U.S. House and Senate leaders have agreed to include legislation originally written by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, D-North Haven, in a major defense spending bill that is expected to pass Congress this week. Pingree’s bill—the York River Wild and Scenic River Study Act—would create a 3-year study to determine if the river could be included in
Chinese inventor unveils seafood extractor
BANGOR—Maine seafood processors gathered in Bangor in late November for the unveiling of a seafood extracting machine invented by Chinese entrepreneur Zhou Peng Fei. The blue device, the size of a large suitcase, was a scaled-down model of the room-sized machine in China which some believe will more efficiently extract chunk meat from green crabs
Change is evident in Maine waters, even to this recreational fisherman
I was brought up to respect the people who work on the water; whether they build, harvest, transport or protect, those of us who are recreational water users should always remember that we are playing and they are working. Much of my experience as a boater has been along the New England coast or the
Swan’s Island ferry service stumbles through Thanksgiving
SWAN’S ISLAND—Imagine being stranded on the island, not knowing when you could leave again. Or worse, being stranded on the mainland with a car full of groceries and no way to get home. A series of recent events have left us guessing about whether or not the ferry, or which ferry, would be running. Between the recent
Downeast jam: Making music a way to bond in new community
Gathering places in rural communities have always fascinated me. I can recall a few when I was growing up in Virginia, one of which was the general store where my great uncle Rolie would gather regularly with his pals over coffee, and more than likely, exaggerated conversation. I liked the general store not for the
The promise of an aging population
I commend The Working Waterfront’s December/January editorial (“Problem to solve? Put the old[er] folks on it”) for praising two entrepreneurial retirees, Richard Cadwgan and Frank Mundo, who founded WindowDressers to help Mainers reduce their heating costs by insulating windows. But the editorial is marred by negative stereotypes: “…people in their 60s and 70s don’t start
Rethinking our relationship with the ocean…
“Unstable” was the term used to describe the West Antarctic ice sheet by Ohio State University glaciologist John Mercer back in 1968. “Unstoppable” is the term used now. The term refers to irreversible melting of the ice sheet, which is seen as the single largest threat for rapid global sea level rise. A study led
The walking meditation of stacking wood
The potential column fodder is rich this month—candidates and the election, Kaci Hickox and Ebola. But when those stories fade, what remains relevant is the wood stove, and even more importantly, the wood pile. I grew up in central Maine, a little no-man’s-land between Farmington and Augusta. My father, a Jewish guy from Southern California,
Thinking of deer meat on Thanksgiving eve
The only meat that we know for certain was served at the so-called First Thanksgiving in 1622 was deer meat. It was accompanied by “fowl,” which in the New England autumn can encompass quite a number of feathered creatures. Most of us assume that included turkey because like to have turkey on our Thanksgiving. Some
A sentinel of ocean health, humpback whale numbers grow
BAR HARBOR — On Oct. 10, Allied Whale entered the image of the 8,000th humpback whale into its photographic database. It’s a milestone for the marine mammal research organization, which created the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalogue in 1977 with only 120 photographs. It’s also a good sign the endangered species has been rebounding since