ORLEANS — It was a little too close for comfort for a surfer off Nauset Beach Friday morning, after a white shark passed within feet of his board. “The whole experience still feels utterly surreal,” said Devon Zimmerman of Brooklyn, N.Y., reflecting on the encounter. Zimmerman was near the center of Nauset Beach, by the administration building, and had just paddled out. “It couldn't have been more than five...

ORLEANS — The site plan review committee is on board with the final design for the town’s proposed wastewater treatment facility at Overland Way. Plans were approved last week subject to information in the final submittal. Tom Parece, senior program director for town consultant AECOM, said the site plan’s OK was one of “a myriad of permits” needed before the project is submitted for SRF (state revolving fund...

Editor’s note: This article was revised after its initial publication to include clarifying information. ORLEANS — The proposed renovation and expansion of Nauset Regional High School is such a big deal that even the idea of having Provincetown and Truro possibly join the four-town system is just part of the story. “This past year, we have been involved in negotiations” with the two outermost towns, Nau...

ORLEANS — Hundreds of people made the most of the last two days of summer this weekend, taking to ponds, beaches and nature trails for the 10th annual Celebrate Our Waters event. Newbies try their balance on stand-up paddleboards in Pilgrim Lake, thanks to an introduction by SUPfari Adventures. Organized by t...

ORLEANS — If you haven’t had a chance to get out on the water this summer, or even if you have, you won’t want to miss the 10th annual Celebrate Our Waters weekend. It’s a series of fun events for families and individuals, and it’s a strategy by the Orleans Pond Coalition to build public involvement in initiatives that protect the town’s watersheds, estuaries, ponds and lakes. The public is invited to help kic...

ORLEANS — In the early 1980s, Police Lt. Kevin Higgins wore a different uniform. Clad in a lab coat, worn to protect the computers, he worked the midnight shift at Cape Cod Bank and Trust's data processing center. A colleague's husband, a state trooper at the Yarmouth barracks, would drop in for a coffee break. “He kept saying computers are the coming thing in police work,” Higgins recalled. Finally, he acce...

ORLEANS — If you missed last week's standing-room-only presentation on Pay As You Throw (PAYT) trash disposal and single-stream recycling—and you have the patience to sit through a few variance requests first—the conversation continues today (Sept. 19) after 2 p.m. at the board of health's meeting. The board joined the selectmen Sept. 10 for a public information session on switching to PAYT, which involves b...

ORLEANS — A new police station. A new DPW headquarters. A new tech school. And, coming down the road, a proposed rebuild of Nauset Regional High School and a library building project. You might say that some voters were edifice wrecks when they went to the polls in May and saw a $50,000 item for a “study to replace/renovate” the fire station near the bottom of the ballot. Although the study had sailed throug...

EASTHAM — Representatives of Orleans, Eastham, and Cape Cod National Seashore parsed a draft memorandum of understanding Sept. 9 at Eastham Town Hall and found ways to move forward on improving navigation and public safety in Nauset Estuary. Orleans, which is paying for a battery of environmental studies of the estuary, wants to see environmental questions related to dredging resolved and a multi-jurisdictio...

ORLEANS — The selectmen and board of health will hold a joint public information session Sept. 10 at 5:30 p.m. about a proposed Pay As You Throw (PAYT) trash disposal plan that could start as early as June 1. Members want to hear what citizens have to say on the possible change. “If I were to make a motion tonight, it would include the words, 'Time is of the essence,'” health board member Sims McGrath said. ...

ORLEANS — The atrium at the entrance of Orleans Elementary School will be full of books and displays when students return to classes this week. One giant “book” was opened to two blank pages. “What will your story be this year?” literary specialist Martha Jenkins said students will be asked. “Children will be writing their own story of the school year.” Adding their stories to the “book” celebrates indivi...

ORLEANS — David Currier is in the midst of having solar panels installed on the roofs of his business and his home. “Electric rates aren't going down,” the owner of Orleans Bowling Center said last week. “Those big companies don't like making less money.” Currier, who's also a selectman, is working with BlueSel Solar to realize his dream of generating his own power. He grew up with one of the company's sa...