BELFAST — A video featuring the Belfast City Clerk addresses a number of…
Spotlight Pilot
Stay educated: Election 2020 resource
$528 million revenue shortfall caused by COVID-19
AUGUSTA — On Wednesday, Kirsten Figueroa, Commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, delivered to Governor Janet Mills a three-part proposal intended to balance the…
Forensics begin on annual budgets going back 11 years
ROCKPORT — With a lawsuit filed in Knox County Superior Court by one town against its own school district, as well as a neighboring town, open discussions about what happens next are being muted…
Opinion: Maine residents squeezed out while apartment, house hunting
“Maine offers a quality of life that appeals to those living in highly populated and more congested areas of the U.S.”
This quote from a…
requests court to order reimbursement or credit for all Rockport school overpayments, with interest
ROCKPORT — Following up on a unanimous Aug. 19 Select Board vote, the Town of Rockport has filed a suit in Knox County Superior Court against the school district that educates its students, and…
Many Midcoast restaurants have had to completely re-think their seating models in the summer of 2020 due to the social distancing…
Plans to open at the end of July
Like most restaurateurs, Jordan Benissan expected he’d be running his popular restaurant Mé Lon Togo in Waterville this spring, but the pandemic had other plans for him. Not able to keep the…
MIDCOAST — Charles Darwin had it right when in The Origin of Species he said: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the Treasury Department, has released detailed information about Paycheck Protection Loan (PPP) recipients.
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nearly $55 million in loans combined; nearly 10,000 jobs retained
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the U.S. Treasury Department, released detailed information about…
More than 20 high-quality vendors offer direct delivery to home
BELFAST—Watch out Grubhub, a new food delivery service is in town.
Matt Burke, owner of Sweet Monkey Business, an artisan cookie company and Kate Hall, owner of GRAZE Maine, a producer of…
‘We need a big reform package, an umbrella’
CAMDEN — Gathering for an impromptu meeting June 10 to talk about law enforcement reforms in light of ongoing global protests against racism and police brutality, three area legislators emphasized…
Storefront square footage reduces by half as Conklin’s Mercantile takes over other half
CAMDEN—Like the bellows of an accordian, Maine Sport Outfitters has expanded over the years and has now contracted, essentially splitting the square footage of the storefront in half and re-…
smoke damage throughout the boatyard buildings
CAMDEN — Camden firefighters, along with mutual aid from Hope, Lincolnville and Rockport, spent much of Saturday night fighting a fire that originated in the supply and utility rooms of the Rhumb…
Updated with June 11 Maine Attorney General statement
AUGUSTA — Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos (I-Friendship), has been advocating for a year with the state’s attorney general’s office to reopen a case involving the death of Gregori Jackson, an 18-year-old,…
ROCKPORT — The attorney representing a recently formed nonprofit, as well as citizens separate from that nonprofit, will be appealing the May 21 decision of the Rockport Planning Board approval of…
‘no justice no peace’
ROCKLAND — Approximately 250-300 people gathered peacefully in Chapman Park, June 1, carrying homemade signs, wearing masks against COVID-19, and shouting the name “George Floyd,” loudly, as cars…
When May 18 rolled around, restaurants in 12 Maine counties were allowed to open again after…
Lifting up local artists, performers, musicians, chefs, makers and creators
BELFAST—The town of Belfast has come together to help the very artists, chefs, and creatives that give the town its vibrancy and life.
During the COVID-19 crisis, the hardest hit…
Islesboro Ferry workers and beach goers will soon get custom food delivery
LINCOLNVILLE BEACH — New owners have taken over The Beach Store, a popular sandwich shop directly across from the beach. A family-run business, owners Owen, Shannon and Jonathan Weyers have added…
Passenger ferries to the islands, Belfast, possibly Castine
PENOBSCOT BAY — The idea remains conceptual, people behind it emphasize, but they are looking longterm, past a global pandemic, past budgetary constraints, past the current economic contraction.…
‘there has been a crush of demand for the farm products’
Meat shortages across the country caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have led more consumers buying locally raised beef, pork, and poultry, and that’s good news for Maine farms.
The shortage…
Friends and cyclists combine the bikes and coffee business model on Main Street
BELFAST—Opening a new business is stressful enough without it being smack in the middle of a pandemic.
But, CG Bikes owner Chris Gardner and business associate, Nathaniel Baer, are taking…
Restaurants in 12 of Maine’s 16 counties can reopen for business beginning Monday, May 18 so long as they follow a set of guidelines appearing below.
Under the newly released plan by…
Retail shops in 12 of Maine’s 16 counties can reopen for business beginning Monday, May 11 so long as they follow a set of guidelines (appearing below).
