“We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” Chuck Palahniuk, author of “Fight Club” and “Lullaby”
Writing and talking about death is…
Editorial
From the assistant editor
Amid the national and international turmoil of late, look no further than our towns to bring us back to center on all that is America’s best side, its helping one.
After dark last Thursday…
From the editor
Cheers to the area public works crews for their fine job of clearing the snow and ice off the roads after the several nuisance storms we've had so far this month. Again, as a reminder, motorists,…
From the assistant editor
A lot of words come to mind for winter. For me, “celebrate” is not one. But every year, Wiscasset celebrates Winterfest and makes the coldest, darkest time of year fun, for a couple of days. And…
From the editor
For many, many months, I have thought a lot about our area schools. Perhaps it started when Wiscasset shuttered its primary school on Gardiner Road and moved those classes to the elementary school…
From the assistant editor
Three of our stories this week highlight positive moves in the Wiscasset small business scene: a former seafood market off the market and about to enter the restaurant business; a longtime…
From the editor
As editor, I get story ideas, updates, press releases, letters to the editor, photos, etc. through various methods – email, my personal Facebook page, texts, through the mail slot in the office…
From the assistant editor
We don’t do our job for the thanks. We stay in this line of work because it suits our skills, it matters to us, or, ideally, both. That makes the best product, like in any business. But in recent…
From the editor
One of my go-to headlines … three things. We are crunched for time this week to get the paper to the printer by 5 p.m. on Monday because of New Year’s Day. I took a couple of vacation days after…
From the assistant editor
The annual deep dive into Wiscasset Newspaper’s online files for this week’s year in review revealed a theme fit for a New Year’s message: People worked together around our towns in new and…
From the editor
The newspaper depends on area columnists and news contributors to help fill the pages with words and photos that make it a true community grab each week.
The columnists keep their “people”…
From the assistant editor
This week’s forecast for a green Midcoast Christmas has many shades of good.
Green Christmases have gotten a bad name because they don’t look or feel like Christmas. But green means…
From the editor
We have been inundated with the sights and sounds since before Halloween, now it's only a few more days until we celebrate Christmas.
Now, I don't mean to be a grump, but I always have…
From the assistant editor
Unless you were taking full advantage of last weekend’s mild second half, including that glorious Sunday morning as all December days should look and feel, you might have noticed…
From the editor
Cheers to everyone involved in spreading cheer before the holidays in the Boothbay and Wiscasset regions. The events over the past weekend brought out residents and visitors to the towns to…
From the assistant editor
You know the one, the 1984 Wham! song that’s had one remake after another, none as good, but still such a catchy tune and lyrics. Area radio stations are filling up with holiday music and I am…
From the editor
Oh, the weather outside is frightful … You know me, Mr. Winter Hater!
As I type away, we’re having our first big snowstorm of the season. Every year, I try to not get discouraged…
From the assistant editor
We all get busy this time of year, whether it’s busy having fun here and there, or, if you work for the paper, running around covering the fun, which can also be fun. Sprinkle with early press…
From the assistant editor
Nothing ruins a good photo like bad lighting.
I’m not saying Wiscasset and its neighbors or all of Lincoln County are full of bad indoor lighting for picture-taking. Some of our best…
From the editor
This week I read the following on the Environmental Protection Agency's website which makes me want to change my habits: "Americans, on average, spend approximately 90 percent of their time…
From the editor
A staycation, a stay-at-home vacation — it's that time again for me.
The third or fourth week of November is a good time for me to take a break from work. It is between local high school…
From the assistant editor
The new traffic lights will take getting used to, like the ones at Routes 1 and 27 have. But those are old hat now and the ones near the bridge eventually will be, too.
Patience with the…
From the editor
About 38 years ago, before my non-fiction writing career, I tried my hand at writing short stories and poetry to perhaps sell to a publication. I gave up the idea after the regular weekly…
From the assistant editor
Snow wasn’t all that fell on the Midcoast in the past week. But just as with the snow, freezing rain and whatever else was coming down, the $25 million that fell from the federal sky for the…
From the editor
The Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club, Southport Central School, Boothbay Region Garden Club, Southport Memorial Library, American Legion Post 54 in Wiscasset and the town of Woolwich are honoring our…
From the assistant editor
Starting Saturday, do three great things for you, businesses, your holiday spirit, your family, and the men and women who have kept us all free: Shop Wiscasset’s Early Bird Saturday, fit in some…
From the editor
The voter turnout on Tuesday, Nov. 5 will be light – much lighter than next November, a presidential election year.
