A vehicle charging station in Prospect Harbor.

Working Waterfront

Clean energy reforms will build a stronger Maine

By Kathleen Meil As the newly elected governor, Janet Mills faces the need to revitalize the Maine’s economy, competitiveness, and overall quality of life while safeguarding its iconic natural resources. This ambitious agenda is achievable through proven reforms that unleash innovation by centering the renewal of transportation and energy systems in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Thoughts about leaving… way before it’s time

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. ByStevie Kowalczyk My first draft of this piece was terrible. I wrote a nondescript, short essay about projects I was working… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Getting from here to there is essential

It’s not the sexiest topic, but transportation policy impact radiates out through many arenas, including economic development, land use planning, population movement, and environmental protection. For part of my tenure at the Bangor Daily News, I covered the legislature’s transportation committee. It was refreshing to hear debates break along lines unrelated to… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

In ‘Searching for Stars,’ physicist tackles perennial problems

Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine,by Alan Lightman; Pantheon Books, New York, 2018 Review by Dana Wilde More than 60 years ago, the British physicist and novelist C.P. Snow stirred up an intellectual hornets nest in a magazine article, “The Two Cultures.” Science and the humanities, he said,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

In praise of hearing aids

Usually, I write about food, and hearing aids have nothing and everything to do with the kitchen, the garden, cooking, and eating because no matter what I am doing, I want to hear. I have hearing aids in both ears, and yes, they were costly (about $3,200—I’ve paid less for… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Building for change: Focusing on community partnerships

The Maine coast is changing with the seasons. Winter is approaching, the summer community has left, and as columnist Barb Fernald noted, we are “reclining” in to the long winter. According to the Island Institute’s new Waypoints: Livelihoods publication, during this time of year on the islands, communities experience a drop in… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Road-trip characters are part of the fun

This is our third trip in Poppy, our 2003 VW Eurovan Camper, a marvelously engineered 18-foot marital and domestic testing ground. During the first trip two people who spent over a month in such close proximity that if one burped the other asked to be excused, made 42-inches by 72-inches… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Great Lakes water poses questions of balance

"Enjoy your cup of Lake Superior," a voice said. I looked at the steaming coffee in my hand. I hadn't connected the water used to brew my coffee with the great body right outside the window, but of course for the residents of Madeline Island and for the other 48… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A busy time, as island season changes

Columbus Day is the season opener for a very active time of year. A number of people who leave the islands in August return for this long weekend to do a final check on their homes. Steps to prepare for winter, on an island, vary depending on whether you live… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Anxiety rises over battered coasts, battered communities

Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore By Elizabeth Rush (2018; Milkweed Editions) Reviewed by Tina Cohen Elizabeth Rush’s Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore brings readers to places along America’s edges where life is changing. These places are being redefined by rising sea levels, by storms battering coasts, and by… SEE MORE