Article 13 allows the Town to finally secure a piece of property that’s been used as a path for 50-plus years by pedestrians and cyclists as a shortcut to town. The path’s land, which overlays a sewer and water connection easement, has been in private hands; the Town finally has an opportunity to buy it, to secure the path in perpetuity. The wording of the Article begins by asking if the voters shall “approve the acceptance of a quitclaim deed for 21 Cobb Hill Road…at a cost of $30,000….” 

The path is approximately 250 feet long and connects Cobb Hill Road to Ames Terrace. Bridging over a

As President Trump returned from his trip to the Middle East laden with costly personal gifts, including the "flying palace" airliner, family business deals, and billion dollar investments in STrump coinage, he has flagrantly violated the foreign emoluments clause in the U.S. Constitution, as well as former guidelines against such massive grift by a U.S. President.

An episode showing contrasting behavior occurred when President Nixon visited Saudi Arabia in the 1970s. Jim Akins was the U.S. Ambassador. His wife told me in a conversation some years later about that visit.

The Presidential couple

I have known Bobbi Oxton Blake since she was born. Some of the qualities that I think she will bring to the Camden Select Board include:

• Deep knowledge of and pride for her hometown, where she has lived her whole life. 
• A strong, demonstrated sense of service to her community; values which she grew up with. 
• Concern for responsible budgets, realistic spending, and fair property valuations.
• A good listener who cares deeply about the people who live, work, and own businesses in Camden.
• A younger perspective on the way the town government is run. 
• For all these reasons and more, I believe

My family has lived in Camden for at least six generations. In the public library there are photographs taken by my great-great grandmother, Theresa Babb, that show her friends adventuring out on Megunticook Lake. My grandfather, Charles Del Babb, spent much of his life with the Knox Woolen Mill, and was actively involved in the affairs of our town. 

Before he died in 2023, he taught me what it meant to live in (and care for) a small town like ours. 

I have appreciated every second of my life in Camden, and I see dam removal as an act of care for the town that has raised me. This place is

President Trump's budget bill just passed by the House of Representatives contains a heartless, unchristian, and draconian budget cut of $3.8 trillion over the next decade to Medicaid and food assistance programs, which will unfavorably impact millions of Americans, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

It also institutes harsh work requirements to the program’s recipients. This combines with $4.5 trillion in tax-cuts over the next decade, which according to the CBO will provide 2/two-thirds of the tax savings to the top 1/one-fifth of wage earners, and add $3.8

On June 10, Camden voters will be asked to vote on the fate of the Montgomery Dam. It has been said many times that Camden has an “embarrassment of riches” with respect to the it’s scenic beauty. The falls at Montgomery Dam are a centerpiece of those riches. 

The proposed first step in a very long, costly, and uncertain process to “free the river” and return its flow to the presumed natural path is removal Montgomery Dam. But it is unclear why this should be the first step in the process.

The Megunticook River Citizen’s Advisory Committee (MRCAC) has recommended removal of the Montgomery Dam

It was eleven o’clock on Sunday night, May 18, here in Maine. The lilac flowers glowed like purple ghosts in the dim light from the porch lamp; near the end of driveway, limbs covered in apple blossoms reached through the darkness to the sky. Occasionally, a car passed through the light beaming down from the telephone pole at the corner.

It was not a moment that many people would associate with bird migration.

Yet above us, unseen, were hundreds, perhaps thousands of birds flying north. We knew because of their high-pitched flight calls pitched down in the dark—short little packets

A Penobscot elder in the early 1600s stated “through education comes understanding, and from understanding comes respect.” A riverine people, the Penobscot Nation lived and traveled along the Megunticook Watershed for thousands of years. This territory continues to offer their history via stories and memories.

Several years ago on a Spring weekday morning, I was sitting on a bench on upper Harbor Park. Along came a teacher with her “classroom” of Camden middle school students. Each eager student carried a clipboard with a pad of paper and a pencil or pen and received the following instructions

Camden is experiencing one of the most charged public debates about a community decision that any of us have ever experienced. This fact has sadly produced a campaign that, recognizing it is failing on facts, is resorting to distortion, distraction, and disinformation.

It is impossible to miss the yard signs all around Camden advocating for “Yes” and “No” votes on the removal of Montgomery Dam that we will decide on the June 10 ballot.

The topic has tapped the passions of voters both for and against dam removal. But what are the facts supporting these positions? 

The “Yes! On 7” campaign

Christopher Rheault—Chrisso, to us—has been a ‘known quantity’ to my family since he was in high school, and we’re grateful that he wants to join the Camden Select Board. We support him, and we urge you to do so as well. His parents, Sarah and Andy, have been active in Camden and Rockport for decades (I took over Andy’s seat on the old SAD 28 school board long ago) and passed along the gene for volunteerism.

