Category: In the news

The Maine Technology Institute and FocusMaine have awarded the Rockland-based Island Institute a $300,000 contract for spearheading an industry-wide roadmap to grow the state’s marine economy. Under the three-year contract, announced Tuesday in a news release, the nonprofit advocacy and policy organization will serve as program director for SEAMaine, Maine’s Marine Economy Roadmap/Workforce Development Project.… Read more »

The Archipelago Fine Arts Gallery, the gallery portion of the Island Insitute’s store, located at 386 Main Street in Rockland, has launched a new show, “20 Miles,” celebrating Maine’s working waterfronts. The exhibit will be on display through September 27. “20 Miles” features the work of Susan Tobey White and her series “Lobstering Women of… Read more »

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 »