Maine news from Ellsworth, Bucksport, Gouldsboro, Blue Hill, Sullivan, Surry, Hancock, Deer Isle, Stonington, Orland and throughout Hancock County.
ACADIA NAT’L PARK — Three scientists have been awarded fellowships to conduct research in Acadia as part of Second Century Stewardship, an initiative of the National Park Service and Schoodic Institute. The 2019 research fellows are Caitlin MacDonough MacKenzie, a postdoctoral fellow at the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine; Kate Ruskin, a …
BAR HARBOR — The town’s Warrant Committee is backing citizen petitions seeking to prohibit berthing piers for cruise ships and to require that voting members of town boards be town residents. The committee voted March 25 to recommend adoption of both initiatives. Public hearings on both questions are set for the May 21 Town Council …
SOUTHWEST HARBOR — Two years after plans were announced for a new sidewalk on Main Street, from Apple Lane to The Village at Ocean’s End, voters will decide next month whether to spend up to $850,000 of town funds for the project. Last week, the Board of Selectmen voted to put the project funding on …
TREMONT — It’s never too early to start saving. That was the message from the Fire Chief Keith Higgins, who has argued that the town should start funding a reserve account now for replacement of the fire station a decade from now. Higgins had requested $50,000 be included in the budget in a Fire Station …
CRANBERRY ISLES — The town’s Board of Selectmen has endorsed a bill before the Legislature that would designate Great Harbor — the waters between Mount Desert Island and the Cranberry Isles — as a small vessel sanctuary. Rep. Brian Hubbell of Bar Harbor introduced the bill, which would ban cruise ships and other large commercial …
MOUNT DESERT — Fire Chief Mike Bender will use about $60,000 from a fire equipment reserve account to replace old and, in some cases, leaky hoses. The Board of Selectmen approved the expenditure Tuesday night. Bender said he had all of the fire department’s 4-inch-diameter hoses tested last year and that “nearly 20 percent … …
BAR HARBOR — Town officials are calling the lack of affordable housing and year-round rentals in town a crisis. Earlier this month, the Town Council asked the planning board to begin work on zoning changes they hope will improve the situation. The board was asked to consider three categories of changes to the town’s Land …
CRANBERRY ISLES — As a result of concerns raised by town officials and others, a property owner’s plan to build a 350-foot private dock from the point of land on Islesford called The Maypole has been put on hold. The dock would reach into The Gut, the channel of water between Islesford and Great Cranberry …
BAR HARBOR — The Trailhead Café has entered into a short-term lease to remain open at its Cottage Street location through the end of this year, according to co-owner Matthew Hochman. Hochman rents space for the Trailhead from the neighboring nonprofit Criterion Theatre. He announced Tuesday that he came to an agreement with the theater’s …
