Articles
Ingenuity and Cold Cash
News that a Connecticut businesswoman has expressed interest in “buying out” the Canadian Maritime seal hunt is a reminder that some resources can be saved from depletion through a combination of ingenuity, determination and cold cash. What fur coat boycotts, publicity campaigns and lobbying haven’t accomplished, in other words, might be achieved through the actions
‘Tis the season of out-of-place wildlife…
A gray triggerfish made an unexpected visit to Boothbay Harbor on July 21, managing to get caught in a net after being tempted by a hook baited with a crab, from the dock at Brown’s Wharf. Quite a few witnesses were present for the event, including Capt. Barry Gibson, who runs the Shark Five charter
Hot Spots
“Heat islands” may seem a strange topic for a coastal newspaper that devotes much of its space to the varied ways people earn their livings in this region. But when you think about it, the way we design our malls and parking lots has a lot to do with this place where we live: large
Pay Phones
Speaking of trends, it’s been a while since most of us fished dimes and quarters out of our pockets to make a call on a pay phone. In fact, look around you: seen a pay phone lately, with or without a booth around it? There aren’t many of them left, and on islands the number
At Your Own Risk
There’s a downside to the Maine Healthy Beaches program: it’s strictly voluntary. Think of it this way: if the state’s clam testing program were set up the same way, we’d get safe clams from towns where the flats had been tested and declared to be safe; we might get no information at all — but
Alternative Power
You can say one thing about oil at $70 per barrel and gas at $3 per gallon: this sort of market stimulates the development of alternatives. In Eastport, tidal power is again in the news; on Swan’s Island, Frenchboro and Deer Isle there’s talk of wind power; a major wind development in western Maine is
Lobsters and Consistency
Whole Foods Market appears to have caught itself in the pincers of its own political correctness. What may have started off as an effort to respond to the demands of animal-rights activists and natural foods consumers concerned about suffering lobsters has ended up with Maine’s lobster producers being squeezed out of a national grocery store
Historic Atlas Reprints
Detail-rich historic atlases are reprinted Mapmaking was a high art and a big business in the 19th century, when cartographers and publishing companies all over the United States combined forces to produce handsomely printed atlases of cities, counties and states. Maine was no exception, and atlases of each of the state’s 16 counties made their
Ship Strikes, Plastic Bags and Education
Two dead sperm whales that appeared on the Maine coast this spring provided opportunities for scientists and students to learn more about them, but they are grim reminders of the threats marine mammals constantly face. The 10-foot pygmy sperm whale that washed ashore on Dyer’s Island, Vinalhaven, had died after ingesting a plastic trash bag.
What Passes for Discussion
State officials have to stick their heads in the lion’s mouth from time to time; it goes with their jobs. This month we report on two such times, both involving the Department of Transportation. One is an effort by the DOT to plan the future of coastal Route 1 in hopes of avoiding community dust-ups