Articles
New affordable housing bond can help coast, islands
A major affordable housing bond that will have a huge impact on housing in the state also has the flexibility to help island and coastal residents. The bond was part of a larger energy bill designed to reduce statewide heating oil consumption by 20 percent by 2020. The bill was passed as emergency legislation, so
Islanders petition for ferry rate rollback
This is a summer of discontent for many riders of the two largest ferry systems in Maine. Both the Maine State Ferry system and the Casco Bay Island Transit District (CBITD), which runs Casco Bay Lines, recently voted to raise fares. The state ferry system’s hike would take effect July 1. Riders of Casco Bay
Make room for seafood processing
In 1950, there were 48 sardine factories in Maine. The last independently owned factory, L. Ray Packing Company, of Millbridge, closed in 2000. We won’t get into the long story of how and why these factories closed down. But in the last 35 years, the Maine coast has changed considerably. Operations like sardine factories or
Homeport licenses for island lobstermen
Every islander knows that lobstering is the lifeblood of nearly all of the state’s 15-year round island communities. It is the engine that drives island economies. It’s one of the few careers left in which young people can earn enough to be able to afford the dramatically higher cost of living on islands. Fathers can
Maine’s working waterfront, fish processing supported in Pingree bill
The state’s working waterfront access program would receive $5.5 million if a bond bill proposed by Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree makes it through the State Legislature and is approved by voters. The bond bill also includes money to preserve farmland and help create food processing for both the fishing and agriculture industries. Pingree’s
Preserving traditional industries
With Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree’s introduction of a bond bill to preserve working waterfront and farmland, the state can continue the process of rethinking how we preserve public land that began with working waterfront preservation started in 2005. Pingree’s bill (LD 894) includes $5.5 million for the Working Waterfront Access Pilot Program, $5.5
Maine’s working waterfront, fish processing supported in Pingree bill
The state’s working waterfront access program would receive $5.5 million if a bond bill proposed by Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree makes it through the State Legislature and is approved by voters. The bond bill also includes money to preserve farmland and help create food processing for both the fishing and agriculture industries. Pingree’s
Co-op opens fish processing plant in Port Clyde
In opening a processing plant, the Midcoast Fishermen’s Co-op has added another element as it works to create a new model of groundfishing. On March 16, the co-op received final approval from the Maine Department of Agriculture to open a small processing plant for shrimp and fish. Located off Marshall Point Road, the plant will
Responding to hard times
This has been called the worst financial crisis in United States history since the Great Depression. Companies are closing down and people are losing jobs. In Maine, entire industries-such as lobstering-have suffered enormously. Virtually no one is immune to this economic meltdown, including the Island Institute, which publishes the Inter-Island News/Working Waterfront. Everyone in this
A chance to get it right
The City of Portland has an opportunity most of us never get in our lives: a chance to do it over and get it right the second time. On Jan. 16, Portland Mayor Jill Duson announced that the developer Ocean Properties withdrew from negotiations with the city to redevelop Maine State Pier. This comes just