The Working Waterfront newspaper reports on the people and forces that shape Maine’s coastal and island communities. As publisher, Island Institute’s premise is that the cultural, environmental, and community assets here are rare and valuable, and are worth fighting for.
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May 20
The wonder of getting along with my neighbors
Disagreements remain, but island fosters friendliness
By Phil Crossman Given the same wildly divergent opinions that exist elsewhere, and are unmistakably present here as well, I’m impressed at how well we on the island mostly get along. Many of the people with whom I once shared childhoods and then adolescence and then the rest of our lives, are still here with me 60 or 70 years…
May 20
Town meeting in the time of COVID-19
Island township manages to keep democracy on track
By Barbara Fernald As I write today, April 6, all through our state we are experiencing similar hardships. Isolation, worry about loved ones, and changes in how we get our…
May 19
Maine: A pattern of renewal after hardship
A historical analysis of the state’s ability to bounce back
By Jack Sullivan I was looking forward to doing something fun to celebrate my home state’s 200th anniversary of statehood. I wanted to have a few friends over and make…
May 19
Personal stories about sewage and pollution
Evolution of waste water treatment was slow, but steady
By Albert Presgraves I started sailing as a youngster with my family in the 1960s. At that time, the only sewage disposal system in common use on boats was a…
May 18
Let’s take a trip around some other waterfronts
Developments succeed and falter, history ‘in plain sight,’ and good riding
By Tom Groening When I arrived at the Island Institute seven years ago, the newspaper featured a column that reported on working waterfront access issues around the U.S. The few…
May 15
Keep doing art… every one of us
Creative work continues Down East, in spite of virus
Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. By…
May 13
Friendship family on its own for sea-level rise fixes
With limited resources available, Flood family bears cost of retrofits
By Stephanie Bouchard When Tim Flood, 60, was a kid, the sea would find its way inside one of his family’s cottages on Muscongus Bay only once in a while…
May 13
Our island communities value our seasonal residents, but we worry
Islands Downeast and in Casco Bay prepare for summer with concerns
By Roger Berle and Donna Wiegle As co-chairs of the Maine Islands Coalition (MIC), we feel the need to collaboratively present our perspective on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting…
May 13
Tough times ahead, but businesses bank on resiliency
Statistics portend high impact for Maine, but there’s more to the story
By Meghan Grabill Recent reports have suggested that Maine’s economy is highly vulnerable to the impacts of the coronavirus. On the surface, data indicators can point to many different outcomes…
May 6
Isle au Haut prepares to go solar, with new storage technology
After exploring options, multi-faceted, microgrid approach chosen
By Stephanie Bouchard Living on an island fosters innovation. For the 50 or so year-round residents of Isle au Haut, innovation can look like using PVC pipe as a curtain…
Island Postcards
EPISODE 10: Keep the Light Shining
Two ambitious young women swam around the entire Island of Isle au Haut during the summer of 2019 to raise money for crucial renovations to the lighthouse.
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