ORLEANS — What if Cape Cod as a whole was a mindful community? With that thought in mind, Fiona Jensen started Calmer Choice in 2010. Now, 11 years later, the nonprofit’s founder is ready to hand over the reins to a new CEO at the beginning of the year. Calmer Choice, based in South Yarmouth, has brought emotional and wellness support programming to more than 35 schools in the state over the past decade, in...

ORLEANS – Is it possible to learn some new information about an event that happened nearly 400 years ago?  When it comes to the vessel Sparrow Hawk, shipwrecked in 1626 on Nauset beach off the Old Inlet in Orleans, there is definitely more to learn.  Dr. Calvin Mires, a maritime archaeologist and research associate at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will be on hand on Thursday night, Sept. 30 at 7 p....

How rare are orange lobsters? Paul Davis has been a commercial lobsterman for 12 years, and the orange lobster he pulled out of a trap just east of Nauset Beach Sept. 7 was the first time he'd seen one of that color. “I've never seen anyone else catch one,” he added. Orange isn't the rarest color found in lobsters – that would be white or albino lobsters, which strictly speaking is a lack of color – but ...

ORLEANS – Orleans artist Florence Adams had a personal and visceral reaction to the unfolding and catastrophic events of Sept. 11, 2001. Her son David is an officer in the New York Police Department Emergency Services unit.  He was on duty that morning at the World Trade Center and she and her family spent agonizing hours not knowing if he had lived or died. Although David survived, many of his friends did not...

ORLEANS – The Housing Assistance Corporation has asked the town to contribute $1,876,624 toward the development of 14 rental units at the former Masonic Lodge at 107 Main St. Town officials are more than willing to do that, but a disagreement has developed over exactly where the money should come from. HAC needs a commitment from the town for the subsidy amount to apply for a $1.5 million state grant as well a...

ORLEANS -- Water quality continues to be a cornerstone issue on Cape Cod, and for almost 20 years, the Orleans Pond Coalition has been doing its part to try and improve the region’s waterways. From piloting programs to conducting research into new ways to help keep the town’s ponds clean, the coalition has taken numerous approaches to addressing the issue of water quality since it began in 2003. Part of the co...

ORLEANS -- An article to expand universal pre-kindergarten options in town is expected to go before voters at a special town meeting next month. The select board on Sept. 1 voted 3-0 to create an article requesting the expanded programming for inclusion on the warrant for the fall session on Oct. 25. The Orleans School Committee is specifically seeking $495,000 through an override of Proposition 2½ to fund the...

ORLEANS -- For Jamie Demitri, the Finch Skate Park is more than just a place for kids to recreate. It’s an emblem of hard work. “Your community built that,” Demitri, who manages the Pump House Surf Shop in town on Route 6A, told the select board Sept. 1. “They came together and they volunteered their time, their money, their equipment, their workers.” Demitiri, along with other skate park advocates, express...

ORLEANS -- Several well-used couches populate a small room in the back of the community center on Main Street. Pictures and artwork adorn the walls, while the counters are populated with packaged snacks, board games and personalized mugs. For a few hours each weekday afternoon during the school year, it’s a space middle school students make their own. But it’s been almost 18 months since the youth after school...

ORLEANS -- Outside Nauset Middle School on Aug. 26, backpacks sat in orderly rows on the grass waiting to be picked up, each one specially packed up for individual students across different grade levels.  The Homeless Prevention Council has so far provided backpacks full of school supplies for approximately 285 students for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year through its annual Backpack to School program. Now i...

ORLEANS - In an effort to expedite a plan for the future use of the Governor Prence Inn, a new planning committee will help steer the town through potential options for the property on Route 6A. An outline of the committee’s work, as well as a timetable for identifying a recommended use for the inn, was presented during a joint hearing of the select board and the affordable housing trust board Aug. 18. The ...

ORLEANS - The town’s board of health stopped short of issuing a masking order last week, opting instead to get behind an advisory modeled after guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The board voted 5-0 in favor of the advisory, which urges people to wear masks "whenever indoors on the premises of a business, club, or place of assembly, including but not limited to retail establishments...