Cape Cod Sees Less Sharks in 2023

If losing your home isn’t traumatic enough, imagine what happens when you realize some of your family members – the ones with fur - have no options.  Romy Maimon, Founder of the Emergency Pet Care Program, wants to change the equation -- and says that helping pets in crisis really means helping people in crisis as well.

Mamion has been working over the past several years to bring together a coordinated group of resources that can jump in and find foster homes or temporary shelter/boarding space for family pets, as well as provide veterinary and related services as needed. Pet owners know their pets are in a safe place and when they are ready to reunite, the pets will be ready as well.

https://www.lowercapenews.org/helping-pets-to-help-people

The love we feel for certain songs is a very real feeling. There are components in them that speak to us in ways that reveals things about us. Susan Rogers, Professor of Psychoacoustics at Berklee College of Music, has studied how our brains react to music. At 25 she produced records for Crosby, Stills and Nash. She also spent five years as Prince's sound engineer. Rogers says our taste in music begins to form in our infancy and starts creating a sort of soundtrack of your life.

https://www.lowercapenews.org/the-music-of-you

The local police are sharpening their tools to tackle the grim reality of human trafficking on the Cape. Orleans Police Chief Scott MacDonald, explains how the police are working alongside the Cape and Islands District Attorney in the counteroffensive against trafficking.

https://www.lowercapenews.org/how-cape-cod-police-are-handling-human-trafficking

A new grant might find paths to help homeless youth and young adults on Cape Cod. The Homeless Prevention Council and Barnstable County hope use $1.3M in federal grant dollars to roll out a mobile youth outreach program and a host homes model. 

The grant will support a mobile youth outreach program to find and connect with youth and young adults who are homeless of at risk of becoming homeless. It will also support a host homes model where young people live within household while they finish school other otherwise prepare for their next stage.

https://www.lowercapenews.org/hope-for-homeless-youths

Dr. Olga Shpak once worked with scientists from the Center for Coastal Studies to understand the world of whales, but as Russian bombs fell this Ukraine native left the oceans for a new role as Director of Assist-Ukraine. She recently returned to Provincetown to share insights into her war time transformation from Arctic whale researcher to fighter for the future of Ukraine.

https://vimeo.com/913492477?share=copy

While classical music often suffers from an image of ancient dead white men, this month music lovers had a chance to hear an alternative to that stereotype. During Open Mic Classical's February performance at the Cultural Center in Yarmouth, guest ensemble Linking Legacies from Oberlin College and Conservatory celebrated Black History month with music from Black classical composers. 

https://www.lowercapenews.org/a-different-look-at-classical-music

A charming old firehouse on Banks Street marks the entrance to the Cold Brook Preserve in the town of Harwich on Cape Cod. In a unique collaboration, the Harwich Fire Association and the Harwich Conservation Trust combined forces to not only restore the old bog at Cold Brook Preserve, but to also bring that old firehouse back to life ... and incorporate housing to boot. The rehabbed new facility, brings affordable housing units, event space, and a refurbished 1928 fire truck while restoring the bog at the same time.

https://www.lowercapenews.org/environment-and-affordable-housing-share-in-harwich-firehouse-restoration

If proponents have their way, this fall Massachusetts voters will see a ballot initiative calling for the legalization of entheogenic, or psychedelic, substances (aka "magic mushrooms") for therapeutic use. We visited with James Davis of Bay Staters for Natural Medicine, the group pushing for the change to find out more about both why and how this might happen.

https://www.lowercapenews.org/massachusetts-considers-psilocybin-therapy

Art Nickerson, a.k.a the Turnip Man, grew the iconic Eastham turnips into his nineties for his love of Eastham. The purple heirloom put Eastham on the map as the number one vegetable exporter in Cape Cod, until war and tourism changed it all. The Turnip Man's daughters took us on a tour of a slice of the Cape's history.

https://www.lowercapenews.org/the-turnip-man-and-his-legacy

The wait is over; the empty storefront at the former Christmas Tree Shops will soon be adorned with a new sign. Orleans' lost businesses have left a gap the new tenant is aiming to fill.

https://www.lowercapenews.org/former-christmas-tree-shops-gets-new-tenant