Flowers still abound all over our island. A note from a friend asked me about a little plant that appeared near her house and she wondered what it was. She sent me a nice photo of bladder campion (Silene vulgaris). This is not one that most people probably know or pay much attention to. I …
An order handed down last week from the U.S. Department of the Interior is going to be a challenge for Acadia National Park. The order from Secretary David Bernhardt to “increase recreational opportunities through the use of electric bikes” will allow bicycles with electric motors where other types of bicycles are allowed in national parks, …
How much will it cost to abate the opioid crisis in Maine? It’s an open question. But if settlements with drug manufacturers will likely be one source of the funds to address the crisis, there may be lessons to be learned from the long history of the 1998 tobacco settlement and the Fund for a …
In a one-day legislative session, the Legislature laid three bonds to rest but passed the biggest one. The $105-million transportation bond was the lone winner. Governor Janet Mills pared down her overall bond request from $239 million to $163 million and broke it into four pieces, as Republicans requested. A fat lot of good it …
To the Editor: Once upon a time, long, long ago, before cruise ships, we did our weekly shopping in Bar Harbor. Even then, parking and congestion were difficult. One had to frequently wait for a spot at Don’s. Once inside it was obvious that few of the parkers were actually shopping in Don’s. This forced …
To the Editor: Recently, my daughter and I and my 22-month-old granddaughter were enjoying a walk around Witch Hole Pond on a popular carriage road in Acadia National Park used by hikers and bikers alike. Less than a mile along our way, we found a dead little ring-neck snake run over by a bicycle. A …
To the Editor: We all know the danger of falsely crying “Fire” in a crowded theater, but even more dangerous is crying ‘There is no fire!’ when smoke and flames are already visible. The Mount Desert Islander has published many letters by Mr. Tom Rolfes, most recently on Aug. 22, that present a contrarian perspective …
To the Editor: We read with interest Steve Coston’s rather voluminous guest column in last week’s Islander. His impassioned defense of the tourism industry is accurate and well-reasoned in as far as it goes. And, Coston is to be praised for his involvement in the creation of the Inn on Mount Desert which is a …
To the Editor: John D. Rockefeller Jr. first envisioned that the Acadia carriage roads, which he built and donated to the park, would always be free of motorized vehicles. Decades later, in 1949, the agreement permitting bicycles on the carriage roads reconfirmed the ban on motorized vehicles. While the irony of this ultimate “not in …
“They want silence” is one of the more striking statements made by Jeff Gammelin in his Viewpoint contribution in the Islander in the Aug. 14 edition. This is simply absurd! Residents of Hall Quarry do not want to live in silence as they go about their daily lives! What we do want and deserve is …
