Cape & Islands News

WANTED: Art, Architecture and Movie Critics

Are YOU one of the writers who should be reviewing the Cape art scene?
If so, cc2day is looking for people to write regular columns here

rt, film and architecture criticism was once a regular feature in American newspapers. But that was before the internet paradigm shift which is wiping out many print media and causing the massive layoffs in the newspaper industry.

Above is cctoday blogger Solon Economou as an extra with Julie Harris during the filming of "Chatham" playing this week at the Cape Cod Cinema in Dennis.One of the first things the bean-counters cut is anything to do with art.

But the web is a different and friendlier world where space is never a concern, and everything is shown in full color to many times the number of readers than ever read your local newspaper.

Last month nearly a million unique visitors came to capecodtoday.  They could have been offered your criticism on art, architecture or film.

We have over 150 other local writers sharing their thoughts with our readers on every subject under the sun, but these areas of the art scene are not yet covered.

If you'd like to be our regular reviewer for any of these areas, please email me with a little about you. Remember, beauty IS in the eye of the beholder, so why shouldn't you be the one to tell our world what you think about the subject.

Home styles, gallery openings, latest movies

We already have an Art Calendar which could be expanded, or we will set up a new one specifically for gallery openings.  We'd welcome any others who would like to comment on the styles of the new homes being built here, with perhaps occasional primers on architecture in general and Cape Cod architecture specifically.

And while we're at it, why not a regular column about the movies which open here with your opinions along with others like rottentomatoes.com.

Interested? Email me.

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Two boats collide in Buzzards Bay

Experienced sailor falls to death

The Coast Guard launched a multi asset response today after two boats collided at about 1:45 p.m. in Buzzards Bay.  The three-person crew aboard the 60-foot Reason contacted Coast Guard Station Menemsha, Mass., on channel 16, VHF-FM and said they had collided with the Padanaram, a 30-foot sailboat with two people aboard. Upon impact, one person fell overboard from the Padanaram.

David J. Walsh, 64, a South Dartmouth resident popularly known as “D.J.”, was the retired president of Teledyne Rodney Metals, a specialty metals manufacturer, and past chairman of the Buzzards Bay Regatta.

The Standard-Times reported that a South Dartmouth resident Tom Kenney, a friend of Mr. Walsh and Mr. Hathaway, shared what he had learned about the accident.

"It's very hard to collide with a sailboat stern on."
   - Tom KenneyMr. Kenney said he had seen both men at the New Bedford Yacht Club dock on Friday morning  "It was my understanding that a fairly large power boat ran up over D.J.'s stern and threw him into the water. Warren Hathaway was below decks. He scrambled up, the boat was taking on water," Mr. Kenney said. "D.J. probably didn't even see it coming."
He said Mr. Hathaway was walking on his own when he was brought to the dock in Padanaram, but was put on a stretcher and taken to St. Luke's Hospital.

Mr. Kenney said Mr. Hathaway, who was "pretty well banged up," told him that if he had been on deck, he would have been killed. Mr. Kenney, also an experienced sailor, said he wonders whether the power boat was on autopilot or its operator was distracted.

According to the Coast Guard, visibility at the time was two to three miles.
"It's very hard to collide with a sailboat stern on," he said.

The Coast Guard dispatched two nearby patrolling cutters, the Ridley and the Tybee, a 25-foot response boat from Station Menemsha and a helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod.

The crew aboard the 25-foot boat recovered the person in the water and transported them to the state pier in New Bedford and transferred care to an awaiting ambulance.

The Ridley escorted the Reason and crew to the pier where they will be met by the New Bedford Police and the Massachusetts Environmental Police who will conduct an investigation.

Editor's Note: An audio clip of the mayday call is available here.

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The Vineyard shark bite heard round the world; Nantucket home invasion, sexual assault; News from both islands

Nantucket Headlines

Home Invasion Sexual Assault
Police describe attack that lasted several hours as "heinous." No suspects.

