In Maine’s largest city, the waterfront has seen some hard times. The fish processing plants are gone, the fishing industry is a shadow of its former self, and the Portland Fish Exchange recently leased out part of its refrigerated hall because it just doesn’t need the space. The container port was closed for much of
Workers, management at odds at Milbridge nursing home
Health care workers and management of the Narraguagus Bay Health Care Facility in Milbridge will meet on January 12 to try and diffuse a simmering labor dispute, but tensions have grown between the two sides in recent months. Workers at the nursing home have been operating without a contract since 2008, and they contend management
Fathoming: What are the marine impacts of offshore wind turbines?
Editor’s note: We’re introducing a new feature called Fathoming. These articles will explore scientific topics pertinent to Maine’s coastal waters. The articles are made possible, in part, by funds from Maine Sea Grant. Today there aren’t any wind turbines off Maine’s coast, but there may be in the next few years.åÊ Maine is actively pursuing
The Long View: Offshore wind and the public trust
To anyone who does not know better-which means most of Maine’s mainland residents, and lawmakers in Augusta-the waters of the state of Maine look like a featureless ocean out to the three mile limit and beyond into federal waters. Of course, the three-mile limit balloons out around Maine’s offshore islands, so the state’s territorial limits
Local family are new owners of Chebeague Island Inn
Field Notes: Making the invisible visible
Sitting over a chart and a couple of beers at the Black Bull, a fisherman explains to me, “When I can line up Grey Rock and this point of land, I know I am at the western edge of my territory; from there it goes to this corner and runs out to the fifty- fathom
Featured island car: 1978 Ford F150 Custom
Vehicle: 1978 Ford F150 Custom Island: Vinalhaven Owner: Josh Turner Mileage: 150,210 “This was my first vehicle, which I bought from Jim Conlan for $1,500. The original owner was Spencer Fuller, who (as I’ve just found out) won the truck in a raffle,” writes Josh Turner, of Vinalhaven. “The suspension is completely gone so every bump in the road makes the whole truck shake and rattle. You can definitely hear me coming before you see me! The rear shocks are hanging off the
Objects in Mirror: Weather small talk
Because Maine is a state of small towns-495 of them at last count-spread out like tiny nodes in an extensive neural landscape, we are practiced in the arts of small talk. When you run into your neighbors at the ferry, at the post office or the store, it helps to have reliable conversational gambits to
Workers, management at odds at Milbridge nursing home
Health care workers and management of the Narraguagus Bay Health Care Facility in Milbridge will meet on January 12 to try and diffuse a simmering labor dispute, but tensions have grown between the two sides in recent months. Workers at the nursing home have been operating without a contract since 2008, and they contend management
Container service returns to Portland
In late November stacks of 40-foot long containers started reappearing at the International Marine cargo terminal on Commercial Street in Portland. On December 1, the barge Columbia Charleston was loading containers of wood pulp bound to the Port of New York and New Jersey for onward transshipment to destinations around the world. The barge service