The Working Waterfront newspaper reports on the people and forces that shape Maine’s coastal and island communities. As publisher, Island Institute’s premise is that the cultural, environmental, and community assets here are rare and valuable, and are worth fighting for.
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February 2
Remembering Chandler "Blackie" Blackington
My relationship with Chandler "Blackie" Blackington began about a decade ago when I traveled to Vinalhaven to visit the community's medical center and eldercare home, exploring the possibilities for Swan's Island. Blackie was my tour guide. He picked me up at the ferry terminal on Vinalhaven and showed me around the island. We visited the medical center first and Blackie…
February 2
Small-world routine documented for bigger world
Boston Globe photographer captures Island Fellow at work, play
Ian Watkins 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.…
January 26
Ticks are winning in invasion of Maine
Surveys show they are moving up the coast and inland
Ticks. Even now, with snow, ice and frigid temperatures holding them in abeyance, the very mention of the little critters can make your skin crawl. But it gets worse, because…
January 22
Beacon and bell, significant to fishermen, to be restored
Original bell's location unknown
ISLE AU HAUT — When the town took over ownership of Isle au Haut Light in 1998, the selectmen made a pledge to residents never to use taxpayer money in…
January 22
Marketing lobster, restoring old ships and the winter of 1914
Coastal newspapers capture color, quirks and history
Waterfronts and those coastal towns that bustle with visitors in the summer tend to go quiet after the new year dawns. But that doesn't mean decisions affecting those waterfronts and…
January 22
The stories that Bertha's spoon can tell
A lifetime of cooking etched in wood
When Bertha was a mere teenager, she started working with Dr. North's family in Montclair, N.J., mostly to help take care of the Norths' five children. She stayed for the…
January 22
Wood heat welcome as an old friend
Old houses need old ways of heating
It's nearly impossible to disagree about anything of consequence when settled comfortably near a companionable wood fire. We live in a big three-story house right in the village. It was…
January 21
Portland promotes cigarette butt recycling to make downtown friendlier
Restaurant owner builds street ashtrays
PORTLAND — Mike Roylos is old enough to remember when offices, restaurants and other businesses featured strategically placed ashtrays. Though they were filthy and smelly, often holding a still-smoldering cigarette,…
January 20
Portland steamships link to lucrative European market
Container shipping costs to Germany, U.K. comparable to trucking to Delaware
PORTLAND — One of the best business opportunities Maine has seen in years could begin with a single pallet-load of goods. That opportunity is now available through Eimskip, the Icelandic…
January 14
A dead whale washes ashore on an island: what to do?
Christmas Day in the Cranberry Isles arrived with winds high enough to cause ferry cancelations, though the air temperature was unseasonably mild. Fortunately for us, our family had arrived two…
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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