Happy New Year 2026! Along with the new year, many people make New Year Resolutions. People often resolve to eat better or exercise more; we may or may not stick with these resolutions for very long. However, we can all make a resolution to be better prepared for tax season; a yearly task that we all must do, but few enjoy. 

Organizing our information and completing our tax forms ourselves can be a daunting task. This year, there are changes in how tips and over-time can be taxed, and there is an additional tax deduction for qualifying tax payers over the age of 65. It can be hard to keep

Dear Editor:

If you live in District 47—Alna, Jefferson, Whitefield, or Wiscasset—and haven’t yet met your state representative, I highly recommend doing so before the 2026 silly season of hyperbolic political ads heats up and sends us all running for cover.

Just head on over to the Jefferson Market & General Store, grab a self-serve cup of coffee, ask for owner, proprietor, and your state legislator Wayne Farrin and settle in at one of the homey tables. Whenever he’s not out selling real estate (his other job), he’s happy to talk with constituents. I stopped in with a few neighbors just

Dear Editor:

In a bold move, US Marshals arrested Nicolas Maduro and his wife on charges of narco- terrorism, cocaine importation, and a weapons offense. China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, Senator Charles Schumer, and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries issued strong statements in opposition. Conversely, other countries issued statements of support including Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and most NATO/EU members.

Our adversaries have been quietly invading South America. The Chinese Belt and Road initiative (BRI) loans poor and third world countries massive amounts of money for projects of

With rising costs and economic uncertainty, many of us are looking to start the new year by taking more control of our finances and tackling lingering debt. But paying down what you owe takes time, discipline, and a clear plan—not quick fixes. Be cautious of offers that promise guaranteed results or fast debt elimination. 

Scammers often target consumers with significant credit card debt, claiming they can negotiate with creditors to reduce what you owe. These operations typically charge hefty fees and deliver little—or no—help. Some even advise you to stop communicating with your creditors

With the recent snow has come an increase in bird activity at our feeders and the small patches of open ground we’ve cleared under them. When all the birds are trying to access the limited space available, it’s not surprising that there seems to be more situations in which one species displaces another and takes over the feeding opportunity. How often does the feisty Carolina wren drive off a house finch? What about a house sparrow? What happens when a blue jay makes an appearance? Or a downy woodpecker? Who wins the fight for the suet between a downy woodpecker and a hairy? How does the

As the print deadline slowly approached on Monday morning – and after making it safely to the office on this slippery morning – the personal apprehension on whether we could fill 20 pages with news eased a bit by 11 a.m. Thankfully, several of the pages were filled with our annual Year In Review articles and photos by the time we arrived for the work week.

There’s a lot of reading material in this issue and hopefully you can take the time on New Year’s Day or the weekend to get through most of it. There is some worrisome news and some happy news in the articles. Some of the issues have been

My new year’s resolution ...“Out with the old and in with the old.” Getting potted with the old buoys!

There you have it. I am embracing my regression to the past and proud of it. Technology is confusing and not well suited to the way I think, or don’t. The more advanced things become, the more uncertain I get. It’s just me. If I can’t figure it out, I give up. Happy to take the easy way out, because otherwise, I just become more frustrated and annoyed. So, my technological advances from here on will be limited. Not sure what that means exactly, because I have no idea where it's all heading

Well, we survived 2025. But, did we?

My brain is overloaded. Is yours?

As we enter the new year, we have been hammered with traditional lists upon lists of the things that made 2025 unique, including fires and floods, earthquakes and volcanoes, wars and peace, Popes and Presidents, politicians and the perpetual election cycle, scandals, and something uniquely unspeakable called the Epstein Viles. That is what the NY Post called it. And they are right.

You have your own list of things that mattered to you and your family, and your circle of friends.

They might include births and weddings

The Garden Club of Wicasset held a fun, festive and productive meeting Dec. 4, creating holiday baskets and mugs. Lincoln County “Meals on Wheels” received 100 mugs, and 24 baskets were delivered to libraries, town and county offices, post offices, and elderly club members.

