The most disappointing development at Chatham's annual town meeting Saturday was the failure of two affordable housing-related articles. And what's even more maddening is that both had a majority vote but not the two-thirds required by what seems more and more like an outdated state statute. The proposal to use four acres of town land along Middle Road for housing and put a perpetual conservation easement on t...

Nature Needs Small Steps Editor: Mary Richmond’s “Giving Nature a Chance” column (May 5) is sound advice for seasoned gardeners and rookie planters alike. She is right about the importance of recognizing the potentially dilatory effects of “endless poisons and fertilizers” on our front lawns, shrubs and bushes. It’s understandable that we don’t realize the collective impact of chemicals which we routinel...

The moment that her boyfriend proposed to her, she knew that she would be modifying her mother’s 1979 wedding gown and wearing it to her own wedding in 2012. “It was the first vintage redesign I ever did,” Jessica Kidd said during a telephone interview last week. “I redesigned it to fit and modernized it.” Although Kidd’s mother Carol Tallant passed away before Kidd’s wedding, “she was there in spirit. It was ...

ORLEANS – Outdoor music is returning to the Barley Neck Inn, but musicians will have to leave their amplifiers at home. In a compromise with neighbors to the Beach Road restaurant, the select board unanimously voted May 11 to approve a seasonal outdoor entertainment license for non-amplified, acoustic music at the inn through November. "We've known for a while that the season is coming, and we need to move ...

ORLEANS – On May 6, town officials, residents and Eversource representatives gathered at the utility's electrical substation at the corner of Route 6A and Eldredge Park Way. They were there to try and hash out a plan to better screen the substation with trees and plantings, but the building adjacent to the station also caught the eye of Select Board Chair Mefford Runyon. The aging condition of the Orleans Cham...

ORLEANS – The needs of any town are multi-faceted. On Cape Cod, affordable housing, wastewater treatment and protection of open space often top the list. But that doesn't mean those needs have to compete against one another. That's the philosophy behind Grow Smart Cape Cod, a new data-driven program that uses interactive mapping to help communities prioritize future projects in those areas. The program, whi...

ORLEANS – It was a clean sweep in Tuesday's annual town election, as Orleans voters passed all four override questions put before them on the ballot. Question 1 to approve $627,032 to cover the town's portion of the Nauset regional school budget for next year passed 705-182, according to preliminary results released Tuesday night. Voters also approved two questions on Meetinghouse Pond, one to fund the constru...

ORLEANS – The signs told the tale at the Orleans Rotary last weekend. "Protect Roe," one read. "No Choice No Sex," read another. People packed the rotary early Saturday afternoon to protest the potential overturning of Roe v. Wade following a draft ruling from the Supreme Court that leaked to the public earlier this month. The Orleans rally was one of several held across the country Saturday in support o...

ORLEANS – With planning for downtown and Meetinghouse Pond sewer work now in the rearview, Orleans officials are now looking toward the future. The town's wastewater consultant, AECOM, presented its recommendations for the next eight phases of sewering to the select board May 11. At the top of the list are six properties bordering Uncle Harvey's Pond and two phases of work on Eldredge Park Way. In October, ...

HARWICH – Council on Aging Director Emily Mitchell will be the next town clerk after she out-distanced her two competitors by more than 1,000 votes in Tuesday’s election. Voters also approved three ballot questions. Mitchell garnered 1,321 votes to challengers Shelagh Delaney’s 318 votes and Jannell Brown’s 315 votes. Mitchell will be stepping down as director of the council on aging this week and is expected ...

ORLEANS – It was a clean sweep in Tuesday's annual town election, as Orleans voters passed all four override questions put before them on the ballot. Question 1 to approve $627,032 to cover the town's portion of the Nauset regional school budget for next year passed 705-182, according to preliminary results released Tuesday night. Voters also approved two questions on Meetinghouse Pond, one to fund the constru...

CHATHAM – In a marathon six-hour town meeting Saturday, voters rejected proposals to limit use of Chatham Airport and failed to muster the votes necessary to set aside land on Middle Road for affordable housing. More than 600 voters spread across the outfield at Veterans Field approved a $35 million operating budget, $9.5 million Monomoy Regional School District funding and increased the town's occupancy tax f...

     ORLEANS – Galley West Art Gallery’s new show, “Artist’s Choice,” opens on May 14.      For inspiration, artists were encouraged to contemplate the following quote by Pablo Picasso: "I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else." The show’s jurist Roberta Anslow, an Orleans resident and award-winning photographer, said she was pleasantly surprised by the interpretations by the 26 artists whose wo...

Bruce Alan Peters Age 66 Bruce A. Peters, 66, of Eastham passed away unexpectedly on March 31, 2022 while on vacation in Costa Rica.   Bruce was born in Hyannis on September 23, 1955, at Cape Cod Hospital.  He graduated from Nauset Regional High School in 1973. Bruce is survived by his loving children Aimee Whiteley (Ben) of Centerville, Taylor Peters (Kristin) of Orleans, Jeff Orcutt (Keri) and Chris Orcutt (Hea...

     It was Miss Scarlet in the observatory with the candlestick! Or was it Professor Plum in the ballroom with the rope?      Is there anyone who doesn’t love “Clue?”      If you’re pining for a dose of comedy and mystery with a touch of delicious nostalgia thrown in for good measure, get ready to cheer. “Clue” takes the Academy of Performing Arts stage May 19 through 29, a fun whodunnit that will keep you gue...

     On Friday, May 13 at 5 p.m. the Chatham Orpheum Theater will celebrate local artist and Chatham Elementary School teacher Amy Middleton with a free Local Artist Series event. The event will begin with a meet and greet followed by a screening of a documentary film about Middleton, and the evening will finish with a Q&A session with the artist. Middleton’s art will be showcased, along with the artwork of...