Rockport Daily Current, Saturday, October 17

Transcript

Good morning, Rockport. It's Saturday, October 17. From the Cape Ann Current, I'm Kerry Jane, with your Rockport Daily Current, free public information for Rockport. Today, the Planning Board pushes back on the state's tiny house lot size. Plus field hockey and local library funding.

The Rockport Planning Board is pushing back on state guidelines for tiny houses. On Thursday, members reviewed the state's sample rules, which suggest 10,000 square foot lots. One member said that is a typical Rockport lot, and members discussed allowing lots of 3,000 to 5,000 square feet instead. A public work session is Thursday, October 22, at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Hall Annex.

In high school sports, the Rockport field hockey team fell to Bishop Fenwick 7 to 0 on Friday. The team travels to Amesbury on Monday for a 6 p.m. game.

Today is the Rockport Harvest Fest downtown from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The library hosts crafting from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. At 1 p.m., the Shalin Liu Performance Center screens the Metropolitan Opera's Macbeth. Tomorrow at 5 p.m., Cheyenne Jackson performs there.

State records show why public libraries still matter. The four Cape Ann towns spend about 62 dollars a person a year on their libraries. Cape Ann library cards were used for more than 105,000 e book, audiobook and video loans last year. But a library cannot simply become a website. Publishers often rent e books to libraries at several times the consumer cost. Data also show many older residents lack internet access, meaning a digital only library would leave them out.

The Weather Service expects a cool and windy Saturday, with a high near 49. Forecasters say tonight will bring a low near 34 and patchy frost, and Sunday is expected to be sunny and near 53. High tide in Rockport is just before 4:30 p.m. today.

That's the Rockport Daily Current for Saturday. Everything we share is free public information from public records and government data. For updates from all four Cape Ann towns, and every source, go to capeanncurrent dot com. I'm Kerry Jane, the Cape Ann Current's host. Catch the Daily Current again tomorrow. Keeping Cape Ann current.

Stories in this episode

• Cape Ann's best deal: 400,000 books, movies and more for about $62 a person
• Rockport tiny house zoning: planners say state's lots are too big
• Cooler and windy Saturday near 49, patchy frost possible early Sunday, small craft advisory on the bays
• Scoreboard: Gloucester field hockey wins 1 to 0 at Masconomet, Gloucester football beats Swampscott

Hear the full Cape Ann Daily Current · All Rockport Daily Current episodes and ways to listen