On we go, fumbling our way through this brave new world, figuring life out a day at a time. A consensus has emerged on some things. Wash your hands for 20 seconds every time you go out, come in, cook, eat, sneeze or use the toilet. Got it. Cover your coughs and sneezes. Check. Stay …
CRANBERRY ISLES — Voters at the annual Town Meeting here on Saturday approved almost everything on the warrant as presented, including a $1.96 million budget for municipal operations and a $773,681 school budget. Joy Sprague was re-elected to the Board of Selectmen and Darlene Sumner was re-elected to the School Committee. Voters authorized town officials to spend up to $14,300 …
ELLSWORTH — The Maine State Ferry Service has published a “continuity of operation plan” outlining its response to the burgeoning threat of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus. Like employees at many other state agencies and businesses, the Ferry Service is requiring that certain employees work “remotely.” While the directive obviously doesn’t apply to vessel crews and …
ORRINGTON — Maine’s Bicentennial Committee and a new organization called the Penobscot Maritime Heritage Association are teaming up to organize a series of events celebrating the maritime history of the upper Penobscot River this summer. As part of a planned “4-Port Loop” set for July 8-14, tall ships and other vessels will visit the ports …
MOUNT DESERT — At a cost of $32,000, the town’s public works department is replacing the engine on its loader that was destroyed by fire late last year. The cause of the fire was determined to be “the failure of a seal that allowed hydraulic fluid to contact the hot engine,” according to Public Works …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) announced last Wednesday that the Phase One Trade Deal signed by the United States and China today includes a provision expected to benefit Maine’s lobster industry. The deal, focused on overall structural reform in China, includes purchase agreements formalizing China’s commitment to buy more American goods and …
MOUNT DESERT ISLAND — Guitarist Brian Kupiec will perform twice next weekend. On Saturday, Jan. 11, from 5-7:30 p.m., Kupiec will be joined by Scott Allen and Mark Kanter, who together play as Coddiwomple, for a performance at the Seal Cove Auto Museum’s Beers and Gears event. On Sunday, Jan. 12, Kupiec will play a …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Funding for construction and acquisition of a new training vessel for Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) took a step forward Monday when an appropriations agreement was announced that includes $300 million for the ship. Senator Susan Collins chaired the negotiating committee that brokered the agreement between the House and the Senate for the …
TREMONT — Bass Harbor Memorial Library Director Lisa Taplin has been selected to be one of 20 participants at the Maine State Library’s Academy for Small/Rural Library Directors program. This selective, intensive year-long program provides targeted training that gives participants the skills and support they need to be successful and to help their libraries not …
BAR HARBOR — “Grace Coffin and the Badly-Sewn Corpse,” a new novel by local author Bowen Swersey, has two main characters. One is dead, and the other is a teenage girl. They take turns narrating parallel stories, which come together in the end. Both narrators represent leaps of the imagination for Swersey, who writes under …
