ORLEANS – Sunshine and the wide-open expanses of the Cape’s beaches are inviting house-bound social distancers to slip on their sandals and catch a breath of fresh air. What else they might catch if they congregate too closely along the shore is cause for concern. Yarmouth has closed its beaches, Falmouth has chained off its beach parking lots, and the governor has shut down the access road and parking lot at Sou...

ORLEANS — Dogs may be allowed to bring their owners to the sands of Skaket Beach and Rock Harbor until Memorial Day Weekend for the first time in five years. Acting as park commissioners, the board of selectmen was to vote last night (April 1) on a proposal by Natural Resources Manager Nate Sears to allow dogs at those locations from Labor Day through the Friday before Memorial Day while maintaining the April ...

ORLEANS — Gregg LeStage’s great-grandfather burned down a barn on his Barley Neck Road property in 1956 because it blocked his view of the water. When his great-grandson bought the place for his own family in 2001, he tore down another barn that was in poor condition and a potential danger for his young daughters. “At that time in my life, it was way too expensive to repair,” LeStage said last week. “From that...

If Cape Cod followed Vermont’s example, all our worries about postponing town meeting would be unnecessary. Up in the Green Mountain State, almost all communities hold their annual budget-setting sessions on Town Meeting Day, the first Tuesday of March. It’s a state holiday. Vermont’s work is done for this year, but Massachusetts towns have been tripped up in the middle of the process by a pandemic disease tha...

ORLEANS — Townspeople remember the service of their military members every Memorial Day and Veterans Day at Academy Place, sometimes in such numbers that they spill out of the triangular piece of land at Route 28 and Main Street. Now there’s a plan to reorganize the monuments that recognize those who served in the nation’s conflicts and create a space well suited for reflection on their sacrifices. Memorial an...

ORLEANS — There’s something for everyone in the community preservation committee’s recommendations for spending on community housing, historical preservation, open space, and recreation. What there’s not is everything for everybody. With almost 20 requests for supporting totaling well above $2 million, the committee had a tough job getting the number down to its expected revenue for the fiscal year beginning J...

It will cost you more to park at a Cape Cod National Seashore beach this summer, and less—in fact, nothing—to participate in ranger-led programs. “The fee increase (from $20 to $25 for vehicles) has been in the work for three years,” Superintendent Brian Carlstrom said Tuesday in a phone interview. “This is the year we’re implementing it. It’s being rolled out across the National Park Service.” He said the ...

ORLEANS — F. W. Webb is working on adding some touches to its proposed 38,000-square-foot, 30-feet-high sales and storage facility at 17 Nells Way after hearing from members of the Old King’s Highway Regional Historic District Committee. “This to me is a perfect building for an industrial park,” the OKH’s Stefan Galazzi said March 5 of the structure planned for the former site of the Underground Mall on Route ...

ORLEANS — While fire department personnel “have consistently provided the highest possible level of emergency services to the Orleans community,” according to a new study, the current staffing model “is neither sustainable nor efficient.” A staffing and organizational review by Emergency Services Consulting International recommends a reorganization to increase minimum staffing to four firefighters per shift, r...

BREWSTER – There are two schools of thought about the $131,825,665 Nauset Regional High School renovation/addition project. One reflects years of work to produce a plan for a 905-student school that will receive significant financial support from the Massachusetts School Building Authority and include school choice students from other districts to maintain sufficient enrollment to provide a wide variety of cou...

ORLEANS — After four decades of fighting fires for the town, the only thing left for retiring Chief Anthony Pike to battle was his own emotions as he said goodbye to staff and colleagues from around the Cape Feb. 21. “I’ve said enough over the last 40 years,” he told a crowd gathered at the station in brief remarks. “This has been a dream, to serve the community. Thank you very much.” Standing beside Pike a...

ORLEANS — F. W. Webb is making the rounds of town boards seeking approval to tear down buildings at the former Underground Mall on Route 6A near the Brewster line and build a 38,000-square-foot, 30-foot-high combination retail and warehouse facility. On March 4 at 7 p.m., the zoning board of appeals will review requests for relief from building size and parking requirements. The next day, at 6:30 p.m., the Old...