For some, cannabis cafes are long-overdue recreational spots for like-minded adults to gather to smoke weed. Others see the cafes as just another way to funnel intoxicated drivers onto the state’s highways.

For more than seven years, state regulators have been trying to find the best way to allow cannabis consumption sites, including cannabis cafes, to open in Massachusetts. The Cannabis Control Commission considered a 12-community pilot program but decided against the approach last year.

State House News Service reported, “Regulators hope to present their latest framework for rules that will govern establishments where adults could use marijuana together in a social setting before the end of this year, more than seven years since the Cannabis Control Commission started wrestling with the issue.”

SHNS said the CCC plans to consult with Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and “other key stakeholders.”

Massachusetts voters approved a ballot initiative in 2016 legalizing adult-use marijuana and the establishment of so-called cannabis cafes. Some liken the cafe concept to a barroom.

The CCC is considering a $500,000 public awareness campaign, training for consumption site employees, and municipal outreach.

Marijuana consumption lounges are legal in 14 states, including Massachusetts. Cannabis Creative said Massachusetts is the only state out of the 14 that has not  “established a plan to implement it.”

Statista.com said Massachusetts is among the states with the highest percentage of adult marijuana users at 29.74 percent. Only Vermont, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Alaska and Washington had higher percentages than Massachusetts.

A popular local beach will continue to ban swimming because of “persistent” great white sightings amid peak shark season.

Crane Beach in Ipswich has had a swimming closure for weeks due to white shark sightings along the North Shore beach. That swimming ban has now been extended through the end of October, according to the Trustees of Reservations.

“For the last few weeks, we have had persistent Great White Shark sightings off of Crane Beach,” a spokesperson for the Trustees said in a statement on Tuesday. “We had the beach closed to swimming week by week as we worked with local public safety officials and marine biologists.

“Sharks are still being sighted, as recently as yesterday when the Ipswich Harbormaster did a patrol, so we decided after consulting with our experts to keep the beach closed to swimming through October,” the spokesperson added.

The Trustees are urging dog owners to keep their dogs out of the water due to the sharks being spotted close to shore.

“Today the beach did open to dog walking, but out of an abundance of caution, we are asking folks to keep their dogs out of the water,” the spokesperson said. “October 1 usually marks the end of the shorebird nesting season at Crane, thus we allow dogs back on the beach.”

While swimming is banned, the beach remains open for walking, hiking, and other recreation.

These shark sightings come amid peak season for white sharks along Cape Cod and Massachusetts.

September and October are typically very busy for great white shark activity along Cape Cod. Last year, September had the third most shark detections and October had the most shark detections, according to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Logbook.

Great white sharks hunt for seals along the Cape coast throughout the summer and fall. The sharks feed on seals close to shore.

AMHERST – The Project Skydrop treasure hunt for a gold trophy and a massive prize has zeroed in on western Massachusetts. 

Jason Rohrer and Tom Bailey, video game developers from New Hampshire, hid a pure gold trophy valued at $26,000 somewhere in the woods. Whoever finds the trophy also gets the “prize bounty,” which is currently over $80,000, made up of entry fees from people joining the hunt.

Where is the Project Skydrop trophy?

When the search started on Sept. 19, a map showed that the trophy could be in a 500-mile radius that encompassed much of the northeast and areas as far south as Virginia. Now the circle’s diameter is only 35 miles within Massachusetts, stretching from South Hadley to the border of Vermont. 

Massachusetts communities inside the circle include Northampton, Amherst, Williamsburg, Easthampton, Deerfield, Montague, Greenfield, Ashfield, Shutesbury, Shelburne Falls and Charlemont.

The circle will continue shrinking until it’s only one foot in diameter on Oct. 10. By then, someone will have figured out where the treasure is hidden. 

Joining the Project Skydrop hunt

For $20, hunters get access to daily clues in the form of aerial photographs that show more of the surrounding landscape every day. They can also discuss the clues in a members-only chat group.

The Project Skydrop website has a live webcam view of the trophy location and screenshots of motion detected nearby. So far, cameras have only captured squirrels and other wildlife creatures checking out the treasure.

To claim the growing prize bounty, the winner must take a first-person video of themselves walking up to the trophy and upload it to YouTube.