Warm air doesn’t mean warm water. Across Maine, water temperatures remain dangerously cold—even on the hottest spring and early summer days—and that mismatch can turn a fun outing into a life-threatening situation in minutes.

Boating safely and being prepared isn’t just a recommendation, it an essential responsibility. A few simple precautions can make all the difference for you, your passengers, and everyone sharing the water. Before you launch, here are some important reminders to help ensure your adventure is fun and memorable—for all the right reasons:

• Always wear a life jacket. If you

Maine State Senator Pinny Beebe-Center announced today her endorsement of Rhiannon Hampson in the race for Maine House District 43, citing Hampson’s deep commitment to public service, her extensive policy experience, and her proven record of delivering results for Maine communities.

“Rhiannon Hampson is exactly the kind of leader we need serving Knox County in Augusta,” said Senator Beebe-Center. “She understands the everyday struggles of working families because she has lived them, and she has spent her career fighting to make government more responsive, more effective, and more accountable

I am happy to endorse an experienced organic farmer seeking to represent local towns in the State Legislature. Her name is Rhiannon Hampson, a Mainer with a passion for public service who is hoping to represent House District 43, an open seat in the November election. The District includes her home town of Thomaston, plus Cushing, South Thomaston, St.George and part of Owls Head.

A Maine native, Rhiannon has worked in public policy, helping high school students with nutrition, and worked with adults experiencing mental and physical challenges. She supports small farmers, the coastal fishing

My young family and I moved to Camden specifically for the school system. We truly value education, community and the natural world. I have a third grader at Camden-Rockport Elementary School and a fifth grader at the Camden-Rockport Middle School. My third grader attended CRES’s first Nature Based Pre-K class (lottery enrollment) and we really did feel like we won the lotto! We feel so lucky to live in Camden and have built a special community in our short time here. 

As the daughter of a Cuban refugee, I understand how important it is to protect our public institutions and freedoms. I grew up

ROCKPORT — Margaret Kilpatrick’s first donation of breast milk totaled 500 fluid ounces, roughly the weight of a three-year-old child.

The new mother and MaineHealth employee dropped off her milk earlier this month to the Family Birth Center at MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital to be sent to Mother’s Milk Bank Northeast, an organization that provides equitable access to safe, lifesaving pasteurized human donor milk to help nourish babies in NICUs and hospitals throughout the northeast. MaineHealth Pen Bay Hospital serves as a depot for the milk bank, storing donations until they can be shipped out

Camden residents have been feeling the brunt of recent changes to our governing process, to wit the change to the town’s charter that we voted in in the wake of Covid, in June 2022.

Earlier, in 2021, the town had approved, by a non-binding referendum (made binding by the June 2022 vote) to move the budget voting, which had been in person, to secret ballot on the town’s June election days.

There were other changes to our governance over the last 10 years that have impacted the ways citizens’ voices have been heard. Here are some of the changes we’ve seen:

Budget committee: This was a large

I have posted this to the Maine Public Utilities Commission site and I suggest that everyone in our area take the time to do the same. Strength in numbers.  Aren't our bills from Maine Water high enough already without giving them another 10 million dollars in profit?
I am a residential customer of Maine Water in Rockport, and I am writing to strongly oppose the proposed 29.7% rate increase.

This request represents an extraordinary and disproportionate burden on customers, particularly given that there has been no corresponding improvement in service quality, reliability, or infrastructure

It may seem early to be thinking of summer, given it’s still early May, but the excitement generated by some rare birds found recently here in Maine has made us think about the places from where those birds originated.

A prothonotary warbler made an appearance in Berwick. The “golden swamp warbler” (as Audubon called it) is a species you might imagine having to travel to Florida or other parts of the southeastern U.S. to see. Surprise, surprise! You could reliably see one of these magnificent warblers—or hear its ringing “tsweet, tsweet, tsweet, tsweet” song—as close as southern New Jersey

Ever since Senator Angus King publicly questioned whether Donald Trump had the right temperament to be president, I’ve been taking a close look at candidates’ temperaments. 

Arthur Durity’s excellent letter suggesting we vote for Josh Gerritsen as Camden / Rockport’s next State House Representative credits Josh with all the traits I’m looking for aside from one: There’s no mention of temperament.

Fortunately, I have been somewhat acquainted with Josh since his college years and can attest that, based on my personal experiences, and what I’ve learned from others, Josh has the temperament I’m

At a time when our communities need thoughtful, steady leadership, Marcus stands out as exactly the kind of representative we want advocating for us in Augusta.

Marcus has already demonstrated his commitment to our communities through his work on the Camden Rockport School Board, Five Town CSD board, and the Mid-Coast School of Technology board.

