BELFAST - A proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Maine Department of Transportation to deepen and extend the shipping channel at Mack Point cargo terminal in Searsport will be subject…
Belfast
Army Corps to repeat pre-application requirement closer to site
Splinter or dissolve
BELFAST - With all eight municipalities of Regional School Unit 20 considering plans to withdraw, simply dissolving the district might be a better idea. That’s…
Robert Wiggin: Sealer of weights and measures
BELFAST - When you buy a gallon of gas, how do you know it’s really a gallon? And what about a pound of apples?
There’s no guarantee you’ll get what you pay for. But if…
Origin of odor reported by lakeside residents unknown
SWANVILLE - Several residents on the northwest side of Swan Lake caught wind of a gas smell Wednesday morning. After a visit from the Belfast Fire Department, the source remained a mystery.
…
Residents seek boost, get nudge from city in environmental cause
BELFAST - Residents seeking the city’s support in a campaign to remove fossil fuel companies from the Maine Public Employees Retirement System’s investment portfolio got an endorsement of sorts,…
Annual ‘April Stools Day’ clean up a no-go
BELFAST - For each of the last seven years, volunteers from Friends of Belfast Parks have donned rubber gloves and a sense of humor and picked up a winter’s worth of dog feces at the city’s…
Curtis Warren, a Senior at Belfast Area High School, was awarded the DAR Good Citizens Award, March 11.
The …
Town meeting ‘Super March’ kicks off this weekend
Town meeting season starts this coming weekend. Saturday marks the beginning of a run of annual town meetings in March. Many municipalities hold elections prior…
A TIF, a CDBG and an FTZ
BELFAST - A handful of proposals falling under the broad heading of “economic development” came before the Belfast City Council, Feb. 18.
The Council approved a set of changes to the…
Hurley’s Honk!
BELFAST - The Colonial Theatre was officially closed, but in the old cinema in the rear of the building, a dozen people stared up at the big screen. Still images of awkward-looking…
The atomic indivisibility of the regional school unit and other things to think about
BELFAST - It may sound like a bureaucratic koan, but with each of the eight municipalities of Regional School Unit 20…
Student-run NGO funds education of Liberian students
Belfast—Teloe Moore arrived in Belfast in late December. I met him on New Year’s Eve at the bonfire by the public landing. It was a frigid night, and even under a…
Slate of proposed zoning changes coming in April
BELFAST - Charges of social engineering and classism featured in a lively Planning Board workshop, Wednesday night. Also mentioned were Jane Jacobs’ “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”…
Public outrage over proposed school closures prompts unplanned vote
BELFAST - The Regional School Unit 20 board of directors voted overwhelmingly Tuesday, Jan. 28, to abandon plans for a major consolidation of the eight-town district.
The question was added…
BELFAST - A public auction of the James P. White house on Tuesday attracted 20 people to the landmark mansion but failed to yield any private bids.
The 1840 Greek Revival-style home was run…
‘Where are these $100 million babies? They don’t exist.’
BELFAST - In his office late last week, City Manager Joe Slocum pulled a calculator across his desk and produced a spreadsheet of the city budget.
A day earlier, he had…
Cost savings plans panned at public forum
BELFAST - Residents of Searsport and Stockton Springs on Tuesday raised questions, aired suspicions, and above all appealed to the Regional School Unit 20 board of directors not to close the…
Bank foreclosure calls for public sale of landmark property
BELFAST - The historic James P. White House, also known as the White House Inn, may be headed to auction later this month after the property was foreclosed upon late last year.
According to…
Think Tank recommendation to close Searsport schools prods residents to action
SEARSPORT, STOCKTON SPRINGS - Citizens in the only two Regional School Unit 20 towns that have yet to consider withdrawing from the district, launched campaigns over the weekend to do just that.…
Partnership with Union 69 could keep Drinkwater school afloat, offer local control
NORTHPORT - With a large tax base for its 185 school age residents, Northport receives no money through the state’s Essential Programs and Services school funding formula, making it the…
Proposed zoning change would likely allow restaurants as ‘accessory use.’
BELFAST - Maine Maritime Products processes and distributes seafood from a facility in the Belfast Business Park. The company also sells steamed lobsters and other fresh and frozen…
BELFAST - A memo from the city manager’s office Thursday reminded residents that the ice storm is still here and may pose new problems as temperatures stay frigid over the next few days.
A…
New assistant planner joins city staff, longer closures expected on Shipyard strip of Harbor Walk, and more ...
BELFAST - Following a closed door session on Tuesday night, the Belfast City Council voted to allow the city manager to enter an option-to-purchase agreement for a property on corner of Front and…
Split vote goes Carpenter’s way after turbulent year in RSU 20
BELFAST - The Regional School Unit 20 board of directors voted Wednesday to renew Superintendent Brian Carpenter’s contract for an additional year.
