Working Waterfront

Transportation decisions must consider community identity

Here’s a question to ponder, maybe while you’re stuck in traffic this summer: What would Maine be like if the interstate highway system ended in Portsmouth, N.H.? Transportation infrastructure impacts the way our communities grow, the way they function, and even what sort of relative prosperity they enjoy. A decision… SEE MORE

Yellow ribbons mark trees that would be removed from a stretch of U.S. Route 1 north of Camden village slated for work by the Department of Transportation

Working Waterfront

DOT’s planned Route 1 upgrade raises aesthetic, safety conflicts

It is a familiar dilemma across the country—making roadways safer vs. protecting an area’s aesthetics, which residents are particularly vigilant about in scenic, coastal Maine. The Department of Transportation is planning a $7.5 million rebuild and widening of 1.5 miles of Route 1 from Camden Hills State Park north to… SEE MORE

An especially high tide in Wells a few years back shows the Maine coast's vulnerability to rising sea levels.

Working Waterfront

Climate decisions reflect who we are as nation

Our government’s decisions project a story to the world about who we are as people. When we step off a plane in another country, we encounter these stories, as the people we meet repeat them back to us. We find that we are asked to personally represent and explain the United States,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Addiction tidal wave crashing over our coast

The Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront, is working to understand the opioid epidemic on the coast of Maine, and to learn more about the issue, we recently hosted a presentation by Dr. Ira Mandel, founder of the Knox County Recovery Coalition. One comment from a staffer summed up… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Help on the way from island caretakers

As May began with limited sunshine and two weeks of showers in the forecast, I said to Bruce, “Remember that one year when we had 23 days of rain in May?” He reminded me it was the year we built our house. “We were so lucky to get the whole… SEE MORE

The Schooner Adventure in a photo taken in 1926.

Working Waterfront

Portland kicks off first Schoonerfest

The group Tall Ships Portland has scheduled a sailing regatta for traditional craft for June 24-26. Portland SchoonerFest and Regatta will feature five, large traditional schooners racing and parading under sail together in Portland Harbor with passengers participating onboard and spectators ashore. Organized by Tall Ships Portland to benefit its… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Hawaiians find work and new life in Stonington

When Ryan Woolsey and Kealii Mano moved from the year-round tropical warmth of Hawaii to Stonington, where they’d experience their first cold winter and snow, they had no regrets. They did have to shop for heavier clothes. “I had to figure out what this thing called ‘long johns’ was,” Woolsey… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Chebeague voters consider solar array for town use

Short of slashing municipal services, a plan to reduce property taxes is often just a politician’s hollow promise. But what about doing so by cutting a substantial expense the town faces, year after year? Chebeague Island residents will vote on a plan that aims to achieve just that at their… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Directing community theater in Eastport invigorates

Reflections is a monthly column written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. This week has been one of anticipation in Eastport. I’m not referring to spring’s slow arrival, though… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Nothing simple about four walls and a roof

The 35-year-old recovering alcoholic living in his car as he gets his life back together and the $4 million, seasonally occupied house blocking views of the water illustrate just part of the range of Maine’s housing issues. But however broad and complex, we would do well to understand these matters,… SEE MORE