Former Nantucket Man Serving Time in Jail on Drug Charge Killed in Car Accident. Emanual Moniz, 30, was arrested in 2006 as part of Operation Blue Fish

Town ans 'Sconset celebrate July Fourth in unique style  Children compete in a Fourth of July watermelon eating contest on Main Street, while in 'Sconset children roll watermelons in a contest across an expansive lawn.

Intercontinental closing on Marine Home Center expected mid-month
No purchase price has been disclosed, but the official closing on the sale of Marine Home Center to the Brighton-based Intercontinental Developers, Inc. is anticipated to occur on or about July 18.

Great Point reopened to beach driving
Buckey hired as NHS Principal
HDC reviews Dreamland plans

Read the Nantucket Independent.Martha's Vineyard Headlines

No State, Federal Funds to Help After Fire  There is no state or federal grant money available to offset the damage wreaked by an Independence day fire which destroyed Café Moxie and decommissioned Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, according to state representative Eric T. Turkington who traveled to Vineyard Haven to meet business owners and town leaders on Friday...

Shark Sighting Stirs Media Attention Around World  It was not so much a matter of life imitating art as of life contradicting art. More than 30 years ago, when they were filming the movie Jaws on Martha's Vineyard, a young Jonathan Searle played the part of a kid who scared people out of the water by using a fake fin to pretend to be a great white shark...

Moujabber Garage Will Come Down
After five years of lawsuits, appeals and bitter contention, the Martha's Vineyard Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to approve a plan for an addition to the Oak Bluffs home of Joseph Moujabber, closing at least one chapter in the prolonged saga over the three-storey garage built without a permit back in 2003...

Size No Drawback as Sailboats Battle in Race Around Vineyard  A Vineyard sailor in one of the smallest boats was among the winners of Saturday's 'Round the Island Race...

Cape Cod League Plays Exhibition Game on Island  The first Cape League game on the Vineyard between the Falmouth Commodores and the Wareham Gatemen will be played at 1 p.m. next Tuesday. And although the game is the first, it likely will not be the last: officials from Vineyard Baseball are negotiating with Cape League officials about hosting a game here every year...

Read the Vineyard Gazette.

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11 Cape towns limit boat pollution; Whale watch boat afire in Bay

Whale watch boat on fire in Bay

The Coast Guard responds to a Capt. John boat on fire in Cape Cod Bay

Five Coast Guard boats responded when a charter whale-watching vessel carrying 36 people reported an engine fire while they were six miles off Gurnet Lighthouse in Plymouth, about 8:30 a.m., today.
   The 77-foot Capt. John & Son (above) is no longer on fire and the smoke had dissipated. There are no reports of injuries, and the boat does not appear to be taking on water.
Coast Guard boats from Station Cape Cod Canal, Station Point Allerton, MA., Station Provincetown, and Station Scituate, MA., responded. Additionally, several good Samaritan vessels stood by to help, if needed.
   Capt. John & Son's sister ship, Tales of the Sea (above), picked up all of the passengers and continued on with the whale-watching trip. Another sister ship, Andy Lynn VI, is towing the Capt. John & Son to Plymouth. A 41-foot utility boat from Station Point Allerton is escorting them to the harbor. "No Discharge" Designation in Cape Cod Bay
Largest single protected area in the Northeast

With state and local backing, The Environmental Protection Agency is designating Cape Cod Bay as a "No Discharge" area. This status means that discharges of treated and untreated boat sewage are prohibited within these Massachusetts state waters, including the Towns of Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, Brewster, Dennis, Yarmouth, Barnstable, Sandwich and Bourne. The designation is for the single largest area of protected coastal waters in the Northeast acording to release today from the EPA office in Boston.

In May, the Mass. Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), in partnership with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, the Nantucket Soundkeeper, and the towns on the Cape Cod Bay side petitioned EPA to approve the No Discharge designation. Following a 30-day public review and comment period, EPA will approve the request to protect these coastal waters from boat sewage.

"Cape Cod is cherished by hundreds of thousands of people throughout New England and beyond. Putting this important protection in place will help safeguard people's enjoyment of this special, beautiful place," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office. "Achieving this designation for Cape Cod Bay is a major milestone in EPA's effort to protect the entire New England coastline from boat sewage. These Cape communities are leading the way nationally about how we can better protect our environment."

