The creative team of author and poet Susan Schadler and artists Lynne and John M.T. Seitzer recently released “Growing Wild: Four seasons of New England and Native Plants and Their Creatures.” Lynne and John’s artwork and Susan’s accompanying poetry make this book both an enchanting and informative read.

This is their second collaboration. You may remember their first endeavor, “come walk in the FYNBOS with me,” printed in 2018, took readers to Africa’s southern tip, the 500-mile stretch known as the fynbos.

Said Susan, “It has a globally unique and exceptionally diverse flora that enthralled

Fake party invitations are a newer tactic perpetrators use to capture personal details. They send digital invitations, commonly through email, inviting you to a fake gathering. Typically, the email comes from someone you know whose account has been hacked.

The message asks you to click a link to RSVP, confirm your guest information, or buy tickets. Clicking the link can download harmful software onto your device or send you to a fake website designed to steal your financial and personal information.

If you receive an unexpected invitation, contact the host directly to confirm they sent it.

Lea

In this age of artificial intelligence, satellite tagging technology, automated sound recorders, genetic analyses, and countless other sophisticated science tools, you could be easy to be lulled into assuming that old-fashioned personal natural history observations are obsolete and of little use.

But you’d be wrong. Very wrong!

The truth is, individuals paying attention and reporting what they see and hear in the natural world is not only relevant but crucial. Without such observations, often described as “community science” (formerly, citizen science), many of the most critical science and

As we write, it is the day before the Sept. 11 anniversary, with many Americans still fearful what the day may bring. It will be a somber one, about that there is no doubt, as we all remember the events of last year. And it will also be a day of reflection, as we all wonder how our world came to be a place with so much hate and resentment.

We Americans have learned that despite our efforts to be world leaders, there are probably millions out there who hate us and everything we stand for. Some are more than willing to be individual martyrs and die to demonstrate their hate, as long as it means

In 1971, freshly graduated from a Pennsylvania State Teacher’s College (just renamed a university), I started to look for a job. It was not a great time for new work, jobs were scarce and many my age were still available for the draft, which made job hunting even more complicated. I had a very low number in the first draft lottery meant to fill military quotas for Vietnam, and my college had a huge mandatory Army ROTC program at the time. When I checked with my draft board in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, the woman with whom I spoke said, “Pack your bags!” There was a big draft call and enlistment

Driving around the peninsula, you might notice a red leaf or two on the maples.

One of my bridge pals said that might be due to the drought stressing the trees. Maybe he was right, but I fear it means we are heading into fall, and the calendar confirms it. It is a time of change, not only in the woods, but in our lives.

Mother Nature is changing our political landscape, too. She has inflicted us all with a fatal ailment known as OLD.

Look at the record. Our president is 80. He says he is in good health, and we all hope that is so. However, history tells us that presidents, from Woodrow Wilson

Dear Editor:

Heating oil is averaging $5.15 a gallon and climbing. With winter approaching, thousands of Maine families are already seeking help through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. We need legislators who will stand up when federal policies threaten that lifeline—and who will tackle affordability here at home.

State Senator Cameron Reny has done exactly that. She has fought to protect LIHEAP, supported the Energy Fairness Act to increase utility accountability and residential affordability, and advanced legislation expanding affordable housing in rural Maine. She has also

Dear Editor:

As someone who’s had the opportunity to conduct two “ride along” experiences with Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office personnel over the past four months, I wanted to ‘pull back the curtain’ a bit and share some observations:
The young men and women who are on the front lines of public interface for the LCSO are qualified, highly professional, and have demonstrated their commitment to treating each subject (they do not call them ‘suspects’ – an important distinction) with whom they come in contact with humanity and respect.

During my experience in April, I observed “welfare checks” – a

Dear Editor:

Charlotte Nutt is one of the most inspiring women I know. Yes, I’m quite biased: I’m very proud to be her sister-in-law.

Like most people who care deeply about politics, Auntie Shark (as my kids call her) has some eccentricities for sure. She practices aerial silks, she makes a mean curry tofu breakfast salad, she can survive in the wilderness or on the high seas almost indefinitely. Charlotte is hardcore and driven to an extent most people only ever dream of. She is relentlessly resilient in the face of everything life has thrown at her.

