The 2004 graduates of the Marine Technology program at Deer Isle-Stonington High School have been fishing full time for the past season, and the students from the class that will graduate this month fished all last summer and weekends till the end of the season. They are now putting their traps overboard for the 2005
Small student-teacher ratio has appeal, but poses problems for an island school
Mary Tetreault likes working at the Matinicus school, where the teacher-student ratio is one to three and she can walk home for lunch. It can be a dream job to prepare lessons for just three young learners, but rock-bottom enrollment spells an uncertain future for the little school. Next fall, two of the three students
Rough seas, nesting birds thwart Matinicus Rock’s latest ramp project
Matinicus Rock, remote light and haven to protected puffins and other seabirds, is notorious for high seas and inaccessibility. So it’s no surprise that efforts to rebuild a boat ramp at the former U.S. Coast Guard station there have been thwarted by weather. For years the wooden ways on barren Matinicus Rock have been battered
Portland firm offers “marinized” computers
People everywhere are relying more on computers for everything from communications to entertainment, and it’s no different in the world of boats, not even in the world of commercial fishing vessels. That’s why Mike Whitten and Jeff Sawyer decided to create computers designed to endure the rigors of life at sea, including lots of vibrations
Legislators brief Maine Islands Coalition
The Maine Islands Coalition met May 6 in Rockland with 30 people in attendance. Representatives from Cliff, Monhegan, Cranberry Isles, Town of Long Island, Islesboro, North Haven, Swan’s, Matinicus, Frenchboro, Peaks, Vinalhaven, Little Diamond and Great Diamond attended. State Sens. Dennis Damon and Ethan Strimling also took part in the meeting. The Coalition was formed
Beaching out SUMMERTIME – An all-volunteer crew takes on a schooner’s yearly maintenance
Bill Brown’s SUMMERTIME exemplifies the term: a labor of love. This love affair goes back to 1974, when then-52-year-old Brooklin boatbuilder George Allen first asked then-25-year-old ship’s carpenter and sailor Brown, “Wouldn’t it be fun to build a pinky schooner?” Brown had never considered building anything larger than a peapod; but he recalled later, “This
Property tax concerns spawn many committees on Peaks
A new group focused on tax relief in Casco Bay met twice in early May, with over 100 people in attendance at both meetings. The group has split into six committees: Legal Action, Legislative Action, Coalition Building, Tax Relief, Publicity and Secession. The Legal Action Committee began its first efforts in direct response to Portland’s
Cranberry Report – Birds at the Feeder
On April 21, the afternoon temperature was 72 degrees and the FOUR Philbrook boys were shirtless, enjoying a water gun fight in their yard. Dandelions came up earlier than last year and perennials around the islands look strong and healthy after losing their protective blanket of winter snow. Barbara Stainton sold the general store, on
Islesboro’s Boardman Cottage hires a new administrator
Maura Michael of Vinalhaven has been hired to be the Administrator of Boardman Cottage, Islesboro’s soon-to-open residential elder home built by The Beacon Project. Michael is a licensed Residential Care Facility Administrator and her training in business management with her four years of experience in being the first administrator of Vinalhaven’s elder residence, the Ivan
The Long View – The Past is Prologue
Back in the dim recesses of history – in the early 1990s in this case – Portland undertook a citywide property revaluation that resulted in a secession fever that spread from Peaks to Long to Cliff and Chebeague islands and back to Great Diamond and even Cushings Island before it finally ran its course. When