Chrisso is the classic Camden-ite: has lived here long enough to soak up local values, but has also lived away long enough to broaden his perspectives and bring them home. He’s well

The Mainers I grew up with in the 1980s - 1990s were very practical. They knew that if the community was going to accomplish anything, it had to be done by people of goodwill. Maine folks concentrated on the common goals they shared with their neighbors. Citizens didn’t have to agree on all issues (or even most issues!) to collaborate on town government, nonprofit projects, and school boards. Let’s uphold these traditional Maine values.

Instead of working cooperatively to address our economic challenges, Republican politicians try to convince us that the real problem is immigrants, pronouns

In reviewing the website of the Megunticook River Keepers I noticed this simple sentence embedded at the bottom of one of their many paragraphs.

“Restoring the river will open up more opportunities for an extended and enhanced river walk."

Is this a long-range plan to open hiking to the public along the length of the river?  If so, are they suggesting that private property will be taken from the backyards of property owners along the river and put in public domain?

They have said in another written statement they want to open the river to hiking. This plan would put strangers into the

How fortunate is Camden — Rafi Baeza is running for a seat on the Five Town CSD School Board!

Those who have worked with him, as I did on the Camden Design Committee for many years, know about the energy and creativity he brings to any project he is involved in.

I am talking about more than the visual side of his creativity, but the ability to look at a project or issue in more than a linear way. A group working together needs the kind of talent that Rafi brings to it.  But importantly, it is his commitment to Camden’s young people that stands out.

Think back to the gloomy days of the

A large part of the charm of our village of Camden is the river running under Main Street.

As a child visiting my grandmother in Searsport, from our home in Oklahoma, one of my favorite memories was driving down to Camden from Searsport for lunch at Cappy’s Chowder House and visiting our favorite gift shop, The Smiling Cow.  What made The Smiling Cow so memorable was the fact that the back of the store opened onto a little balcony overlooking the dam.  We’d always go out onto the balcony and look over the falls running beneath our feet and out at the harbor and wish, for all the world, that

Just wanted to point out the potential for a very unpleasant surprise regarding the upcoming vote on Camden’s Montgomery Dam. This is not some theoretical argument — it’s based on real-life experience from another small town right here in Maine. A bit of internet searching will turn up extensive news coverage on an issue that’s eerily similar to what Camden voters will face on June 10.

Like Camden, Dover-Foxcroft features a historic dam in the town center. Like Camden, that dam was in dire need of repair. Like Camden, some town residents supported restoring the Mayo Mill Dam, while others

There has been a dam and falls at the Montgomery Dam site since the Town’s beginning in 1771. The dam, its falls, and millpond are in our DNA.  They continually contribute to an active, flowing history.   

It doesn’t seem right to continue our recent legacy of neglect to a conclusion of destroying Montgomery Dam.  Let’s save the dam and let’s rebuild the Harbor Park seawall, both, not sacrifice one to obtain the other.  This is a matter of keeping our local priorities and values intact and no federal grant is worth compromising them.  

We are being asked to vote on removing this longstanding

As the designated stewards of Harbor Park, the Trustees of the Camden Public Library recently made a momentous decision to make regarding the June 10 town vote on the future of Montgomery Dam. They voted unanimously, with one abstention, to support the removal of Montgomery Dam.

Mary Louise Curtis Bok, who was both Camden Public Library’s primary benefactor and Harbor Park’s founder, left the future of her most cherished gift to Camden, not to the Town. She wanted to ensure that future decisions would be done by citizens whose primary responsibilities would be to these intertwined entities –

In reading material from the group who wants us to spend taxpayer dollars to repair and maintain the Montgomery Dam, one could come away with the impression that removing the dam means destroying the waterfall.

FACT: the river drops 140 feet as it flows down to the ocean. There will be a waterfall with the dam removed. Nature’s waterfall will be restored.  

Watching water naturally cascade over ledges and boulders is captivating.  With the dam removed the pool of water behind the dam, often stagnant and unappealing, will be replaced with free-flowing water.  

Vote YES to remove the dam

This letter is not specifically about Camden Ballot Question 7 – whether to destroy or keep the Montgomery Dam.  I am concerned that, as voters and taxpayers of Camden, we have not yet been given the complete and accurate information needed to make an educated and informed decision. There should be a comprehensive plan in place before starting any piece of the project – a plan that lays out in detail what is proposed for the rest of Megunticook River and the other dams. 

At this point, there are far too many questions that need to be answered before we vote on a small part of the project

We are writing to express a profound thank you to all our firefighters and EMS workers for their bravery, skill, and dedication in this life-saving work, and to their families.  And, a hat’s off to the source of private funds that covered the Rockland first responder out-of-pocket screening costs. 

The PenBay Pilot does us all a service to bring to our attention these early diagnostic screenings as well as the sobering “Line of Duty Death” occupational cancer data shared.

Hopefully all our Midcoast first responders can have such early screenings.

With appreciation,

Claudia & Michael