ORLEANS — There's at least one moment in the town's history that the historical commission would prefer not to preserve. On May 14, 1996, town meeting considered amending the town bylaws to create the East Orleans Main Street Historic District for “the preservation and protection of the distinctive characteristics of buildings and places significant in the history of the town of Orleans and the Commonwealth ...

ORLEANS – Having devoted many hours to developing and advocating changes for the downtown village center, the planning board has shifted its focus to the potential of the Route 6A corridor through town. “We want to understand what happens along Route 6A,” Director of Planning and Community Development George Meservey said at the board's June 11 meeting. “There are implications for the whole town.” To do tha...

In an Era of Climate Concerns ORLEANS — Cape Cod can be an awfully practical place these days. Imaginations are stretched not by recalling romantic legends but by trying to make ends meet or coming up with solutions to other pressing problems. Every so often, though, an earlier Cape will poke its head up. Such is the case with Jeremiah's Gutter, a watery marshland between Cape Cod Bay and Town Cove via Bo...

EASTHAM – When Benten Niggel first came to Cape Cod, it was as a timid three-year-old recently adopted after several years in foster care. On June 8, Niggel, president of Nauset Regional High School’s Class of 2019, became one of 240 graduates of the school, grateful for the journey that saw him through his formative years and which will encourage him to soar as he heads to Harvard University in the fall. “The...

ORLEANS — Maybe this would be easier if Orleans had never split from Eastham in 1797. Instead, two boards of selectmen rather than one will meet again at the Eastham Public Library, on June 24 at 5:30 p.m., to try to find a way forward on dredging Nauset estuary. The shoaled-up estuary is a hazard to recreational and commercial navigation, almost as problematic as two captains trying to steer the same ship. ...

ORLEANS – When banker Valerie LaBelle reported to work at the Rockland Trust branch here on the Tuesday after the long Memorial Day weekend, she saw something that made her very happy: A small color rendering of an inlet running through marsh grass was tucked up behind the Plexiglas of a poster in the bank’s ATM lobby. When she retrieved the original art and turned it over, she saw the words in black ink: “Fro...

NORTH EASTHAM  — The results of the Nauset Regional High School Youth Health Survey were about more than numbers for the region's substance abuse task force when it met June 3. For example, 94.56 percent of students responding said they never had a day when they stayed away from school because they felt they'd be unsafe there or on their way—but eight of the 147 who answered said they did. “There shouldn't be...

BARNSTABLE — With TV camera crews from Boston circling like great white sharks, the board of county commissioners heard a proposal last week to use sound to move seals and sharks away from the Cape's off-shore swimming areas. With the exception of coastal homes falling into the sea from eroding banks, off-Cape media attention is limited to the summer months and mostly concentrates on traffic jams and the wea...

Humane Society, IFAW Beg To Differ Barnstable County officials listened Wednesday morning as general contractor Willy Planinshek of Yarmouthport and Kevin McCarthy of Falmouth, who's worked for decades in oceanographic manufacturing, talked about technology that could divert seals, and thus, they say, sharks, from waters enjoyed by Cape swimmers.   Their acoustic device, now in very early planning stages...

ORLEANS — With the help of Woods Hole Group, the town has completed a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) report for the state and updated its federal Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan (MHMP). Final drafts of both documents are available on the planning department's webpage (town.orleans.ma.us/planning-department), with comments being accepted through May 31 by Director of Planning and Community Development Geo...

Orleans Police Color Guard stands at attention during Monday's Memorial Day ceremony. ORLEANS — Hundreds of townspeople turned out at Town Cove and Academy Place on Memorial Day to remember their war dead and the 391 local men and women who served in the nation's conflicts. With the help of Nauset Regional ...

ORLEANS — Voters said yes Tuesday to spending $47 million on wastewater infrastructure and no to spending $100,000 on a renovation or replacement feasibility study of the fire station. Challenger Cecil Newcomb topped the ballot for selectman with 966 votes, and incumbent Mark Mathison remained on the board with 946. Erik Oliver, who received 638 votes, was encouraged by Newcomb to run again as the results we...