Talk

From the editor

Amazed and confused

I am amazed and thankful that teachers (and students) adapted to online instruction so quickly and so well because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They – both teachers and students – are a wonderful lot....
From the assistant editor

Celebrating seniors

Raise your hand if you know a senior. Not the seniors so many of us in this region are, or are getting to be. I’m talking about the other seniors: Those just becoming adults and nearly half a century...
’Round Town

Spring

I love the cool pale green of new growth in spring. It sort of represents the refreshing of things and really never shows up for another year. The birch leaves in particular, however the green leaves...
Joe’s Journal

Week 11 – What now?

I have a friend who likes to comment on this column. He says the COVID-19 virus is a hoax cooked up by the media and Democrats who want to defeat the incumbent president. He sends me lots of numbers...
A Bird’s Tale

An Accomplished Catbird and a Tree of Bursting Pink

Two themes have dominated our backyard natural history observations this week. One of them is specific not only to one particular bird species but to a particular individual bird. We have always had...
letter to the editor

Fear and panic

Dear Editor: How is it that money creates greater fear and panic than the high death rate we count daily? Has everyone forgotten that deaths due to the pandemic virus also are deaths of workers who...
letter to the editor

Voting for Maxmin in November

Dear Editor: I look forward to voting on Nov. 3 for Chloe Maxmin to represent me in State Senate District 13 because, like me, she is an avid environmentalist. I was also a member of environmental...
Where it’s at

Meanwhile … back in the studio with Eben Blaney

Over Edgecomb way at Eben Blaney’s Fine Contemporary Furniture studio/showroom, there’s something new, something much smaller scale than his gorgeous, inventive tables, chairs and consoles. Eben has...
Lyme Time

Do your tick checks

As the weather continues to warm, ticks are becoming more and more active, eager to find their bloodmeal and we need to be vigilant with our prevention against tick encounters. We’ve covered treating...
From the editor

Searching for the truth

That is our job as journalists – getting the facts. We do our best to find the best sources and get that information to our readers, day after day, week after week, year after year. We aren’t perfect...
From the assistant editor

When strange is good

Will the coronavirus spring make for the summer of strange? It already has, felling everything from St. Philip’s strawberry festival to Pumpkinfest; and more importantly are the lasting impacts...
A Bird’s Tale

Revealing the Mysteries of What Flies Over Us Each Night

You may remember that most of our birds do the bulk of their migrating at night, which we have written about in previous columns. As they migrate, many species regularly give short calls. The honks...
’Round Town

Goranson Farm

We first bumped into the Johanson-Goranson family at Sheepscot Valley Children’s House in Wiscasset, in the early ’90s. Our children, along with a gang of other area youngsters, attended pre-school...
Joe’s Journal

Week 10: Coping with crisis

It is no secret that much of our region's economy depends on tourism, and no one knows this better than Scott Larson. As the president of Midcoast Hospitality Group, Larson is the boss/owner of a...
letter to the editor

Voting for Maxmin

Dear Editor: I am thrilled to be able to vote for Chloe Maxmin on Nov. 3 (running for State Senate District 13), someone who is devoted to serving her constituents. I received a call from one of her...
A Bird’s Tale

Watching Big Birds Battle on Mother’s Day

On a socially distanced Mother’s Day visit to Mom Wells, two bald eagles appeared as we sat 10 feet apart in the backyard sun. The eagles were far in the distance circling to the south, looking like...
From the editor

Photo-ops and more

It felt good to get outside and take some photos of people doing things this week. Besides battling the weather – seems like it has rained every other day this spring – and the slew of cancellations...
From the assistant editor

Don’t rain on this parade

Nothing but what the seniors’ older siblings and cousins got for a Wiscasset graduation will look or feel exactly right. That big day and then the moving on with their diplomas and lives are the...
’Round Town

Thank you

Before I step out into traffic today with my weekly adventure, I'd like to comment about an evolving situation in our community. For many many years I have visited our local business establishments...
Joe’s Journal

Week 10: Good news, bad news

Last week, as we finally got going on our spring chores, Mother Nature threw us a curve ball and treated us with a snowstorm on Saturday. Here on the coast, it was warm enough to melt the flakes as...
Lyme Time

Five Simple Steps of Prevention

As temperatures warm up and ticks become more active, how do we protect ourselves and our loved ones and reduce our fear of spending time outdoors? Here are five simple prevention steps that will not...
letter to the editor

Volunteering with Chloe

Dear Editor: Since late March I have been privileged to volunteer with Chloe Maxmin, candidate for State Senate in District 13 (all of Lincoln County plus Washington and Windsor). When the...
letter to the editor

It’s time for life to return

Dear Editor: We originally stayed home because it was new, unknown and scary. We collectively agreed to be diligent so our hospitals did not become overwhelmed. After being steadfast for 60 days,...
letter to the editor

Conundrum

Dear Editor: Buying food is essential but working to earn money to pay for it is not. How is this supposed to work? Go figure. Edward J. Polewarczyk Wiscasset
A resurgence of Victory Gardens could inspire lasting changes in food production

Growing an enduring culture of gardening

The home gardening boom underway is “totally unprecedented” in the eyes of Frank Wertheim, who for 33 years has helped farmers and gardeners as an educator with University of Maine Cooperative...
Press release

Join the fight to save Maine’s lobster industry

Thousands of Maine’s family-owned lobstering businesses are at risk of extinction due to a recent federal court ruling citing a violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by the National Marine...
May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month

All around the world, May is recognized as Lyme Disease Awareness month. But for hundreds of thousands of patients, it is something that they struggle to make sense of every day. It is something that...
From the editor

Dealing with canceled events

No Memorial Day Parade, no Boothbay Harbor Lobster Boat Races, and no Windjammer Days. Three of the Boothbay region’s major events scheduled before the July 4 holiday have been canceled due to the...
From the assistant editor

Friendly is good

One of the friendly faces around Wiscasset Municipal Airport gave me a call the other day. I have interviewed pilot Lisa Reece and her husband and fellow pilot Steve Williams, or both, many times,...
A Bird’s Tale

A Sea of Migrating Birds is Overtaking Us

We’ve often likened the migration of the billions of birds that move across our hemisphere from south to north each spring to be more like the movements of a living sea that takes place in the...
Joe’s Journal

Week 8 – Relax

Here is the thought for the day: Relax. We have been on hold for the last two months. Why don’t we slow down for a minute? Take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. Relax. Feel better? Sure, you do. Now...
’Round Town

Chainsaws

Over the years I have owned and used many chainsaws. In my younger years, the metal of choice was either Homelite or McCulloch. The McCulloch saw was enormous, heavy and loud with a bar that was over...
From the House

More COVID-19 resources and updates

For most of us in Maine, it’s been another week at home, and another week of helping our friends and families navigate the greatest public health crisis of our time. I know many of us are feeling...
letter to the editor

No antibody tests yet at LincolnHealth

Dear Editor: We have been hearing many members of the public asking for an antibody test, only to be disappointed when learning that such a test is not available yet at LincolnHealth. According to...
letter to the editor

National Nurses Week

Dear Editor: With all that has transpired this year across the world, it seems both ironic and fitting that the World Health Organization designated 2020 the Year of the Nurse and Midwife....