Articles
Great Cranberry Builds Affordable Housing in an Effort to Lure New Residents
The Cranberry Island Realty Trust is building two new houses on Great Cranberry Island with the intent of luring new families to the declining island. The new, affordable three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom units continue Cranberry Island Realty Trust’s (CIRT) mission to increase the number of working, year-round families on Great Cranberry and Islesford, the other year-round
Frenchboro Residents Stunned by Tax Hike
Residents of Frenchboro received an unwelcome surprise this tax season when they discovered that their property tax bills had increased dramatically. A series of new expenses passed at the 2011 town meeting, plus some unexpected revenue decreases, resulted in the mill rate soaring from $11.90 per $1,000 in assessed value to $26.85. The factors behind
Frenchboro Starts Recycling Program
One of the least glamorous but most unavoidable issues impacting island life is that of garbage. What comes on the island in the form of food packaging, online shopping deliveries, and boat parts must somehow find its way off the island in the form of trash. Trash removal from island is expensive and complicated, requiring
Student Meteorologists
Can you predict what the weather is going to do tomorrow? The students of Frenchboro school might be able to. Over the past few months, Frenchboro, along with 12 other small island schools, has been participating in the Island Institute’s Students and Teachers Observing and Recording Meteorological Systems (STORMS) project. The purpose of STORMS, which
Frenchboro gets new ferry run
For the first time ever, it will soon be possible to take a trip to and from Frenchboro in one day, year round. After several years of effort and discussion, the State Ferry Service has agreed to add periodic one-day round-trip runs to Frenchboro from Bass Harbor. Until now, ferry service was limited to one-way
Frenchboro struggles with ferry access
Six islands on the Maine coast are served by the Maine State Ferry Service, a branch of the Maine Department of Transportation. The Ferry Service is currently facing a crisis of cost, having watched its costs escalate $2.3 million since 2005, according to an April 2010 business plan. The source of the higher costs are
Frenchboro students take eighth in robotics tournament
The eighth-place finish was their lowest rank of the day. The team held mostly steady at third, jumping up to second for a short time, during the overall competition. A tough run in the play-offs dropped the team to their final rank of eighth place. “During the run the LEGO gods have to look favorably
Cranberry Isles launch commuter ferry
Scheduled to make pick-ups on both Islesford and Great Cranberry, the commuter boat will arrive in Northeast Harbor around 7 a.m. To avoid competition with the extended summer schedule of the Beal and Bunker mailboat, the new ferry didn’t start its late afternoon run until mid-October. The commuter contract is being split between two companies,
Isle au Haut drafts comprehensive plan
It has taken four years of hard work and community input, but the community of Isle au Haut is nearing completion of its first comprehensive plan in over 30 years. There are some major challenges facing the island. “I don’t want to use the word ‘crisis’” explains Comprehensive Plan Committee Co-Chair Morgan Witham, “but we
Students say goodbye to CREST
After five years, thousands of students, and over 40 community-based projects, the Community for Rural Education Stewardship and Technology project, CREST, is winding down. The $2 million National Science Foundation-funded Island Institute program, part of the Information Technology Experiences for Students & Teachers (ITEST) initiative, has spent the past five years linking classroom technology with