Late spring in Maine brings new beginnings, including college and high school graduations. They are ceremonies of passage, leaving one place, one step in life, and leaping to the next. America’s youths are worldlier and possess more technological aptitude than any generation before them, giving them tools to meet challenges unforeseen barely a decade ago. …
America’s federal debt now exceeds $21.2 trillion, and each citizen’s share of that debt is more than $64,500. The Congressional Budget Office, in its “Budget and Economic Outlook: 2018-2028,” said that our federal debt is projected to be on a steadily rising trajectory throughout the coming decade. Debt held by the public, which has doubled …
Bar Harbor and other Mount Desert Island communities are reeling this week from a horrible one-two punch: the death of a young local woman and the arrest of a young local man in connection with her death. The closeness and generosity among people and families in our towns is enormous. Community support has helped, and …
Debates over the last six months on what to do with the playground near Pemetic Elementary School and Harbor House Community Center in Southwest Harbor have caused confusion, concern and maybe a little whiplash. Voters are set to decide June 12 whether to borrow $180,000 from the town’s unassigned fund balance to rebuild the playground. …
Parking and traffic congestion over the busy Memorial Day weekend on Mount Desert Island were clear illustrations that the current management scheme is not working. Both Acadia National Park and the town of Bar Harbor for years have been planning to address this congestion. Both have proposals on the table, and both deserve support. In …
For 7½ years, Gov. Paul LePage has decried Maine’s high energy costs and worked to address both supply and cost issues for businesses and homeowners. In his recent weekly radio address, the governor sent out a request for experts to provide more insight into the rapidly changing energy landscape. He asked how Maine might address …
The death last week of the founding president of the College of the Atlantic offers an opportunity to reflect on the difference the college has made in Bar Harbor and on Mount Desert Island in its 49 years. Ed Kaelber saw his role, former colleagues remember, as “helping folks to work together to get things …
The meaning of a holiday can get lost in its trappings — decorations, days off, family dinners. Such is the case with Memorial Day, a day that in Maine has the added distinction of being the unofficial start to the summer tourist season. Open the I-95 floodgates; they’re coming. What Memorial Day is supposed to …
The fierce debate and campaign over zoning for the ferry terminal property in Bar Harbor has not put the town’s best face forward. And the Town Council’s seeking to investigate Warrant Committee members who had actively campaigned for a particular zoning outcome was an unfortunate twist. While state and local government agencies and chambers of …
The second regular session of the 128th Maine Legislature convened on Jan. 3 and adjourned, unceremoniously, on May 2, two weeks past its statutory adjournment date of April 18. In 15 weeks of committee meetings and hearings, the Legislature fiddled with hundreds of nonemergency bills, while deferring action on the critical legislation affecting the majority …
