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☀️ Nantucket's Daffy Weekend Is Here

☀️ Nantucket's Daffy Weekend Is Here

Plus: The Curtain Falls on WHAT in Wellfleet

Cape Coddah
April 24, 2026

Presented by:

Good morning Cape Cod. It's Arbor Day, which means it's officially time to dig a hole, drop in a tree, and hope for the best. Have a great weekend! 🌳

In this week’s Cape Coddah:

Program gives inmates fresh start
Pirate gold rewrites history
Events and live music

Let’s get to it.

🚧 One Bridge Funded, One Still in Limbo

The Sagamore Bridge replacement is fully funded and on track, with construction possibly starting in late 2027. The Bourne Bridge is a different story. After missing out on federal grants twice, only $250M of the roughly $2.3B price tag is secured.

And here's what keeps Cape leaders up at night: if replacement funding doesn't come through, the Army Corps may move forward with a major rehabilitation instead, which would completely shut down the Bourne for about six months and partially close lanes for another 16 months.

Cape Cod Chamber CEO Paul Niedzwiecki says that kind of disruption could cost the region a third of its economy. Sen. Dylan Fernandes proposed setting aside $200M a year in state funds as a backup, but the Senate quietly rejected it. Both bridges were built in 1935 and handle 38M trips a year. Read more»

🧰 Carpentry Gives Inmates a Fresh Start

The Barnstable County Sheriff's Office just graduated 11 people from Skilled Purpose, a nonprofit that teaches carpentry skills to people in recovery from addiction. Several graduates are current or former inmates at the Barnstable County Jail.

The program was founded by Vincent English, who knows the road well. He lost his brother to addiction, ended up in jail himself, and rebuilt his life from scratch after getting out. Now he's paying it forward.

Over 12 weeks, students learn basic carpentry, tool use, and job skills. They leave with a tool belt and connections to get working right away. One graduate got a job his first week out of jail. Another, still incarcerated at graduation, is already planning his next move. The next session starts in May. Read more»

SPONSORED BY: CAPE SZN

🌸 Cape Moms Beach Club: Girls Just Wanna Have Sun

Mother's Day is May 10th, and if mom's happy place involves beach chairs, good friends, and absolutely zero stress, this shirt was made for her. The Cape Moms Beach Club tee celebrates the moms who've earned their spot in the sand.

Soft, fun, and perfect for beach days with the crew, mom coffee dates, or just repping that "we made it to summer" energy. Whether she's a year-round Cape mom or counts down the days until she's back, this is her uniform.

Because Cape moms know: life's better at the beach. Shop the Mother’s Day Collection.

🌼 Nantucket's Daffy Weekend Is Here

Nantucket's 50th Annual Daffodil Festival is in full swing this weekend and there's a ton going on.

Today, hit the Daffodil Bazaar at the Dreamland from 10-3, browse local artisan goods in the garden at 10 Easy Street, or catch the Spring Forward art reception at the Artists Association gallery from 5-7. The Whaling Museum hosts its Flower Power party tonight too.

Saturday is the big day. The 47th Antique Car Show lines up on Main Street with the parade rolling at noon, followed by the tailgate picnic out in Sconset. There's also a hat pageant, kids' bike parade, puppet show, magic show, and the always adorable Daffy Dog Parade at Children's Beach.

Cisco Brewers has live music all weekend. Sunday wraps up with brunch and the Garden Club flower show. Read more»

📸 @timmjaws |📍Menemsha Pond, MV

Tag @thecapecoddah to get your photos in the Coddah!

🏴‍☠️ Pirate Ship Gold Rewrites Trade History

New research on gold recovered from the Whydah Gally, the pirate ship that sank off Cape Cod in 1717, is debunking a centuries-old myth. European traders long accused West African Akan merchants of diluting their gold with cheaper metals to cheat buyers.

Turns out that was nonsense. Scientists used X-ray analysis on about two dozen gold artifacts from the wreck and found they were between 73.5 and 96.7 percent pure gold. The trace metals present matched what you'd naturally find in raw ore from the Ashanti Gold Belt.

