Working Waterfront

Rethinking insurance as investment, not pay-out

If investment is risk, then insurance is a means by which to diminish the damage from unforeseen events, liability, and damage to come. And then there is re-insurance, the insuring of the insurers so that they, too, have coverage to mitigate further the consequence of claims to be paid. It… SEE MORE

A recent photo of Thomas and Jackson. PHOTO: COURTESY YVONNE THOMAS

Working Waterfront

My personal race story

Twenty-five years ago, I made a conscious choice to avoid the issue of race. And because I am a white woman, living in a majority white community, I had the privilege of making such a choice. I had just earned my master’s degree in counseling, and had done my student… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ocean solutions, Commoner connection, and more

Ocean solutions To the editor: In October, Democrats in the U.S. House introduced a sweeping and comprehensive bill to address aspects of the climate crisis by focusing on the ocean. The Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act (H.R. 8632) seeks to harness the ocean in the fight against climate change through seven… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Keeping islanders busy through COVID and winter

I am a sucker for a pretty view. If you were to scroll through the pictures on my phone, you would see an abundance of sunsets over beaches, waves crashing against boats in the bay, evergreen trees swaying in the wind, the lamplight breaking through the thick fog on the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Cleaning up our mess means being bold, practical

The story horrified me. It hit close to home—literally. And it angered many, some demanding action be taken at the public policy level. The story, broken in mid-December by Ethan Andrews, editor of the Camden-based Free Press, reported that some bales of shredded plastic waste had apparently fallen off a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A 50-year journey through the mind

On October 9, 2009, although not despondent, I stood on the Dyer Island Bridge, staring into the modest abyss below and torn between stepping off or returning home. After a while I did; I stepped off. Vinalhaven is the largest island in Maine’s Penobscot Bay, surrounded by bits of ledge… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Till the landslide brought me down

Landslide By Susan Conley Review by Carl Little Early in season one of the FX series Fargo the ex-stripper Gina Hess says of her misbehaving teenage sons, “They’re wolves.” This appraisal came to mind near the beginning of Susan Conley’s fourth novel Landslide when the chief protagonist and narrator, Jillian… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The Maine coast and islands will continue to lead

Eighteen years ago, I sat for the first time on the rugged granite backside of Frenchboro, marveling at the power of the tides and the open water extending to the horizon. I appreciated then, as I do now, that I was there because of the relationships that preceded me and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Fight climate change, but not with CMP corridor

The December/January issue featured a guest column by Orlando Delogu (“Maine must see bigger picture on utility project”) in which he questioned my motives on why I am against the New England Clean Energy Connect Corridor. I want to explain why I am against it. First, let me make clear… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Our readers write… and they have opinions

Traps were ghost towns To the editor: As always, I enjoy reading the Island Institute’s stories. But the “Group works to recycle ‘ghost’ traps” in the September issue came close to home for me with an oft repeated “fact” that I know to be a misnomer, and so I’m driven to… SEE MORE

Opinion