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Critics may harp , but
officials respond to
wishes of residents
o_
F^
£_
__ CORNER
¦
By Paul Gauwin |
pgauvin@barnstablepatriot.com
Give me your arm as we cross the street
Call me at six on the dot
A line a day when yo u'refar away
Little things mean a lot
Little things do mean a lot, as the 1954
Kitty Kallen tune suggests, particularly with
today 's gasoline prices.
In that vein, here are other small things
that could mean a lot to skittish commuters
tryingto avoid idlingawayafortune inpetrol,
or homeownersyearningfor apeaceful refuge
on the porch after a day of labor.
For example, there 's the seven-second
traffic light at Old Colony Boulevard, South
and Ocean streets in Hyannis, a busy in-
tersection indeed. As spring blossoms into
summer, the miserly seven-second cycle
on that light shrinks to what seems like a
nanosecond, allowingonly two, maybe three
cars per cycle. That's not enough, as some
cars have to wait for another or sometimes
two cycles to get through during busy times
or if one driver ahead of them daydreams off
to a slow start.
Then there is the prospect of relief if the
town council adopts a proposal by the new
Growth Management Department headed
by lawyer Ruth Weil. The local legislation
that was debated last night at the council
meeting would darn the hole in the social
fabric to contain the reviled gang rentals and
the used-car lot atmosphere they create in
family-zoned neighborhoods.
As to traffic , anyone from Hyannisport ,
Craigville, Centerville and south Hyannis
who uses Old Colony daily knows enough
by June to detour Old Colony and use Sea
and South streets to reach beyond the south
coastal areas into the retail heartsof Hyannis
(there are two - the one downtown and the
one on Route 132).
It would appear the town, using traffic
surveys, sees little need to add seconds to
tii_t cycle since South and Ocean streets are
much busier, South Street as a major funnel
to Cape Cod Hospital and Ocean Street an
artery clogged with ferry traffic. But since
the Main Street facelift , the light on Sea at
Main has slowed also.
The traffic beacons are symptomatic of
what ails the Cape in the good old sum-
mertime; gridlock: We crawl and creep and
stall and wait for traffic lights to change ,
pedestrians to cross, ambulances to scream
by, old people or bicyclists to drive behind
at 12 mph , drivers from elsewhere going the
wrong way - burning precious gas all the
while and getting nowhere.
There isn't much one can do about gasoline
prices - except walk.
As to that particular traffic light, town
engineer Bob Burgmann says maybe there
was a glitch last week as the timing of the
cycle appeared to shrink. They were going
to check it out, he said. At any rate , there
is a new design on the boards for the inter-
section that , one expects, will measure the
needs of local drivers as well as the tradi-
tional bias to accommodate business and
the tourists first.
On the other front , town officials are at the
least attempting to render to Caesar what
is his, as they say - to give citizens who live
ar.d vote here family neighborhoods that are
zone-protected , sacrosanct havens made free
of disturbing elements that scoff the law.
There may be considerable tweaking
required to produce an amenable-to-all
product that is enforceable, and that'swhere
the public comes in. Any and all ideas and
amendments need to be discussed before a
vote is taken by the council.
Some clarification willbe needed also:The
proposal says owners cannot lease or rent
living quarters without first registering with
the town Board of Health, which will deter-
mine the number of bedrooms and number
of people that can be accommodated therein.
Does that include regular long-term rentals
or just summer rentals?
Vague details such as this need to be clari-
fied, which was one purpose of last night's
workshop. Other facets of the proposed
ordinance are quite clear, such as requir-
ing owners to keep a register of occupants
of a leased or rented dwelling, apartment
or condo. This could give condo managers
improved control over private units.
Another little thing to remember as this
proposal works its way through the system:
No ordinance succeeds without the will to
enforce it.
-—JtR^Be informed.
^
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^ Be prepared.
medical^L^f
Be a volunteer.
reserve _H
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Emergency preparedness is
A everyone s responsibility
www.capecodmrc.org
508-394-6811
BY ELLEN C. CHAHEY
When I tell people who
don't read the Patriot that I
write a newspaper column ,
they immediately ask, "Is it
about religion?"
"I hope not!" has become
my answer of choice. I'd
rather tell stories about in-
nocence and experience , if
I may borrow an idea from
William Blake.
Today I do intend to write
a column about religion, in its
innocence and experience.
In my religious tradition ,
we have a prayer that is
called either "The Lord' s
Prayer " or "The Our Father."
And when I conduct a bap-
tism or a wedding or a funeral
and the time comes to pray it
together, the children don't
seem to know it.
"I don't want to force re-
ligion down their throats ,"
is the current protest about
religious training for chil-
dren. Yet, "They should have
prayer in public school. "
When I point out that a
public school which serves
many students is not in-
tended to teach children how
to pray, the retort is, "Well, I
don't have time to take them
to church on Sunday."
Here is the danger about
prayer in public school. On
the first day ofmythird grade,
the teacher announced that
we would all say the Lord's
Prayer. I loved my faith and
was glad to comply.
I prayed with all my heart
in the way I was taught in my
church. And then the teacher
said, "Ellen Chahey." (yes,
she actually announced my
name), "are you supposed to
say that ending?"
With all of my 7-year-old
respect for teachers , I still
managed to say that , yes,
that was the way we prayed
the Lord' s Prayer in my
church.
And from that day until
third grade mercifully ended,
this woman found fault with
everything I did or didn 't
do. She didn't like the way
I prayed.
To learn to pray, people
need to live in a community
of faith. So many children
are getting nothing to carry
them through the trials of
life . It's not "forcing religion
down their throats " to give
them gifts of faith, hope , and
love within their own com-
munity. The public schools
are not intended to be a
community of faith, but of
learning how to learn and to
respect each other.
