CAPE WIDE NEWS
   “BRINGING YOU A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE TO CURRENT EVENTS"
Tim Caldwell N1RIW, editor, please email me with comments or suggestions. Link to CapeCodFD.com

Last updated 9/25/2001 @ 1700 hours        CAPE COD FDs LIVE SCANNER CLICK HERE!

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10/04/01 Audiotapes of emergency crews at the WTC site are out. We are providing links to two sites carrying them. However, we want to warn you these tapes may be disturbing to some listeners. Nearly a month after the attack even your editor-a veteran scanner monitorer experienced high emotions listening to the sounds of that awful day… LINK ONE       LINK TWO

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NOW IN EDITORS NOTEBOOK AN EDITORIAL: STOP THE HATE! CLICK HERE

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TUESDAY 9/11/2001 “ANOTHER DAY THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY”

SPECIAL REPORT: AMERICA UNDER ATTACK

CAPE COD RESPONDS TO CALLS FOR HELP

CAPE COD – Cape Cod is doing its part to help out in the wake of Tuesday’s unimaginable terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC. USAF Fighters from Otis ANG were ordered to patrol the skies over Boston to guard against any additional attacks. The Cape & Islands Red Cross is mobilizing to assist in Boston with family members from the doomed jets and with people stranded because of the closed Logan Airport. Instinctively Cape Codder’s are coming together tonight, going home and embracing loves ones. Lines have been reported at area Hospitals as many people try to give blood. Cape Cod Hospital is now requesting people make an appointment to give blood rather than just showing up. Many Cape Taxi fleets are offering free rides for people with appointments to give blood. Most public activities have been cancelled through tonight. Many churches are holding special prayer sessions tonight. As I drove through Provincetown tonight there was an eerie calm around. Makeshift candlelight memorials like this one were set up in several places. There were a few people on the street most looking dazed or bewildered. People could be seen inside homes and businesses glued to TV coverage of the attack…I think the president said it best quoting Psalm 23: “Yea thou I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil because you are with me.”

 

SPECIAL REPORT: AMERICA UNDER ATTACK

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2001: “THE DAY AFTER”

CAPE COD – The day after-Cape Cod and the world remain shocked and stunned after yesterday’s events. All flags have been lowered to half-staff including these at the VFW post in Provincetown. Many events continue to be cancelled. More prayer services are continuing today. Out of town newspapers quickly sold out as people tried to get as much information as they could get about the attacks and the aftermath. Cape Cod continues to feel the ripple effects of the terrorist actions. The total shutdown of air traffic has been extended indefinitely. Cape Cod airports are of course also shutdown. At Provincetown Municipal Airport the only thing flying was this model airplane piloted by an airport employee with nothing else to do. Cape rescue squads were advised medevac helicopters would likely be unavailable until further notice. Residents and visitors alike continue to pack local churches for prayers and vigils. One such service was held at the Universalist-Unitarian Church in Provincetown this afternoon. A large group formed a circle outside the church. Several people told stories of loved ones missing in New York who were later found safe. One person who lives just blocks from the trade center told of plans to return to New York Monday that were delayed until Tuesday-now indefinitely. They closed the service by singing the Star Spangled Banner, America The Beautiful, Amazing Grace and God Bless America. Late this afternoon passenger lists started coming out from the ill-fated flights out of Logan. The list included several people with connections to Cape Cod. 38-year old Brian Sweeney of Barnstable is among the victims. He called his wife and mother from a cell phone from United Airlines Flight 175 shortly before it crashed into the tower. 53-year old Berry Berenson was on American Airlines Flight 11. An actress and photographer who lived in Wellfleet, she was the widow of actor Anthony Perkins. Also aboard flight 11 was David Angell the executive producer of TVs Frasier and his wife Lynn. They have a summer home in Chatham and were returning to Los Angeles. Among the tragedies being felt hardest by this reporter who is also a firefighter is the feared death of 200+ New York fire, police & EMS workers who rushed in to try to rescue victims only to get caught in the absolutely unthinkable-the collapse of the World Trade Center towers…

 

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2001 “THE MOURNING BEGINS”

Two days after the worst terrorist attack on American soil and slowly it begins to sink in. Rescue efforts continue and earlier anger is now turning into a deep sense of mourning worldwide. Tape recordings of love one’s calling home from the stricken skyscrapers are played in the media and tug at our hearts each time we hear them. Several people with ties to Cape Cod are still missing in the rubble of the Trade Towers. Then there is this story of a man who tried to buy a bus ticket at the Mobil Mart in West Barnstable but they do not take credit cards. By the time the man got back from the ATM he missed the bus. Later he returned to the mart to thank the clerk showing him a ticket the man had for American Airlines flight 11. Local reminders continue to be apparent. At Coast Guard Station Provincetown the gates are closed and the grounds patrolled by armed personnel. Normally the station gates are open and people can be seen walking their dogs to the beach and the like. There are more victims with Cape Cod ties. USN Captain Gerald Deconto of Sandwich is among the estimated 190 people killed at the Pentagon when the third hijacked jet crashed into the building. Our coverage continues. Friday has been proclaimed a “national day of prayers and remembrances” by the president…

 

FRIDAY SEPT 14, 2001“A national day of PRAYER & remembrance”