"The designation of a No Discharge Zone in Cape Cod Bay is a victory for the grass-roots organizations on Cape Cod who worked tirelessly on this issue, for the state as a whole, and for the people who come from all over the world to visit this special region of the Commonwealth," said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles. "With this key piece of the puzzle, we are well on our way of achieving Governor Patrick's goal of a statewide NDA covering all of the state's coastal waters."

To qualify for a No Discharge designation, the applicant must show there are enough "pumpout" facilities where boaters can get their sewage holding tanks pumped out. This particular area has an estimated 7,000 boats, of which only 3,590 are large enough to have a head or toilet on board. There are a total of eight pumpout facilities in the proposed area, five fixed shore-based facilities and three pumpout boats. In addition, there are two pending pumpout facilities which should be operational in the summer of 2008. There are approximately 19 marinas, 14 yacht and five public landings and piers; and 42 beaches in the area.

Boat sewage can lead to health problems for swimmers, closed shellfish beds and the overall degradation of marine habitats.

The Association to Preserve Cape Cod, the Nantucket Soundkeeper and MA Coastal Zone Management (MA CZM) initiated the No Discharge Area designation process in the summer of 2007 to safeguard local marine resources. Working together, the groups held informal meetings in the area where staff presented an overview of the proposed area for designation, outlined the designation process, described the beneficial environmental impacts of establishing the No Discharge Area and received input from the public.

"It's been an honor to work on the NDA designation as part of the Working Group. We want to thank the towns, harbormasters and organizations who supported the NDA and made it possible. We look forward to helping to designate the next NDA on the south side of Cape Cod," said Maggie Geist, Executive Director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod.

With today's designation, there will be one continuous No Discharge Area for the coastline of Massachusetts from Provincetown all the way to the end of Boston Harbor in Winthrop.

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"No Discharge" Designation for Cape Cod Bay

EPA, state and local officials will join together to celebrate "no discharge" designation for Cape Cod Bay

On Monday, July 14, 2008 at 11am, representatives of the EPA and the state Coastal Zone Management Office (CZM) along with local officials will gather at the Dennis Harbor Master's office on Sesuit Harbor to celebrate the "no discharge" designation for Cape Cod Bay.

The designation means that discharging all boat sewage is prohibited, helping to protect sensitive areas from harmful pathogens, nutrients and chemicals which can harm aquatic life and degrade water quality.  Click here or on the image on the right for a larger view of the Coastal No Discharge Areas in New England (When the map was drawn, Cape Cod Bay was only a proposed area--it will now officially be an NDA).

According to the CZM website:

Boat sewage can contain bacteria and viruses, nutrients, and chemicals that can be harmful to water quality and public health. No Discharge Areas, or NDAs, are designated bodies of water where the discharge of all boat sewage, whether treated or not, is prohibited. Governor Patrick's goal is ultimately to make all of the Commonwealth’s coastal waters NDAs. The Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) is working with coastal communities to develop applications to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for no discharge status, and is supporting efforts to increase boat pumpout facilities to make proper sewage disposal more convenient for boaters. 

More information including the importance and benefits of NDAs and a list of Cape Cod pumpout facilities may be found on the CZM website. 

As mentioned above, the event will take place on Monday the 14th at 11am at Sesuit Harbor in Dennis and will be attended by Bill Delahunt,Member of Congress; Robert W. Varney, Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA, New England Region; Leslie Ann McGee, Director, Office of Coastal Zone Management; Maggie Geist, Director, Association to Preserve Cape Cod and Terry Glenn, Dennis Harbor Master.

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Barnstable ZBA resigns in protest over Klimm's actions

Unheard of protest rattles the Town manager's iron hold on town
With no board applicants may proceed in 65 days without ZBA approval

Seven members of Barnstable's Zoning Board of Appeals publicly resigned Wednesday night claiming an executive assault on the board's independence.

ZBA chairman Gail Nightingale read a joint statement for all ZBA members except for the two newest members Laura Shufelt and Nikolas Atsalis. Last night's meeting would have been their first.