Under the newly released plan by…
Senior Emily Boynton explains how most high school students feel these days
Senioritis—that age-old slump that hits high school seniors in the spring of their last year of school, has historically come about when seniors felt they had college or a secure job locked in for…
MDOL’s website overloaded over the weekend as filers attempt to open claims
In Maine, self-employed workers have been waiting nearly six weeks for financial help through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), and are the last group to receive any financial assistance…
Updated with new listings
It’s hard to believe that Maine, once the 19th century pearl-clutcher of New England responsible for enacting Prohibition before any other state, has relaxed its alcohol mandates during the COVID-…
Updated with more closings and openings
This list was created in March, 2020 when Gov. Mills’ Executive Orders prohibited dine-in service, which prompted eating and drinking establishments to either close or come up with more creative…
Maine Experiencing Home Gardening Boom during Coronavirus Lockdown
UNION—Sarah Hewitt, and her business partner, Graham Raymond, owners of the Victory Hemp LLC, are like all farmers struggling under the Covid-19 crisis, these days. Earlier this month, the USDA…
68 acres on Ducktrap in conservation, 4.34 acres public seaside park
LINCOLNVILLE — If Lincolnville voters approve at their July 14-16 town meeting, the town will exchange ownership of its 68 acres of wooded…
MIDCOAST — The Waldo County Emergency Management Agency and the City of Rockland are two local government entities stepping up financially to keep residents fed as COVID-19 creates a greater…
Innovative thinking during a pandemic
ST. GEORGE — Paramedic Amy Dyer Drinkwater watched COVID-19 on the approach well before it gained a foothold in Maine. As the director of three ambulance services – St. George, Thomaston and South…
Spend the last of winter, early spring painting lines in purple segments
PENOBSCOT BAY — Purple spray paint has been a hot commodity along the coast of Maine this past late winter and early spring, as lobstermen buy out their local stores for a specific task: painting…
Libraries, schools, university steps up to offer free ‘study-from-your-car’ WiFi hotspots
When Maine schools closed in mid-March due to COVID-19, it was supposed to be temporary with schools switching to a remote learning option for only two weeks. Gov. Mills’ stay-at-home order then…
In the larger scope of things, not being able to celebrate your birthday while social distancing isn’t as important as what is going on in the front lines. But, for most children and teens,…
Lighting to happen this evening, April 6
CAMDEN — For the first time in its 54-year history, the star atop Mt. Battie will be shining down on Camden during Daylight Savings Time. Members of the assembly crew erected the star on the…
Pandemic economic resources
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Including in recently passed Federal legislation is expanded programs for self-employed individuals and others who…
Wash hands, again and again. Symptoms? Call the doctor’s office first
MIDCOAST — The spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) across the globe has galvanized local doctors to ensure infectious disease fighting systems are in place. They are in constant…
In one district, public school and nonprofit collaborate
MIDCOAST — A disturbing trend of students, especially in younger grades, exhibiting out-of-control behavior has increasingly unsettled schools in recent years, to the point that superintendents…
Students in culinary arts and baking create sumptuous feast for $10
ROCKLAND—For years, the Mid-Coast School of Technology’s students in Culinary Arts and Baking/Pastry programs have been putting on a World Café, a hands-on, real life execution of their culinary…
‘I want to make a difference in this world and art has the power to bring people together’
WALDOBORO — More than 250 students and staff members at Medomak Valley High School are learning to identify why they matter this semester as part of an advanced photography class project aimed at…
Colburn Shoe Company in Belfast offers a year-round donation of shoes for those in need
BELFAST—Every year, Colburn Shoe Store, on Main Street in Belfast, has a February sale on shoes. This year, owner Colby Horne, a fifth generation owner of the oldest shoe store in America, had a…
WARREN—University of New England college student William Cox, 19, has found a novel way to offset the cost of his college books and materials. He’s offering custom hand-drawn portraits to the…
Multi-agency exercise streamlines emergency response
CAMDEN — Saturday night, Jan. 25, lent perfect conditions for the 65-plus who arranged themselves along the Foxy trail at the Camden Snow Bowl, either sitting up in the air on a stalled chairlift…
The science of chimney fires
KNOX COUNTY — January started with heat in the wrong places for a few Knox County residents as a result of chimney fires. In just over two weeks, firefighters in four municipalities hauled their…
MONTVILLE—Artist Felicia Cinquegrana lives in the deep woods of Montville, but she doesn’t even need to venture outside for inspiration. Trees are all around—her house, her studio, and in her art…
thanks to the energy team ..... a broadband committee...Doll Fest
Lincolnville’s sixth grade science students braved the cold one recent day to conduct an investigation of high tides at the Beach. Through "Weather Blur," a program from the Maine Mathematics and…
Operation ‘Dark Sky Compliant’
ROCKLAND — Move over “Coast Guard City” and “Arts Capital of the World.” Rockland is working toward a new designation for its community: Dark Sky Compliant.
As the City shines its lantern…
Belfast’s Repair Café gives worn-out items a second life
BELFAST—Broken zippers, a busted toaster, holey sweaters and buzzing electronics—it was like the Island of Misfit Toys in the small back room of the Belfast Fiber Arts store on Saturday, January 4…
