Articles
By the Bootstraps
Those of us who depend on access – public or private – to Maine’s waterfront have a big job ahead of us. For reasons extending back to colonial times, our access to most intertidal beaches and rocky shores is protected by a 17th century law known as the Colonial Ordinance, which keeps the intertidal zone
Norumbega NavigatorsEarly English Voyages to New England and the Story of the Popham Colony
Bath, England: Wilson Publications, 2007 Paperback, $25.00 “Rich pickings were easily acquired” To the student of English and colonial history during the turbulent 16th and 17th centuries, this book will be a delight, filled as it is with accounts, descriptions, biographies, maps and illustrations connected with the various “adventurers” who undertook explorations in the New
Process Problems
In Maine this season, we’ve got a number of public proceedings underway. Some of them are regulatory in nature, such as the Department of Marine Resources’ licensing process for the would-be developer of an oyster farm in Vinalhaven’s Basin. Others involve contracts, such as Portland’s effort to come to terms with a developer for Maine
Securing the border
Sometimes in this business they deliver themselves into your hands. As a reporter I’ve called a lot of people and asked them questions they don’t necessarily want to answer. Once in a while, however, what comes out of their mouths has left me shaking my head in amazement. Five of us sailed into Rockland recently,
Swan’s Island studies wind possibilities
A climber from the Renewable Energy Research Lab at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst goes aloft to mount wind measuring instruments on the U.S. Cellular tower on Swan’s Island. Instruments were mounted at 130 feet and 165 feet on the 300-foot cell phone tower.
The Lobster Tie-Up
Late August brought news of a lobster “tie-up” spreading west from harbors in eastern Maine. The fishermen’s complaint, simply put, is a boat price so low (around $3 per lb.) that they can’t justify using the fuel and bait they need to haul their traps. The prices being charged for wholesale and retail lobster on
The JOHN W. BROWN
The John W. Brown, built in Baltimore, named for a labor leader in Bath and now berthed in Baltimore, paid a visit to the Maine State Pier recently, where she was open to visitors. The Brown is one of two original “Liberty Ships” still afloat, the other being the Maine-built Jeremiah O’Brien now based on
Pricey Electricity
Islands are fragile places, and not only because they have thin soils, small populations or one-resource economies. Consider electricity: as we note in a story this month, ratepayers on some islands have experienced sharp increases in electricity costs, and any island that generates its own power (Matinicus, Monhegan, Criehaven) is, like the lobster fishermen who
Credit Crunch
The struggles of a half-dozen island towns, plus countless coastal communities, with what must seem like relentless pressure from real estate developers could ease a bit if the current national credit crunch gets any worse. A market in which borrowers find credit to be tighter than it used to be is likely to cause a
Canaries in the Mine
For birds and those of us who regard them as environmental indicators, the news isn’t good. This summer we heard from the National Audubon Society that out of 600 species of common birds in North America, about one-third lost population in the last 40 years. Some species declined by 50 percent or more. The declines