Public school did provide
the way around my third-
grade t eacher'sbigotry. Each
week we had a visit to the
school library. It was a dank
room in the basement, but
I loved to read , and rel-
ished the chance to borrow
books.
I still bless the day I found
One God.
One God was a children 's
book about what in the 1950s
was thought to represent the
whole spectrum of American
religion: Jewish , Catholic
and Protestant. Through
photographs and text , each
of the faith communities
was respectfully represented
as a road to God , and a gift
from God.
One God squared with
what I was learning at home.
My mother 's best friend from
childhood was Jewish and
my father was a liberator of
Dachau. We had many Ro-
man Catholic friends and
relatives. When I grew up
and fell in love, no one even
batted an eyelash that it
was with someone who had
graduated from Catholic
school.
I can say the "Ave Maria"
in Latin because my mother
sang it at so many Catholic
weddings . My father had
once put my lunch plans on
hold to call the mother of a
Jewish friend I'd brought
home to make sure that she
could eat what he'd planned
for me.
One day not long ago, I
brought a copy of One God in
a used-book store. How glad
I was to show it to our music
director when she chose the
anthem "One God,"inspired
by the book, for our choir to
sing on May 28 at our 10 a.m.
service!
On June 4, at 4 p.m., my
Protestant church and the
local Roman Catholic church
will continue a series of
worship services that we
share. June 4 is the Christian
holy day called Pentecost,
nicknamed "the birthday oi
the Christian church," and
together we will celebrate
Christian hymns and the
women and men who wrote
them.
Readers of this column are
invited to attend.
Iwas born in May.Thisyear
is my first birthday with both
my parents gone. I would
like to bless them both for
their respect for people of all
faiths - the greatest legacy
they gave me.
The Rev. Ellen C. Chahey Is Minister
of Spiritual Care at Federated Church
of Hyannis.
INOTHER
W.- RDS
LETTERS
Cape Wind: needed and supported
There have been many recent articles about Alaskan Senator Stevens'
Amendment to the Coast Guard funding bill, and Senator Kennedy 's com-
ments criticizing the Cape Wind project. They disregard that Cape Wind has
conscientiously conformed to all local, regional, state and federal legislative
processes determining if the project is in the p ublic interest. The Corps of
Engineers, with 16 other organizations , issued a favorable comprehensive
3,800-page report -and the 2005 Energy Bill prescribed further Federal/State
analysis. The Stevens Amendment disregards these studies, providing in-
stead a veto to Governor Romney, who has stated he would kill the project
despite its 5 to 1 support by Massachusetts residents.
Cape Wind has already spent over $10 million funding requested studies
(with more proceeding), will pay Federal lease fees (28 percent going to
Massachusetts) and pay up-front other costs including a removal bond.
Sen. Kennedy 's opinion conflicts with our country 's need for full-sized
renewable energy projects to reduce dependence on fossil fuels - oil now
over 60 percent foreign and natural gas over 20 percent. He gives little
consideration to factual analyses and European offshore experience , nor
to lowering electricity prices, reducing pollution-caused deaths and illness,
and other benefits for Cape, Islands, and nearby residents.
You, I and our loved ones can't afford to pay this price any longer - kill
the Stevens Amendment , not the Wind Farm!
Jim Liedell
Yarmouth Port
This is art with heart
On April 22 , my husband and I attended the opening recepti on of a truly
wonderful art exhibit at the Cotuit Center for the Arts. Entitled "Mindfloic
- The Subconscious Art of the Soul ," it is a collaborative effort between the
Cotuit Center for the Arts and the artists of LIFE (Living Independently
Forever, Inc), a non-profit organization providing independent living for
adults with learning disabilities on Cape Cod. It was funded by a grant from
the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.
As parents of one of the artists , we were extremely moved by the tender and
natural beauty of the work displayed at the exhibit. Rather than "instructing"or
"teaching"these non-professionals artists , it was evident to us that the staff at
the Cotuit Center for the Arts was'is incredibly skilled at encouraging/enabling
each artist to make visible what is uniquely inside of himself or herself.
CONTINUED ON PAGE A 12
},
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:,- ¦ : •
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By Charles Kleekamp
Is there a connection between the
proposed wind farm on Nantucket
Sound and the price of oil and gaso-
line? Let's look at the relationship.
Most realize that the ever-increas-
ing price of crude oil is due the world's
escalating demand for energy. The
supply is limited by the current pro-
ducers' pumping capacity. And the
instability and threatening attitudes
of several major foreign sources adds a
"fear factor "cost to this commodity 's
market price as well. Since the cost
of gasoline is directly linked to the
price of crude oil, and considering
that the price of crude has gone from
$20 a barrel in 2002 to over $70 now,
we should not be surprised that the
price of gasoline has increased from
$1.08 to about $3 a gallon in the same
period.
The law of supply and demand
still prevails. We have long passed
"Hubbert' s Peak" of oil production
in the United States as our crude
reserves shrink. Since we can't easily
increase the supply by drilling our way
out, the best option is to decrease the
demand of "our addiction"if we want
to lower the price and become more
independent.
Many are unaware of the huge
amount of oil that is used to generate
electricity in New England. Accord-
ing to Gordon van Welie, president
of ISO New England , 24 percent of
our total generation mix is from fuel
oil. One example, the Canal power
plant on Cape Cod , which is the third
largest generator in Massachusetts,
consumes about eight million barrels
of residual fuel oil a year to produce
about six million megawatt-hours of
electrical energy. The current cost of
crude results in a cost of residual fuel
CONTINUED ON PAGE A:12
Cape Wind, oil,
gasoline and outrage
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