Silliness in the Cape's local news
  Posted in Dandy Looney on February 27, 2012
• Group formed to reduce bureaucracy suggests more instead
  Posted in EXTRA... on February 18, 2012
• Glass of Wastewater
  Posted in State & Main on January 27, 2012
• Cape's nitrogen lawsuits may yet be settled
  Posted in EXTRA... on December 13, 2011
• Concern for Lower Cape's private wells
  Posted in Cape & Islands News on November 4, 2011
• Yarmouth's Big Dig
  Posted in Politics Etc. on September 10, 2011

A winter walk at Coast Guard Beach in Eastham [John Fitts Slideshow]

Walking in Beston's footsteps

All photos © John Fitts

Recently, low tide allowed for a bit more exploring at Coast Guard Beach at the National Seashore in Eastham.  The sun reflecting off the Coast Guard Station gave the photographs a painting-like quality. You could almost feel the presence of Henry Beston at Nauset Spit, where he penned the Outermost House in his cottage on the beach more than eighty years ago:

"The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach. I have heard them all, and of the three elemental voices, that of ocean is the most awesome, beautiful and varied."

Five Bangkok Cuisine restaurants closed due to MA Workers' Compensation Law violations

Local Thai entrepreneur opened five businesses in the past decade

All five locations closed for state Workers' Compensation violation

   The Orleans Bangkok Cuisine restaurant with the orange violation sign on the door. cctoday photo.

By Walter Brooks

The sign at the Orleans Bangkok Cuisine today.Hungry lovers of Thai food were disappointed today when they showed up at the Bangkok Cuisine locations in Falmouth, Dennis, Orleans, Martha's Vineyard and Plymouth only to find the door shuttered and the sign on the right which stated:

WARNING: This business has been ordered closed for non-compliance with MGL: Chapter 152 Sec. 25C of the Mass. Workers' Compensation Law...
Any person who attempts to tamper with this order will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Signed, Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA).

Sam Sangworm and his wife Hanna are the owners of the Bangkok Cuisine restaurants, and they have been held up as great examples of new U. S. citizens achieving "The American Dream."

The fire at the Falmouth Bangkok Cuisine last Tuesday.In little more than a decade the couple has opened five very successful restaurants both on Cape and off Cape and on one of the islands.

More important than their success for lovers of Asian food, the food they served was excellent, even to those of us who have visited Thailand several times.

It is not known at this time whether the recent fire which destroyed the Falmouth location last week had any connection with the state's actions this weekend, but police and reporters both hate coincidences. Falmouth firefighters responded to a two-alarm blaze at 807-809 Main Street Tuesday afternoon. The fire destroyed two businesses in one building, Town Laundry and the adjacent Bangkok Cuisine Thai Restaurant.

The only good news came from an employee of the Royal Thai Restaurant at Brackett Road in Eastham who said that they have been mobbed since their competitor was closed.

The DIA is primarily a court system tasked with resolving disputed workers' compensation claims. The usual reason for a corporation being closed for non-compliance is because the insurance policy or policies required have not been arranged, or have been cancelled. Usually a company can re-open within a day after securing the proper workers' comp. insurance.

Dennis dog rescue still operates as a non-profit despite lack of official approval

AG's office can't confirm receipt of IRS determination letter

By Gerald Rogovin

Seven weeks ago -- 53 days to be precise, -- CapeCodToday.com reported that the state was investigating a business that advertises boarding, grooming and selling dogs from a private home up the hill from Scargo Lake in Dennis in a home on Maureens Lane that was sold for more than $785,000 and was in a neighborhood in which home sales in  2011 ranged  from $330,000 to $1.115 million, according to MLS Listings.

"On the surface, this doesn't look right. Income from grooming, training, day care and sales of animals are all taxable. As a corporation, it must file by March 15."

The business, Scargo Wags and Wiggles Rescue, Inc., continued to operate on February 22 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable operation, promising tax deductions to donors, notwithstanding that the Internal Revenue Service did not include it among the 25 tax-exempt charities it lists in Dennis on its Exempt Organizations Select Check, a monthly town-by-town listing, as of the 21st.

A Barnstable Certified Public Accountant, who decline firm's adoption form is shown below full size.d to be identified, told CCT, "On the surface, this doesn't look right. Income from grooming, training, day care and sales of animals are all taxable. As a corporation, it must file by March 15."

Our earlier article drew a response from David Nunheimer, a Hyannis attorney, who wrote, "I am the attorney who has represented them (Scargo Wags and Wiggles) in their registration process. I can assure you and your readers that Mrs. Logan (corporation president) is aware of her responsibilities as a public charity...All requisite filings are being made."

