To the editor: I was disappointed to see Mr. Woodward’s brief and misleading reference [WWF Aug. 2005] to President Kennedy’s efforts to build the Quoddy Dam. Kennedy certainly did more than reevaluate it; he was committed to building it, and it was President Johnson who diverted attention to a Dickey alternative without Quoddy…. Andrea Silverthorne
Low U.S. dollar hits Canadian lobstermen in the pocket
The increasing value of Canada’s currency is good news for some in the neighboring North, but it’s just another headache facing Maritime lobster harvesters this season. The loonie (so named for the loon illustration on the one-dollar coin) is on a par with the U.S. dollar these days. Maritime lobstermen sell roughly 70 percent of
“Girl Power Across the Islands Day” planned for Dec. 20
During the past school year more than 40 middle school island girls in Maine embarked on a new kind of adventure: Zoey’s Room, an online community designed specifically for girls between the ages of 9 and 14. Zoey’s Room (www.zoeysroom.com) is an online community with the goal of encouraging girls’ creativity through science, technology, engineering
Great Cranberry community development coordinators hired
Alyson Mayo and Lauren Simmons have been hired by the Island Institute to assist in a collaboration to revitalize Great Cranberry Island, working with other island, municipal and regional organizations. The collaboration involves the Island Institute, Great Cranberry citizens and community organizations, and will focus on sustainability questions including transportation, broadband connectivity, employment and the
Parallel 44: Witches on the Piscataqua
In the marketplace of ideas, Salem, Massachusetts has long had witchcraft cornered. In the public mind, American witchery and the 1692 Salem Witch Trials are one and the same, a dour Puritan affair in which fearful, superstitious Calvinists turn on friends and neighbors in a fit of paranoia and religious zealotry. Salem has shamelessly exploited
Deer Isle couple volunteers in Mississippi
“They think it’s going to be another five years before the houses will be rebuilt in Biloxi,” said Deer Isle lobsterman David Heanssler as he played a video of the continuing rebuilding effort, one of many following in the wake of destruction left by hurricane Katrina. In other words, there is still time and opportunity
Riding the Waves to Work
It is 6 a.m., pitch black outside, and I am walking my dog up the frozen road in anticipation of his day in the house alone. Every weekday morning, I trudge off on the first boat, which leaves the slip at 6:45. (I was told by a groggy deckhand that we have the earliest departure
Google group brings island teachers together
Teaching is an extremely difficult job no matter where one lives, but the role is far more demanding when combined with life in an isolated community where one is sometimes the only teacher in the school. During the 2007 Island Teachers Conference in Belfast, one request came up in conversations over and over: “We just
The Long View: What if ?
The biggest `what if’ question facing Maine’s island and working waterfront communities is what if there were no more lobsters or lobster fishing? To say that the current lobster landing outlook is not good is like saying that Joe Torre or General Motors did not have a good year. We have covered Maine’s lobster industry
Visa debate creates labor shortage in seafood, tourist industries
Geddy’s Pub in Bar Harbor has an international flair in summer, but not because of the menu. Eastern European workers make up 40 to 50 percent of the summer workforce, said manager Sam Richardson. “We have a very international staff,” Richardson said. His workers come through a visa program known as H-2B, which provides temporary