Residents forced to move because of bridges, more: Cape Cod Times top stories

Jason Savio, Cape Cod Times

Sun, January 18, 2026 at 10:04 AM UTC

3 min read

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Forget those winter blahs by catching up on local news you may have missed from this past week. We've put together a list of some of the most popular stories of the week on the Cape Cod Times website, each abbreviated with a link to the full story. If you are interested, just click the link to read more.

Aside from news, we also have plenty of happening on the Cape Cod Times sports page, including a look at the Cape Cod Academy girls basketball team, and the complete Cape Cod and Islands 2025-26 high school winter schedule.

Here are four of the most popular stories on the Cape Cod Times website this past week.

Cape Cod restaurant news: What's happening with Encore, The Piccadilly, Wimpy's Seafood?

The Piccadilly in South Yarmouth has closed its doors for the last time Wednesday afternoon. Photo taken Dec. 31, 2025

There have been some shakeups in the restaurant world on Cape Cod as of late with the closing of a few different locations at the end of 2025, including The Piccadilly in Yarmouth, Encore Bistro and Bar in Dennis, and Tiki Port Restaurant in Hyannis.

Is Wimpy’s Seafood Cafe and Market in Osterville about to be next? The owners say it isn't, but they did admit a change is on the horizon. Click the story link to learn more.

More: Cape Cod restaurant news: What's happening with Encore, The Piccadilly, Wimpy's Seafood?

Bourne resident's home sold to state for new Sagamore Bridge

Joyce Michaud stands on her back patio that overlooks the Sagamore Bridge. Michaud lives in the Round Hill neighborhood in Sagamore. She is losing Cecilia Terrace home due to the construction of a new Sagamore Bridge. A closing on her home was held Friday, Jan. 9. She has yet to find another home to move to. Photo taken Jan. 09, 2026

Joyce Michaud's home of 23 years and 11 other homes in the small Round Hill neighborhood off Sandwich Road are being taken by eminent domain to make way for the first of the future twin-arches Sagamore Bridge. Two other properties, including 90-year-old neighbor Mary Gallerani’s home, built in 1958, had their deeds transferred to the commonwealth as of Jan. 12. A fourth property with a home on it is scheduled for closing, the state said.

“I never thought in a million years I would be doing this in my lifetime,” said Michaud, who is now of retirement age.

Click the story link to learn more about the residents who are being forced to give up their homes for the new bridges.

More: Bourne resident's home sold to state for new Sagamore Bridge. 'There will be no summer'

Cape Cod group saves ocean 'misfits' with pool noodles and hula hoops

New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance interns Tara Clinton, bottom, and Christina Dargie position and secure the mola mola to the floating foam mat. A team from New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance rescued an ocean sunfish, a mola mola, from Wellfleet Harbor Sunday morning, Oct. 6, 2024. It was towed out to deeper water in Cape Cod Bay. An automatic water pump on the boat was used to help to supply water into the mouth of the ocean sunfish as it was being towed behind the boat. NECWA has responded to more than 30 strandings this season. Strandings occur in the early fall and early winter when ocean sunfish move into shallow tidal areas like harbors. When the tide goes out, they become trapped. In colder months, the ocean sunfish can become cold-stunned.

Cape Cod's unique geography acts as a natural trap, leading to a high number of animal strandings, scientists say. But The New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance (NECWA), which monitors Cape Cod beaches for stranded marine animals, specializes in rescuing and studying "marine misfits" like ocean sunfish and torpedo rays.

While IFAW focuses on marine mammals, and Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary focuses on sea turtles, NECWA is the only nonprofit in the region that attempts to rescue sunfish when they strand live, or to conduct necropsies when rescue comes too late.

“In many people’s minds, these are ‘just fish,’ that have a low 'cuteness' factor," said marine biologist and Alliance founder Krill Carson.

Click the link to learn more about NECWA and the animals the group rescues.

More: Cape Cod group saves ocean 'misfits' with pool noodles and hula hoops

Rare swamp land in Dennis Port could be protected in land trust plan

Surrounded by Atlantic white-cedars, Dennis Select Board members, Carlyn Carey, second from left, James Plath, center, and Paul McCormick, right, take in the frozen swampy area. Dennis Conservation Land Trust Executive Director David Fryxell, left, lead the small group through the swampy conservation area early Tuesday morning with TerraCorps Member Charly Raymond, who is serving with the Trust, second from right. Dennis Conservation Land Trust has until February 9 to secure the funding needed to buy two parcels of conservation land in Dennis Port. The purchase would permanently protect the area that includes a rare Atlantic white-cedar swamp area. The acquisition would expand the Plashes Conservation Area, creating a 61-acre network of connected conservation land. Dennis Port is the only village in Dennis without a public nature trail. The second phase of the project would include trail development with constructing a more than two mile walking trail and boardwalk by the Atlantic white-cedar swamp, similar to the cedar swamp trail in the Cape Cod National Seashore. Photo taken Jan. 06, 2026

Almost 14 acres in Dennis Port, including a rare Atlantic white cedar swamp area, could be protected permanently by Dennis Conservation Land Trust. Fundraising is underway to buy the land by Feb. 9.

An Atlantic white cedar swamp is a forested wetland with a dense, primarily evergreen canopy, a deciduous shrub layer, and a sparse herb layer dominated by mosses, according to the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. There are at least 13 in Barnstable, Bristol and Plymouth counties.

Click the story link to learn more about the effort to protect this land.

More: Rare swamp land in Dennis Port could be protected in land trust plan

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod Times top stories: New Sagamore Bridge forces move, more

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