Rock Bound

Working Waterfront

Maine—as it should be, as it is

On a recent rainy day, I was able to indulge two interests—history and journalism. I was researching 1980s history for a story for our annual Island Journal about working waterfront access in Portland. Those who were here then will remember the turning point moment when condos—large, four-story structures—rose on Central… SEE MORE
Rock Bound

Working Waterfront

A wonderful life begins close to home

Much of my political philosophy—maybe too much—springs from the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life. Policy questions are more nuanced and complex than talking heads on cable news suggest, and this film might be dismissed by some, as its villain says, as “sentimental hogwash” and overly simplistic. I see the… SEE MORE
A view of the eastern shore of Sears Island. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

The real lesson of Sears Island

Sears Island and I have a history. This 941-acre island, accessible at low tide from Searsport and then by a causeway built in the 1980s, seemed destined to be the spoils in a war between conservation and transportation interests. As it turns out, the fight ended with a kind of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A roadway reminiscence

A few weeks ago, my wife and I happened to be driving on the Maine Turnpike between Lewiston and Augusta. It had been a long time since we’d traveled that stretch of highway, because living in Belfast, the logical route south is Route 3 to Augusta to I-95, then I-295… SEE MORE
Rock Bound

Working Waterfront

We’re asking the public the wrong questions

Journalists spend a good deal of time in public gatherings at which officials solicit—or at least accept—comment on issues of the day. We also inwardly groan and surreptitiously roll our eyes when those public commenters are woefully misinformed. Because we often are deeply immersed in that sewer extension or big-box… SEE MORE