Northern shrimp, coldwater prawns, pink shrimp — whatever Pandalus borealis is called in a given market, it is one of the few major commercial species where the problem is not supply. Right now, the resource, especially in the Northwest Atlantic, is strong and appears to be building. That’s the good news for shrimp producers in
Increasing Island Populations
It’s difficult finding a means of increasing the small population of Great Cranberry Island and until some combination of strategies is found for the human side, Farmer Richard Beal has decided to increase at least the animal population. Squash is a 800 pound boar from Gouldsboro. Squash has visited many farms this spring and is
Stonington passes 72 articles, declines Selectmen’s health insurance
On March 5 the bleachers of the Island Community Center were pulled away from the walls and into the middle of the basketball court to seat more than 60 people at Stonington’s annual town meeting, the first for new Town Manager Howard Willinghan. On the warrant were 73 articles requesting support to meet municipal needs
Swan’s Island debates law enforcement, family subsidy
The Swan’s Island School gym was packed as townspeople convened to hold an annual Town Meeting on March 5 to approve over $1,400,000 in town expenditures. The citizens voted on 34 articles and debated an unofficial 35th article on affordable housing. They also elected new and returning officials. Nancy Carter returns for a second term
Cranberry Isles passes all articles, defeats petitions
Bright skies and warm temperatures welcomed community members to the Cranberry Isles annual town meeting on March 12. Those arriving by boat happily walked the more than half-mile from the dock to the Great Cranberry Fire House where the meeting was held. Residents and non-residents from four of the five islands in the town were
Cranberry Report: March: Time to practice one’s skills as moderator
At the end of February, when my mother-in-law went off the island to do some errands, she discovered that all four of her car tires were frozen in ice, as firmly as bezel-set stones on a ring. With her car out of commission, she changed her plans, found a ride, and did some very local
The Political Season
The stories and pictures tell the story: we’re in the midst of the lawmaking season. Congress may go year-round in Washington, but in a rural state like Maine where so many of the decisions are made at the local level, we do most our decision-making in the late winter and early spring. Most town meetings
Hall of Flags Event
Reps. John McKane and Hannah Pingree, Monhegan Islander Doug Boynton and Roger Berle of the Maine Islands Coalition look on as Rep. Ted Koffman outlines an affordable housing bill at a State House event on Feb. 27. q (Liza Fleming-Ives photo)
Proposed transfer tax would support affordable housing
Almost every area of Maine suffers from a lack of affordable housing. Only two counties, Aroostook and Somerset, have a median income that actually exceeds what is necessary to purchase a median-priced home within the county. In coastal and lakefront communities and on Maine’s islands this challenge is even more acute. According to 2006 MaineHousing
Boothbay Shipyard Now playing: Bounty
Workers at Boothbay Harbor Shipyard have caulking on their minds these days. Sitting on the ways is the tall ship BOUNTY, originally built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, for the 1962 movie “Mutiny on the BOUNTY.” Her hull has over a mile of seams. “Our calculations told us we would need 5,280 feet of planking,” said