ORLEANS — The global pandemic wants a reservation for every other parking space at Nauset and Skaket beaches. Town officials have recommended to the park commissioners that, effective immediately, the beach lots “will be closed once at 50 percent capacity or less based on beachfront availability and discretion of the Natural Resources Manager,” according to an April 30 memo from Town Administrator John Kelly, ...

ORLEANS — In the midst of a pandemic, Principal Elaine Pender told the elementary school committee last week that she has many reasons to give thanks. There’s the feeding program run by cafeteria and lunch program director Susan Murray and “our amazing” Lisa Chappel, the cafeteria manager, who are “behind the scenes producing massive amounts of food every day” for pick-up by families and handing it out in all ...

ORLEANS — When it comes to the future of its former operations center on West Road, the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank “is really not inclined to work with the town to develop an (affordable housing) project long-term before they can get out of it,” Director of Planning and Community Development George Meservey told the affordable housing trust April 21. Options are still on the table, however. Meservey said...

ORLEANS — The town’s affordable housing trust entered “final negotiations” with Cape Abilities to purchase outright a 1.25-acre property at 107 Main St. that could be developed as affordable rental apartments, trust chairman Alan McClennen confirmed last week. The proposed purchase was on the agenda of the board of selectmen, whose approval is required, in an executive session held last night (April 29). At th...

ORLEANS —  The pandemic, which has altered familiar patterns at transfer stations in Chatham, Harwich, Orleans, and elsewhere, may have prompted dumping in the wilds of the Cape Cod National Seashore. Last week, the Seashore reported construction materials dumped near Doane Rock in Eastham and household trash found at Great Island in Wellfleet. “This is a challenging time for everyone, including the nationa...

ORLEANS — April is proving to be the cruelest month when it comes to town finances. Department heads were asked to reduce spending through June 30, the end of the fiscal year, to ensure a reserve of about half a million dollars to balance an anticipated drop in revenues from local receipts related to the effects of the pandemic. In a letter to finance committee chairman Lynn Bruneau, Finance Director Cathy ...

For weeks, people across the Cape have been hunkered down, ideally at home, as they take personal measures toward eradicating a global pandemic. But that isolation, sudden in many cases, can come with its own set of issues, which is why taking care of one’s mental health is just as important as taking care of one’s physical health. “The mental affects the physical,” said Deborah Ennis, a licensed mental health...

ORLEANS — The new normal for learning in Massachusetts—virtual lessons via the internet—will likely become the regular normal next month. “We’re all thinking we will not be coming back in on May 4,” Nauset Superintendent Tom Conrad told a virtual meeting of the regional school committee April 9. His reference was to his fellow Cape superintendents, who are “doing some planning behind the scenes. One of the p...

Monday’s journey of the old Hanvey barn from Great Oak Road began with suspending the roof, before a trailer made a tight turn  and just got by the fence of neighbor Vince Ollivier. “It’s like losing an old friend who moves away,” said Ollivier, who grew up on the property across from the barn. “The only time you see him is when you visit.” Gregg LeStage, the barn’s new ow...

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...