Working Waterfront

Swan’s Island designer explores intersection of art and function

When Christine Dentremont finished the industrial design program at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., she relocated two days later to Swan’s Island, where she would spend the next few years as a sternman on a lobster boat. Fishing was never going to be her ultimate career move, but she found… SEE MORE

A schooner sails past the tanks in South Portland on a late May Saturday.

Working Waterfront

New mailboat in the works for Isle au Haut

There's one more day of summer showing on the calendar as this column is being written, but the signs of autumn are everywhere on the coast of Maine. Along with the crisp, cool air that moved into place last weekend, we've been seeing the median age of sidewalk strollers in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Marijuana activist McCarrier believes it’s time to legalize

Forget the stoner stereotype: Paul McCarrier, 29, is serious, animated, maybe even intense as he talks about his work as the leading proponent of the effort to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, one of two proposals Maine voters will see on their state ballot in November 2016. He's not… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Tax breaks for renewables will keep innovation moving

Let's turn the calendar back to another October, the one in 1973, when OPEC raised the price of oil by 70 percent. Imagine that in early 1974, your state or federal government made a $1,000 tax credit available to be applied to the purchase of any vehicle that got 25… SEE MORE

The interior part of an air-source heat pump includes a fan that blows across the heated coils.

Working Waterfront

Heat pumps harvest warmth from cold air

Heating efficiency experts will tell you the best bucks you can spend on your home are those that keep the heat you've already paid for inside a little longer. Air sealing in the basement and around the chimney and installing plastic window inserts and caulking around the outside frames are… SEE MORE

Cal Trumann of ReVision Energy installs photovoltaics.

Working Waterfront

The case for solar electricity

Editor's note: Bill Behrens is the founder of ReVision Energy, based in Liberty. Behrens was a guest on the "Common Ground Radio" program on WERU-FM on Sept. 4, where the topics included energy produced by photovoltaic technology, which Behrens' company installs. Homeowners can let the electricity power the building and, if… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How Chebeague Island crossed the digital divide

Islanders provide for themselves and Chebeague Island is no exception. Over the years, we Chebeaguers have built our own library, recreation center, museum, daycare center and affordable housing; created an assisted living facility; and even provided our own ferry service. Plus, we became our own town, seceding from Cumberland. So it should… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Shellfish, kelp may join lobster as cash ‘crops’

As fall approaches, lobstermen are seeing 3,000-pound days with lobsters at $4-$6 per pound. Emerging Asian markets and increased competition for supply from processors are two of the many factors driving this trend. Consumers of the McLobster roll might have helped, too. All of this good fortune deepens our economic… SEE MORE

An artist's depiction of what the redevelopment of the Portland Co. site will look like.

Working Waterfront

Portland’s waterfront clash a familiar struggle

The tension between communities seeking to keep their waterfronts economically viable and the residents who want to preserve their views is one that is happening all over the world, say national development experts. “I think that’s an inherent tension that won’t ever go away,” said Jon Golinger, a San Francisco-based… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Community Economics’ is topic of next Community Institute session

Cities and towns in Maine are making decisions each day that improve their economic health or, unfortunately, can make things harder for community members, businesses and taxpayers. The Community Institute, a program of the Friends of Midcoast Maine, offers its fourth workshop on such matters, Community Economics, on Thursday, Oct. 22… SEE MORE