Waterfront properties remain a strong sector of the real estate market.

Working Waterfront

Home sweet home: what’s happening this building season?

By Jacqueline Weaver Smaller homes, single floor living, separate guest houses for visiting children, and walls of windows that open to the outdoors are all current trends in building and renovation projects along the Maine coast, according to a number of contractors and banks. Danielle Betts, director of design and… SEE MORE

Business

Working Waterfront

National models for broadband impart lessons

By Kendra Jo Grindle In Clatskanie, a small rural town in northwestern Oregon, local organizers are piloting a new way to connect—“mesh” networks. Medina County, Ohio is implementing an open access fiber model to bring multiple, competitive internet service providers (ISPs) to residents county-wide. Multiple electric co-ops in Tennessee are… SEE MORE

At the April 17 open house at Brunswick Landing

Working Waterfront

Maine company deploys energy technology in Alaska

By William Hall//Photos by Michele Stapleton Power-generating technology piloted in Washington County will soon provide a commercial source of electricity in Alaska. The technology’s developer, ORPC Inc., unveiled its RivGen Power System April 17 at a ceremony in Brunswick, attended by Gov. Janet Mills and 150 others. ORPC will… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Biddeford’s Palace Diner serves up chummy foodie experience

By Sally Noble For as long as anyone can remember, there’s been a 15-stool Palace Diner in Biddeford—in fact, it’s been there as long as its habitat, a 1927 Pollard train car, was first built. And until recently, the food was what one would expect at this little Disneyland curio,… SEE MORE

Business

Kris Davidson in the space that is becoming Vinalhaven's new "speakeasy."

Working Waterfront

Food, drink, and music at Vinalhaven’s new Skål

By Courtney Naliboff Vinalhaven’s night life will get a little more vibrant beginning in late May with the opening of Kris Davidson’s speakeasy, Skål. Located at 6 Bodwell Lane, the performance space will host live music, and will offer small plates, and a full bar on weekends in late May and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine lobster fishery agrees to deep cuts to protect whales

By Patrice McCarron Editor’s note: Patrice McCarron is executive director of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. This letter was originally sent to association members, and is reprinted with permission. After a long and difficult week in late April in which the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Mammal Take Reduction Team… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Two of the coast’s biggest economic drivers face threats

By Tom Groening Two of the most brilliant branding achievements have to be putting the word “Vacationland” on our state’s license plate, and marrying the word “Maine” to lobster. The license plate tag, added in the 1930s, is an audacious claim. What makes Maine any more of a vacation destination… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Maine employers confront seasonal hiring crunch

By William Hall As Maine is poised to record another month of historically low unemployment, many of the state’s businesses are preparing for the season when their demand for workers reaches historic highs. The dilemma brought nearly 100 people to Portland in April for a business forum sponsored by the Portland… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Seaweed ruling hinged on property rights, definition of plant

Analysis by Tom Walsh Move over, NIMBY. Make some room for NIMFY. Shorthand for “Not in My Back Yard,” NIMBY is a predictable Maine rhetorical retort to real and imagined plans for everything from near-shore oyster, scallop, and mussel aquaculture projects to proposals such as a Maine North Woods National Monument… SEE MORE

An artist’s rendering of the Fore Points Marina

Working Waterfront

Portland redevelopment plan touches water

By Stephanie Bouchard The much-anticipated Fore Points Marina on Portland’s East End opened for vessel docking in May. Due to various construction vagaries, berthing slips are opening in phases, said Vanessa Pike, the marina’s director of sales and marketing. The west side of the marina, which is mostly for smaller,… SEE MORE