A secret wedding, erosion, and more: Some of our most-read Cape Cod stories of the week

The dog days of summer are here on Cape Cod and it has been a busy season on the Cape. The Barnstable County Fair is underway, an Eastham woman hit it big on a scratch ticket, fallout continues from the broken Vineyard Wind blade, and more.

Also, don't forget to check out Cape Cod Times sports coverage of the Cape Cod Baseball League, including voting in our polls for best Cape league pitcher, infielder, and outfielder of the week in our polls. Plus, be sure to stay up to date with our coverage of arts on the Cape, like the recent production of "The Little Shop of Horrors."

Here are some of the most read stories of the week on the Cape Cod Times website.

Mariah Kennedy Cuomo marries Tellef Lundevall in Hyannisport

Mariah Kennedy Cuomo married longtime boyfriend Tellef Lundevall Saturday in front of 400 guests at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannisport, a seaside spot dubbed the Summer White House where her extended family has married, grieved and made history for generations.

Wendy Northcross, co-founder and executive director of the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum, described the wedding as "a stealth operation. They did a good job keeping it quiet."

After the pair were engaged in November, Northcross said, museum staff were told to expect a Kennedy wedding in Hyannisport in June. But it didn’t happen.

“But two people came into the museum Wednesday or Thursday and said they were here for the wedding so that’s how we found out,” Northcross said. “Then someone else said Caroline Kennedy was also in town.”

Kennedy wedding on Cape Cod: 'Really a stealth operation': Mariah Kennedy Cuomo marries Tellef Lundevall in Hyannisport

Erosion threatens Cape Cod National Seashore house

An oceanfront home with one of the best beach views on Cape Cod is facing an uncertain future because of erosion. According to a release from the Cape Cod National Seashore, the park-owned house at 40 Ocean View Drive in Eastham "is no longer inhabitable in its present location."

Known as the Bartlett House, the three-bedroom, two-bathroom home was built in 1960 and sits on a bluff just north of Coast Guard Beach. It was acquired by the National Park Service in 1964 from H. Craigin Bartlett, according to the release. For decades, the house was used by seasonal park employees and in recent years was open to the public as a short-term rental.

The sand bluff where the home is located has been eroding quickly. In April 2023 the house was 45 feet from the edge and is now less than 13 feet from the edge, according to the park.

According to the park, the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) determined that the house was unsuitable for habitation on July 9. That started the clock on a 20-day waiting period "to allow for an appeal of this determination," according to the Seashore.

According to the Seashore: "If there is no appeal, the house will be offered to any interested state or local government entity or homeless service organization. An expression of interest in the property must be filed with HUD.  The interested party will need to complete an application packet and ultimately remove the structure.  If there is no expression of interest in the home the National Park Service will continue with the plans to demolish the structure before it is claimed by the sea."

House on the edge: Erosion threatens Cape Cod National Seashore house: 'Before it is claimed by the sea'

Mashpee tribe wants to reduce baby formula use, strengthen community

Between 2023 and 2024, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has welcomed about 100 babies into its Nation, according to Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal member Alexandra Lopes-Pocknett.

"It's probably the biggest baby boom we've had in a century," said Lopes-Pocknett.

With so many babies being born, and limited traditional tribal knowledge surrounding childbirth and lactation ceremony, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal members are offering an Indigenous Lactation Counselor Training, which will run from Sept. 23-27. Classes will be held at the Wampanoag Language Reclamation Project in Mashpee.

Lactation training can help break the overuse of baby feeding formula, and help strengthen the tribal community, said Rachael Lovely, a tribal member who recently gave birth.

"The training will offer attendees an opportunity to bond with other Native women and their entire families," said Lopes-Pocknett. "These are just the beginning steps we are taking to ensure health and longevity when it comes to reproductive rights for Indigenous people in our homelands."

The training will cover how to breastfeed, alternative feeding methods, father and family support, historical trauma and parenting practices, and how food sovereignty is connected to breastfeeding and lactation.

Mashpee tribe experiences baby boom: 'Biggest baby boom.' Mashpee tribe wants to reduce baby formula use, strengthen community

Cause of Vineyard Wind blade break

A manufacturing problem appears to be the reason for the catastrophic break of a turbine blade in the Vineyard Wind offshore project that caused the giant blade to fold over and pieces to break off into the ocean, according to an executive with the blade's manufacturing company, GE Vernova.

GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said during a quarterly earnings webcast that while the company has yet to finalize its root cause analysis, the investigation so far "indicates that the affected blade experienced a manufacturing deviation."

He stressed that analysts have found no indications of an engineering design flaw in the blade. There are also no indications that the blade's failure was similar to one experienced in May at the Dogger Bank A offshore wind farm in the North Sea off the coast of Yorkshire, England, which was "caused by an installation error out at sea."

A formal suspension order from the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement has been put in place calling for Vineyard Wind "to cease power production from all its wind turbine generators until it can be determined whether the blade failure affects any other VW turbines."

Since the nearly 351-foot blade started breaking apart, pieces of it have been washing ashore on Nantucket's south-facing beaches, as well as on Tuckernuck and Muskeget islands, and off Monomoy. Debris has included pieces of various sizes, consisting of fiberglass and foam. Some residents of Barnstable also began reporting possible small fragments on Craigville Beach.

Why did the Vineyard Wind blade break?: Probable cause of Vineyard Wind blade break identified

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Kennedy wedding, wind turbine blade, erosion, and more: Top stories