The Cape Coddah
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☀️ Saving the ocean's weirdest creatures

☀️ Saving the ocean's weirdest creatures

Plus: The "Big Dill" behind Mashpee's pickleball palace

Cape Coddah
January 16, 2026

Together with:

Good morning Cape Cod. We've made it past the second Friday in January, aka 'Quitter's Day,' when most resolutions officially die. So whether you're still crushing your goals or you've peacefully retired them, you've at least survived the statistically toughest week. How's everyone holding up?"

In this week’s Cape Coddah:

Affordable housing arrives in Wellfleet
Historic boathouse coming home
Events and live music

Let’s get to it.

🐟 Saving Cape Cod's Weirdest Sea Creatures

On a recent cold January morning, New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance walked Dennis beaches looking for stranded ocean sunfish and torpedo rays. They found nothing, a welcome sign after documenting 90 sunfish strandings and 52 torpedo rays this season.

Founded by marine biologist Krill Carson in 2005, NECWA is the only nonprofit rescuing what she calls "marine misfits", the large, strange-looking fish with little public sympathy. Cape Cod's geography creates a deadly trap: animals entering Cape Cod Bay follow the shoreline south, getting funneled into Wellfleet Harbor or Long Point. Over 70% of sunfish strandings occur in Wellfleet Harbor alone.

Strandings are rising, 159 sunfish in 2019, 81 torpedo rays in 2024, possibly due to warming waters. When rescue fails, the volunteer-driven team conducts necropsies, sharing data with researchers worldwide using improvised equipment from thrift stores. Read more»

🐕 Mashpee Weighs Fate of Kennel

Mashpee leaders held a packed public hearing Tuesday on whether to renew Cape Cod Dog Center's commercial kennel license after two dogs died at the facility within a year and numerous complaints surfaced online and with police.

Owner Kailey Cullin said the deaths, one from bloat at 3 AM when no staff were present, another when an aggressive dog attacked a smaller one, weren't from negligence. The facility passed its most recent inspection, though animal control reported 20 dog bites in two years. Over a dozen residents spoke for and against renewal. Supporters praised the staff and care; opponents detailed injuries, inadequate supervision, and a 2021 incident where an employee threw and smacked a puppy.

No decision was reached. Suits will review testimony and documents before issuing a written recommendation on renewal, with or without conditions. Read more»

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🏠 Affordable Housing Arrives in Wellfleet

Wellfleet's 46 affordable apartments at Lawrence Hill are nearly complete, with tenants expected to move in starting in March. The $34.58M project includes 24 townhome-style units and a 22-unit elevator building designed to run at net-zero energy consumption.

Income diversity is built in: 11 units for households earning 80-100% of county median income (about $85,000-$109,000 for two people), nine units for those under 30% ($32,800), and 26 in between. Of 292 households in the December lottery, 75 met Wellfleet's local-preference requirements, enough to fill the 21 set-aside units. About 60% of applicants currently live on Cape Cod.

Select board members toured the nine-foot ceilings, vented heating systems, and ADA-accessible basement storage. All units are fully electric with solar panels on the elevator building. Read more»

📸 @poetry_with_a_camera |📍Rock Harbor

Tag @thecapecoddah to get your photos in the Coddah!

⛴️ Historic Boathouse Finally Coming Home

The historic Stage Harbor Coast Guard boathouse, which once sheltered the CG36500 lifeboat that rescued 32 men from the tanker Pendleton in 1952, is finally coming home to Chatham after a 16-year odyssey.

Saved from demolition in 2009 by David Doherty and others, the 30-by-60-foot structure bounced from a Quincy shipyard to Hull, where permit issues nearly doomed it again. Doherty bought it and stored it at Jay Cashman's shipyard until Chatham needed a new home for its shellfish upwelling operation.

Last week, the boathouse was towed through the Cape Cod Canal to New Bedford for renovations, removing the sloped boat-launch floor and installing steel-reinforced flooring. It'll return in coming months to sit on pilings at 90 Bridge Street, funded by $3.9 million in grants and community preservation funds. Read more»

The Barnstable County Sheriff's Office is accepting applications for its free Public Safety Explorer Program running February 16, offering kids ages 10-14 a five-day introduction to law enforcement.

An aerial survey spotted 33 North Atlantic right whales in Cape Cod Bay, possibly the highest single-day January count in the Center for Coastal Studies' history.

Cape Sen. Julian Cyr is sponsoring the Road to Opportunity Act, which would end the practice of suspending driver's licenses solely for unpaid fines like parking tickets.

🎾 Meet "The Big Dill"

Mashpee's new Island Pickle opened November 21, bringing 10 indoor pickleball courts, five golf simulators, a tiki juice bar, and a sports tavern designed as a Bahamas-inspired tropical escape.

