Ellsworth State Sen. Louie Luchini has submitted a bill, LD 245, to establish presidential primaries in Maine. It’s a good idea, though not a new one. A bill to replace party caucuses with presidential primaries was approved by both houses of the legislature three years ago and signed by Governor Paul LePage. But that legislature, …
As reported on this week’s Maritime page, a Stonington-based lobster buyer and shipper is building a good-sized processing plant in Bucksport. That operation will create many new jobs in a town that could use such a boost. Greenhead Lobster owner Hugh Reynolds is expanding the processing side of the business, which should be up and …
Thanks in large part to Solarize MDI, an effort of A Climate to Thrive, Mount Desert Island’s solar electricity generating capacity has more than doubled in recent years. Meanwhile, Maine has been fiercely debating how to regulate solar power installations, how each array interacts with “the grid” and how the owners of solar arrays are …
Twice in the last few weeks, volunteers and professionals have rushed to help when a building in Bar Harbor flooded. Their eagerness to help brings to mind images of neighbors stacking sandbags on a riverbank to hold back floodwaters: “all hands on deck” situations that, when they’re over, leave us grateful to have so many …
Federal and state law guarantees the right to a free, appropriate public education for every child. For 10 to 15 percent of the student body in our public schools, providing a meaningful education requires special education services. Special ed students have individualized education programs (IEP) that spell out the supports students require in order to …
Canadian ferry company Bay Ferries Ltd. handed out knit hats at the recent Bar Harbor Winter Beer Fest announcing the planned return of The CAT high speed car ferry for a Bar Harbor to Yarmouth run beginning this summer. “The CAT came back,” the hats proclaim. The company plans to lease a portion of the …
Mount Desert Island High School seems likely to make a major change in its football program. Athletic administrators in the Maine Principals Association committees have been working on a proposal for 8-man football for years now. Politicians always claim to have “putting students first” as their priority in education decisions. These administrators are doing just …
Local beer has been a Mount Desert Island specialty for decades. Beer from Atlantic Brewing Company, Jack Russell’s Steakhouse and the former Bar Harbor Brewing Company has long been prized by residents and visitors. The annual Acadia’s Oktoberfest celebration in Southwest Harbor is nearing its 25th year. These stalwarts have recently been joined by Blaze …
Everyone will be glad when we reach the end of the current fraught debates over the handling of our municipal trash and recycling. But the prevalence of waste management in the public eye in the last couple of years has silver linings. It has improved residents’ working knowledge of the science, economics and policy involved. …
The town’s review of the planned expansion of an employee housing site on West Street Extension in Bar Harbor, owned by a subsidiary of hotel company Ocean Properties, continued this week. The proposal is to nearly double the footprint of the complex, constructing four new buildings and reconfigure the existing buildings to make the apartments …
