Jennette Barnes

When COVID-19 vaccines arrive on Cape Cod, Barnstable County health officials want to see childcare staff and people who are homeless among those who get high priority, even though, to date, they are not specified on the prioity list set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vaira Harik, deputy director of Barnstable County Human Services, said that in addition to health care workers and people in long-term care, early vaccines should go to people who are homeless and to workers at childcare centers.

As millions of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, many Native Americans and their supporters will commemorate the National Day of Mourning.

Held in Plymouth since 1970, the annual event is both solemn and political. It remembers the murder and oppression of Native Americans — and the theft of their land — by European settlers. It also serves as a protest of modern-day racism.

Kisha James, granddaughter of the founder and a senior at Wellesley College, said attendance has grown to more than 1,000 people a year.

Local school districts selected for the state’s COVID-19 testing program are making plans to roll out their testing protocol, which could vary substantially from one district to the next.

At Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Harwich, students will get the nasal swab right in the nurse’s office. Results are ready in 15 minutes with no special equipment.

State money for COVID-19 testing is starting to arrive in Barnstable County from legislative earmarks.

The county Department of Health and Environment plans to establish its own testing sites.

Department director Sean O’Brien said the first batch of funding is $300,000 secured by Rep. Dylan Fernandes in the supplemental budget in July, and it must be used in Falmouth, which is in Fernandes’ district.

Gov. Charlie Baker is urging schools to bring children back to the classroom, and a Cape Cod public health official says the idea appears to be backed by science.

“Our governor and his team remain science-based and empirical in their approach, which is laudable and very welcome here,” said Vaira Harik, deputy director of the Barnstable County Department of Human Services.

A earthquake that hit Buzzards Bay Sunday morning is one of the strongest in decades to strike the area.

Initial reports put the earthquake at a 4.2 which was downgraded to a 3.6.

State Senator Julian Cyr says COVID-19 is now spreading in the community on Cape Cod, not just in isolated situations.

“We are no longer in a position to say that we are not seeing evidence of community spread at this time, particularly on the Mid Cape,” Cyr said.

Police are concerned about two things this Halloween: unsafe gatherings and the vandalism sometimes associated with the holiday, according to Chatham Police Chief Mark Pawlina. 

A spike in COVID-19 cases reported Monday and Tuesday on Cape Cod largely stems from one indoor event, according to State Senator Julian Cyr.

The public panel overseeing the decommissioning of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is asking lawmakers to change the panel’s voting rules.

Members of the 21-seat Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel said it’s been hard to get anything done, because the law requires them to have 11 votes to pass a motion, no matter how many people are present.

Two competing petitions are calling for action on Barnstable High School Principal Patrick Clark’s administrative leave.

One asks the Barnstable School Committee to reinstate Clark, whom Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown placed on leave for undisclosed reasons in September; the other asks Clark to sign a release so Mayo-Brown can make the reasons public.

Today is legally Columbus Day in Massachusetts, but a movement is gaining steam to abandon the holiday and celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead.

Barnstable High School parents, alumni, and other members of the community urged the School Committee on Wednesday to find a way to bring back the principal, Patrick Clark.

Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown placed him on leave in late September for undisclosed reasons.

Now that summer is over, the results are in: Although some businesses remain under strain, the tourist season was busier than expected, according to the Cape Cod Reopening Task Force.