Articles
Thon Artwork to Grace Island Schools
Bill Thon of Port Clyde, an artist and sailor known for his paintings and drawings of boats and the sea, has left a bequest of his work to island and other Maine schools. Thon, who died in December 2000 at 94, left some $5 million to the Portland Museum of Art, along with a good
College of the Atlantic Honors Wiggins
Journalist Russ Wiggins, who died in the fall of 2000 at 96, is the inspiration for an endowed academic chair at College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor. The college is seeking $1.5 million for the James Russell Wiggins Chair in Government and Polity. After retiring from the Washington Post, Wiggins edited and published the weekly
A Sailing Family Takes to Dry Land
Jaja and Dave Martin have come ashore. After years of sailing – from the South Pacific to the Arctic Circle – they’ve dropped anchor at Round Pond and enrolled their three kids in school. The Martins have largely eluded conventional on-shore life, and escaped many but not all of its stresses. No nine-to-five job. No
Small Rockland Plant Produces Gel for Multiple Purposes
Along a back road in Rockland is a one-story biotech plant that turns out a product used in developing drugs, forensic lab work, testing for HIV and DNA research. The product, agarose, is processed from ordinary seaweed, farmed overseas on 15-acre plots. “It’s amazing something as simple as seaweed is so paramount to understanding DNA
ROSEWAY prepares for new life as a school
When the 137-foot Gloucester schooner ROSEWAY was presented to a Camden couple last year, they rejoiced. A free boat that still floats is hard to resist. Since then, Abby Kidder and Dwight Deckelmann have plunged into the work of realizing their dream: a school afloat. The World Ocean School is taking shape, at a small
Tenants Harbor camp purchase would preserve waterfront, expand Tanglewood programs
A Tenants Harbor children’s camp that closed 20 years ago will be saved as a place for Maine kids to learn about themselves and their environment, if a pending deal goes through. Tanglewood 4-H Camp and Learning Center, established 21 years ago in Lincolnville, has signed an agreement to purchase Blueberry Cove from owner Ann
Seabird center seeks Midcoast roost
A Midcoast seabird education center could serve students, fishermen, tourists and others by building their knowledge of a marine habitat threatened by human development and exploitation. The center is the dream of Dr. Stephen Kress, who in the past 30 years re-colonized Eastern Egg Rock in Muscongus Bay with a population of returning Puffins. The
At Bigelow Lab, the smallest things are the most important
In his unassuming way, Sandy Sage doesn’t look like the Bigelow Labs boss. But the quiet, friendly manner of this executive scientist mirrors the spirit of this 30-year old research center, where you can wear shorts and flip-flops so long as you rigorously pursue excellence in all things oceanographic. The work includes studies on climate
Maine island post offices fight for survival
If the U.S. Postal Service tries to close island post offices in Maine, it better brace itself. “I’ll tell you, the people here are very vocal,” said Barbara Hoppin, the school principal on Peaks Island. “It’s important to our school, and important to our community.” If Peaks islanders had to take the ferry into Portland’s
Can’t buy a ticket to ride – just yet
Passenger trains from Rockland to Bath and beyond are unlikely to start rolling any time soon, a state official confirmed. Tracy Perez, policy specialist with the Maine Department of Transportation, said it could be a year or two before you can board a mid-coastal train. And it could be 2007 before passenger rail connects with