Working Waterfront

When community pillars sink in shifting sands

For the last year or so, Stonington’s Island Ad-Vantages newspaper has been covering the demise of a nursing home on Deer Isle and the efforts to save the institution. It’s not a trivial matter—having a place for residents to be cared for and live their final days near their homes… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine won’t sit still for its close-up

You may have read the now-infamous New York Post travelogue about Maine, or perhaps you read or saw the headlines and reactions it generated here. Long story short, a woman from the Post—who, she emphasized, has traveled EVERYWHERE—came to Maine and found it underdressed and overweight. I’m not sure if… SEE MORE

A view up Washington Street in Eastport. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Ready for, not reacting to change

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. Over the last couple of weeks I have been asked to define resiliency. Eastport is in the process of joining… SEE MORE

From left: Scott Firmin, Dan Devereaux, Ivy Frignoca, Will Everitt, and Fred Dillon. PHOTO: COURTESY FRIENDS OF CASCO BAY

Working Waterfront

Casco Bay group honors clean water heroes

Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca announced the three recipients of the 2022 Casco Bay Awards at Friends of Casco Bay’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act and members annual meeting earlier this summer. Award recipients were recognized for their exceptional efforts to address pollution and climate change… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Six ‘Brookie’ winners named

Six young changemakers from across Maine were honored with the latest round of Brookie Awards by the Natural Resources Council of Maine for their leadership and effectiveness tackling a wide range of environmental issues. The diverse group includes college and high school student activists and scientists, ranging in age from… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The view of Maine from the reservation

Night of the Living Rez: Stories By Morgan Talty, Tin House (2022) Review by Tina Cohen When I started reading Morgan Talty’s debut book, Night of the Living Rez, I saw it as a “coming of age” story, with its focus on a few teenage boys, Native American, growing up… SEE MORE

The stern deck of Maine Maritime Academy's current training vessel. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

New, bigger State of Maine being built

Barring the vagaries of pandemics, the economy, and politics, Maine Maritime Academy in Castine will have a new training ship before the end of 2024. Its impacts on both the academy and the town will be hard to miss even before its arrival. To be christened as the next T/S… SEE MORE

#1: Pam Cabañas, Pushed Off, 2022, compressed charcoal on Baltic birch panel, 36 by 48 inches. Photo Eli Cabañas #2: Cabañas in her skiff, the P/V (painting vessel) Skiffy with her dog Jesse in Friendship Harbor. Photo Jane Herbert

Working Waterfront

Finding ‘Monument Valley’ in Friendship Harbor

Pam Cabañas has been living in Friendship for going on 20 years. She keeps a skiff in the harbor and her son Eli is a sternman on the F/V Miss Kristen. A longtime member of the town’s board of assessors, which she currently chairs, Cabañas is, in her words, “pretty… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Maine coast goes electric

Sandy Oliver should be getting paid the big bucks by Tesla’s marketing team. Describing how she snuggles up to her smartphone to gaze lovingly at the app for her Powerwall—Tesla’s in-home backup battery system—Sandy builds a visceral connection for the otherwise esoteric and dull topic of energy resilience. “When the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island travel logistics rely on kindness

Are you headed to the mainland today? Most of us on the islands have a “going off” ritual of checking for car keys, wallet, water bottle and phone right before we leave the house. Quite a few years ago I was halfway to Great Cranberry, on the ferry, when I… SEE MORE