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☀️ Escaping the Taliban, playing in P-town

☀️ Escaping the Taliban, playing in P-town

Plus: Goodbye "Lake Sandy Neck"

Cape Coddah
October 03, 2025

Together with:

Good morning Cape Cod and Happy Friday. Here’s a fun tidbit for you:

Mercy Otis Warren, born in Barnstable in 1728, was America's earliest-known female playwright and her satirical political commentary helped rally opposition to British rule—basically, Cape Cod had the original revolutionary influencer. 🎭

In this week’s Cape Coddah:

Twin Arches chosen for bridge project
Plane View closing after 26 years
Events and live music

Let’s get to it.

🏖️ Goodbye "Lake Sandy Neck"

Construction started Friday on a $6.6M project to protect Barnstable's only public Cape Cod Bay beach from erosion and flooding that's plagued the park for over a decade.

The project will relocate the flood-prone lower parking lot 60 feet inland, restore dunes, and move the gatehouse to higher ground. Since 2013, repeated storms have flooded the parking lot so regularly staff call it "Lake Sandy Neck."

The new design ensures the area can withstand a 100-year storm 50 years from now. The 1,438-acre park provides habitat for endangered piping plovers and least terns while supporting year-round recreation.

Funding comes from state grants and Sandy Neck enterprise funds. Construction runs through May, avoiding shorebird nesting season. Read more»

🏈 Refugees Find Freedom Through Flag Football

At the International Women's Flag Football Association tournament in Provincetown, an Afghan family's story was the highlight. Najeeb Fayez, former manager for Afghanistan's National Olympic Committee, fled Kabul with his family when the Taliban took control in 2021.

IWFFA President Diane Beruldsen, who met Fayez at a 2018 sports conference in India, helped evacuate 73 Afghan female players and their families to Mexico through legal aid non-profit Aldea. The Fayez family now lives in Santa Cruz, California, awaiting asylum approval.

Fayez's daughter Najia, 19, played on the Loose Women walk-on team during the September tournament. Though they went 0-3, the team's participation symbolized something larger. "We left Afghanistan to survive but also to claim something that so many take for granted," Najia said, addressing fellow players about the right to simply play sports.

In Afghanistan today, women cannot play sports or attend school past sixth grade. Read more»

SPONSORED BY CHATHAM HARVESTERS

Our Catch in Your Hands

🚧 Twin Arches Chosen for $4.5B Bridges Project

Massachusetts DOT held an open house in Bourne Thursday to discuss the draft environmental report for the $4.5B Cape Cod bridges replacement project. The state has chosen twin arches as the preferred design for both new bridges.

The report finds the project will have fairly light environmental impact. Construction could kill some monarch butterflies but won't jeopardize the species. It's unlikely to harm critical habitat for endangered North Atlantic right whales or significantly affect canal fish and shellfish. Air pollution near the bridges will actually decrease due to reduced traffic congestion and idling.

Public comments are being accepted through October 24th. The Sagamore Bridge was due for major rehabilitation in 2025, while the Bourne Bridge needs work by 2029. The state applied for over $1B in federal grants on August 1st, with award notices expected later this fall. Read more»

📸 @capeimagesbyamie | 📍Gray’s Beach

Tag @thecapecoddah to get your photos in the Coddah!

🏨 P-town Loses Nearly 20 Inns in 15 Years

Provincetown's owner-run inns are declining as larger hospitality companies buy up properties, sparking fears of losing the town's character. Licensed lodging dropped from nearly 100 inns in 2010 to 82 today, while short-term rentals fell from 1,200 in 2019 to 855.

Plymouth-based Linchris now manages 423 rooms across six properties - 31% of the town's total lodging. The company bought the Provincetown Inn for $24M in January 2024, prompting residents to pass bylaws capping owners at five hotels.

Hotel rooms now average $400-$500 nightly, with luxury spots hitting $800. The housing shortage forces operators to convert former inns into employee housing. Town manager Alex Morse says 65 affordable rental units are nearly complete.

Residents worry about "Nantucket-ization" but acknowledge the challenge of balancing preservation with progress as iconic spots like the Lobster Pot list for $14M.
Read more»

Barnstable County opened its expanded Clean Water Center in Sandwich with $3.1M in funding to test next-generation wastewater treatment technologies for Cape Cod.