"Recent events have made it readily apparent that there is a concentrated effort to manipulate this board to serve a purely political agenda on more than one level"The seven veteran ZBA members who resigned in protest were Dan Creedon, Sheila Geiler, Jerry Gilmore, James Hatfield, Ron Jansson, John Norman and chair Gail Nightingale.

Twenty-two year ZBA veteran John Gilmore was not informed in advance that he was not to be re-appointed by even so much as a courtesy phone call, a clear slap on the face heard all around town.

The resignations were in reaction to how Town Manager John Klimm handled the recent  appointments of new ZBA  members seemingly trumping the authority of the Barnstable Town Council  which is the appointing authority for that board.

Klimm also referred a recent ZBA decision to the Cape Cod Commission as what he described as a "discretionary development of regional impact for additional review".

Applicants can move ahead after 65 days

"I’m sorry she is not available."People with issues pending before the board will have to sit back and wait now. That may not be a bad thing though. Unless the Counsel is pressured by the powers to be to make immediate additional political appointments, appeals that have not been decided after 65 days are deemed to be approved.

When our correspondent Peter Robbins attempted to get a comment from Town Attorney Ruth Weil, he identified himself, was placed on hold and then told, "I’m sorry she is not available."

The complete letter is below:

Joint statement of the Barnstable Zoning Board of Appeals 7/9/08

It is with deep disappointment and serious concern for the future of our town that this board has found it necessary to announce its following decision and to issue its official statement of reasons therefor. In deference to, and respect for, the applicants scheduled to be heard this evening, effective immediately following the remainder of the hearings scheduled tonight, the following regular and associate members of the Barnstable Zoning Board of Appeals announce their resignation:

Dan Creedon, Sheila Geiler, Jerry Gilmore, James Hatfield, Ron Jansson, Gail Nightingale and John Norman

These resignations are tendered for the following reasons. Recent developments in this town's governance have made it readily apparent that, in stark contrast to the appreciation and gratitude that many citizens of the Town of Barnstable have expressed to members of this and other multimember boards for their hours of dedication and volunteerism, there is currently within this town a definite, demonstrated and concerted lack of gratitude or appreciation for the volunteer efforts of current and past members of this board.

Recent events have made it readily apparent that there is, and has been, a concentrated effort to manipulate this board to serve a purely political agenda on more than one level. Rather than respecting the integrity and independence of this board and allowing it to function as the people of the Town of Barnstable intended: free from political pressure and manipulation, deciding each petition that comes before it on its merits, without consideration for, or deference to, the political or private interests of anyone person or group of people, it has become apparent that certain people within the current governance of this town would transform this board into a political pawn to be manipulated and coerced to serve their own political agenda.

Recent events have illustrated a less than transparent effort to manipulate the jurisdiction, decision-making and, most recently, the composition of this board. While the board recognizes and acknowledges the appointment authority of the Town Council, when associate members who have persevered, serving their time as associates and gaining important and indispensible experience in the process, are passed over for inexperienced neophytes in their stead, without any apparent regard or gratitude for the hard work, dedication or sacrifices of those associate members and their families, a response such as this is warranted. Failing to acknowledge those associate members with promotions to available full membership seats for their hard work and dedication to a process that is essential to the proper functioning of the town, is insensitive, inconsiderate, disrespectful and just plain wrong.

More importantly for the people of the Town of Barnstable, however, these recent developments have lain bare a much more disturbing development within the governance of this town. It is now quite clear that the integrity of this board has been compromised. As a result, the people of our town will suffer the negative consequences of a multi-member board that can no longer operate independently of the political pressures that it, and all of the other multi-member boards and committees within the town, were designed to be free of. Central to the proper functioning of these boards is the democratic concept of a number of different people, from different perspectives, experiences and backgrounds, representative of the diverse nature of our town, participating in a decision-making process on the merits of those matters that come before it, free from outside influence or political manipulation or concerns. Now, with the recent efforts within the town to manipulate, control and influence the functioning of this Board in more ways than one, the built in check and balance provided by this board's place within the structure of the town's local government has been destroyed. The people of this town should take note, the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Barnstable is no longer an independent body free to decide petitions on their merits, but rather, due to outside forces now being exerted upon it, it is being forced to function under the control and influence of those individuals intent on changing it.