One thing most of us have in common with

Dear Editor:

Edward Polewarczyk’s recent letter, “Farrin voting record: MaineCare payments,” points to Rep. Wayne Farrin’s vote last year on LD 331, legislation dealing with the timing of MaineCare reimbursements to hospitals. That vote is certainly part of Farrin’s record. But I think readers deserve to see the broader record as well.

Health care — and particularly access to health care in rural Maine — has been an important issue during Farrin’s first term.

Here in Lincoln County, that has included the very issue Mr. Polewarczyk raises at the end of his letter: the future of labor and

Dear Editor:

Charlotte Nutt is running to be our Representative to the Maine House. When she is elected in November she will succeed Rep. Holly Stover who cannot run again; under Maine state law, Holly is termed out.

Charlotte grew up in Edgecomb, attended local schools, and went on to Dartmouth College and USM. Since then, she has been working for the Midcoast Council of Governments, gathering and organizing data to help our towns make better decisions on affordable housing, and climate change such as the winter storms of 2024, among others. In this work, she helps municipal leaders plan

Dear Editor:

Voting in state and local elections is so very important because the outcomes can shape our daily lives. Cameron Reny, who is running for re-election in Maine Senate District 13, is a legislator who really cares and makes a difference.

Cameron sponsored two bills that went into effect on July 29, 2026 that will directly help many people in Lincoln County. LD 697 will help to lower prescription drug prices. LD 2149 will protect the affordability in mobile home parks and manufactured housing communities.

Cameron diligently works to reduce as many of our financial burdens as possible

Promises of fast cash and low interest rates are a common tactic used in loan fraud. They post ads, or reach out to you directly, promising loan approvals with low rates and no credit checks. They may spoof their phone numbers to appear as legitimate lenders. To get the loan, they say you need to pay upfront for expenses like "processing," "insurance," or "application fees." When they receive the payment, they disappear.

Legitimate lenders don’t charge upfront fees to secure a loan. Your best bet is to ignore unsolicited loan offers.

Learn how to spot and avoid scams with AARP Fraud Watch

We stumbled upon a surprising concentration of shorebirds a few days ago. If you’ve ever driven down Interstate 295 to Portland, you have driven over the Royal River where it empties into the harbor in Yarmouth. The town landing is right below the highway there, on the north side of harbor. We stopped by near low tide, the mudflats extending out and glistening in the sun.

There on the flats, birds darted about, picking carefully around for food. More than a hundred birds, in fact. Most were sporting long, bright yellow legs.

Yes, they were yellowlegs.

There are two flavors of yellowlegs

I tend to think of "By the time you read this" as one of those superfluous, disposable phrases, like "in order to" instead of "to" and "out of an abundance of caution" instead of "out of caution." You would not be reading whatever it is before it has been published online or in print; and the publish date that shows on either makes it clear, whatever we were writing about before it happened, has, by the time you are reading it, likely happened, whatever the outcome. 

For example, this week's print edition previews/provides information thus far on several things that will have occurred Tuesday

Summer is winding down, kids are heading back to school, and the political silly season is getting underway.

This time, we escaped the summer’s weather madness — raging wildfires out west, heatwaves on the South and East coasts, and especially in Europe, where air conditioning is nearly non-existent. Back home in Indiana, raging floods took over towns after rogue cells dropped nearly a foot of rainwater overnight, sending rivers into record territory, surpassing records set in 1913. This summer, there were so many strange weather events that TV weathermen could hardly keep up with the feeds

A quick riddle. How do you identify a vehicle from West Southport? Look in traffic for something that looks like it traveled between Caratunk and Rockwood via dirt roads. These are pretty easy to identify, often driven by disgruntled and confused drivers who make hand gestures during lane changes. Do not take these gestures personally. Just return the gesture and smile. Non-local drivers eventually realize how much we like to share!

Now on to today’s adventure with my dear old, now applying inspection stickers in the sky, friend, Arthur Barlow.

I loved Arthur. He was my first local auto

Dear Editor:

According to testimony by Dan Demeritt, the executive director of the Maine Association of Health Plans, before the Health Coverage, Insurance, and Financial Services Committee, "Budget pressures and political uncertainty at the State House has contributed to a $120 million MaineCare shortfall and payments to hospitals have been reduced or delayed." Sarah Calder, Senior Government Affairs director at MaineHealth, has testified that "We are currently owed over $100 million by MaineCare." 

LD 331, Resolve, Directing the Department of Health and Human Services to Ensure Timely