A shipwreck on the Passagassawakeag River invited archeological field work in September. PHOTO: COURTESY BELFAST MARINE INSTITUTE

Working Waterfront

Belfast school launches Marine Institute

That academic year saw the acquisition of an on-campus wet lab with a 500-gallon water tanker and kelp-growing materials, as well as a limited-purpose aquaculture license… SEE MORE

Larus gulls. PHOTO: COURTESY LIAM TAYLOR

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Study suggests gulls get a bad deal

“We need better reasoning. It may still be worth it to kill them, but not on the basis of foolish reasoning. No matter how much data you have you’re blind to your own biases,” he says. SEE MORE

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Democracy at work

The fitness center was full, but the treadmills and weight machines were empty. Instead, community members, from elementary students through older adults, filled chairs and stood around the margins of the basketball halfcourt. The occasion was a special town meeting, called to seek approval for a work of public art—a… SEE MORE

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Letters to the editor: York, UMaine, and kayaking

You can’t see First Parish Church, but it is directly across the street. The old burial ground is to your right. SEE MORE

Teachers from Maine island schools gathered at the Island Institute's offices. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

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It’s time to nurture the teachers

There's never been a more stressful time to be a teacher. I say that as someone who worked in K-12 schools for more than 20 years, first as a teacher and then as a principal. Educators enter the profession out of a passion for teaching and helping kids. But today,… SEE MORE

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Heaven is other people

Another North Haven summer has come, and more or less gone. Most of our friends have departed for points south or west. All but a few boats at the Casino have been stored for the winter. At the time of writing, I am physically, if not emotionally, prepared to begin… SEE MORE

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‘Island girl’ returns to teach on Isle au Haut

Kipp Quinby’s new job is a sort of homecoming. In September, she took over as the teacher of Isle au Haut’s one-room school house, the same room where she attended school as a child. SEE MORE

Students at work in courses on electric outboard maintenance and repair. PHOTO: YVONNE THOMAS

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Going electric—Training technicians to work on electric outboards

The topic was electric outboards and the course was created with boat yard technicians in mind, but designed for a wide range of levels of familiarity with the content. It was offered in Rockland at Mid-Coast School of Technology in July and in Farmington at Foster Career and Technical Education Center in August. SEE MORE

From left, new Island Institute Fellows: Mark Gorski, Lucia Daranyi, Thomas McClellan, Erin Dent, and Taylor Rossini. PHOTO: JACK SULLIVAN

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Island Institute welcomes five new Fellows

Island Institute’s flagship fellowship program, which is celebrating its 25th year, welcomes five new Island Institute Fellows, two new community partners, and five continuing Fellows. The program brings recent college graduates to island and coastal towns to work for two years on a community’s public priorities. The new Fellows are:… SEE MORE

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Public, private don’t always play nicely

Imagine the reaction to a town renting out offices in a public library built through the beneficence of Andrew Carnegie a century ago. Or a John D. Rockefeller-donated carriage trail in Acadia National Park being turned into a for-profit go-cart track. It’s not quite as dramatic as all that, but… SEE MORE