A 1700s shipwreck in the Bay of Fundy has family connections to Lincoln County, where a few hardy survivors settled after finally being rescued. The Heartwood Regional Theater Company of Damariscotta will present the gritty saga of the Irish ship Martha & Eliza this spring, in musical form. It’s the story of affluent Scots-Irish Presbyterians
Anthropology studies paved the way for Fellow’s assignment
Island Fellow Carly Knight is fascinated by the relationships of community, language and culture, and even as a college student, she had an affinity for islands. So it comes as no surprise that, as a senior working toward a degree in anthropology at Bowdoin College, she undertook a year-long independent study project, titled “The Wind
Resource at Risk: Can Downeast Maine save its dark skies?
Seventy-seven-year old David Westphal of Somesville remembers the first time as a child when he saw a sky milky with stars. “It was just awe and wonder,” he recalled. Growing up in rural Minnesota, Westphal didn’t know dark skies were rare; he only realized their value years later after traveling. Such experience helps him appreciate
New scholarship offered for island students
A new scholarship fund has joined the Island Institute’s array of opportunities for island students who wish to pursue higher education. “We are excited to announce the new Otter Island Fund, made possible by an anonymous donor whose family members have graduated from the schools named in the new scholarship,” said Peter Ralston, executive vice
NAACP to host Malaga forum
The forced eviction of the mixed-race residents of Malaga Island in 1912 and its aftermath will be the subject of a Feb. 12 forum in Portland, sponsored by the Portland Branch of the NAACP. Malaga, today a densely wooded oasis in the New Meadows River off Phippsburg’s shore, is now owned by the Maine Coast
Imperiled fish could help end jurisdictional feud
Here’s a trick to try if the ice gets thick enough: Go to Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island and stand next to the water. You’re on National Park land. Now, step onto the ice. Whose land are you on now? The answer depends on whom you talk to, and the
Cranberry Report: The Need for Speed
As I sit at my computer in our wood-warmed Islesford home, I stop to look out the window at tree branches lined with a thin layer of ice. It was 12 degrees this morning, one of the coldest days so far in a very mild winter with very little snow. January is one of my
My 20 Coastal Homes
In our first two years of marriage, my wife and I lived in twenty different homes in half a dozen towns from Rockport to Steuben. In that same span, we moved more than fifty times. We were housesitters, hired by international businessmen, insatiable travelers, and stir-crazy millionaires to look after pets and bring in the
Why not combine islands into one school district?
A year ago my neighbors and I were consumed by the process of trying to secede from the town of Cumberland, because our elected mainland representatives to MSAD 51 underestimated the integral role a school plays in the long-term sustainability of an island community. They did not understand that if the school is not strong
Renting Upstairs: On Portland’s piers, non-marine tenants help pay the bills
Professionals who choose to rent space on Portland’s waterfront find their workplace unique — a place to be savored not only for its view, but its gritty reality. No Starbucks downstairs. Dead fish, yes; gourmet coffee, no. Last Aug. 1, when Peter Leopold, Ph.D., owner of BioAnalyte, a high-tech software company specializing in biomarker discovery