ORLEANS — The Academy of Performing Arts and its Academy Playhouse have been riding a roller coaster for more than a year, with all the highs and lows that implies. In recent weeks, there's been an upswing as the institution has worked to maintain its school and transform its theater into an arts center more accessible to its students and the community in general. The theater is enjoying a spring cleaning and ...

ORLEANS — “When I got elected, I think I was the devil if you listened to the sewer people,” Selectman Mark Mathison said last week. It's said the devil is in the details, and that's where Mathison, one of three candidates running for two seats on the board in next month's election, has spent much of his tenure. “My question right from the beginning with the sewer issue,” he said, “was, 'Are we talking about c...

ORLEANS — Supporters of a public-private effort to prevent further development of Pleasant Bay's Sipson Island encountered some headwinds last month as several selectmen offered criticisms. “Why spend a million five to get a conservation restriction on something that probably can't be built on that nobody can get to unless they already live on the bay and have a boat?” Selectman Mark Mathison asked at his boar...

EASTHAM — Before the scooping, there must be scoping. The selectmen of Eastham and Orleans agreed March 25 that two potential plans for dredging Nauset Estuary have merit. One would dredge the system from Town Cove through the main channel and behind the barrier beach to Nauset Inlet with spurs to the Priscilla and Hemenway landings; the other would not include the spurs. “The (first) provides the most us...

ORLEANS — “No one has ever come to consensus on one person's terms,” said Erik Oliver, one of three candidates for two seats on the board of selectmen. “I like to talk to people who are affected (by decisions on major issues) to find out what their perspective is,” he said in an interview this week. “That often helps me evolve in mine. Talking to different stakeholders or business owners or taxpayers allows ...

EASTHAM — Housing and economic development advocates have a clear message for Lower Cape town meeting voters this spring: “We Can’t Afford to Lose the People Who Can’t Afford to Live Here.” That’s the theme of a public education campaign being launched by the Eastham-based Community Development Partnership. The message will appear in a series of newspaper advertisements and on social media. Jay Coburn, CE...

Child Care Number One Need, Survey Says ORLEANS — The selectmen reviewed draft warrants for the May 13 annual and special town meetings totaling more than than 70 articles last night (March 20). The community's to-do list ranges from building the full downtown wastewater collection system, a treatment plant, and disposal area infrastructure to acquiring conservation restrictions and public access to Sipson Isl...

ORLEANS –  The town is covering up something in the watershed – but that's a good thing. Within the next couple of weeks, “as soon as the frost is out of the pile,” as DPW Director Tom Daley puts it, the water department will begin shaping a tall and long pile of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) that was trucked in a few months ago. Then a tarp will be placed over it. “We presented (the situation) to the ...

ORLEANS — Firefighters from Orleans, Eastham, and Brewster knocked down a brush fire this morning (March 15) behind 55 Bridge Rd. “I thought it was snowing out,” said nearby resident Gib Craig. “I saw ashes going by my window. The flames were 20 feet high.” Joyce Flach, owner of the 55 Bridge Rd. property, said she called the Orleans Fire Department to confirm that today was a “burn” day. Deputy Chief Geof ...

ORLEANS — If you had Cecil Newcomb's view of Lonnie's Pond, you might not be as willing as he is to spend a lot of time as a selectman. Looking through the windows of the unique joined-domes house he shares with wife Anne Sigsbee, Newcomb spoke in a clear, quiet voice last week about his decision to run for office now that he's retired from fishing and his mooring business. “Years ago, I gave it a fleetin...

ORLEANS — At times, it sounded like a modern version of Monopoly. At their initial joint meeting March 6, the town's affordable housing trust board and affordable housing committee talked about getting on the game board by, among other possibilities, acquiring a motel. The trust drew favorable Community Chest cards when town meeting voted to support it with community preservation money and annual funding amo...

ORLEANS — The “air” B&B over Cedar Pond enjoyed by roosting cormorants for decades is no more. “As of yesterday, I witnessed that all wires, including the communication wire, are now down from spanning Cedar Pond,” Conservation Agent John Jannell told the conservation commission Tuesday. Some members applauded, with Judith Bruce asking that town counsel “convey our thanks” to Eversource. It was a high...