ORLEANS — Clashing perspectives on Nauset Estuary were evident again at last week’s public forum on dredging the heavily-shoaled waters in Eastham and Orleans. To some, the condition of the estuary is a clear and present danger to the fishing fleet and recreational boaters and a hindrance to commerce. To others, such risks are known and do not outbalance the potential damage large-scale dredging could do to ...

ORLEANS — The forecast for Sunday, July 4, is for partly cloudy skies, a high of 71 degrees, and zero chance of rain. And although Weather Underground reports only on natural phenomena, it’s a good bet crowds will be gathering well before 10 a.m. to celebrate the return of the town’s Independence Day Parade. “The theme is America is Back!” parade committee chair Jenn Allard wrote in a recent email. “And we t...

ORLEANS — You might say Cecil Newcomb is keeping his own counsel in declining requests to explain why he resigned from the select board last week. Meanwhile, his former colleagues were planning to meet in executive session last night (June 23) to discuss a legal complaint filed by a cannabis company that was not invited to negotiate a host community agreement to open a retail marijuana dispensary. A hearing on...

ORLEANS — The recreation advisory committee is exercised (as in worried or perplexed). “Our committee right now is frustrated and disappointed by what we’ve not been able to improve with the rec department, especially when it comes to programming,” committee chair Tracy Murphy told the select board June 16. “It must be welcoming, low-cost, accessible to all ages, interests, and abilities, responsive to communi...

ORLEANS -- A driver was taken to Cape Cod Hospital after the SUV she was driving collided with an apartment building Thursday morning. The collision happened shortly before 11 a.m. at 36 Old Colony Way, an apartment building known as Hancock III.  Witnesses say the driver, who lives nearby, drove over the lawn and through the parking lot before the vehicle crashed into the first floor of the three-story buildi...

ORLEANS - Cecil Newcomb resigned from the select board today (June 16), effective immediately. "It has been an Honor to serve the Town of Orleans as a member of the Selectboard," he wrote in a letter that did not specify the reason for his action. He had not replied to an e-mailed request for comment by posting time.   It's now up to Newcomb's former colleagues to decide whether to continue as a four-member...

ORLEANS — B\Well Holdings filed a complaint in Barnstable Superior Court Monday accusing the select board of committing legal errors or acting arbitrarily and capriciously in not inviting the company to negotiate a host community agreement to open a retail marijuana establishment. Although B\Well achieved the second-highest ranking from the select board on a matrix of criteria regarding the two available lic...

ORLEANS — Perhaps by the end of the decade, Crystal Lake’s name will no longer be ironic. “Crystal used to be so unbelievably clear,” marine and freshwater quality committee chair Judy Scanlon told the select board last week. “As young teenagers, we’d throw a rock into the deepest waters and retrieve it. You did not need masks to find it.” But 21 years of scientific measurement “show a significant trend i...

ORLEANS — Reaching out comes naturally to MaryEllen Reed: to Orleans Elementary students who need their school nurse’s medical care, to colleagues trying to respond to a worldwide pandemic, to staff and parents seeking reassurance – even, via an unexpected handshake, to welcome a reporter interviewing the Nauset District’s nurse leader. “I kind of stumbled into school nursing,” Reed said last week. “I had a ...

NORTH EASTHAM – Unlike the seniors who came before them, Nauset Regional High School’s class of 2021 did not have the luxury of forging its own legacy. They did not choose to be the seniors who attended Nauset during a pandemic. They did, however, choose to make the most of their situation. They will always be remembered as Nauset’s COVID Kids — as the senior class that withstood a global pandemic and made ...

ORLEANS — The select board has many roles, but procurement officer is not one of them. That was made clear, or at least clearer, June 2 as the board designated Seaside Joint Venture and Ember Gardens as the applicants for the town’s two retail marijuana licenses and invited both to negotiate host community agreements. Dune Wellness LLC was selected as the alternate should Seaside or Ember falter. “I can’t s...

ORLEANS — It will be a “lite” version, but the Fourth of July parade will step off at 10 a.m. on Independence Day, with fireworks to follow on July 10 (rain date July 13). The select board voted unanimously June 2 to allow the traditional festivities after hearing from Jennifer Allard, chair of the Fourth of July celebration committee. “We really feel it’s your decision to make the decision whether it’s s...