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

Working Waterfront

State must invest in a digital future

Journalists are taught to give readers a human face to the public issues they write about in their news stories. Sometimes, the reporter has to work at finding a “real person” who benefits from the tax cut or the sewer line extension. Other times, that person practically steps onto the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Speaking as a Republican…

In 2010, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell proclaimed that the Republican members of Congress had no more immediate goal than to see that President Obama was not allowed a second term. A fellow Republican, I was aghast to think, given all that we faced as a nation, that he and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Weather forecasting now tailored to islands

The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Gray has launched a new forecast product that focuses on Maine’s islands and necks from Casco Bay to Penobscot Bay. The information is part of the recreational forecast already produced for the higher summits across Maine and New Hampshire. The NWS in Gray… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Moderating town meeting an honor and challenge

When I remember the town meetings I’ve attended while living in the Cranberry Isles, I think about the past moderators. Wilfred Bunker, Al Gray, David Stainton, Francis Stanley, Herman Savage and Hugh Dwelley are the names that come to mind, though there may be some I’ve forgotten. Men who were… SEE MORE

Students from the Swan's Island Elementary School examine some of the artifacts Abbe Museum educator George Neptune brought to his presentation.

Working Waterfront

Island community learns about ‘People of the Dawn’

What was the currency used by our native peoples? Wampum, right? Not so fast. George Neptune, an educator with the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, offered a different explanation for the seashells that were found in most native cultures. Neptune, a member of the Passamaquoddy tribe, spoke to school children… SEE MORE