Working Waterfront

The unspoken problem—island struggles with substance abuse

It's not hard to make the case that substance abuse is a community problem. In island communities, its impacts may be greater, and the solutions more difficult. The subject was discussed at the Feb. 26 meeting of the Maine Islands Coalition in Augusta. It remains difficult to discuss openly, especially… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A life in books led to a later life as a writer

VINALHAVEN — Sherry Bunin worked in the publishing industry all her life, but it wasn't until late in her career that her writing was published. She started out as an English major at the University of Cincinnati and while a student, took a job at Writer's Digest where she… SEE MORE

People

A line forms outside the Peaks Island Inn during Memorial Day Weekend 2014.

Working Waterfront

Peaks Island braces for visitors, cars and carts

It's an oft-repeated, but inaccurate statistic—Peaks Island has never seen 1 million visitors, nor will it likely see that many this summer. But the island, with a year-round population of about 900, does see several hundred thousand visitors each year, staying for the day, overnight, a week or several… SEE MORE

Students at Deer Isle-Stonington High School design lobster boats.

Working Waterfront

Designing a lobster boat is a way to cover curriculum

Ian Watkins is an Island Fellow, a participant in a two-year service program operated by AmeriCorps and the Island Institute, doing community development work on islands and remote coastal communities. Watkins works on Deer Isle and the Downeast coast with high school students. Teenage fishermen know a thing or two… SEE MORE

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Working Waterfront

Retirements, resignations and tenacious deer—roundup from Maine Islands Coalition

Alton Hadley, part-time school superintendent and principal on Chebeague Island and one-day-a-week superintendent on Long Island, is retiring at the end of the school year, reported Maine Islands Coalition (MIC) representative Beverly Johnson at the group's Feb. 26 meeting. Chebeague's administrative assistant, Eric Dyer, also announced he is leaving the… SEE MORE

People

Sea smoke captured in Rockland earlier in the winter of 2014-2015.

Working Waterfront

Snow sapped energy, left many stuck in place

When it was 50 degrees in the Cranberry Isles on Christmas Day, was anyone else wistfully remembering a good old-fashioned "white Christmas?" I know I was. It felt so strange to actually have to dig out a spring coat to go for a walk when plenty of warm down parkas… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Building the definitive island snowman

Last month a perfect snow fell. It wasn't dry as dust but neither was it slush. It had just enough togetherness to respond perfectly to an effort by three youngsters to roll it into a big ball, a ball so big that Dad had to help move the eventual globe,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Counting’ the weather in Port Clyde and Antarctica

Ever wonder how the National Weather Service (NWS) is able to report detailed weather data for your local area? Across the country, there are over 8,700 volunteer NWS cooperative weather observers who are truly the nation's weather and climate observing network of, for, and by the people. The NWS in… SEE MORE

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The fishing vessel Westward being towed off a ledge by Fuller Marine Services in Boothbay Harbor on Jan. 9.

Working Waterfront

The Wrack Line

Compiled by Tom Groening In baseball, the hitter gets three strikes. But when it comes to a 136-foot fishing boat wandering off it's mooring, there is no third strike. The Boothbay Register has been following the saga of the Westward, a steel-hulled, Dutch-built vessel that has been moored in Boothbay… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The rewards of coaching and being coached

Kelsey Byrd is an Island Fellow, a participant in a two-year service program operated by AmeriCorps and the Island Institute, doing community development work on islands and remote coastal communities. When I first moved to Vinalhaven a year and half ago, I was excited to help coach the high school… SEE MORE