Articles
A Lifeboat for Fishermen
When congress revised bankruptcy laws a few years ago, they included one major provision that didn’t get media attention: fishermen gained access to Chapter 12. Available to farmers for decades, Chapter 12 allows filers to restructure debt at current value, coordinate loan expenses with income, and stops a fishing boat repossession. “It’s remarkably unused” by
Repo rumor swirls among lobstermen swamped in debt
Lacking hard data or the sight of fishing boats clogging up coastal bank parking lots, it’s difficult to confirm persistent and growing rumors that repossessions are soaring and as many as 100 lobstermen could lose their boats through loan defaults this year. The number of commercial fishing vessel repossessions in Maine — and nationwide —
NAACP to host Malaga forum
The forced eviction of the mixed-race residents of Malaga Island in 1912 and its aftermath will be the subject of a Feb. 12 forum in Portland, sponsored by the Portland Branch of the NAACP. Malaga, today a densely wooded oasis in the New Meadows River off Phippsburg’s shore, is now owned by the Maine Coast
Maine’s Visible Black History: The First Chronicle of Its People
Tilbury House Publishers, 2006 Paperback, 448 pages, $35 The Large Contributions of One Percent This new account of more than three centuries of black history in Maine not only begs the question, Why hasn’t this been done before? but answers it — generously, unforgettably, and often poignantly. Indeed, the authors’ accomplishment is remarkable considering that,
Digging for Truth Malaga excavation reveals the lives of an island’s evicted residents
Since state officials orchestrated the mass eviction of Malaga Island residents in 1912, a certain amount of mystery has surrounded the actual lifeways and histories of the this racially-diverse and much maligned island community. In June, two professors and several students from the University of Southern Maine’s Department of Geography and Anthropology conducted the first
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
Clarion Books, 2004 Hardback, $15; paperback $6.50 224 pages Tragedy and Light Humiliation, shame and friendlessness mark Turner Buckminster III’s first day in the coastal Maine town of Phippsburg in 1911. And then life gets worse for this 13-year-old boy whose father has uprooted the family from Boston to become the First Congregational Church’s new
Malaga, revisited: On a Casco Bay island, a shameful incident in Maine’s history comes to light
For those who have studied Malaga Island’s history and recently attended the first organized tour there in almost 100 years, it was impossible not to recall the ruthless events that unfolded after the last tour. Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT) bought the island in December 2001 and sponsored the June 25 tour. The nonprofit land
Better than Duct Tape
When a small fishing boat floods and sinks, the survivors often describe the event as occurring in seconds or minutes, rather than hours. Flooding, even from what begins as a small crack or hole, can occur so quickly that some survivors recall donning survival suits in the drink — and feeling lucky to have had
The debate over sea lice and wild stocks clouds the farmed-salmon picture
A new study from British Columbia linking farmed salmon to dangerously high sea lice infections in wild juvenile stocks has refueled an intense, decade-long debate in Canada and Europe. Similar disagreements about the study exist in Maine, but the debate seems overshadowed by a drop in active salmon farming, continued declines in wild Atlantic salmon
Consignment shop is a place of bargains, discussions
Step into Ravishing Recalls in Rockland when owner Jonette Rockett is working and, on occasion, you may feel as though you’ve entered an old-fashioned salon – where people once gathered to discuss great literature and philosophy – located in the midst of a consignment shop for women. Yet both women and men engage in diverse