The Enterprise News

12/19/2025

🚨 Planners Await Trader Joe's Contract, Continue Review 🚨

📝 The Mashpee Planning Board anticipated receiving a signed deal with Trader Joe's and a traffic plan and study from the developer, but neither was delivered during Wednesday's public hearing for the proposed grocery store.

⛔️ "This is a difficult area for us to swallow on a lot of fronts, but because of Trader Joe’s and the good reputation, we have been doing every bit of investigation that is necessary here," Planning Board member Mike Milbury said. "One of the things we do not want is to have something else developed at this site that is not Trader Joe’s, and that is why I want to know if there is a contract with Trader Joe’s.”

🔗 Read our full article about Wednesday night's hearing by tapping the link in the comments ⬇️

12/18/2025

At the suggestion of a reader and in an effort to increase accessibility and public awareness of the local Cape Cod arts scene, we have made this article 💥FREE💥 to read—meaning NO PAYWALL!

🔄 Please share this post and help spread the word about the great community theatre scene we have here on Cape! And snag some tickets to this weekend's shows 🎭

Link in comments!

🎭 "The Cape has many impressive theaters, with hundreds of (or more) incredibly talented performers; however, many theaters are struggling to fill seats this year, and there are a number of factors as to why that might be."

🔗 Read the full editorial from Sandwich Enterprise editor Katie Goers, "Community Theater Needs The Community," to find out which local shows you can still snag tickets for this month by tapping the link in the comments ⬇️

12/18/2025

🚨BREAKING: State Investigation Finds Steamship Authority Wasted 'At Least $2 Million' In Public Funds 🚨

💰 The report, released on Thursday and reviewed by the Enterprise, found that since the SSA began its website project in 2022, it has “wasted at least $2 million—and possibly as much as $4 million or higher—before it was ultimately shelved.”

🔗 Read our full report on the situation by tapping the link below ⬇️

12/18/2025

🇺🇸 Have you ever wished you could speak to one of the nation's Founding Mothers?

📆 If so, then mark your calendar: Mercy Otis Warren, often described as the “muse of the revolution,” will be at the Jonathan Bourne Public Library on January 17 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.

📝 Local history teacher and historical interpreter Michele Gabrielson, portraying Warren, will tell the story of how she rejected the conventional expectations of women in the 18th century and became the first female historian of the American Revolution, using her passion for poetry and prose to persuade others to join in the revolutionary cause.

🔗 Read more about this upcoming event by tapping the link in the comments ⬇️

12/18/2025

12/18/2025

⚠️ 'Only Getting Worse': Cybersecurity Takes Center Stage ⚠️

💰 Mashpee FinCom approved funding for a new cybersecurity managed detection and response platform called Rapid7 Command Platform. Town Hall will be closed this Friday, December 19, so staffers can attend a cybersecurity training.

🚨 This comes in the wake of a near-breach that occurred in August, but was caught in time before damage was done.

🔦 “This is only getting worse. More and more towns in the commonwealth have been compromised recently: Bourne, Wellesley, Needham, Hopkinton, Cohasset, Hingham, Norwell, Hull, Attleboro,” IT Director Curt Curry said. “That's just in 2025. Arlington, PTown schools, Cape Cod Academy—we’re not talking about Los Angeles, New York City or Boston. This is here.”

🔗 Read the full story for the full scoop on what the town is doing to up its cybersecurity by tapping the link in the comments ⬇️

12/17/2025

🗣 Falmouth Scraps Taft’s Playground Plans, Resets Design With Community Input 🗣

♥️ Built in 1991, the playground honors Taft L. Morris. In 1983, at the age of 4½, Taft was struck by a car, leaving him confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak. He died six years later.

🗯 Today, the aging wooden play structure no longer meets current safety standards or complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

🔜 Plans for a new playground have been in the works for years, but only in the last couple months has it gained an traction, allowing it to move forward toward funding consideration.

🎯 “The village loves Taft’s Playground as it exists now,” one group representative said. “We want what happens there later to honor the existing structure and the existing energy in that space.”

🔗 Learn more about the new plans and find out what's next by tapping the link below ⬇️

12/17/2025

💸 Talking Taxes: Why Is Sandwich's Property Tax Rate So High? 💸

💰 Sandwich’s property taxes are the fourth-highest on Cape Cod. Whenever they are sent out to residents, complaints start rolling in—on Facebook, in public meetings, and in conversation.

🚫 Much of the information out there, however, is incorrect or misleading, the town's Finance Director William Jennings and Director of Assessing Benjamin R. Styche say, and they want to clear the air.

🔗 Read the full article for more tax talk with Styche and Jennings by tapping the link below ⬇️

12/17/2025

📊 The Mashpee School Committee revealed its MCAS results last week, highlighting strengths, areas for growth and correlating initiatives across the Mashpee district.

📸 Assistant Superintendent Trish M. Hill said the evaluation is a “snapshot in time” and only one measure of success for the district, as skills such as collaboration and kindness are not assessed.

🔎 “We are looking at numbers and identifying gaps so that we, as the leadership team, can ask, ‘What does everyone need so we can do better for our students?”’ she said.

🔗 To see all our data visualizations for each student segment and subject, and to get the full scoop on Mashpee's performance, tap the link in the comments 📌

12/17/2025

🧩 Sandwich Middle High School students participated in a Student Solve Challenge last week, an in-school field trip where students collaborated with industry mentors to solve a real-world problem. The challenge is designed for students enrolled in “Project Lead The Way” classes across the commonwealth.

🚴‍♂️ Sandwich students worked with the Pan-Mass Challenge, a nonprofit that raises funds for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through an annual bike ride across Massachusetts.

🔗 Read more about the challenge and hear from Sandwich students about the experience by tapping the link below ⬇️

12/17/2025

🚨 Unrelated S*x Trafficking Arrests Made In Falmouth, Sandwich, Barnstable 🚨

🚫 During the first two weeks of December, three individuals on the Cape were indicted on unrelated charges of human trafficking.

‼️ Sandwich resident Rina Althany Hernandez Alcantara, 38, was arrested for s*x trafficking charges in Yarmouth. Falmouth resident Ionut Stamatin, 24, was arrested for trafficking-related activities in Falmouth. And Brewster resident Luca Aguilar, 20, was arrested for s*x trafficking activities in Barnstable.

🔗 Read the full report from the Enterprise by tapping the link in the comments ⬇️

12/17/2025

🎬 This weekend offers four more chances to see the Falmouth Theatre Guild’s revival of the Jonathan Larson musical “RENT” at Highfield Theatre.

👋 The original cast from the fall 2024 production has reunited for this production under the direction of Joan Baird.

🔗 Read the full article and find out where you can get tickets by tapping the link below ⬇️