Our next meeting is Thursday, Jan. 8 and our speaker is Andrew Tufts, program manager of Maine Audubon. Tufts is very enthusiastic in helping us understand how important it is to restore and rebuild Maine’s natural biodiversity by planting native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that support our wildlife. Even a small increase

If your New Year’s resolutions include finding a new job, work-from-home opportunities may sound appealing. While many remote positions are legitimate, some aren’t what they appear to be. Criminals often pose as legitimate employers on job boards, social media, or send unsolicited texts, promising easy money, flexible hours, and a quick hiring process. 

What they’re really after is  personal information or our  money by asking  to pay upfront for “training,” purchase expensive equipment, or provide sensitive details—such as your Social Security number—as part of the application. 

Be cautious

It’s almost over … 2025. Hope you got more done than I did this year. Not that I had a whole big list of things to accomplish but it’s always a bit disappointing when you reach the last calendar page and you look back to the things not done.

I know my wife is still waiting for some needed repairs to be done on the house. I know I should have not put on more weight. I know that I didn’t get out on the water again this summer … etc., etc.

But I did have fun, and time with family was most important and accomplished. A trip to Omaha to visit our son and daughter-in-law for a week was one of the

This enterprise of citing five good things that happened in or near Wiscasset, each month of 2025, has been a good experience, hopefully for you also. Will we go for six a month in 2026? Undecided!

So let's wrap up this year on the final five high notes, or a final five; for, as we have said before, it is not hard to come up with five a month in and around this town.

December's first one stems from that September experience that has to be one of the most incredible things that happened in Maine or the nation this year: Wiscasset Police Officer Jonathan Barnes, as you have hopefully heard or

Last week was a tough week, locally, nationally and internationally.  An awful lot going on, much of it sad, heavy stuff.  

Locally, we had some difficult weather that was very anticipated as storminess tracked  up from the south and in from the west, switching gears from deep cold to 50F, rain and strong winds, then back again as a cold front worked in. The coldest December in decades! Not as cold as the record setting December of 1989 which jarred us statewide with an average temperature of just 5F. Jeeez!  Glad I don’t remember that. My personal thermostat has had a real difficult time

If you are like the rest of us, your phone and your TV are filled with ads suggesting you purchase this gadget, gizmo, or whatever.

In the words of Tom Lehrer: “Angels we have heard on high, tell us to go out and buy.” It is the Christmas season, and, once again, we are bombarded with ads suggesting that if you don’t use your credit card or dig into the family mattress for the hidden cash, you are a grinch-like, hateful, un-American wretch.

But, and you knew there was going to be a “but,” is that how we ought to celebrate this season of all seasons?

Once upon a time, if you believe in the

It’s that special time of year again, full of magical anticipation, wondrous excitement, and pure-hearted thankfulness. We are, of course, talking about Christmas Bird Count season, otherwise known as the Birder’s Holiday.

Christmas Bird Counts are an official early winter bird survey overseen by the National Audubon Society that have been taking place for over a hundred years. Each Christmas Bird Count (or CBC, for short) is a tally of all the birds within a designated 15-mile-diameter circle on a single day. That day must fall between mid-December and early January. The National Audubon

While we are in the midst of the holiday season, I hope you can enjoy time with family and friends celebrating Christmas, New Year’s and other festivities in the coming weeks.

This year, I know the holidays may be particularly challenging for many in our community. The rising cost of living continues to strain family budgets, making it harder for working families to make ends meet – let alone get ahead. Many are also having a hard time affording groceries and putting food on the table. Across the state, 192,000 Mainers are struggling with food insecurity, including over 50,000 children. 

In

As the year winds down and the season of giving sets in, many people look to support causes they care about—but telling a legitimate charity from a fake one can be tough. While reputable organizations make their year-end push for donations, criminals also take advantage of this opportunity to line their own pockets.

Common signs of a charity scam include requests for payment via gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency, as well as high-pressure demands to donate immediately. Legitimate charities may also encourage timely giving, but they will welcome your support at any time.

To help

Walking our dog on one of these recent very cold days through the snow and ice on what had been the sidewalk only a few weeks ago, we heard a familiar mewing call. It sounded like a yellow-bellied sapsucker but we hadn’t seen or heard one in months. In fact, most of these migratory woodpeckers are much farther south by December, some as far south as the Caribbean and Costa Rica.

Yet, there it was, a juvenile yellow-bellied sapsucker on a tree in a neighbor’s yard, calling and showing off the vertical white stripe on its side, clinching the identification. A quick look at eBird showed that