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Ted's back behind the helm...

The Senator sails

  Above are photos of Ted Kennedy and his sister-in-law Ethel and other family members at Hyannisport taken yesterday as they returned from a sail aboard his yacht Mya. Ethel coming up the dock to Ted who is at the gate turning down a ride back to the compound - he said he'd rather walk. Pretty darn good for a 76-year-old guy who is getting chemo and radiation daily in Boston. All photos by Frank Paparo.

Ted, Ethel, Maxwell and Kara go for a sail

Senator Edward M. Kennedy is reaching the midway point in a six-week course of radiation and chemotherapy treatment for a malignant brain tumor at Boston's Mass General Hospital where he is taken each morning.

But he returns to Hyannisport every afternoon for a sail aboard the Mya, and he remains upbeat according to his wife Vicki who emailed the latest updates to her friends.

In the photos on right are Ted's  daughter Kara coming up the dock and below that, Ted walks down the dock with white-hair Maxwell Kennedy, Ethel's son.

"This disease is a bear. But hey, my guy's a lion. I'm betting on the lion."

"The news is really all positive and encouraging," Victoria Kennedy wrote to family and friends. "My incredibly strong and resilient husband is handling the treatment very well. The only side effect is fatigue, and that word has never been in Teddy's vocabulary before"... "As Teddy says, this disease is a bear. But hey, my guy's a lion. I'm betting on the lion." (See the entire email on at the bottom.)

And as if all that weren't enough, Vicki Kennedy said the senator is exercising in the morning before heading from his Hyannisport home to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston each day for his radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

Vicki's email to friends
Dear all,
   At the end of this week, Teddy will be half way through the radiation and daily chemo phase of his treatment, and I thought it was time to mark that upcoming milestone with an update.
   The news is really all positive and encouraging. My incredibly strong and resilient husband is handling the treatment very well. The only side effect is fatigue, and that word has never been in Teddy's vocabulary before. But he's learning to cope with it. As I have mentioned to many of you, he is tackling cancer with his trademark grit and determination, and he is doing everything he needs to do to regain his strength and health.
   He exercises every morning before we make our trek to Boston, and sails almost every afternoon when we get back to the Cape. I have drawn the line at sailing in thunderstorms, but other than that, he's out on the water just about every day. He's making calls, staying in touch with his office staff and colleagues and still pushing all the issues he cares about.
   For those of you who don't read the Boston Globe every day, here's a link to the lead story on the front page of today's paper. Don't you love it?
And tomorrow, July 3, is a special day for us -- our 16th anniversary. Because we need to be traveling to Boston, we won't be making our usual sail up to the Cape from Sag Harbor (with stops in our favorites places). We'll save that for next year. This year, we'll be very happy to have our anniversary sail in Nantucket Sound off Hyannis Port, and our children and grandchildren will be with us during the Fourth of July holiday.
   I thank you all for your many cards, letters, emails and calls of care and concern. We are blessed to have you in our lives. As Teddy says, this disease is a bear. But hey, my guy's a lion. I'm betting on the lion.

Love, Vicki

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State Agency Confirms Federal Jurisdiction over Cape Wind

Cape Wind wins another appeal:
Endangered Species Act and wildlife issues do not apply

A Final Decision issued by the Director of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MDFW) upheld an earlier decision that Cape Wind does not constitute a “taking” under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act and that wildlife issues will be managed by the appropriate Federal Agencies.

“At a time of record high oil prices, this Final Decision brings us closer to delivering stable electricity prices, greater energy independence, good jobs in the clean energy sector and cleaner air from America’s first offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal,” said Jim Gordon, president of Cape Wind.

