ORLEANS — The town created an affordable housing trust fund board to move quickly when likely properties come on the market, but members are looking carefully before they leap. The board, with approval of the selectmen, funded the purchase in May of a half-acre lot at 15 Quanset Road on which Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod will build a two-bedroom affordable home. It has backed analyses of the housing pote...

ORLEANS — The town's Goose Hummock bulkhead on Town Cove sees a lot of action, both by humans and nature itself. While the western bulkhead remains in good condition, the eastern one, which ties into Goose Hummock's private bulkhead, was rated “poor” in a study. “Multiple holes were observed through the timber sheets at the mudline and several large sinkholes are observable along the landward side of the str...

ORLEANS — For years, the technology has been as elusive as, well, great white sharks. Now, a system that can detect and report white sharks in real time is being tested at three Cape beaches, including Nauset. On Tuesday, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app reported a white shark off Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet, the site of last year’s fatal shark attack. The shark wasn’t spotted by ...

ORLEANS — They're calling it “one of the costliest purchases in the organization's nearly 50-year history,” but the Orleans Conservation Trust is making the case for buying 4.65 acres over three lots on Portaminicut Road in South Orleans. The property “could forge a vital link between existing conservation lands both south and north of the road,” OCT stated in a press release. Donors are being sought to help...

ORLEANS — Every member of the board of selectmen came to honor Barbara P. White in her home at Jack Knife Point Aug. 1. Presiding from a comfortable chair, the 104-year-old welcomed them with grace as she accepted the Boston Post Cane, traditionally given to the town's oldest resident. “We didn't want to live in Summit, N.J., so we came up here,” White said of a relationship with Orleans that became stronger...

ORLEANS — Dr. Kim Mead-Walters had a bit of a shock when she arrived at Truro Central School to pick up her sixth grader. “Jeremy was caught in the act,” someone told her, but it turned out that was a good thing. When the school spotted a student being kind to someone, his or her name was recorded in a book. That wasn't the first or the last act of kindness of Jeremy Walters's life. “He was the kindest kid, ...

ORLEANS — If a dog is man's best friend, who's a dog's best friend? Karl Oakes might try to deflect the praise, but one can imagine that tails wag at the mention of his name. Oakes has become the town's leading advocate for dogs that love to visit the beach and their owners who love to join them there. Brought up in apartment buildings, he couldn't have a dog and never owned one until “my daughter kind of fi...

ORLEANS — The board of directors of Cape Abilities is scheduled to vote today (Aug. 1) on whether to sign a letter of intent to allow the town's affordable housing trust fund to explore developing housing at the agency's 107 Main St. property. On July 24, the trust fund board voted unanimously to sign the letter. Cape Abilities bought the property last year for $480,000. It includes the former Universal Lodg...

ORLEANS — Lots of new faces have been showing up at selectmen's meetings lately. Many of them belong to dog owners who are hoping for fewer restrictions on walking their animals, but on July 17, that contingent was joined by dozens who turned out for the annual summer informational meeting. Several town department heads gave updates and took questions. Snow Library Director Tavi Prugno reviewed a building prog...

ORLEANS — The town had hoped to use part of the former Nauset Knoll Motel property above Nauset Beach for parking during its planned retreat from the town lot below due to erosion. This summer season has indeed seen parking at the site, but very much not the way the town wanted. The new lease holders for what is now the Nauset Beach Inn have put up signage inviting beach goers to take a right just before the t...

ORLEANS – With a backdrop of downtown traffic and many drivers beeping their horns in support, a group of about 120 protesters gathered on the Orleans Town Green last Friday afternoon to express their concerns over the current immigration policies and practices of the United States and the treatment of immigrant families, especially children, on its southern border. This was one of 15 “Lights for Liberty Vigil...

ORLEANS — The affordable housing trust fund board and the affordable housing committee exercised their legs and their imaginations July 10 on a site visit to the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank operations center on West Road. The bank, which will be moving its HQ to Hyannis soon, agreed to let the town study the possibilities of converting the property to affordable rental units. With the caveats that any a...