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May 19
Asserting ourselves locally is still an option
Town meetings have changed, but our future is in its decisions
The traditional March town meeting in Maine, an institution that has launched many a laudatory newspaper editorial praising it as the last bastion of pure democracy, ain't what it used to be. And that's too bad. In recent decades, management of schools, law enforcement, solid waste and other government functions have become regional. With the fixed bill of education typically…
May 19
Beating the green crabs in Georgetown
Clam flats restored through nets
By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. "We believe, yes!" This is Georgetown clammer Chris Warner's answer to the question: Can a single shellfish harvester with a…
May 19
Colors from the sea enliven 'artifact art'
Brunswick man makes lamp shades, window hangings from old broken bottles
Nine years ago, a man who had no background or any interest in creating art became an artist. Not instantaneously, of course. Swimming along the bottom of Wiscasset harbor, 30…
May 19
Facebook, the island version
Will the new digital community fracture more sharply?
At the top of Kent's Hill, the one-way road leading into North Haven's downtown, is the community bulletin board. Hand-written notices of transfer station hours, with annotations like "No April…
May 19
Helen’s Restaurant rises from the ashes
Barkers retain family traditions, add healthy options
MACHIAS—To Julie Barker, Helen's Restaurant is more than a building. It's a manifestation of the love she and her husband David have for Machias—the falls, the tides, the open…
May 19
Henry Mowat's little-remembered role in Maine history
Gratwick's The Maritime Marauder of Revolutionary Maine tells story
I took history—American history, world history—in high school like most kids but now, 50 years later, nearly everything I've learned about Maine's own history I've learned from Maine authors like…
May 19
Island museum celebrates Islesford's lobster fishing heritage
'Boats & Buoys: Lobstering on Little Cranberry Island,' opens June 21
ISLESFORD—When Leeman Gilley Ham, a lifelong lobster fisherman and well-loved resident of Islesford, died in 2012 at age 99, the island's entire fleet held a flotilla procession in his memory.…
May 19
Islesboro, Isle au Haut postpone town meetings
Bill would encourage planning for sea level rise
Islesboro and Isle au Haut have each postponed their annual town meetings. In Islesboro, residents are considering an ambitious plan that would have the town build a broadband Internet…
May 19
Learning about island history from children
Frenchboro students interact with their island as their ancestors did
Luke Milardo is an Island Fellow, a participant in a two-year service program operated by AmeriCorps and the Island Institute, doing community development work on islands and remote coastal communities.…
May 19
Maine beach monitoring program to lose EPA funding
Healthy Maine Beaches relies on volunteers, but funding needed for testing
With summer fast approaching, Mainers and visitors are already flocking to the state's beaches. But how clean is the water, and is it safe for swimming? According to a 2014…
Island Postcards
EPISODE 10: Keep the Light Shining
Two ambitious young women swam around the entire Island of Isle au Haut during the summer of 2019 to raise money for crucial renovations to the lighthouse.
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