“At a time of record high oil prices, this Final Decision brings us closer to delivering stable electricity prices, greater energy independence, good jobs in the clean energy sector and cleaner air from America’s first offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal.” - GordonOpponents of the renewable energy project have consistently attempted to usurp the authority of Federal jurisdiction over the Federal portions of Nantucket Sound, in this case by having petitioned for adjudicatory hearings to challenge the state agency’s prior decision that its jurisdiction did not extend into Federal waters.

Cape Wind and the MDFW filed motions to dismiss the opposition group’s petition.

In his final decision, MDFW Director Wayne F. MacCallum found the legal reasoning of project opponents to circumvent Federal authority as “not persuasive,” and that, “the federal law on point is overwhelming.” 

The Final Decision also indicates that there had been no question regarding the portions of the project's cables located within Massachusetts: "Petitioners also concede that no 'take' of Massachusetts protected species would occur as a result of the proposed Cable Project..."

Below is a summary all of the Judicial and State and Federal Agency decisions / milestones concerning Cape Wind to date:

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Coast Guard airlifts ailing fisherman off Chatham; Chatham by air

New Bedford trawler Blue Sea II was 95 miles east of Cape

A Coast Guard helicopter crew airlifted a 56-year-old fisherman who was suffering from abdominal pain aboard a fishing vessel approximately 95 miles east of Chatham today.

The Coast Guard First District Command Center in Boston received a call around 9 a.m., from the Rescue Coordination Center in Halifax, Canada, reporting the Blue Sea II, based in New Bedford, Mass., had a fisherman aboard in need of medical attention.

Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass., launched an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and arrived on scene around 11 a.m. The Jayhawk crew airlifted the man from the vessel and transported him to a Hyannis, Mass., hospital.  See the video of the rescue here.
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Chatham gets first Aerial Photography Book

It's hard to believe this book doesn't yet exist, but the many faces of Chatham's everchanging coastline have now been captured in a newly released coffee table book by photographer Christopher Seufert. "Chatham by Air: Aerial Photographs of Chatham, Massachusetts, 80 photographs in hard cover, hits the streets with a signing and wine & cheese reception at the Christopher Seufert Gallery (2469 Main Street, Chatham) from 3:30pm to 6:30pm on Saturday, July 12, 2008.

"Chatham by Air", printed by Blurb Press, has 80 8" x 10" pages with 77 full-color original photographs on 80 pd. semi-matte paper stock and is available for $49.95 in hard cover and $36.95 in soft cover, both with bonus dvd.Shot entirely in 2007 and 2008, the color photos give a priority treatment to the town's dramatic new break at North Beach. The first 20 images show the progressive erosion in similarly composed images shot over time. Monomoy, downtown Chatham, and virtually every body of water are also revealed in perspectives from the air. Further on, seals bask on sandspits, a scalloper rocks on its anchor in Nantucket Sound, the ever green links of Eastward Ho reflect the light of a sunny day on Pleasant Bay.

While the main project is a traditional hard-cover coffee table book, Seufert, a documentary filmmaker by trade, brought his film and video background to play with a full complement of multimedia components, including a DVD slide show (with 50 additional images) included with the book and also available separately, a free cross-platform screensaver (available as a download from Apple), and a separate 27-minute online video slideshow for sale as a download. Christopher Seufert Photography.

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Wellfleet and Chatham Fourths

This parade is a pissah...

Wellfleet peaceniks on parade, clockwise from top left: Caleb Potter, Wellfleet's own Pirate, walks again a year after his terrible accident, the infamous 'Joe Tweet' Piss Clam, now in the custody of Paul Suggs, has been squirting spectators for over 25 years, Barack-oli O'Banana this year's parade theme, chosen by our  Elementary kids, "Wear what you eat" and Andy Young, son of famous oyster-shucker, Poppin' a Wheelie.  Photos by Lezli Rowell.

Meanwhile in more sedat2 Chatham, the Peaceniks were marching as well, that's Sarah Hatcher in the blue dress, and a bunch of guys from Truro's Bagpipe Band squealed their pipes off while the Chatham Town Band played more P.C. Chatham music and two Harwich kids looked out from Ladder 66. Photos by Walter Prooks.  Below is a taste of what Provincetown's nighttime parade looked like to CWN editor Tim Caldwell.

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