CHEBEAGUE ISLAND — About a month ago, Chebeague Island resident Deb Bowman noticed on a night ferry ride that an important lighted buoy was burned out. The buoy marked a channel on the approach to the island. Bowman’s mind went to her daughter, who commutes by ferry at night to a job on the mainland.
Bar Harbor or bust — the voyage of Heron, Part III
This is the final part of a three-part series chronicling the journey by Bogart Salzberg from Portland to Mount Desert Island, a challenge inspired by is diagnosis with terminal brain cancer. “High winds and seas today, worse tomorrow.” I heard the weather report, but I wasn’t listening. My mind was made up. I was setting
Castine, MMA seek collaboration
CASTINE — At first glance, a recent town-and-gown meeting between Castine town officials and officials from Maine Maritime Academy may seem like back-page news. The two sides discussed the possibility of future collaboration along Castine’s waterfront. Nothing was decided, but both sides shared ideas. “We try to meet institutionally once a month with the town
Islands not immune from bee colony collapse
One third of the crops grown in the United States for consumption are pollinated by bees. In Maine alone, the 60,000 acres of blueberry barrens are pollinated almost exclusively by bees, and make up a $250 million industry. Yet honey bees are suffering dramatic losses from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), defined as a loss of
The DIY days of lobster gear
A warning: this column contains some “back in my day” nostalgia. I’ll be borrowing it from others since my own material only covers cassette tapes, sending your film to get developed and that time when people thought Beanie Babies were a good financial investment. Once upon a time, Swan’s Islands’ lobstermen made the majority of
Lyme disease and the 100 percent solution
She steps out from behind a tall bayberry bush at the edge of the tawny field of summer. An involuntary shiver ripples over her flank. She twists her head looking back as a pair of fawns, dappled with white spots, follows tentatively in her footsteps. The dog on the porch is instantly alert, every muscle
Frenchboro seeks to heal harbor headache
FRENCHBORO — Five years after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was alerted to illegal moorings in Lunt Harbor, this tiny island community’s main thoroughfare, the situation lingers on, although there has been some improvement. Recently the Corps’ senior project manager, Jay Clement, who administers the federal navigation projects that run through the harbor, warned
LePage’s salt water baptism
Sure, it was one of those lightweight and predictable things an elected official does—appear at a summer festival, smile and remind voters that he understands their world and its problems. But still, Gov. Paul LePage’s visit to the Maine Lobster Festival on Aug. 1 earns him some points. He posed for a photo with the
Climate change is complicated–so let’s discuss
I recently asked a shellfish grower and a lobsterman how they are coping with all they are learning about climate change. We were walking to dinner, having just spent the day together hearing presentations from fishermen and scientists on how ocean warming and acidification would make it increasingly hard to continue making a living in
Morgan Bay aquaculture lease: hearings conclude, questions remain
SURRY — Public hearings on a proposed aquaculture lease in Morgan Bay finished with a six-hour meeting on June 18, but questions linger over how the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) judges aquaculture applications. DMR added the June 18 meeting because the two previous hearings on the proposed four-acre oyster farm lasted deep into