Founding developer William Russell, aka "The Big Dill," built the place from the ground up around the Exuma Islands theme, complete with wooden swings, a docked boat entrance, and sand-colored floors.

The spot has welcomed over 1,000 members and non-members in just three weeks, with pickleball courts proving most popular. Russell, a former Bahamian fisherman who hasn't played pickleball or golfed in years, saw a gap on Cape Cod and spent three years building it.

Mashpee's location offers equal access to the Cape's densest pickleball populations in Falmouth, Barnstable, and Mashpee, sitting 11 miles from the Sagamore Bridge for off-Cape visitors. Read more»

The Steamship Authority opened vehicle reservations for May 14 through October 22 travel starting with head start bookings for enrolled members, followed by general reservations beginning February 3 online and February 10 by phone.

Mocha Mott's, a Vineyard Haven institution, closes its Main Street location Sunday after co-owner Tim Dobel's retirement forced the sale of the building to Toccopuro.

Nantucket approved $3.7M in funding for the stalled "New Downtown" development on Sparks Avenue, ensuring eight of 32 year-round apartments will be affordable and all units will count toward the island's subsidized housing inventory.

Grammy-nominated artist John Forté, 50, who lived in Chilmark with his wife and two children, died suddenly Monday at his home with no immediate cause of death determined.

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⚖️ Dennis Man Sentenced for Death Threats

A 62-year-old South Dennis man was sentenced to two years supervised release with three months home detention and a $5,000 fine for threatening to murder a prominent federal official, their relative, and the relative's spouse.

Michael Mahoney pleaded guilty in August 2025 to transmitting interstate threats. On March 28, 2025, he called the relative during dinner outside Massachusetts using "No Caller ID," confirmed their full name, then screamed he would murder them, their spouse, and the federal official before spewing profanities. The 12-second call was followed by an immediate callback that went unanswered.

Phone records linked both calls to Mahoney's number. When law enforcement approached his South Dennis home the next day, he refused to answer the door or phone. Read more»

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👋 Meet: Kuva
🐾 Pit Bull Terrier Mix
🎂 11 years old
♀︎ Female
Available to adopt at MSCPA-Cape Cod

String Sextets of Tchaikovsky & more

🗓️ Sunday: January 18 @ 3 PM
📍 St. Christopher’s Church, 625 Main St, Chatham, MA 02633

Join the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra for an afternoon of richly expressive chamber music. This concert brings together three masterworks for string sextet by Richard Strauss, Vincent d’Indy, and Johannes Brahms, tracing a compelling musical journey from Romantic warmth to refined late-nineteenth-century craftsmanship. Performed by six outstanding musicians in an intimate acoustic setting, the concert offers a rare opportunity to experience the depth, lyricism, and conversational beauty of the string sextet repertoire. Click here for tickets.
(Sponsored)

FRIDAY - JANUARY 16

Friday Film @ Falmouth Library | 2 PM
Dance Lessons @ W. Falmouth Library | 6 PM
Contra Dance @ Wellfleet Pres. Hall | 7 PM

SATURDAY - JANUARY 17

Mama Group @ S. Dennis Library | 9 AM
Embroidery @ Brewster Ladies Library | 10:30
Chess Club Kids @ Centerville Library | 11 AM
Glass Fusing Workshop @ Sandwich Glass | 11
Bonsai Bar @ Aquatic Brewing | 12 PM
Beach Treasures Talk @ Osterville Library | 2 PM
Lego Club @ Hyannis Library | 2 PM
Boar’s Head Fest @ S. Harwich Meetinghouse | 4:30

SUNDAY - JANUARY 18

Mahjong @ Dennis Library | 12:30 PM
Utica (Doc Film) @ Wellfleet Pres. Hall | 2 PM
American History Book Club @ Hyannis Lib. | 4
Boar’s Head Fest @ S. Harwich Meetinghouse | 4:30

SUNDAY - JANUARY 18

Ward Hayden @ Love Farms | 1 PM
Glad Rag Dolls @ Brewster Ladies Library | 2 PM
Elizabeth Jones (Piano) @ CC MOA | 4 PM
Pitchfork @ Chatham Squire | 5 PM
Daniel Behlman @ Margaritaville | 7 PM

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

Friday

33 🌡️ 23 | 🌤️ | 💧 0% | 💨 W 16 mph

Saturday

46 🌡️ 30 | 🌧️ | 💧 61% | 💨 SSW 12 mph

Sunday

37🌡️ 24 | ☁️ | 💧 25% | 💨 WSW 6 mph

💧🌡️ Water temperature = 38ºF

613 Commercial Street, Provincetown
Asking $4.95M
4 🛏️
3 🛁
2,180 sqft
2,614 sqft lot

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

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