The tax cap that’s headed for a referendum ballot later this year would push homeowners’ valuations back to 1996 and cap property taxes at one percent of those values. Because Maine relies so heavily on property taxes, a cap would necessitate one of two things: drastic cuts in services at the state and local level,
Author’s Query
To the editor: I am researching Virgil Geddes, a former resident of Atlantic. He and his wife, the painter Minna Besser Geddes, lived in a converted schoolhouse, which is now the Swan’s Island library. Geddes was born in Nebraska in 1897, served in the Navy during WWI, then worked for newspapers in Chicago and Paris
PEI Fishermen Don’t Like Government’s Snow Crab Allotment
Canadian Fisheries and Oceans Minister Geoff Regan has announced the 2004 snow crab allocations for Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick fishermen – and made nobody happy. On April 1, Regan set the quota allotted to inshore P.E.I. fishermen 496 tons, up from 185 tons in 2003. Regan explained that the move to increase the
Vinalhaven’s Caucus
To the editor: I have tried mightily to resist but I can’t. A couple of your (our) readers wrote in the last issue complaining about my having reported on Vinalhaven’s “combination” Democratic/ Republican caucus. They had several specific complaints. First, they suggested you consider enforcing your op-ed policy, which quite specifically encourages precisely the sort
Newfoundland Company Buys Polar Foods
Polar Foods, a Prince Edward Island processing company, has been purchased by Ocean Choice of Newfoundland. Polar had been placed in receivership after going bankrupt in February. On the positive side, the deal means that lobster will be processed this spring, and Ocean Choice has agreed to process all the lobster it purchases in the
Poor Government
There is real value in the U.S. Coast Guard’s practice of investigating, reporting and making recommendations after fatal accidents at sea. While the reports may be incomplete – in many cases the vessel in question is unavailable for examination – they sum up the factors that may have contributed to an accident. The information is
From Newfoundland to New York, No Lines in the Sea
In days gone by, when a lobsterman’s world was limited to his own harbor and the surrounding bays, state government, let alone federal government, barely intruded. Now, with U.S. federal laws and regulations on lobster fishing layered over state laws and regulations, and all interacting with their Canadian and provincial counterparts, lobstermen everywhere have a
Canada Gets Tough on Foreign Fleets
By the end of May the Canadian federal government will implement expanded patrols of the Grand Banks. The patrols will be supported by serious funding The patrols of the Nose and Tail of the Grand Banks will be carried out jointly by the Canadian Coast Guard and Navy. In March, federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister
Re-Visiting Maine’s Poets
Down East Books, 2003 244 pp., $25 For too many of us, poetry is something to be avoided. There are unpleasant memories of unyielding quatrains being shoved down our adolescent throats. There’s the cultural “sissification” factor in a country that prides itself on tough, roll-up-your-sleeves machismo. Yet poetry, as Wesley McNair shows us in this
A Trip to Turner
“Faster, Harry, faster!” “Get this crate moving!” These were the more polite words of encouragement that came from the passengers in my 1951 Ford, as we hurdled down the road at 80 mph heading towards Turner in the summer of 1956. I pressed down on the accelerator, but with seven husky ballplayers on board, my