Category: In the news

Sea level rise is one of the many effects of climate change that is already visible in Maine, a state with 120 coastal communities. By 2050, the state will likely see between 1.1 to 1.8 feet of sea level rise, en route to 3 to 4.6 feet of sea level rise by year 2100, according… Read more »

Maine’s High-Speed Internet Infrastructure Bond Issue, which we first wrote about a month ago, has passed. 76% of voters said yes to Maine Question 1, which authorizes the issuance of $15 million in general obligation bonds to fund projects which will expand broadband access for residents in underserved and unserved areas. Underserved areas are those where less… Read more »

The importance of high-speed internet connections has been driven home by the coronavirus pandemic, with more Mainers working from home while thousands of students finished out the school year online. That may be one reason why voters last week backed a $15 million bond to help communities in the state that lack adequate internet service… Read more »

For some, getting to college graduation can seem like a marathon, but Anne McKee decided her graduation would include an actual ultramarathon. McKee graduated Saturday from Bowdoin College and, absent a formal, in-person graduation ceremony, marked the occasion by running the more than 50 kilometers from the college in Brunswick to her Hallowell home, receiving… Read more »

DEER ISLE — Project Launch at Deer Isle-Stonington High School was among four education initiatives recently awarded $5,000 grants by MaineSpark. The grants, totaling $20,000, were for innovative initiatives promoting postsecondary success for underrepresented student populations. Other recipients were Oxford Hills Community Education Exchange, Rural Aspirations and the University of Maine at Machias. The grants were… Read more »

ROCKLAND, Maine — Betsy Wyeth, the wife of beloved artist Andrew Wyeth, died at her home in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. She was 98. Betsy and Andrew Wyeth, who died in 2009, were prominent figures in midcoast Maine, where they lived seasonally in Port Clyde and on two islands they owned off the coast of St.… Read more »

Tony Matoin loaded his groceries into his company pickup truck outside Shaw’s. He had just finished a shift as a line supervisor for Central Maine Power and was headed home to Springvale. Then a man pulled up in his own vehicle and yelled at Matoin. “He said get the ‘blank’ out of here and go… Read more »

BAR HARBOR, Maine — On the day the virus arrived in Maine, Caroline Bloss lingered over pizza with her husband and father at Blaze, one of the few restaurants open in the offseason here. They were following the disease’s progress closely as it shut down schools and sporting events further south. And now here it… Read more »

Seasonal Maine residents Barry and Jane DeNofrio decided to face the coronavirus threat at their ski home in Bridgton instead of their condo in Boxford, Massachusetts, because there’s more air and space in Maine. On a hike the other morning, Barry DeNofrio said, “We didn’t come close to any people.” That’s less likely to happen… Read more »

Living on an island forces one to be an innovator in ways large and small. For the 50 or so year-round residents of Isle au Haut, an island off the coast of Maine, innovation can look like using PVC pipe as a curtain rod because there are no real curtain rods at hand — or… Read more »