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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April 10
The state’s largest bay as seen by painters
Latest art collection by Littles offers span of work
Many paintings, whether realist, impressionist, or abstract, mesmerize us with the interplay of quiet coves and wider waters, often dotted with sailboats or lobster boats...
April 10
The great storms brought great reckoning
Town has head start on adapting to rising seas
Lots of us, I learned conversing a day later with friends, woke up around 4:30 on the morning of the great storm, hearing the wind slam around our houses, feeling…
April 10
Human loss and devastating damage
Cranberry Isles mourning death, reeling from storm
On Jan. 5, five days before a storm would wreak havoc along the Maine coast, the town of Cranberry Isles suffered the unexpected death of one of its citizens. Cory…
April 10
Vinalhaven’s watery dilemma is not new
History shows efforts to protect harbor
On Feb. 9, 1895, 130 years before this January's devastating storm, the Secretary of War submitted to Congress a plan for constructing a breakwater from Lane’s Island—connected to Vinalhaven by…
April 10
Ferry service proposes higher fares
Inflation cited for revisiting 2019 fare hike
The Maine State Ferry Service is proposing a 18.3% hike in ferry passenger and vehicle fares, citing inflation’s impact on wages, fuel, and vessel repairs. A fare hike was adopted…
April 2
What will we do with the water?
Adaptation to rising seas raises questions
The ocean is knocking at our door. Since the torrential, monsoon-like rain in October, the island has been battered by four additional significant storms. In January, a devastating combination of…
April 2
Maine’s lighthouses face troubling recovery
Damage from storms not easily repaired
Back-to-back storms slammed into the coast of Maine on Jan. 10 and Jan. 13, breaking state records for the highest tides since 1978 and delivering extensive damage along the entire…
April 2
Beavers helping create wetlands in Acadia
Park staff identify where they have worked
To a beaver, the flow emanating from a culvert is a “leak” in the water-retaining complex of dams and channels that must be repaired.
March 26
Down the drain, and then what?
Casco Bay’s runoff problems exacerbated by storms
After the weather Maine experienced in December and January, even the staunchest climate change skeptic had to admit that something is up. Three powerful storms—a rainstorm in December and two…
March 26
Offshore wind threatens centuries of fishing
Proposal creates more problems than it solves
The New England electric grid—ISO New England—has a website that includes a display featuring two pie charts that show where our electricity is coming from, updated in real time. Right…
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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