Yet, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Public Charities Division could not confirm receipt of an IRS determination letter, which must precede application to the state Department of Revenue for a state income tax exemption. This will, when received, be posted on the AG's website.

The Hyannis Petsmart today had this book displayed next to their cat adoption room. The Scargo firm's adoption form is shown below full size.CCT began looking into the operations of the Dennis company when a a reader complained, "As someone who runs a compliant non-profit, it really offends me that this group is holding itself out as a 501(c)(3) improperly.  As an animal lover, I am concerned that if they are not being compliant with the non-profit regulations, can we trust that they're being compliant with animal care regulations?"

A Certificate of Solicitation issued by the Public Charities Division would be a prerequisite for soliciting donations. Yet, SWRR's website has stated since the fall of 2011, "we are a private all breed rescue operation that is a 501(c)(3) non profit. Your donation is tax-deductible."  But that certificate had not been issued by the third week of February by the state.

All the windows were shuttered and the blinds drawn when CCT looked into 12 Maureens Way last December. Except for a sign that identified the business, the home looked similar to the expensive residences dotting the hill up from Scargo Lake.

The business caught the attention of authorities earlier in 2011, when a neighbor called the town's Animal Control Officer about a barking dog. In late January of this year, neighbors up the hill from 12 Maureens Way noticed "what seemed to be a bunch of  vehicles that look the same as those from animal control. Something appeared to be going on."

For several months, SWWR advertised its services first in the statewide Craigslist, then the one covering the Cape and Islands. Those ads have continued, but the business has not identified itself by its corporation name. In our effort to get more information on SWWR, CCT e-mailed two requests to view a cat named Amber advertised for adoption on Craigslist. The ads offered "doggy day care in our home boarding, grooming, training and no-kill rescue..."

Neither e-mail received a reply.

The state's Division of Animal Health began an investigation of the business after an inquiry by the Dennis Animal Control Officer. But that appears to have ended.

In its statement of purpose on land use and growth management,  Dennis acknowledged in last year's town report, "We are late, very late in attacking the problem of growth control." The reference referred to commercial development where "a majority of (our) citizens want to live in a seaside village atmosphere."

The appearance of a commercial business in the midst of a residential enclave of expensive waterfront homes does not appear to have upset the people alluded to in the report. Town Planner Daniel J. Fortier said he was not aware of a business operation on Scargo Lake.

SWWR's articles of organization filed with the state indicate that it has been operating since last June. Sylvia Logan, president, noted in  her LinkedIn biography that she has owned it since September, 2010.

A search of the IRS Exempt Organizations database last updated on February 22, 2012 does not find Scargo Wags and Wiggles Rescue, Inc. listed in Massachusetts.

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.

Freemasons host Capewide open house Saturday, Feb 25 [Event]

Cape Cod Freemasons welcome public to enlighten, educate, and inform

George Washington was a Freemason - Paul Revere started lodges on Cape Cod

Joining with Masonic lodges across the Commonwealth, Freemasons meeting in 12 Cape Cod communities from Bourne to Provincetown, as well as the Islands, will open their doors to the public on Saturday, February 25, between 9 am and 3 pm. Billed as the 2012 Early Spring Open House, it is a state-wide celebration of Freemasonry. 

If you have ever wondered who the Freemasons are, whether they are the descendants of the Knights Templars, or what the inside of their building looks like, here’s your chance to find out.

More than 230 lodges will be hosting Open Houses to help the public gain a better understanding of what Freemasonry is, and the positive impact that is has on its members, their families, and community.  Members will provide tours of their building, talk about Freemasonry’s history, discuss its rituals, signs, and symbols, and explain what they do. To find the closest Lodge, visit AskaFreemason.org and use the “Find a Lodge” tool.

Washington was a Freemason

Here on Cape Cod the Masons are well known for their charitable works, and our first president, George Washington was a Freemason. 
   From blood-mobiles to the MyChip child identification program to scholarship assistance, the Masons have supported local families since the 1700’s when Paul Revere opened several Lodges on the Cape. 
   Readers of Cape Cod Today know the Masons best for their Masonic Angel Fund program and the MAF’s Laptops for KidZ project.

“The 2012 Spring Open House is a great opportunity for anyone interested in learning more about Freemasonry to meet and talk with Masons in their community,” said Richard J. Stewart, Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts and the presiding officer of 36,000 members.  “Although many have heard of us, very few are aware that for over 275 years we have been part of an unbroken tradition of great men who have changed our world in ways both big and small.  Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thurgood Marshall, and John Glenn, for example, all joined the Masons prior to achieving the greatness we recognize them for.  There are countless other great men, whose names are not widely known, that made their families, workplaces, and communities better because they were Masons.  I warmly invite the public to join us on February 25th.”