Actress Ashley Judd spent the weekend in P-town exploring National Seashore trails, whale watching, camping, and visiting local spots including The Shipwreck Lounge and the Lobster Pot.

Orleans select board remains divided on a proposed property tax exemption for year-round residents.

Brewster's Sea Camps improvement project was scaled back to $1.93M from last year's rejected $11.4M proposal, with no property tax increases needed.

✈️ Plane View Restaurant to Close After 26 Years

Bob Jackson is closing the Plane View Restaurant at Martha's Vineyard Airport on January 30th after 26 years serving travelers and locals. The 62-year-old decided not to renew his lease, choosing retirement after working the kitchen seven days a week since the pandemic made finding chefs difficult due to high housing costs.

Jackson started in the restaurant business at 15, working at Oak Bluffs' Ocean View Restaurant. His parents later bought that restaurant, and in 1999, he and his father won a 10-year airport lease bid. Over the years, he's served notable customers including President Bill Clinton and Bill Murray.

The Martha's Vineyard Airport Commission is now accepting bids for the 2,566-square-foot space, with proposals due November 19th for a five-year lease.

Jackson plans to stay on the Island in retirement, working in his yard and playing golf, though he admits he'll probably get bored and find a bar to tend eventually.
Read more»

Jennifer Garner and her "Five-Star Weekend" costars crashed Nantucket's Gaslight karaoke night Tuesday, performing ABBA's "Dancing Queen" with a local ghost walk guide.

Oak Bluffs residents will vote November 4th on a proposal to limit rental mopeds to one rider, require renters be at least 18 with a valid license, and significantly reduce the maximum number of rental licenses.

National Grid began installing smart meters across Nantucket this week that provide near real-time energy data updated every 15 minutes and eliminate the $26 monthly manual meter reading fee.

MV students are outperforming state averages on standardized tests and showing steady recovery from COVID-19 learning losses, though none of the Island schools teaching grades 3-8 have returned to pre-pandemic performance levels yet.

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⚖️ IG: Cape School "Split" Bids Illegally

The Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General found Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School in Bourne violated state procurement laws by improperly hiring contractors and failing to document spending.

Investigators discovered the school "split" bids into smaller invoices to avoid competitive bidding requirements. A retaining wall project was divided into five separate invoices over five months to keep costs under the $10,000 threshold that triggers legal requirements like advertising jobs, soliciting quotes, and paying prevailing wages.

The school also awarded contracts based on single quotes instead of competitive bidding, kept no procurement records, and never executed written contracts with vendors. Superintendent Roger Forget, who serves as purchasing agent, "consistently failed to comply with state procurement laws."

Additionally, the school has no written vehicle use policy despite several employees having take-home privileges for school vehicles, with no records tracking who uses what vehicle and when.

The OIG directed the school committee to respond within 30 days with implementation plans. Read more»

👋 Meet: Kefir
🐾 Domestic Shorthair
🎂 2 months old
♀︎ Male
Available to adopt at MSCPA-Cape Cod

SUNDAY - OCTOBER 5

Craft Fair @ Drummer Boy Park | 10 AM
Artful Conversations @ Cahoon Museum | 1 PM
1K for Type 1 @ Buzzards Bay Park | 1 PM
Bash Fundraiser @ Pelham House | 4 PM

SUNDAY - OCTOBER 5

Clyde Leaman @ CC Winery | 12 PM
Vinegrass @ Truro Vineyards | 12 PM
The Salt Clouds @ Press Ahead Coffee | 1 PM
Mike Garvan Group @ The Barley Neck | 2 PM
Evil Gal @ Highfield Hall | 3 PM
Rose Clancy @ Chatham Squire | 5 PM
Karaoke @ Knockout Pizza | 6 PM

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

Friday

69 🌡️ 55 | 🌤️ | 💧0% | 💨 SW 15 mph

Saturday

74 🌡️ 56 | ☀️ | 💧 2% | 💨 W 6 mph

Sunday

74🌡️ 58 | ☀️ | 💧 1% | 💨 WSW 6 mph

💧🌡️ Water temperature = 64ºF

114 Salt Marsh Road, E. Sandwich
Asking $3.2M
3 🛏️
2.5 🛁
2,312 sqft
2.04 acre lot

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

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