Everybody wants a piece of the Maine coast. That demand, coupled with a frenzied national real estate market, has led to skyrocketing property values. Coping with this tremendous increase is a challenge for islanders and coastal residents working to sustain year-round communities. And the issue is more complicated than it may seem. Rising property values
“Maine Lobster”
Ask anyone from Tucson to Trenton what comes to mind when they hear “Maine” and the next word out of their mouth is bound to be “lobster.” Maine lobster as a brand evokes the quality, purity, and traditional livelihood people associate with Maine’s quality of life more than any other marketing tool. Yet research by
Working Waterfronts Mapped in New Book
The release of a new book of maps of Maine’s working waterfronts was announced at a news conference in South Freeport where supporters of the campaign for passage of Questions 5 and 7 on the November ballot spoke about the need to protect Maine’s working waterfronts. “Maine’s coastal economy and fishing heritage are under threat
When it Comes to the Internet, Not all Islands are Equal
For islanders, the World Wide Web comes in three flavors: wireless, satellite and through the phone line. Many island communities enjoy the luxury and time saving convenience of broadband, or high speed, Internet access. While accustomed to their isolation and privacy, islanders also say they want to be able to jump onto the “information highway”
The Long View – Boom(er) Times
In the mid to late 1980s during the last real estate boom on the Maine coast and islands, it seemed every other person became a real estate developer. The partners of a major developer in the greater Portland area who proposed a massive development for Great Diamond Island, for instance, consisted of an electrical contractor,
A Last Few Moments of Quiet and Cooperation
The sleepy stretch of harbor on the Eastern Waterfront of Portland is blasting into construction mode, as the Ocean Gateway cruise ship terminal kicks off. The governor and assorted dignitaries literally shoveled dirt to break ground in a ceremony in early October. Expect lavish buildings to rise soon, out of the haphazard quilt of parking
New Portland Research Institute welcomes middle school students to labs
This school year each of Maine’s nearly 16,000 fifth or sixth graders will be doing some detective work at the new Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) in Portland. The GMRI, which officially opened Oct. 1, is committed to busing every upper level elementary student in Maine to the Commercial Street campus, where each will
Couple Gives Land Trust $500,000 to buy working waterfront
A Boothbay Harbor couple with an interest in preserving local working waterfront has donated $500,000 to the Boothbay Region Land Trust for the purchase of a small but choice shore property on Barters Island. The 1.9-acre parcel is at the end of Kimballtown Road, contiguous to the land trust’s 19-acre Porter Preserve. It consists of
Heating and Housing: A community agency helps Downeasters cope
Dreading the thought of your heating bill this winter? Most of us are, but if you meet federal low-income guidelines and live in Washington or Hancock County, there is an agency that can help. The Washington Hancock Community Agency (WHCA) is a nonprofit, private, non-governmental or state agency that was incorporated in 1966. An 18-member
FFAW official blames EU tariffs for shrimp fishery’s problems
The Canadian east coast shrimp fishery is in serious trouble, says David Decker, secretary-treasurer of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers in St. John’s Newfoundland, and it’s time to take serious action to save it. Furthermore, he says that only a united Atlantic Canadian effort will solve the problem, and to that end he and