Working Waterfront

Minot’s latest airs unhealthy yearnings

She worries all the time about the quality of her parenting. After experiencing the early loss of her own parents and her divorce after having a child, Ivy feels guilty for her son’s equivalent loss of a mother-father dyad. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

No way in for novel’s protagonist

Morgan Talty, a member of the Penobscot Indian Nation, grew up on its reservation near Bangor. His first book, out several years ago, was a brilliant collection of short stories SEE MORE

Harvested rockweed on the shore in Hancock Point. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Court got rockweed case wrong

Commercial rockweed harvesting in Maine is not “unfettered.” This is a scare tactic. All rockweed harvesting in Maine is licensed by the Department of Marine Resources on location, frequency, and technology. SEE MORE

Bait bins on a pier in Cutler. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Working waterfront tax law is improved

It’s the letter no one wants to open—the dreaded perforated envelope from your municipality that comes once a year. Yep, you guessed it, your property tax bill. Taxes only seem to change in one direction, up, and if you live in coastal Maine, perhaps the slope of this curve is… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Climate plan: What you need to know

Ultimately, the "Maine Won’t Wait" plan is essential because it guides the state’s approach to critical issues like climate change, economic resilience, and community well-being. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Being a messenger is risky business

I’ve been thinking about a play I saw on public TV many years ago, and believe it or not, my thoughts had nothing to do with the election. An Enemy of the People, written in 1882 by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, had been adapted by Arthur Miller, best known… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

This ‘God-forsaken rock’

When the deadline is looming for the next edition of The Working Waterfront, I reflect on what I’ve seen, heard, and shared in communities along the coast. Without fail, Tom Groening, our talented editor who has taken the pulse of the coastline for years, has said, “Write about your own… SEE MORE

C. Ronald Bechtle in his Maine studio, ca. 2002. PHOTO: COURTESY REID BECHTLE

Working Waterfront

A modernist visits Hinckley boatyard

Bechtle offered an intriguing assortment of symbols and shapes to represent the marine setting, including bright red pennants, a black cross, circles, and squares. SEE MORE

Andy Wyeth and the hearse in question being moved off Louds Island. PHOTO: KOSTI RUOHOMAA COLLECTION/PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

A misheard word led to iconic photo

A working waterfront is loosely defined as critical access to coastal waters for people engaged in commercial and recreational fishing, seafood processing, boat building, aquaculture, and other water-dependent businesses. The accompanying photograph of the pier on Louds Island pushes that definition a bit, but it was in fact a water-dependent… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

In the face of change, towns must plan

As a multi-generational Mainer, I believe what makes this state special is that there has been such little change. I’ve had the opportunity to work with several local historians who share photos of their town and it’s amazing how recognizable places still are. SEE MORE