Freemasons trace their roots to the stonemason guilds that built Europe’s cathedrals and castles during the early part of the last millennium.  As construction of these buildings declined, they began accepting members from outside their trade.  These new members, influenced by the “Age of Enlightenment,” transformed the organization from a group for builders to one focused on developing the character of its members.  Freemasonry was formally organized in London, England in 1717. In 1733 it was formally organized in Massachusetts, making it the oldest Masonic group in the Western Hemisphere and the third oldest in the world. In 2008, Massachusetts Freemasons celebrated their 275th Anniversary.

Cape Cod & Islands Lodges:

• Bourne, Cawnacome Sunshine Lodge A.F. & A.M.,  77 Valley Bars Road - Bourne, MA 02532
• Centerville, Fraternal Lodge A.F. & A.M., 1987 Falmouth Road - Centerville, MA 02632
• Chatham, Nauset Light Lodge A.F. & A.M., 52 Old Harbor Road - Chatham, MA 02633 and Saint Martin's Lodge, A.F. & A.M., 52 Old Harbor Road,Chatham, MA 02633
• Cotuit, Mariners Lodge A.F. & A.M., 988 Main Street - Cotuit, MA 02635
• Dennis, Mount Horeb Lodge (D) A.F. & A.M., 242 Old Bass River Road - Dennis, MA 02638
• Falmouth, Marine Lodge A.F. & A.M., 160 Main Street - Falmouth, MA 02543
• Harwich, Pilgrim Lodge A.F. & A.M., 706 Main Street - Harwich, MA 02645
• Nantucket, Union Lodge (N) F. & A.M., 30 Main Street - Nantucket, MA 02584
• Oak Bluffs, Oriental-Martha's Vineyard Lodge A.F. & A.M., 52 Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road - Oak Bluffs, MA 02557
• Orleans, Universal Lodge A.F. & A.M., 107 Main Street, Orleans, MA 02653
• Provincetown, King Hiram's Lodge A.F. & A.M., 2 Masonic Place, rovincetown, MA 02657
• Sandwich, DeWitt Clinton Lodge A.F. & A.M., 175 Main Street, Sandwich, MA 02563
• Wellfleet, Adams Lodge A.F. & A.M., Corner of Commercial & Bank - Wellfleet, MA 02667
• Yarmouth, Howard Lodge A.F. & A.M., 20 Davis Rd., Yarmouth, MA 02664

Courtesy of the Freemasons.

Freemasonry, the world’s oldest and largest fraternity, seeks to bring together men of every country, religion, race, background, and opinion and develop the bonds of friendship between them.  Through a large variety of North American Masonic philanthropies, approximately $3,000,000 is given to charity every day, 70% of which benefits the general public.  During its initiation ceremony, which uses symbolism and allegory, its members are encouraged to value principles, ethics, and morality and to live their lives accordingly.  By “making good men better,” Freemasonry positively benefits its members, families and communities.  Freemasonry in Massachusetts is comprised of 36,000 members and more than 230 lodges throughout the Commonwealth.  For additional information, please call 800.882.1020, or visit askafreemason.org.

Wareham 96-person post office sorting center to close

Three post office sorting centers in Eastern Massachusetts to close

   Things were a little slower back when the USPS  drove "flivvers". Today the agency is the second largest civilian employer in the country and operates the world's largest fleet of vehicles. Then there's FedEx and UPS.

Internet, email, new technologies take a toil, Wareham is closest one affected

By Walter Brooks

Ben Franklin was America's
1st. Postmaster General

The USPS traces its roots to 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, where Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general.
      The cabinet-level Post Office Department was created in 1792 from Franklin's operation and transformed into its current form in 1971 under the Postal Reorganization Act.
      The USPS employs over 574,000 workers and operates over 218,000 vehicles.
      It is the 2nd largest civilian employer in the United States.
      The USPS is the operator of the largest vehicle fleet in the world.You felt you HAD to set up that email account back in 1995, didn't you?

Now look what you've done - cost thousands of government workers their job.

Of course email and the web created millions of new job at the same time.

The latest result of email is that the United States Postal Service said Thursday it will close mail-processing plants in three eastern Massachusetts communities, potentially affecting 2,000 workers’ jobs and mail delivery for millions of postal customers, as part of a nationwide slew of cutbacks unless Congress enacts a major postal budget-reform bill.

Meanwhile, 260 centers to close nationwide

But with no financial relief in sight, the U.S. Postal Service is pushing ahead with planned cuts to more than 260 mail processing centers around the nation, part of a billion-dollar cost-cutting effort that will slow delivery of first-class mail.