So the gold was legit all along. Over 200,000 artifacts have been recovered from the Whydah since its discovery in 1984, making it one of the most significant archaeological finds tied to the Atlantic slave trade. Read more»

Woods Hole scientists are testing a new way to save Cape Cod's vanishing eelgrass by growing it on floating platforms near the water's surface, since murky water and rising temps have wiped out more than half the region's meadows.

Chatham's select board killed a plan for paid parking in a downtown lot after merchants and residents pushed back hard, arguing it would drive visitors to Harwich Port and Orleans instead.

A crew out of Wellfleet caught a rare split-colored lobster off Cape Cod last week, a 1-in-50-million find that's been donated to the Woods Hole Science Aquarium for public display.

The Music Room in West Yarmouth appears to be falling apart, with its owner facing foreclosure, bands and customers not getting paid, liquor bills 681 days overdue, and no upcoming shows listed on the website.

🎭 The Curtain Falls on WHAT in Wellfleet

The Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater is shutting its doors this summer after 41 years. WHAT, known for putting on ambitious, boundary-pushing drama on the Outer Cape, canceled its 2026 season and will suspend operations on June 1.

The reason is simple: money. Ticket sales never bounced back after COVID, donations from big givers dropped 25%, and artist housing costs tripled. The theater was relying on donations for over 82% of its revenue and still running deficits.

The board set a $200,000 fundraising goal to keep the summer alive but fell short. Whether WHAT reopens this fall, next spring, or five years from now is unclear. The board says it's committed to a comeback, but as the chair put it, "I have not yet had anybody come offer me a check." Read more»

Martha's Vineyard is launching "The Tick Center" next month, a first-of-its-kind clinic combining traditional medicine with acupuncture, nutrition, and yoga to tackle the island's exploding tick crisis.

Nantucket's Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board is feuding with the town's natural resources department after being told to back off its push to force the Great Harbor Yacht Club to comply with its state waterfront permit.

Martha's Vineyard's only campground just sold to Northgate Resorts, one of the nation's largest outdoor hospitality companies, ending over 50 years of ownership by the Feeney family who built it in 1972.

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⚖️ Jury Convicts in E. Falmouth Stabbing

A Boston man was found guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday in the 2022 stabbing death of Douglas Rose in East Falmouth. A Barnstable Superior Court jury concluded that Charee Rainey, 43, carried out the killing with extreme atrocity.

Prosecutors say Rainey and co-defendant Tishaun Miller tracked Rose down at a Davisville Road home and stabbed him multiple times in retaliation over stolen drugs. Miller was already convicted last November and is serving life without parole. The girlfriend who allegedly drove them to the scene cut a cooperation deal for a reduced manslaughter charge.

Rainey's defense attorney called the verdict disappointing and plans to appeal. This was actually Rainey's second trial... the first ended in a mistrial last summer. He faces mandatory life without parole. Read more»

👋 Meet: Ghost
🐾 Siberian Husky
🎂 7 years old
♀︎ Male
Available to adopt at MSCPA-Cape Cod

Explore Peru with purpose

See Peru through the eyes of the women who call it home on Intrepid’s new Women’s Expedition. Travel with an expert female leader and a small group of like-minded women - trek the Andes, take part in a traditional textile workshop and join a female shaman’s spiritual practice on this immersive 8-day adventure.

Explore the new trips

SUNDAY - APRIL 26

Ward Hayden @ Love Farms | 1 PM
Josh Ayala @ Chatham Squire | 5 PM
Nate Ramos Band @ Neptune’s CC | 5 PM
Frank Foot @ Margaritaville | 7 PM

_{Nothing in this section is sponsored. We'll let you know when something's sponsored.}

Friday

50 🌡️ 38 | 🌤️ | 💧 1% | 💨 N 9 mph

Saturday

49 🌡️ 38 | 🌥️ | 💧 1% | 💨 NNE 8 mph

Sunday

52 🌡️ 38 | 🌤️ | 💧 5% | 💨 ENE 8 mph

💧🌡️ Water temperature = 48ºF

143 Main Street, Sandwich
Asking $1.995M
5 🛏️
5.5 🛁
7,270 sqft
7,841 sqft lot

_{Nothing in this section is sponsored. We'll always let you know when something's sponsored.}

Thanks for reading The Cape Coddah today. If you found something useful or entertaining, please share it with someone going to the Daffodil Festival.