Working Waterfront

Keeping our towns year-round means watching and learning

Several years ago, the newly hired town manager in Camden told her select board she could not meet a provision of the town charter. The charter required the manager to live—reasonably enough—in the town she served. But the woman, who was earning in the range of $80,000 at the time,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven’s maritime work remembered in photo

If books about Vinalhaven’s history were acorns, then readers could squirrel away some volumes now to enjoy over winter hibernation. One of those acorns could be a recently published book of photographs, Vinalhaven Island’s Maritime Industries, part of the “Images of America” series from Arcadia Publishing. Cynthia Burns Martin, a… SEE MORE

Students at Rockland's "URock" work with an instructor.

Working Waterfront

Redefining ‘college’ brings new groups into system

When Jesse Poole of Vinalhaven was a teenager, he was interested in computer science but he never went to college to study it—or to study anything else for that matter. “Growing up here, it was hard to get away from Vinalhaven,” Poole, now 35, said. “It seemed like too big… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Understanding immigration through Canadian eyes

This political season is once again illuminating the ongoing struggle to define who we are as a country. One pointed aspect of this debate involves immigration and it is as relevant in Maine as anywhere else in the country. We are agonizing over the appropriate treatment of U.S. immigrants, while… SEE MORE

The site of a former plumbing supply house is vacant after the building sustained a fire. City officials are hoping to lure new investment in the area.

Working Waterfront

Rockland’s former industrial peninsula poised for redevelopment

There are no safe bets in real estate speculation. But what may be close to a safe bet is investing in the 8-acre area on and adjacent to Rockland's Tillson Avenue. City officials are confident that some key, undeveloped or under-developed parcels in that area—which forms a peninsula just east… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cape Air links Maine coast with Boston and beyond

Maine has been a growing market for the small regional airline Cape Air, which has operated out of Owls Head, Trenton and Augusta for the last eight years, providing connections to Boston's Logan Airport. Cape Air, based in Hyannis, Mass., won the right to serve the three small airports (Knox… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island Institute hosts Downton Abbey tea on Jan. 30

On Saturday, Jan. 30 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., as part of the Pies on Parade weekend activities in Rockland, the Island Institute at 386 Main Street will welcome Downton Abbey fans to drop by for a cup of tea, finger sandwiches and teacakes served on fine china by Island Institute staff dressed in… SEE MORE

Community

Working Waterfront

Islands lag in Internet speeds, hampering economic growth

Internet speeds for Maine's year-round island communities are hampering economic growth and even threatening their long-term viability, a report issued Dec. 9 asserts. The 200-page report by Tilson Technology followed extensive study of current Internet speeds on 14 islands: the Cranberry Isles (Islesford, Great Cranberry and Sutton), Vinalhaven, North Haven,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Going the distance against Parkinson’s

Editor's note: This story first appeared in Breaking Through, the annual report of the MDI Biological Laboratory, and is used here by permission. Michael Westphal is a native of Great Cranberry Island. Michael Westphal is a born athlete. All through high school and college, he ran competitively—track and cross country—and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Turning development theory upside down

What if the premise guiding most municipal economic development schemes were wrong? So wrong, in fact, that this basic assumption is to blame for much of the gap between tax revenue and infrastructure repair? That's the idea Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns, a Minnesota-based consulting firm, asserted during a session… SEE MORE