Massachusetts printer, policitian and patriot Ben Franklin was the first Postmaster General in 1775.In a statement Thursday, the cash-strapped agency said it had completed a review of closings to mail processing centers it had proposed last fall.

The United States Postal Service warned it will lose as much as $18.2 billion a year by 2015 unless Congress grants it leeway to eliminate Saturday delivery, slow first-class mail by one day and raise the price of a postage stamp by as much as 5 cents.

Based on community input and other factors, the post office said, it will move forward with consolidations involving virtually all of the 252 facilities on the list, as well as up to 12 new locations, beginning in mid-May.

In Eastern Massachusetts, plans call for closing a 401-employee mail plant in Waltham and shifting work done there to Boston and North Reading closing a 517-employee plant in Shrewsbury and also shifting work done there to Boston and NorthReading and moving a 96-person Wareham processing plant’s work to Providence.

The 21st. century Pony Express

The main reason for the USPS’s distress is the Internet.  More and more people are using email instead of traditional postage.  Essentially email and social media has become the new pony express.

How long has it been since you used a postage stamp to mail a letter? Tell us in our poll here.

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

Cape featured again as a high destination for sex offenders

Stories in other media fail to include all the villages in our towns

The Town of Barnstable has 80 level 2 and 3 sex offenders

 By Walter Brooks

The off Cape media reports that two Cape towns rank 20th and 30th in the state for the number of sex offenders living within their borders.

While local media seems embarrassed to report on it, Boston television station WCVB Channel 5 has been aggressively revealing the underside of many towns and sleepy little villages as a haven for Level 2 and 3 sex offenders.

In the station's current story Hyannis tops the list of Cape towns for the number of sex offenders with a total of 59 level 2 and level 3 living in Hyannis, but the off Cape reporters don't seem to realize that Hyannis is only one of the seven villages in the Town of Barnstable.

Centerville has 11 more, Marstons Mills has 4, and even up-market Osterville has 1.  That still doesn't include bucolic Barnstable Village which has 3,  West Barnstable with 3 and even Cotuit has 2.

That brings the town's total of level 2 an3 offenders to a rip-snorting 80.

Falmouth is ranked 30th out of 351 towns and cities in Massachusetts with 9 level 3 sex offenders in the WCVB story.

We're a lot worse off that even Boston media reports

But the state Public Safety website lists 11 in Falmouth and that doesn't include the level 2 offenders.

Falmouth actually has 47 either level 2 or 3 sex offenders, but that doesn't include East Falmouth with its 2 sex offenders raising the town's total to 49.

Dennis has 33, Dennisport has 6 and West Dennis has 1 for a total of 40.  While Yarmouth has 35, South Yarmouth has 11 and West Yarmouth has 10 for a total of 56.

Harvard and Florida are safer?

While it is often said that "a little learning is a dangerous thing," that doesn't seem to be the case with sex offenders.

According to the Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Florida only has 6 registered sex offenders and Harvard has only 2. (Florida MA  and Harvard MA)

Sagamore Bridge repairs scheduled for Thursday

Expect delays during daylight hours February 23

Officials from the US Army Corps of Engineers have announced a single day of repairs for the Sagamore Bridge on Thursday, February 23.  Weather-permitting, light fixture repairs will be made during daylight hours.

The work will require that traffic be confined to one lane in each direction. Motorists should expect delays during peak morning and afternoon travel times.

All four lanes of traffic on the Bourne Bridge will be open, according to the USACE.

Occupy Cape Cod protests Yarmouth foreclosure auction [Rifkin]

Large group from all over Cape annoys, but doesn't block foreclosure sale

"We were loud and boisterous and things couldn't have gone better."

By Paul Rifkin and staff

Check the short video of the action yesterday.
Auctioneer McLaughlin seemed to be thinking, WTF?About forty Occupy Cape Codders (from Falmouth to Provincetown) gathered in Yarmouth Tuesday morning to protest a foreclosure auction. 

The auction was being administered by the Daniel P. McLaughlin & Company of Boston.

The home is at 5 Alijo Drive in West Yarmouth.

The action was organized by occupier John Hopkins of Truro who said, "we were loud and boisterous and things couldn't have gone better."

A little pushing & shoving

The action got quite confrontational (see video to follow) and beefy occupiers Don Cox of West Barnstable (Left below) and Peter Waasdorp (Center  below) were ready to jump in after the old and weak photographer and videographer got jostled about by the auctioneer crew.

Arthur Dickinson of Harwich banged his "drum" to drown out the auctioneer's polemics.

The occupiers did "mic checks" and chanted "banks got bailed out, we got sold out" while the auctioneer mumbled his legalistic babble aimed towards removing a tenant-renter.

The property didn't fetch a high enough bid, and the bank took it back for $200,000.