Megan and Keaton Scarponi in front of their soon-to-be-completed new house in Washington.

Working Waterfront

Boomers, millennials like smaller, energy-efficient houses

One couple is moving into their new empty-nest house. The other, into their first home. The houses are nearly identical, which isn’t surprising, given that they were designed by the same architects. But they have more in common than an architectural firm. The two couples are separated by 25 years… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Conference: It’s time to plan for higher seas

It’s no longer a matter of “if,” but rather “when.” Maine’s 3,500-mile coastline is being buffeted by higher seas, bigger tidal surges and storms, all the result of climate change. Preparing for these impacts was the theme of a conference co-hosted by the pro-planning group GrowSmart Maine and the Island… SEE MORE

New marine patrol office Daniel Vogel (center) poses with Patrick Keliher

Working Waterfront

New marine patrol officer assigned to Stonington area

Daniel Vogel of Piseco, N.Y., is the newest member of the Maine Marine Patrol. He will be serving in the Stonington area. Vogel recently graduated from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy's 18-week Basic Law Enforcement Training Program. An additional 45-day marine patrol field training program will follow. SEE MORE

Muggsy Britts and her dog prepare to start her ATV. Britts is a member of the Acadia Area ATV club.

Working Waterfront

Sunrise Trail marks completion of Ellsworth leg

The theme that emerged from among several speakers at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Dec. 2 marking the linking of the Down East Sunrise Trail with High Street in Ellsworth was “sharing.” The trail, which follows a former railroad bed from Ellsworth to Pembroke, and eventually to Calais, will be enjoyed… SEE MORE

Low tide on the west side of Sears Island in Searsport.

Working Waterfront

The Gulf of Maine: return of the seaweed

By Susie Arnold, Ph. D. and Heather Deese, Ph. D. It may look the same from the surface, but the Gulf of Maine is changing faster than nearly all other ocean bodies. We’ve all heard about the rate of warming sea temperatures, but the seafloor is also undergoing major shifts.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fukushima conference suggests new ways to think about energy

Our imaginations often are limited when we face complex problems. For example, we assume the solution to heating homes must exist within the confines of the home. We also assume that our electricity must be generated at a distance. As we head into winter, the cost of heating and electricity… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cider-making warms the soul

If you grew up drinking the kind of cider now most widely available, then you are in blessed ignorance of what cider can be. The rest of us nurse fond memories, or make our own. A few years ago, with the threat of e-coli infesting our favorite fall beverage, the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Urchin harvest begins Downeast

The sea urchin harvest season began Oct. 1 and continues through March 3. Kasey Nicholas Smith, a student at the University of Maine at Machias, was aboard the Pandalus of Eastport, captained by George "Butch" Harris, to photograph the work. The boat's crew includes Clifton Smith Jr. and Frederick Moore IV.… SEE MORE

The Schwörers look up and out of their home on the Pachama.

Working Waterfront

The Swiss family climatologists

In the Arctic, islanders are being forced to abandon the land where they’ve lived for generations, because eroding coastlines and rising sea levels have made their homes uninhabitable. As permafrost melts and the ice retreats, they are losing the fishing and hunting on which their livelihood depends. In Nova Scotia… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How to understand Maine’s ‘High North’ opportunities

By Dan Bookham Since 2013 when the Icelandic steamship line Eimskip established operations in Portland, there has been growing buzz around Maine’s ocean-driven connections to our north. Ship calls to Portland’s International Marine Terminal have steadily increased, more and more Maine officials, economic developers and business people have made the… SEE MORE