Articles
Distance learning brings economic promise to Washington County
Coverage of Washington County is made possible by a grant from the Eaton Foundation. Sonja Mingo has lived in Washington County her whole life, but for years she thought the only way she could get a master’s degree was to leave. “I was working full time and had two kids,” she said. She had thought
Workers, management at odds at Milbridge nursing home
Health care workers and management of the Narraguagus Bay Health Care Facility in Milbridge will meet on January 12 to try and diffuse a simmering labor dispute, but tensions have grown between the two sides in recent months. Workers at the nursing home have been operating without a contract since 2008, and they contend management
Milbridge workforce housing proposal tangled up in lawsuits
The town of Milbridge faces two lawsuits and a possible federal complaint over its handling of an application to build low-income workforce housing. In July 2009, Mano en Mano, a nonprofit that wishes to build the workforce housing, filed suit against the town, alleging officials there illegally discriminated against the group by blocking and delaying
Local family are new owners of Chebeague Island Inn
Workers, management at odds at Milbridge nursing home
Health care workers and management of the Narraguagus Bay Health Care Facility in Milbridge will meet on January 12 to try and diffuse a simmering labor dispute, but tensions have grown between the two sides in recent months. Workers at the nursing home have been operating without a contract since 2008, and they contend management
Vinalhaven lobstermen grapple with MRSA outbreak
In the last four months, nearly two-dozen Vinalhaven residents were sickened during the state’s first fishermen-centered outbreak of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). A coordinated effort by community members and health care officials and seems to have contained the outbreak. Several Vinalhaven residents required intravenous-administered antibiotics and minor surgery to deal with the deep lesions that
Teachers settle on Cliff Island after Pacific journey
At the close of each school year on the islands, people come to expect want ads seeking new teachers. High staff turnover is a fact of life in K-12 public education, but more so on the islands. And that turnover has a higher impact than on the mainland, because in some island schools, one teacher
After leasing, Freeport entrepreneur looks to buy Chebeague Island Inn
The Chebeague Island Inn is for sale, and a Freeport entrepreneur who has been leasing it hopes to buy it, if he can find another investor. Andy LeMaistre, who has leased the inn for the past two years, confirmed he’s in active negotiations with the inn’s owner, Martha Dumont, to buy the inn. Dumont declined
Recession makes business even tougher for waterfront boatbuilders
As Richard Stanley has taken the helm of his father’s boatbuilding business on Mount Desert Island, he also has consolidated Ralph W. Stanley Inc. inland in Manset. The consolidation makes good sense. The water lot his father, Ralph, owns in Southwest Harbor is too cramped for tractor-trailer loads, Stanley said. Also, the taxes are high,
Summer drifters fall through safety net
Long-distance bicyclists are a common summer sight at the Ellsworth Public Library, but one cyclist stood out to library custodian Edmund Murray this summer. “He seemed kind of not well,” Murray said. “We were kind of concerned about him.” Concern grew after the cyclist left his bike chained to the library’s bike rack for more