Maine news from Ellsworth, Bucksport, Gouldsboro, Blue Hill, Sullivan, Surry, Hancock, Deer Isle, Stonington, Orland and throughout Hancock County.
TRENTON—As many have experienced over the last four months, a pandemic can bring out the best of circumstances and, more often, the worst of circumstances, even for animals. Since the first state of emergency was declared in Maine in March, the Hancock County SPCA has experienced multiple extremes. At the beginning of the pandemic, adoptions were at …
BY JOE LAWLOR AND DENNIS HOEY STAFF WRITER, PORTLAND PRESS HERALD AUGUSTA–The Mills administration on Wednesday unveiled an executive order – effective immediately – that requires businesses in Maine’s most populous cities to enforce mask-wearing rules inside their premises. Gov. Janet Mills had said last week that such an order was forthcoming. The new order strengthens similar orders issued …
ACADIA NAT’L PARK — The Bass Harbor Head Light Station, one of the most-photographed landmarks on Mount Desert Island, is now part of Acadia, as most visitors had probably always assumed. Transfer of the iconic lighthouse, lightkeeper’s house, three smaller buildings and two acres of land from the U.S. Coast Guard to the National Park Service was finalized Wednesday. Acadia Superintendent Kevin Schneider announced …
MOUNT DESERT — The date of this year’s Town Meeting is still up in the air, but where and how it will be conducted has been decided. The Board of Selectmen voted Monday to hold a “drive-in” town meeting in a parking lot at Mount Desert Island High School, much as Bar Harbor did June 30. Originally scheduled for …
BAR HARBOR — As the Fourth of July approached in this strange year with limits on large gatherings and most of the traditional activities reworked or canceled, two young residents of Glen Mary Road got their thinking caps on and hatched a plan for a special, do-it-yourself celebration for their neighborhood. They were so successful that they later dubbed …
BAR HARBOR — The company that operates the smallest cruise ships that visit here is in the final stages of seeking approval from the state to resume operations this summer with special health protocols, but the Town Council decided Tuesday to keep the town closed to all cruise ships for the rest of this year. “We feel …
BATH — U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced June 26 that Bath Iron Works was awarded a $132-million contract modification for shipbuilder and supplier industrial base improvements in support of the DDG-51 class destroyer program. The funding is part of the FY20 defense appropriations bill. BIW expects to use roughly $70 million of this funding for infrastructure …
BAR HARBOR — Sirohi Kumar and Ania Wright of Bar Harbor are among the six winners of the 2020 Brookie Awards, presented by NRCM Rising, a program of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, to honor “young changemakers who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and made a significant impact in Maine’s environmental movement.” The Brookies are named for brook trout, which the NRCM describes as “strong, mighty and captivating to …
AUGUSTA– State Treasurer Henry E.M. Beck, Esq. announced his office has had a record year of unclaimed property returned to Mainers during this fiscal year. The office has paid $17,009,612.08 to 30,527 owners. The number of individual owners paid beats the previous record set in fiscal year 2018 by over 1,000 claims. Unclaimed property consists …
AUGUSTA — The Maine Municipal Association (MMA) wants to know how much money towns and cities have spent and how much total revenue they anticipate losing because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Executive Director Steve Gove told the Acadia-area League of Towns board last week that the MMA is sending out a survey to municipal officials to collect that information. “We …
