As Maine’s working waterfront came under increasing pressure of residential development, advocates for water-dependent industries advanced an idea. The concept was simple: use state bond money, combined with private funds, to permanently preserve waterfront land used for commercial fishing. Dozens of groups persuaded voters to approve this new concept by a margin of 66 to
Over 120 attend Island Institute’s teacher’s conference
The very first Island Teachers Conference took place on North Haven in 1985. Ten attendees from that very first conference were back for this year’s event. This year’s Island Teacher Conference was extremely well attended with over 120 island teachers, administrators, educational technicians and school board members. It was held on October 8 and 9
Transportation bond on November 3 ballot helps the coast and islands
For the upcoming election, there are several major ballot questions receiving most of the media coverage. These questions are important. We want to make sure, however, that several projects that are crucial to the state’s coast and islands are not overlooked The projects are all contained in Question 6, a $71.25 million transportation bond issue.
Teachers settle on Cliff Island after Pacific journey
At the close of each school year on the islands, people come to expect want ads seeking new teachers. High staff turnover is a fact of life in K-12 public education, but more so on the islands. And that turnover has a higher impact than on the mainland, because in some island schools, one teacher
Parallel 44: Tidal power takes two steps forward
When it comes to renewable energy production in this part of the world, wind has been stealing the show. The governor of Maine and the premiers of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are big boosters and wind farms have been erected from Mars Hill to PEI’s eastern cape using off-the-shelf technology. PEI plans to
Peaks Island group seeks tower to test wind power
A crisp October wind rustled the yellow tinged trees of Trott-Littlejohn Park in the heart of Peaks Island in Casco Bay. A flurry of leaves drifted down onto a grassy meadow where the Peaks Wind Group, a subgroup of Peaks Environmental Action Team (PEAT), and many island residents hope a wind anemometer will be spinning
A busy start for children at Matinicus Island School
Five weeks into the school year, Matinicus Island School teacher Heather Wells was almost wishing things would get a little more…humdrum. “Well, not really,” she smiles, “but we haven’t had a single full week of regular school yet.” To date, her six-student group has attended the Inter-Island Event on Islesford in September. They learned about
Feature island car: 1942 Chevy CCKW, military model
Island: Great Cranberry Vehicle: 1942 Chevy CCKW, military model Owner: Blair Colby “This former military truck was rescued from a yard sale in Leyden, Massachusetts and brought to Great Cranberry Island in 1998 by Blair Colby,” writes Susan White, of Great Cranberry Island. “Blair is a wizard mechanic who can repair anything, plows island roads
For the love of chocolate and community
Black Dinah Chocolatiers founders Kate and Steve Shaffer are gearing up for their third holiday season with hand-crafted chocolates that tantalize taste buds and feed the soul. Their chocolates include Blueberry-Black Pepper, New England Pie Pumpkin, Down East Sea Breeze, Strawberry-Balsamic, Wild Raspberry, Hazelnut Latte, Maine Mint, and many more flavors. Despite the busy season,
Pancake tunicate alive and well around Eastport
Officially it’s called Didemnum Vexillum. It’s more familiarly known as pancake tunicate, also known as sea squirt, or, simply, pest. And it’s infesting the waters around Eastport. Because of this infestation, scientists at Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Biological Station at St. Andrews, New Brunswick, have been checking the waters off Deer and Campobello Islands. As