HARWICH ─ It’s not often that an auditorium full of high school students is so silent one can hear the proverbial pin drop, but that was the case when Chris Herren spoke at Monomoy Regional High School on Monday. Herren, a former member of the Boston Celtics and a recovering drug addict now sober for eight years, brought a powerful message to students, many of whom were moved to tears by his words. But it...

WEST HARWICH — Residents and town officials got a thorough presentation Monday night on the plume that has moved slowly from Dennisport, through West Harwich to the Herring River over nearly the past 20 years. While several studies have been done, there still remains concern about the status and impact from the plume, which initially showed tetrachloroethylene levels 1,000 times beyond limits along Smith Stree...

HARWICH — The south wind whispered across Nantucket Sound last Thursday shortly after the equinox drew the line on autumn. But with 80-degree temperatures, little wave movement from the light south wind on Nantucket Sound, and the sand at Bank Street Beach still hot beneath the feet, it was hard to believe summer was in the rear view mirror. Bank Street Beach parking lot was three-quarters full and beach umbre...

HARWICH — With Halloween only a month away, departments at the community center are looking to stock their “Boo-tique” with a costume donation drive. Anyone with a used Halloween costume kicking around the house who is looking to get rid of it can make a donation to the “Boo-tique.” The “Boo-tique” is set up to help kids who might not otherwise have the opportunity to get a Halloween costume and become a pirat...

HARWICH — The Brooks Free Library emergency lighting transistor inverter, which has failed three times in the past year, was scheduled to be repaired on Wednesday and full services are expected to be restored on Thursday. That was the word from library director Ginny Hewitt earlier this week. Should the library open on Thursday, the failed inverter will have caused the municipal library to operate with vastly ...

HARWICH — It's been a while in coming, but the board of health has rolled out the town's first e-permitting function. Additional express permitting may be coming soon for the conservation commission and building department. Harwich is one of six towns involved in the Accela e-permitting program being overseen by the Cape Cod Commission, designed to make filing permits easier and allow the general public to con...

The manatee that visited Harwich waters over the summer got a surprise last Thursday when it was captured by marine mammal rescue experts and shuttled to the Mystic Aquarium for rehabilitation. And then it had a surprise for researchers. It's pregnant. On Tuesday, veterinarians were conducting a routine medical exam on the manatee, named “Washburn” after the island in Falmouth where it was rescued. “An u...

The manatee that visited Harwich waters over the summer got a surprise last Thursday when it was captured by marine mammal rescue experts and shuttled to the Mystic Aquarium for rehabilitation. And then it had a surprise for researchers. It's pregnant. On Tuesday, veterinarians were conducting a routine medical exam on the manatee, named “Washburn” after the island in Falmouth where it was rescued. “An u...

After just one year on the job, Monomoy Athletic Director Brendan Case has resigned, according to an email sent by Superintendent Scott Carpenter to families in the school district on Saturday (Sept. 24). The email states that the reason for Case’s resignation, effective Sept. 23, is to “explore other options and have more time with his young family.” The email further states that a formal job posting for a...

HARWICH — After the emergency electrical inverter is replaced Wednesday, Brooks Free Library anticipates opening to the public on Thursday. The Library in the Lobby will remain open Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to Director Ginny Hewitt, but will be closed Wednesday so shelving, books and videos can be moved from the lobby back to the main library. The library will open again at 10 a.m. ...

WEST HARWICH — Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod is moving forward with an agreement to purchase Harwich Ecumenical Council for Housing property off Route 28, with an eye on building six affordable homes on the rear portion of the land. Habitat has applied to the board of selectmen for up to $300,000 from the town's affordable housing fund for the purchase of the land and is also requesting that selectmen provi...

HARWICH — There may be only one Monomoy Regional High School, but there soon may be some other schools in Massachusetts that bear a striking resemblance to it. Last month, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) announced that the new high school has been approved to become one of its model schools. Its designs and specifications will now be made available to other communities seeking to build sch...