ORLEANS – A proposal to double fees for adult recreation programming in town won't be going to town meeting next month as planned. Members of the recreation advisory committee last week said they were caught off guard by a recommendation in the warrant for the May 9 annual town meeting that the fees be raised from $15 to $30. Now the committee is calling for an investigation into its own department's finances....

ORLEANS — On a center table inside Coastal Craft Gallery, various tablecloths, glass ornaments, jewelry and other art pieces sit meticulously organized. But with their blue and yellow color schemes, this is not your typical gallery display. Instead, members hope that sales of the pieces can help people on the other side of the world who are in dire need of it. On Tuesday, the nine local artists who make up the...

ORLEANS – With the aquifer still at a low level, the board of water and sewer commissioners unanimously voted April 20 to implement watering restrictions in town from May through September. With the vote, Orleans joins neighboring towns including Chatham, Harwich, Brewster and Dennis in adopting restrictions on non-essential water usage. “ We are not alone,” Sue Brown, the town’s assistant water superi...

ORLEANS – With the start of the summer season about a month away, the Barley Neck Inn is still wrestling to secure the permitting it needs to host music outdoors. The inn's owner, Phil Ruggieri, is appealing a determination from Building Commissioner Thomas Evers that amplified outdoor music constitutes "an intensification" of the inn's preexisting nonconforming use, and that a special permit is first needed f...

ORLEANS – The town needs a new fire station to replace the existing facility on Eldredge Park Way. But as things stand right now, there aren't many options for siting a new building. The town's fire rescue station feasibility study committee has been charged with coming up with at least three site options apart from Nauset Regional Middle School property for town officials and residents to consider. But the co...

ORLEANS — On a cool, sunny late April morning, Veterans Memorial Park is largely quiet. Cars buzz by the triangular lot of land in all directions, but apart from Brian Sosner and Kevin Higgins, there's no one to be seen. The two Orleans residents hope to change that. If things come together as planned, Higgins can envision people stopping by to visit the park on their way out of the United Methodist Church acr...

ORLEANS – Sitting at her desk Friday on her first official day as the Lower Cape Outreach Council's new CEO, Katie Wibby is well aware that there is much to be done. First hired in January as the council's chief operating officer, Wibby now sits at the helm of an organization that for years has helped provide emergency financial relief and other resources to families in need on the Lower and Outer Cape. "We...

ORLEANS – Clarke Doody hasn't had a paycheck in three years, and he's never been happier. In 2018, he left his job in corporate America behind and relocated from his native New York to Harwich, where he traded in the comfort of a steady job and good paycheck for the chance to make a life out of pursuing his passions, namely music and art. "You wouldn't have recognized me," Doody, 39, said of his former life...

EASTHAM – Nauset school officials are sticking with School Choice for the coming 2022-2023 school year, even though the number of additional students attending school in the district through the program remains to be seen. The Nauset Regional School Committee voted unanimously April 14 to support the district's School Choice projections, which call for between 105 and 125 more students. School Choice is a s...

ORLEANS – Could lowering the quorum for future town meetings help the biannual sessions move along more smoothly? The town's charter review committee thinks so. The committee is bringing 12 proposed charter amendments to the annual town meeting on May 9, including one to lower the town meeting quorum from 200 voters to 100. The proposal also calls for lowering the quorum to zero over concurrent nights once the...

ORLEANS – With a draft economic development plan in hand, the town's planning board now wants to hear from residents. A virtual public presentation of the plan, developed in partnership with Streetsense Consulting, is scheduled for April 26. Those attending via Zoom are invited to ask questions and offer comments following the presentation. The planning board has been working with Streetsense since November...

ORLEANS – The pathway along Weeset Point has been used by the public for years. But with the installation of new fencing last week, some property owners hope to put a stop to it. Stephen Brodeur, who owns property at the end of Weeset Proprietors Way, installed two fences, one at the far end of the point and another closer to Tonset Landing, prohibiting those who don’t live on the private way from accessing...