Gov. Janet Mills held a ceremonial bill signing for LD 574, a measure sponsored by Rep. Morgan Rielly, D-Westbrook, and cosponsored by Rep. Vicki Doudera, D-Camden, that would expand the language of working waterfront covenants to include nonprofit corporations and charitable trusts that are authorized to hold conservation easements, further protecting Maine’s last remaining miles of working waterfront.

Working Waterfront

Land trusts can now protect working waterfronts

A bill sponsored by Rep. Morgan Rielly of Westbrook (LD 574: An Act to Amend the Laws Governing Working Waterfront Covenants) has been signed into law, greatly expanding opportunities for protecting Maine’s remaining working waterfronts. “Maine’s fishing industry accounts for nearly $1 billion in annual revenues, and it’s an industry… SEE MORE

The staff at the Penobscot Park dining room and lunch counter in Searsport. PHOTO: PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

Ready to serve ‘people from away’

The staff of the Penobscot Park dining room and lunch counter in Searsport meet the gaze of the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. photographer’s camera in the accompanying photo. Their serious faces are frozen in time on a glass plate negative. The tables are set and the shelf behind the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven native named ferry chief

[caption id="attachment_37218" align="alignleft" width="275"] William Geary Jr.[/caption] William Geary Jr. has been named director of the Maine State Ferry Service. Born on Vinalhaven, Geary is a 1998 graduate of Maine Maritime Academy, where he earned an unlimited 3rd mate’s license. He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy for… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island landscapes, island stories

Vinalhaven—Portrait of a Maine Island Photos by Joel Greenberg, Narratives by Phil Crossman Vinalhaven—Portrait of an Island is a wonderful, wonderful book. The beautifully composed, nuanced images of Joel Greenberg together with Phil Crossman’s stories are the threads that weave these lovely images together into a fully realized rare experience.… SEE MORE

Stan Beal’s "Wharf, Beals, Maine,” (2022) collage, 18-inches by 24-inches. IMAGE: COURTESY LITTLEFIELD GALLERY

Working Waterfront

Mary Prince: On Stan Beal’s wharf

While attending St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, N.C. in the late 1960s, Mary Prince drove through Maine on a trip to St. Andrews, New Brunswick. “I felt immediately that Washington County was the place where I wanted to live,” she recalls. And live there she did: In 1983, the… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Wisdom from my mother-in-law

This month’s deadline at the end of April has me staring at my 70th birthday arriving in May. I admit to having mixed feelings about it, but so far the only birthday that really bothered me was my 40th. I remember having tea with my mother-in-law, Anna, and her friend,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A supreme encounter on Vinalhaven

A few years ago, the chief justice of the United States administered the oath of office to president-elect Barack Obama. Perhaps he was all the while recalling his visit to Vinalhaven the previous summer and comparing this lofty and prestigious Washington moment with that less auspicious occasion on the island.… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The tragic end of MDI’s Capt. Rumill

On the night of Oct. 10, 1905, John Taylor, captain of the Blanche King sailing off North Carolina’s Cape Fear, observed something that raised his concern. Taylor saw “a four-masted schooner, sailing erratically outside the usual shipping channel, with her red light hanging from its rigging.” What Taylor soon discovered… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Money for art and where to find it

If you were an artist looking for funding during the Renaissance, you might have hit up the Medici family. Today, the best sources are government commissions and private foundations, according to a presenter at the Island Institute’s Artists & Makers Conference on April 28. “I’m assuming you’re here because, like… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Feds learn about community, in-person

Kathleen Billings, Stonington’s longtime town manager, articulated some deep truths to representatives of the Northern Border Regional Commission (NRBC) during a recent visit. “This is our home,” she said. “Once you are on an island, there’s a different culture to it. You have to be self-sufficient. You have to figure… SEE MORE