AUGUSTA — It hasn’t gotten the publicity of the bear-baiting referendum, but the Nov. 4 ballot also includes some bond proposals, including one that would borrow $7 million to help boost seafood processing and other marine businesses. Question 7 came out of a comprehensive consideration of how state borrowing could boost employment, said Rep. Seth
UMaine ecologist honored for coral reef research
Island Postcards: Sam & Doreen Cabot
In the first in our new video series, Island Postcards, North Haven farmers Sam and Doreen Cabot introduce us to their home and livelihood: Foggy Meadows Farm.
The homesteader’s August is bitter-sweet — and busy
Editor’s note: This series of blogs was written last year by Anneli Carter-Sundqvist about her and her husband Dennis’ adventures homesteading and running a hostel on Deer Isle. The entire year of blog posts are contained in the book A Homesteader’s Year on Deer Isle (see www.deerislehostel.com). Suddenly, as if we’ve been transported in time, we are
Eastport lobster business: ‘Big portions, hearty meals’
PHOTO ESSAY BY LESLIE BOWMAN AND SOPHIA GUIDA Quoddy Bay Lobster, located at the water’s edge in Eastport, is a family venture. Dale Griffin, his brothers Mike and Jeff, and Jeff’s son Brent own the business, but it’s managed by the women of the family. Early on Mother’s Day morning, Sara and Shelly were cooking
Monhegan’s celebrated ‘trap day,’ fall harvest festival on Oct. 1
Wednesday, Oct. 1, is an important day on Monhegan Island. Trap Day, as it’s known, marks the beginning of the island’s special lobster season, the day when fishermen begin setting their traps. Islanders and visitors often pitch in to help fishermen get their fishing gear to the wharf and on their boats. Coinciding with Trap
Marine Protected Areas—do they work?
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a source of pride, ire and debate in coastal communities the world over. Later this year, NOAA fisheries and the New England Fishery Management Council will make an important decision about MPAs in New England. It has been 16 years since NOAA and the council established fisheries habitat protection areas
When Vinalhaven was its own service center
When I was a kid, my friends and I went to great lengths to pick a secluded spot where we might misbehave, but the parents in this little island town were a troublesome bunch, alert and conspiratorial, and we often found our clandestine activities woefully transparent. One day in 1958 we snuck a pack of
Travel writer Paul Theroux on rites of passage
ROCKLAND — Travel writer Paul Theroux’s day was not going well. He was stranded beside the road in southern Angola with his luggage and no food. But then he heard the drumming echoing out of a nearby village. Theroux, a noted travel writer, found a man who spoke a bit of Italian and asked what
Historic Shipwrecks of Penobscot Bay
Why do we find shipwrecks a fascinating subject? Maybe some are drawn to them for the same reason others of us resonate with stories about romances washed up, relationships on the rocks. They can serve as cautionary tales laden with life lessons. “Watch out for this,” we may feel advised. “Could mean trouble ahead.” As