Bar Harbor police Officer Soren Sundberg often deals with skateboarding teenagers on the town’s village green. Skateboarding isn’t legal there and it can be especially hazardous during tourist season. “There isn’t space for all the foot traffic and the skateboarders,” Sundberg said. But he said he never has a good answer when skaters ask where
SCARCE WHARFAGE – Historic schooners seek a permanent home in Rockland
Once Camden held the title, but now Rockland is the windjammer capital of the world. But Rockland could lose the title along with the historic sailing vessels that bestow it, if a group of historic schooners fails to find a permanent home in the harbor, soon. The owners of four of the city’s eight schooners
Island fellow uses trails, other projects to promote “positive change”
It’s no surprise that David Steckler, the Island Institute’s Fellow on North Haven, finds himself drawn to place-based education as a powerful teaching tool. “Growing up, I was always attracted to being outdoors — and my learning style has always been to learn by doing,” he says. As the Place-Based Education Fellow at the North
The Methadone Debate – Downeast communities struggle with drug addiction, treatment
Judging from reactions in Ellsworth and Surry, methadone may be as unwelcome Downeast as heroin. This spring, Ellsworth city councilors approved a six-month moratorium on any new clinic offering methadone treatment, with an option to extend the moratorium an additional six months. Shortly thereafter, Surry residents voted to enact a similar measure. And recently, Cherryfield
Fixing Tree Growth
The Tree Growth Tax, Maine’s premier current-use tax law, goes back to the early 1970s when the Legislature, at the urging of paper companies and other big forest landowners, crafted it as a way to tax land on its ability to grow trees, rather than as conventional real estate. At the time, the backers of
Forest Service examines Peaks Island’s risk of wildfire
On April 21, Peaks Islanders gathered at their community center to hear rangers from the Maine Forest Service give a presentation about the threat of wildfire to their homes. The rangers shared the results of a risk assessment they had previously conducted, and also suggested several strategies for homeowners to reduce the risk of a
When Hollywood Came to Vinalhaven
In the summer of 1947 Henry King, one of Hollywood’s top directors, flew his plane over 1,000 miles along the Maine coastline, searching for just the right spot for his next film. An experienced pilot, King first observed Vinalhaven through a break in the clouds. Sixty years ago Henry King was considered by many to
Coalition tackles Tree Growth tax
Tree Growth tax designation and its impact on property taxes and revenue was the topic at the May 11 Islands Coalition Meeting at the Island Institute in Rockland. And, like many issues, the implications of Tree Growth are very different for islands than for mainland communities. As Jeff Kendall from the Maine Revenue Service put
Bath revives its community garden
Brenda Nelson, an avid gardener, discovered a problem when she moved into her new home in Bath. “My little house had too tiny of a yard,” Nelson said. Like many Bath residents, Nelson lives in a densely-populated neighborhood Her little home is sandwiched so close to neighboring houses that when friends phone her, they can
Wind Power
News that electric co-ops on Swan’s Island and Vinalhaven are taking steps to develop those islands’ ample wind-energy resources is heartening evidence that citizens of the United States, if not their national government, are thinking creatively when it comes to replacing fossil fuels. Wind turbines are one of those technologies — hydroelectric dams are another