The folks who operate Casco Bay Lines and the various state ferries must be relieved that mobs haven’t taken to the barricades over the prospect of a ticket price increase to pay growing fuel bills. Given the near-doubling of the price of diesel fuel, the state’s planned 10 percent ticket price increase is modest. Plans
The Long View: Oil Demand, Supply and the Price of a Lobster
Out in the bays of Maine, in addition to all the continuing annual worries that accompany each new season of fishing, the 35 percent increase in fuel prices during the past six months will surely squeeze every fishing family’s annual income. Whether it is diesel fuel for the boat, heating oil for the furnace or
Wonderful Organization
To the editor: What a wonderful organization Two Roads Maine (WWF April 06) must be. What a good thing to do in a group with people suffering various kinds of transitions. This was a beautiful article. Thanks for sharing this experience with us readers. Susan King Minneapolis, MN
Roughshod
To the editor: Many thanks to Working Waterfront for keeping us informed about the LNG “invasion” into Maine and Canada (WWF May 06). If we really need a terminal in Maine — I think it should be here in Portland with offshore unloading into a pipeline. “Forcing” this on the [Passamaquoddy] Reservation in the name
Two Cities, One Very Big Box Coastal towns take on Wal-Mart
Maine coastal communities are wrestling with big-box proposals that could drastically alter the character of their towns. Retail giant Wal-Mart has proposed building superstores in several towns along the Route 1 corridor; the Super Wal-Marts would be so vast that they would dwarf other big box stores. Local government officials often welcome the additional tax
Dissenting Vote
Thomaston voters saw the future differently than their counterparts in Damariscotta and Ellsworth, voting in May to set a 150,000-square-foot limit on retail development, rejecting a competing 70,000-square-foot measure. The vote was 623 to 436 for the larger limit. The vote means a Lowe’s home improvement project can proceed.
Catamaran sparks new education program
The Chewonki Foundation is launching a new opportunity for environmental education for people of all ages, the Chewonki GRAND CHAT Sailing Program. The program has been made possible by the donation to Chewonki of the GRAND CHAT, a 1991 Offshore 40, converted to a 46- by 24-foot catamaran. Peter Arnold of Chewonki explained that the
Land trust preserves salmon habitat
The Downeast Salmon Federation (DSF) recently purchased 73 acres along the banks of the Narraguagus River in Deblois, Maine. The nonprofit organization plans to preserve the parcel while still maintaining public access to the trails there. Dwayne Shaw, executive director of DSF, says the 73-acre parcel, known as the Great Falls, is an important breeding
When Towns Had Teams
287 pages, $17.95 A Delightful Look at Maine’s Baseball Past Jim Baumer has written an engagingly wistful book about a bygone era in Maine’s sporting history. When Towns had Teams describes the 30-year period following the end of World War II when men of all ages played baseball at the semi-pro and town team level
The Future of Ice: A Journey Into Cold
Vintage Books, 2005 On a Crash Course with Creation When Gretel Ehrlich’s publisher asked her to write about climate change and the effects if we become “deseasoned,” she was living for six months on a Wyoming glacial moraine — snow pressing in on her tent. Ehrlich’s reflective journey in The Future of Ice encompasses Tierra