Progress to report here on the Cape. Barnstable Municipal Airport reopened late yesterday. Like the big airports there are major changes there. About 300 cars were towed to conform with the new FAA 300’ radius no parking zone. A police presence will be noticeable. No one will be able to pull up in front of the airport to drop off passengers. Of course with Logan still closed service is still limited. Today is a national day of prayer and remembrance. Many towns held special services today at noon. In Provincetown an estimated 1000 people crammed into town hall. Some had to listen over loudspeakers in adjacent rooms. Town manager Keith Bergman led the service as the crowd heard from several different faiths in the town and sang traditional American songs. U.S. Poet Laureate and Provincetown resident Stanley Kunitz who also lives in New York recited part of a poem he wrote during World War II that seems fitting in these times (video). At 2 PM this afternoon another sign of hope. A US Coast Guard helicopter just flew over Provincetown. Candlelight vigils happened in many towns this evening. In what seemed like a sign from above an incredible rainbow arced across the sky from end to end just before the evening vigils began. Hundreds of people again turned out at the bas relief monument behind Provincetown town hall and sang not only traditional songs but other appropriate songs line New York, New York and Over the Rainbow. Afterword everyone laid their candles at the foot of the monument. Then there was this poignant moment. A young child laying her candle down while her guardian tries to explain all this madness to her-what the children must be thinking…These terrible times continue to bring out the best in us. Captain Michael Benjamin of the Provincetown Fire Department is eager to go to New York to assist “the bravest” with the rescue mission. There is such an outpouring nationwide of rescuers wanting to help that he is now a waiting list. And there is this note-moments ago about 8:30 a jet was heard going overhead here. News that Logan airport will reopen at 5 AM. Although I have not talked to anyone specifically it is safe to assume there are a number of tourists who have been stranded on the Cape-unable to get a flight home.

 

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 16th, 2001

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15,2001 “A NATIONAL EMERGENCY”

In yesterday’s report we told you about Cape firefighters waiting to respond to New York to help. We now know several Cape firefighters were already at the trade center to help out. Chris Siepietowski and Chris Mailloux are Yarmouth firefighters who are able to give us a first hand account of the carnage; describing their experience in sickening detail to the Cape Cod Times. They tell of the stench of dead bodies mixed with the calls for help from victims. Read the complete story. With the declaration of “a state of emergency” by the president, the pentagon is now calling in reserve units to active duty. Several Cape residents may be among those called. One such person is US Army 1st Sgt E8 Thomas F. Steele Ret. of Provincetown. Steele saw action during the gulf war. He just recently became a full time Provincetown Police Officer and is a volunteer on the fire-rescue department. He told me he is ready to answer the call if it comes.  More signs things are slowly returning to some sense of normalcy. Boston’s Logan Airport reopened at 5 AM. Officials say only 30-40% of flights will get out initially. The opening of Logan should mean Cape Air can begin flying again out of Provincetown opening a vital link to the outer cape.

 

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17th, 2001 “WALL STREET LAYS AN EGG”

Memories of that infamous headline from the “Daily Variety” in 1929. The stock market reopened and dropped nearly 700 points. Economists insist a drop was expected and most expect a rebound over the next few days. There are attempts to get back to some sort of normalcy. Some TV programs are back on and sporting events are starting up again. At Barnstable Municipal Airport signs that things will never be the same again. As this picture shows the parking lot by the terminal is empty blocked off by yellow caution tape. A police wagon and officers stand guard. There is tighter security in our harbors too. Steamship passengers tell of their luggage being stored in a separate area on the ship with no access during the trips. Coast Guard stations are on high alert monitoring vessel traffic entering the area. A disturbing trend of hate crimes against Arabs and/or Muslims are being reported. An Indian man was shot dead in Arizona and now reports a pizza shop owned by an Iraqi man in Plymouth, MA was torched over the weekend. See my editorial Stop the hate!

 

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18th, 2001 “ONE WEEK LATER”

It is now one week since the terrorist attacks on America. Memorial services continue. One was held this evening in Mashpee. The Mashpee Fire Department hosted the service to honor all the firefighters, police officers and EMS workers killed in the WTC attack.

 

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 19th, 2001 “OPERATION INFINITE JUSTICE”

That’s the name being given to the U.S. counter response to the terrorist attacks. Military planes and equipment are being moved into the Afghanistan region. More than a week after the attacks, the mourning continues. The huge shrine at Provincetown’s Bas Relief now draped in red, white and blue buntings continues to grow. A sea of flags, candles, flowers and cards now fill the green behind the Town Hall. People keep coming, some putting more mementos down others to offer prayers or to just sit and think.

 

BOMB SCARE CLOSES BARNSTABLE HIGH SCHOOL

HYANNIS – Students at Barnstable High School were sent home early today. Someone pulled a fire alarm shortly before 11 AM. A bomb threat was subsequently reported. As a precaution the school was closed for the day.

 

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 21st, 2001 “BUSINESS AS USUAL”

10 days after the bloodiest attack in U.S. history and memorials continue. Everyone is finding their own way to pause and remember. One unknown person left this enduring image at Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown. President Bush addressed the nation last night. He gave the country a pep talk about the long road ahead. Amongst the many salient points he made is the need to go about business as usual as much as possible in these difficult days. See my editorial in my Editors Notebook. All major networks are carrying a two hour fund raising telethon tonight. On Sunday a memorial service will be held at Yankee Stadium at 3 PM.

 

SUNDAY SEPT. 23rd, 2001 “…that our flag was still there…”

PROVINCETOWN – At the “twilight’s last gleaming” The Pilgrim Monument came alive in a sea of red and white stripes crowned with blue stars. The ceremony featured the town’s fire horns being set off as a “last alarm” in memory of all the fallen rescuers at the World Trade Center. Strategically placed fire engines then sounded their air horns three times; The fire service’s universal signal to evacuate the building. The monument will remain lit in patriotic colors into November when it will be changed to the traditional white lights for the holidays.

 

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24th, 2001

NATIONAL GUARD PATROLLING CANAL BRIDGES

BOURNE – Motorists may do a double take going over the Sagamore and Bourne bridges. The bridges that are maintained by the Army Corp of Engineers are now being patrolled by the National Guard personnel as part of the increased security measures in the wake of the terrorist attacks.