Articles
Wal-Mart
A new Wal-Mart policy may change the way Maine lobstermen do business. The retail giant recently announced a goal to buy all wild-caught fresh and frozen fish for its North American stores from Marine Stewardship Council-certified fisheries within the next three to five years. Certain brand-name seafood products will be exempt. The Marine Stewardship Council
“You’re out there by yourself”
“More than a quarter-century at sea” — sounds like the beginning of an epic novel. Instead, it’s the Coast Guard career of Chief Warrant Officer Paul Dilger of Rockland. With 26 years at sea, Dilger arguably has the most sea time of any active Guard member. He says it wasn’t planned. “It just kind of
Land trust preserves salmon habitat
The Downeast Salmon Federation (DSF) recently purchased 73 acres along the banks of the Narraguagus River in Deblois, Maine. The nonprofit organization plans to preserve the parcel while still maintaining public access to the trails there. Dwayne Shaw, executive director of DSF, says the 73-acre parcel, known as the Great Falls, is an important breeding
Coast Guard family lives inside a tourist magnet
Like many tourist attractions on Mount Desert, the Bass Harbor Lighthouse has a spacious parking lot and walking trails. Tourists can walk down to the lighthouse and around the outside of the old keeper’s cottage. But tourists who miss the signs warning of the uniqueness of this tourist attraction might be surprised if they peer
Maine firms turn seaweed into fertilizer for gardens, golf courses
Jay Barnes needed to switch gardening techniques or his family’s farm in Lamoine would never grow anything again. His farmland had been in continuous production for over a hundred years, but when his father switched to chemical fertilizer, the soil’s ecology quickly collapsed. “There wasn’t any earthworms or anything,” Barnes said. Barnes and his family
Mount Desert fears housing costs may “hollow out” its towns
Christian and Gunjan Gilbert are a young couple with skilled jobs at Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor; they’ve also just started a side business offering authentic Indian food for delivery. They’re just the kind of year-round residents any town on Mount Desert Island (MDI) would covet. But the Gilberts live off-island in Franklin. When Christian
CAT to Prowl Portland Harbor
Bay Ferries has announced plans to move the Cat high-speed ferry from Bar Harbor to Portland for summer weekends in 2006. The Cat will offer daily ferry service from Portland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia on the weekends while still maintaining its Bar Harbor-to-Yarmouth weekday schedule. Don Comier, vice president of Cat operations, says Portland offers
For islanders, birth can be a memorable experience
David Lemoine of Swan’s Island was a bit concerned when his wife went into labor with their first child. “We weren’t really expecting it for a week or two,” he said. Many first-time fathers fret when labor begins, but Lemoine’s worry was unique. His wife would have to travel by ferry to the mainland hospital
Ellsworth dental clinic helps underserved Downeast Region
Few Mainers have dental insurance, and those that do usually must pay a high premium for it. Mainecare covers dental care for children of low-income families, but for adults it pays only to alleviate immediate pain. Many go without dental care because they simply can’t afford it. Yet lack of dental care can lead to
Frenchboro Community finds a veteran teacher in its midst
Frenchboro’s small school had a vacancy this January. Veteran teacher Lorna Stuart accepted a job off-island and planned to leave as soon as a substitute was found. Finding a mid-year replacement for an island school is often not easy, but in this case a lack of applications wasn’t the problem. School superintendent Rob Liebow says