School board service requires more than just attending meetings; it means making difficult decisions about budgets, supporting educators, and ensuring that every child has access to a high-quality education. Marcus has approached this responsibility

I am a Maine woman who grew up in Palermo, where we had a single Kindergarten through eighth grade school.

Growing up, I participated in multiple school sports, such as soccer, softball, and basketball; whichever sport was available, I would be a part of. I also took part in drama clubs and chorus groups.

The availability of each sport was typically in question due to, “Did we have enough kids to make a full team?”

A lot of the time, we didn’t have enough kids to have teams based on gender. Yet every sports season, parent volunteers and school officials would pull it off to allow for co-ed

I am urging voters to join with me to support Josh Gerritsen to represent Camden and Rockport as our representative in Augusta.

Josh grew up here and has a long record of serving the people of the Midcoast. He knows how to listen and how to work with his neighbors to get things done. He understands the importance of building community and the broad range of needs of our community- including workforce housing, early childhood care and education, affordable and accessible health care and maintaining a healthy environment in the face of change.

I got to know Josh through our common interest in

Nobody knows how the Iran War will be resolved, particularly Trump.

Now that we have multiple prediction sites (Trump will have one soon as there is money to be had) let's see if we can predict the outcome. Here are some choices. Make your bets.

1. Signed accord before the November 2026 elections.
2. Send in the Marines
3. Continue bombing till Iran is totally decimated( Hegseth's choice)
4. Declare victory and move on to Cuba
5. The negotiating team rereads The Art of the Deal and buys Negotiation for Dummies
6. Blame Biden (My choice)
7. Blame Bibi
8. Nobel Peace Prize to Trump for stopping another war
9. A Go Fund

 I left New Mexico from its top and Into the bottom of one of the three square states, Colorado.   First I drove to Up Top, Colorado, a ghost town, where they’ve stopped returning your texts. I chose tomove out of the wide valleys up into the mountains for the cool nights and dramatic canyon scenery. The availability of BLM camping sites had been a pleasure. The state was in the middle of an early heat wave breaking high temperatures records daily for March.

Fire restrictions were in force everywhere I went. Although the mountain tops still had some snow, the ski areas were closing more than

Fifty-two years ago, in July 1974, freshman Maine Congressman Bill Cohen voted to advance articles of impeachment against then President Richard Nixon out of the House Judiciary Committee, on which Cohen sat, and on to the House floor. It was a brave, gutsy act for a freshman congressman, especially a Republican. Just two years before, Nixon had won re-election by the biggest margin in the history of U.S. presidential elections.

But Cohen did the right thing. And now it is time for Maine's Congressional delegation to show equal courage and act to remove a president who is becoming increasingly

The list of corporate and state actors trying to industrialize Sears Island and Penobscot Bay extends back at least to 1969. One of the most notorious of these was the Maine Department of Transportation’s 15-year, $22 million unsuccessful attempt to build a cargo port, withdrawn in 1996. Yet the State of Maine proceeded to purchase Sears Island in 1997 without a plan, treating the culturally, economically and environmentally significant island, pivotally located near the confluence of the Penobscot River and Bay, like just another piece of real estate to exploit.

What was the story behind the

The argument that the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 was never intended to regulate redistricting rests on the specific legal definitions and administrative focus of the original text. At its core, the Act was a procedural remedy designed to secure the "franchise" — the individual's ability to access a ballot — rather than a mandate to manage the geographic outcomes of elections.

The language of the 1965 Act focused heavily on "qualifications" and "prerequisites." These terms historically addressed the hurdles placed between a citizen and the ballot box, such as literacy tests and poll taxes

As small rural schools, like ours in Hope, present their budgets to the voters we must choose to cutback the temporary staffing and support systems that Covid dollars funded or to continue to pass these existing expansions onto the property taxpayers who fund our schools.

Covid funding, by federal definition, was meant as a temporary measure to get schools over the hump. Residual Covid issues still require attention but Covid is behind us and local taxpayers are ill equipped to replace the thousands and millions of federally funded dollars for continued expanded staff and support.

Passing

Friday evening found us with a very quiet house. All three kids were off on an overnight trip with the Camden Hills High School band. What is a middle aged, temporarily childless couple to do? We headed down the hill to McLaughlins, which had just opened for the season.

I have written about McLaughlin’s before. Rick McLaughlin’s grandparents owned the Lobster Pound, that Lincolnville Beach icon which was badly damaged in the storms of 2014. Back in 1980, the then very young Rick established the Lobster Pound Takeout, across the beach, serving many of the Lobster Pound favorites to a more

University of Maine researchers are helping children with traumatic brain injuries learn and excel in the world around them, addressing a critical need in pediatric care in the state.