Each day that the weather cooperates, residents of Matinicus drive to the gravel airstrip on the north end of the island, where pilots and islanders unload groceries and prescriptions, furnace parts and birthday cakes, mail bags and UPS boxes, medical oxygen and plumbing fittings from the small Cessna airplanes operated by Penobscot Island Air. They
Vinalhaven students harness the wind
Got wind? It’s a slogan you may have heard lately, or seen on a bumper sticker. For Vinalhaven School’s science classes, the answer is “yes.” Students in the 7th and 8th grades spent six weeks last fall studying wind power and building their own wind turbines, and the 11th and 12th grade physics class is
Government-funded lobster council formed in Canada
In the 1950s the television show “Omnibus” presented a documentary called “Maine Lobsterman,” a day in the life of a Deer Isle lobsterman named Eugene Eaton. It had a narrative written and spoken by E.B. White. Between Eaton’s trap hauls White says, “The catching of lobsters is not always a profitable enterprise.” In 2010 that
Distance learning brings economic promise to Washington County
Coverage of Washington County is made possible by a grant from the Eaton Foundation. Sonja Mingo has lived in Washington County her whole life, but for years she thought the only way she could get a master’s degree was to leave. “I was working full time and had two kids,” she said. She had thought
Washington County gets federal grants to identify contaminated sites
The Washington County Council of Governments recently won two grants totaling $400,000 from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to identify brownfield sites in the county for cleanup. The council is beginning to sift through potential sites for testing, favoring land that has the most potential for redevelopment. Brownfields are sites with soil that has
Carlton Willey: The ace from Cherryfield
Pitcher Carlton Willey was a true Mainer. Tributes to him at the time of his death on July 21, 2009, emphasized how humble a man he was and how deep his hometown roots were. Willey grew up in Cherryfield, Maine and, when his baseball career was over, he returned to Cherryfield, where he died at
Journey of a Hope Merchant: From Apartheid to the Elite World of Solo Yacht Racing
University of South Carolina Press Hardcover, 201 pages, $24.99 Making those dreams come true This is a book about dreams and dreamers. It’s the story of a young mixed-race South African, Neal Petersen, who aspires to become a yacht-racing sailor. As dreams go, this one was particularly implausible at a time when non-white South Africans
Another strong tournament run by Viking basketball teams
The Vinalhaven Vikings basketball teams are experiencing a resurgence. In the last few years, both the boys and girls teams have performed well in the Maine Principals’ Association Basketball Tournament. This year, the boys appeared in the Western Class D finals and the girls played in the semifinals. In 2008, the boys’ team finished in
Students remember school food director
On a normal weekday afternoon, the Chebeague Island School couldn’t be busier. With classes over, the students twirl and skip down the single hallway, creating a ruckus. Over the din, backpacks and lunchboxes are gathered; coats and hats donned. Teachers Kristin Westra and Ruth White act like sheepdogs, herding the youngsters towards the bus that
Cranberry Report: Potluck luck
As I played my phone messages back on Friday, March, 5 I heard a request from Amy Palmer, treasurer of the Islesford Neighborhood House Association: “Would you be willing to bake some bread for the Town Meeting lunch on Monday?” Apparently I had missed seeing the poster at the Islesford Post Office, where island residents