However, ballots will be handed out at our local town offices from 8 a.m…
From the assistant editor
Happy Halloween, and let’s open a bag that’s all treats – kudos on several good calls Wiscasset has made of late, including its decisions after last week’s incident at…
From the editor
I wish to offer my sympathy to Martha, Gerard and Erika Landry on the death of their beloved, David. Martha and I go back to kindergarten days and she and my wife shared pregnancy terms together…
From the assistant editor
Why doesn’t she just leave?
Or, if the domestic violence victim being talked about is a man, you might hear, or ask, the same question: Why doesn’t he just leave?
With all the…
From the editor
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
According to a definition on the Psychology Today website, "domestic violence can be physical or psychological ... It may include behaviors…
From the assistant editor
Kudos to the volunteers of Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum for their work in recent years to rebuild locomotive No. 9, replace the bridge at Trout Brook and build more track…
From the editor
With our dog having her pick of fallen acorns to wallow around in her mouth since early September, I began thinking that I had not seen a gray squirrel around our house in quite a while. I think…
From the assistant editor
Hello, Tom,
Candy corn aside, Halloween is still three weeks off. So please, don’t be scaring us, like in Sunday’s game. I know it wasn’t all you. Someone has to catch the ball.
But…
From the editor
You are right (again), Susan Quinby.
Sometimes (most of the time!) I struggle when writing this column (please don’t consider it as an editorial). I usually end up writing it a few hours…
From the assistant editor
To some of the last of the regular traffic backups Wiscasset may see until next year, we can say we’ve seen years with more extreme backups, and years that ran lighter. We’ll be interested to…
From the editor
It was a year that has forever stuck in my mind. It was the year I became a teenager. Was I supposed to become a young man or was I supposed to still be able to "goof off?" Was I supposed to be…
From the assistant editor
We have to type pretty fast to tell you all we want to about everyone’s towns every week in print and every day online. That means typos and, through re-reads and some reading aloud, I try to…
From the editor
Congratulations to the fall sports athletes at BRHS and WMHS for showing up and giving your best, despite having short rosters. It is nice to see some of the Seahawks and Wolverines competing…
From the assistant editor
Once again, a horrible incident elsewhere has moved people here. Monday’s explosion that …
From the editor
I do a lot of reading, both on the job and for pleasure. This summer, I read three fictional novels; fiction takes me to a different place, away from the “real” world we all deal with day to day.…
From the assistant editor
Fun in many forms is heading Wiscasset’s way this fall, and heading the way of anyone who chooses to put Maine’s prettiest village in their fall plans: The town, businesspeople and others who live…
From the editor
Three cheers for the Boothbay Railway Village offering its green to the Farmers Market for the final four Thursday markets of the season, Sept. 19 and 26, and Oct. 3 and 10. Work is being done on…
From the assistant editor
Driving the other night, as close to nightfall as it gets before falling, an epic scenic view surprised me on the left. Fog covered Albee Farm on Route 218 next to Alna Cemetery and, above the fog…
From the editor
Last year at this time, my wife, Melodee, and I had to deal with a heartbreaking situation. On Sept. 1, 2018, we had to have our 6-year-old Labradoodle, Ruby, put down.
We are not looking…
From the assistant editor
Way to go, Wiscasset student-athletes for joining Boothbay Region High School’s cross-country roster. As we’ve maintained here before, the two high schools working together can help both. For the…
From the editor
Did you read the Washington Post article about Maine's aging population which started with the headline, "'This will be catastrophic'?"
It is pretty scary. The numbers don't lie and let's…
From the assistant editor
The other day, three people were taking their pictures at the “Welcome to Wiscasset: The Prettiest Village in Maine” sign. Always great to see people just happy to be here, whether here is the…
From the assistant editor
Last week’s editorial touched on how the people of our region have responded to mass killings in our nation, and this week I’ll explain the choice to put a…
From the editor
Is life not worth living anymore? Why are people killing people and what good does it do if you kill someone, or many innocent people? You either get killed shortly afterwards, you chicken out and…
