TRENTON — A Trenton Elementary School budget for next year that, if approved by voters at Town Meeting in May, would require a 9.93 percent increase in local property tax funding was adopted by the school committee Tuesday. The $4.32 million budget is 7.47 percent higher than the budget for the current year. The main reason …
CRANBERRY ISLES — Voters at the annual Town Meeting here on Saturday approved almost everything on the warrant as presented, including a $1.96 million budget for municipal operations and a $773,681 school budget. Joy Sprague was re-elected to the Board of Selectmen and Darlene Sumner was re-elected to the School Committee. Voters authorized town officials to spend up to $14,300 …
MOUNT DESERT ISLAND — Got cabin fever? Going stir crazy? Feeling anxious or depressed because of the coronavirus threat and all the disruption and uncertainty it’s causing? If so, you’re certainly not alone. There are good, reliable sources of advice on preventing or coping with emotional and psychological distress triggered by a public health emergency such as …
MOUNT DESERT — The town will hire an acoustical consulting firm to review the plan by Harold MacQuinn, Inc. and Freshwater Stone to muffle noise at MacQuinn’s granite quarry in the village of Hall Quarry. The two companies have applied for a license for Freshwater to operate the one-acre quarry. Their attorney, Ed Bearor, told the Planning Board last Thursday …
ACADIA NAT’L PARK — To discourage visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic, all roads and facilities in the park are now closed to the public until further notice. “Continuing to keep park facilities open is encouraging visitors from outside local communities,” Superintendent Kevin Schneider said. “This is placing local residents, health care workers and first responders at risk. The park and …
MOUNT DESERT — The town is nearly doubling the rate of pay for on-call firefighters who volunteer to work shifts at the fire station in Northeast Harbor as the Fire Department moves to around-the clock staffing in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus threat. Both the 24/7 coverage and the higher pay for the volunteers who help provide it went into effect Monday on what is to be a temporary basis, until the …
BAR HARBOR — All schools in the Mount Desert Island Regional School System will remain closed until April 27 to reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak, Superintendent Marc Gousse announced Monday. He said a top priority now is putting in place systems for remote learning for students at all grade levels. “We are setting up teacher face pages on school …
BAR HARBOR — Cleaning school buildings from top to bottom, getting food to children who need it and setting up a system for remote learning are the top priorities for Marc Gousse, superintendent of the Mount Desert Island Regional School System, in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic threat. All schools in the system, which have been closed since Monday, will remain …
MOUNT DESERT — All town offices are closed to the public indefinitely because of the nationwide COVID-19 pandemic. However, some services will still be available by telephone or online. The Board of Selectmen voted Monday to activate the town’s emergency operations plan, which outlines steps that can be taken to ensure the continuity of essential municipal functions and the …
MOUNT DESERT ISLAND — Some seasonal residents are coming weeks or even months earlier than usual this year in an attempt to reduce their risk of contracting the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. They have been calling plumbers on the island and asking them to turn on the water. “In the past five days, we’ve had requests from four people to turn on the water in …
