If you are familiar with Sears Island, but haven’t been there in a while, you will notice some subtle changes next time you visit. The entrance gate looks a bit cleaner; the concrete barriers and chain-link fence are still there, but so is a port-a-potty, a dog waste baggie dispenser and several trash barrels. There
The Matinicus red dahlia society
The Matinicus red dahlia was first brought to the island in 1906 by Marian Young to commemorate the birth of her baby daughter. Since then, the tubers have been wintered over in cellars, to be replanted the next year, and every garden on the island has flowers descending from the original. If someone has bad
Long View: What works?
Discussions with leaders in our state or nation’s capitals almost always revolve around developing policies that will shape our future. I guess that’s why we call the people we meet in our capitals “policy makers.” In contrast, discussions in Maine’s island communities almost always revolve around how to test a new idea or a new
Venturing: Drink Up!
ORANJESTAD, ARUBA -It’s fitting that this island community’s electricity and water plants are next door to one another. Pipes bring seawater into an oil-fired generating station where it’s boiled and converted to steam to run electrical turbines. Cooled, re-liquefied without its salt content and then filtered through coral sand, the steam becomes fresh water that’s
After delays, work underway on access for Chebeague ferry landing
For years, access to the Cousins Island wharf in Yarmouth, the landing site for the Chebeague Transportation Company ferry, has been difficult, plagued by a steep, narrow road with poor visibility. The road can barely accommodate a shuttle bus and a few cars. In winter, the incline is often icy, making vehicle and passenger travel
Wind power experts visit Vinalhaven to assess noise situation
Some of the nation’s top experts on wind turbine sound issues spent two days on Vinalhaven last month in order to learn more about the noise issues raised by neighbors of the Fox Islands Wind project. The group represented researchers affiliated with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), General Electric, and Acentech. Since
From the Deck: Eclipse
Back in 1932 when I was only 15, astronomers predicted a total eclipse of the sun. The moon was to pass between the sun and the earth and for a moment cover completely the face of the sun. My father decreed this to be an event of historic, cosmic significance that would not recur in
Vegetable Corner: a mecca for local food
Twenty years ago, a young Hannah Tetreault and her friend sold strawberries and blueberries off of a card table at the intersection of Mountain and Harpswell Neck roads in Harpswell. Business boomed. Before long, her parents, Ray and Violet Tetreault, started adding vegetables from their garden. Then they brought in corn and produce grown by
Field Notes: Privatizing the ocean’s fish
If you care about eating fresh fish or about having fishermen support your community economy, then please read this. One of the tragedies of fisheries management is that it is so complicated that it alienates the people who should be the most involved. In this column I attempt to explain one way of understanding what
Objects in Mirror: Hostages to fate
If you are lucky enough to have children—John F. Kennedy called them “hostages to fate”-who actually tell you what they are thinking and doing, you know that after a certain point usually between middle school and high school, your opportunity for influencing them substantially decreases. How many times have parents said, “I can’t wait until