To the editor, The solution to Campobello Island’s isolation from the rest of Canada [WWF Oct. 06] would be the sale or ceding of the island to the U.S. The only negative implication would be the loss of socialized medicine to the Island population since the population would have to be assimilated into the State
Maine’s Visible Black History: The First Chronicle of Its People
Tilbury House Publishers, 2006 Paperback, 448 pages, $35 The Large Contributions of One Percent This new account of more than three centuries of black history in Maine not only begs the question, Why hasn’t this been done before? but answers it — generously, unforgettably, and often poignantly. Indeed, the authors’ accomplishment is remarkable considering that,
New Technology, Lost Bounty
Two photographs –one old, one new — in this issue of Working Waterfront tell different stories about Maine and its varied fisheries. On page 21 we have a huge halibut flanked by two Phippsburg fishermen. The fish is longer than either man is tall; the picture documents a time (the 1970s) when people who lived
Off the Grid
To the editor: In the headline for The Long View “Summah People — Some Ahrn’t” [WWF Sept. 06] did one of those summah people sneak that “r” into “Ahn’t?” The article was pleasingly positive about summer people, without offending us natives. The possibility of no ferry service to Digby, presented in “Efforts are underway to
Simple Virtues – “If you want money to spend, why not go and earn it?”
Cyrus Curtis grew up in a poor family in Portland and went on to found the Curtis Publishing Company, headquartered in Philadelphia. He became wealthy by publishing the two most iconic monthly magazines of the first half of the twentieth century, Ladies Home Journal and Saturday Evening Post, and a string of newspapers. He bought
Jordan’s project on hold
Plans to build a Westin hotel/condominium complex in Portland’s Eastern Waterfront have been put on hold, and the Procaccianti Group has decided to put its investment there up for sale. The initial project, slated for groundbreaking last summer, involved tearing down the long-closed Jordan’s Meats, replacing it with a $110 million development encompassing a 223-room
Nature Conservancy Receives Large Tract of Land in Phippsburg
In October, an anonymous donor gave 1,910 acres of land in Phippsburg to The Nature Conservancy. The new tract, to be called “The Basin Preserve,” is one of the largest unfragmented forest blocks in the midcoast region, a wondrous mixture of steep hemlock gorges and pitch pine forest and four miles of shoreline frontage along
Maine’s Downeast coast brims with wineries
Pine trees, lobster, blueberries…vintage wine. Over the years, the Downeast coast has become the heart of Maine winemaking, with four commercial wineries in Hancock County alone. Why the coast? Dr. David Handley, vegetable and small fruit specialist at the University of Maine, said the ocean’s moderating temperatures help keep grapes alive through Maine winters. “The
Real estate slowdown affects Portland waterfront project
What Portland truly hopes to avoid at the city-owned Maine State Pier is a nasty real estate experience called, quite astutely, “the runaround.” Development projects go belly up when developers, in an effort to win favor, offer unrealistic deals. Then, when these overly enthusiastic developers actually prevail, the reality of financial investment inspires a more
The Long View: Our Maine Brand – Burnished or Tarnished?
There is nothing like startlingly fresh information and thoughtful analysis, such as recently presented in a new Brookings Institution report, “Charting Maine’s Future,” to help us answer whether Maine’s economic and government policies are on the right or wrong track. And then to think about what these new findings mean for the coast and islands