Harbor Watch Inn owner Colleen Hyland (right) looks on as Janice Kenyon of Southwest Harbor uses the inn’s new charging station with her all-electric 2015 Nissan Leaf.

Working Waterfront

Electric vehicle charging station installed on Swan’s Island

The Harbor Watch Inn on Swan’s Island has partnered with Tesla Motors and installed a charging station for electric cars. Tesla offers such hardware to encourage those in the hospitality industry to adopt this emerging technology. Colleen Hyland, the inn’s owner, wanted to offer charging service for guests who own electric… SEE MORE

The southern half of the Penobscot watershed.

Working Waterfront

Taking the long view means answering tough questions

“We will be the ancestors someday.” This truism came from Penobscot Nation tribal elder Butch Phillips as part of the welcome to over 300 people who attended the Penobscot Watershed Conference on April 9. The statement was a weighty one—when future generations look back, what will they learn from the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Where on the coast?

We'll admit that this one is a bit obscure. It's in the southern half of the state, and it's on an island. If you think you can identify the location, email us at WhereOnTheCoast@gmail.com. We'll send a copy of the 2015 Island Journal to the first five to correctly identify… SEE MORE

Inter-island News

Working Waterfront

On the record with… Ivy Frignoca, the Friends of Casco Bay’s new baykeeper

The Friends of Casco Bay began 2016 with a new baykeeper, a position the nonprofit has used for 25 years. Environmental lawyer Ivy Frignoca was hired last fall and got to work in January, a year after longtime baykeeper Joe Payne retired. The New Jersey-born Frignoca has lived in the… SEE MORE

Zain Padamsee collects ballots at a recent chili cook-off event on Frenchboro.

Working Waterfront

My time as a wise man

Editor's note: 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. Zain Padamsee works on Frenchboro with an after-school program and with the town office.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Domestic violence poses high risks on islands

It’s late on a frigid winter night, and a woman is sitting alone, an ice pack to her face, looking out the window. Snow swirls on the pavement below, and the harbor is full of white caps. He’s been asleep for an hour now. She thinks about leaving, about waking… SEE MORE

The Penobscot River as seen from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory in Prospect.

Working Waterfront

Penobscot Watershed Conference: Sharing our Heritage, Challenges, and Future

As Maine’s largest river system, the Penobscot River carries a deep cultural and economic history of our region. The future health of this vast watershed will be discussed at the first Penobscot Watershed Conference, April 9, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Point Lookout in Northport. The event begins Friday evening, April 8,… SEE MORE

Waves break on the shore at Roque Bluffs

Working Waterfront

Portland proactive on immigration, Wiscasset to vote on traffic plan

Maine’s role in the major party nomination process has come and gone, with the Democrats picking Bernie Sanders and the Republican faithful choosing Ted Cruz. The GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, who was endorsed by Gov. Paul LePage, had a predictably dismissive remark about Cruz’s victory, saying the Canadian-born Texas senator… SEE MORE

North Haven students competed in the statewide one-act play contest.

Working Waterfront

Curtain call: Why we compete in play contest

March has a lot of signifiers. For some, it heralds the start of baseball season. For others, college basketball’s March Madness is the focus. March is “Music in Our Schools” month, and March is when town meetings convene. For me, March has always been about the Maine Principals’ Association One-Act… SEE MORE

Mabel Knowles Doughty with Gov. John Baldacci when the bill creating the town of Chebeague Island was signed.

Working Waterfront

Chebeague community leader dies at 93

Mabel Knowles Doughty was 93 when she passed away on Feb. 16 on Chebeague Island, the place she had called home for more than 70 years. Her contributions to the island were many, but her crowning accomplishment was her role as one of the five secession representatives who successfully convinced… SEE MORE