News-Featured
Public debates employee housing
BAR HARBOR — Public hearings on proposals to allow Employee Living Quarters (ELQs) and Shared Accommodations (SAs) once again drew a crowd at a Planning Board meeting Jan. 8. After hearing comments, the Planning Board voted to recommend amendments to the Land Use Ordinance (LUO) that would allow both types of housing in certain zones. …
Asticou zoning district proposed
MOUNT DESERT — A zoning change that would allow the Asticou Inn to build additional guest rooms is being proposed by the town’s Land Use Advisory Group. The idea is to create a new zoning district — Shoreland Residential 3 (SR3) — encompassing the 16-acre Asticou property at the head of the harbor in Northeast …
Climate task force plan OK’d
BAR HARBOR — The town took a next step Tuesday in responding to the climate emergency it declared in November when a new town Climate Task Force was created, despite some uncertainty about the details of the group’s work and whether the town is the best entity to organize it. Town Council Chairman Jeff Dobbs …
Island Police: Bovine roadblock prompts police call
TRENTON — Several cows in the roadway of Oak Point Road were reported around 6:15 p.m. on Jan. 15. When deputies responded, they helped the owner of the cows move them from the road. Around 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 14 a woman called the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and asked to speak with a deputy …
Trust now owns Stone Barn Farm
BAR HARBOR — Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT) has completed its purchase of the 128-acre Stone Barn Farm property, which includes the historic and much-photographed barn at the intersection of Crooked Road and Norway Drive. Harry Owen and his wife Cindy, who died in 2018, bought the property in 1963 and lived in the farmhouse …
SWH stuck with trash bill
SOUTHWEST HARBOR — There are sure to be hiccups during the first year a company works to become fully operational and Coastal Resources of Maine (CRM) at Fiberight is no exception, but the town is being asked to absorb the cost of that learning curve. In a letter sent to the town from Eastern Maine …
Charter change proposal tweaked
BAR HARBOR — Members of the town’s Charter Commission, which is charged with recommending edits to the town’s governing document, took final votes Monday on all but one of the nine questions they expect to put to the town’s voters in June. They plan to continue editing, and vote on, the remaining question, Question 1, …
A place at the table: Open Table MDI celebrates its second year
BAR HARBOR — The tenets of Sikhism, a religion which originated during the brutal Mogul reign, in the Punjab area of India, in the late 15th century, include faith and meditation, divine unity and a belief in the equality of all humankind. It also requires its adherents to engage in honest conduct, selfless service and …
Zone B Council accepts DMR proposal, despite misgivings over ‘weak links’
BAR HARBOR — Lobster fishermen in Zone B last week voiced concerns about losing traps, among other issues, if they adhere to recently proposed whale-protection changes presented by the Department of Marine Resources (DMR). The changes are intended to reduce incidents of right whales becoming entangled in trap lines. More than 40 fishermen gathered at …