Twelve of the board’s 17 members attended…
Ad hoc group gets a warm welcome in first outing
BELFAST - Residents of Regional School Unit 20’s eight towns could be forgiven for not knowing where to look these days. Discussion by district administrators…
A network of safe houses for the abused, as well as refuge for pets
BELFAST — The door to New Hope for Women in downtown Belfast, near Opera House Video, is inconspicuous and easy to miss; its mission, however — to help victims of dating and domestic violence — is…
Convoy rolls through Midcoast on way to Arlington cemetery
BELFAST - When Rich Deneka left Barrington, NH on his Honda Goldwing trike Sunday morning, it was 19 degrees. At noon, outside the Bank of America building in Belfast, it was a comparatively balmy…
Explosion may have started blaze
BELFAST - Fire leveled a garage and caused significant damage to a home on Hayford Hill in Belfast late Sunday morning.
According to Belfast Fire Chief Jim Richards, owners Jasha and Sara…
Bielenberg’s adapation puts a new twist on the classic tale
BELFAST – Jacob Marley’s ghost will haunt the Troy Howard Middle School ‘cafetorium’ this December as John Bielenberg’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol comes alive, courtesy of the Midcoast Actors…
Former SAD 34 town considers new bid in changed landscape
SWANVILLE - Selectmen on Thursday set a date of Dec. 17 for a municipal referendum on whether to seek withdrawal from Regional School Unit 20.
Swanville is the last of six towns from the…
Council not sold on free money
BELFAST - The City Council on Tuesday approved plans to expand Thompson’s Wharf, but turned down a chance to apply for grant money.
Harbor Master Katherine Pickering painted a bleak picture…
Speak now...
BELFAST - The Waldo County Budget Committee will hold it’s final public hearing on the county’s proposed 2014 budget, Friday, Dec. 6.
The hearing will be held on the second floor of the…
Global Studies is famously difficult; it’s also more popular than ever
BELFAST - On a recent fall afternoon at Belfast Area High School, a group of sophomores were debating the specifics of inter-regional trade in ancient Mesopotamia. Nearby, their…
Witness: ‘small explosions, like ... fireworks, shooting into the sky’
BELFAST - The Belfast Fire Department extinguished a burning car on Mitchell Street, Monday evening, that according to a witness included some unusual pyrotechnics.
Fire Chief Jim Richards…
A jammed poetry slam occasions something new
BELFAST - On stage at the Playhouse Theater, Jacob Fricke prepared to recite a poem with his hands behind his back. It would be a challenge for “an inveterate hand talker,” like himself…
Owner treated at hospital but not admitted
BELFAST - Fire gutted a house in the residential area of downtown Belfast, Friday night.
The fire was reported at 9:16 p.m. according to records from the Waldo County Regional Communications…
Inside Belfast’s new mansion-turned-preschool
BELFAST – The last time I was in preschool, I distinctly remember the furniture being much larger.
When I arrive at the historic Johnson-Pratt house at 212 High Street, I am greeted by…
Self-evaluation, Nov. 12
SEARSPORT - Public comment took up a substantial portion of the Regional School Unit 20 board of directors meeting, Nov. 12. Or rather, the evening started with a lengthy internal debate about the…
$150,000 divvied up among 14 businesses for equipment, façades and more
BELFAST - The City Council last week approved a slate of 14 small businesses to receive grants for improvements under the state-funded Micro-Enterprise Assistance Program.
The $150,000…
100 turn out for ribbon cutting ceremony and a bit of history
BELFAST — The Belfast Harbor Walk has been open to the public since about June. Informally, the clipped string of alleys, sidewalks and parks has been passable…
Council makes committee appointments, revises Shipyard agreement
BELFAST - City officials got a first look at plans for a grant-funded overhaul of the roads and sidewalks in small portion of the downtown.
The area, which includes Cross Street, portions of…
From the Working Waterfront
BELFAST — The planned dredging of parts of Searsport Harbor is unprecedented in scope with potentially catastrophic results, a group of coastal legislators and…
belfast residents tell roaming camera what they want in a mayor
BELFAST – This is my first time voting for mayor in this town.
I grew up here in Belfast, and have continued to live…
Proposals would close schools, shuffle students, and maybe save the district
BELFAST - Recent talk of consolidation in Regional School Unit 20 has left some parents and residents waiting anxiously for the other shoe to drop. This week, Superintendent Brian Carpenter…
Updated: Belfast goes dark twice, other coastal communities hit
MIDCOAST - Strong winds caused power outages in pockets around the state Friday morning and early afternoon.
…
Old building, new owner
BELFAST - After a long dormancy, the former Peirce Elementary School showed signs of life this week as the new owners began work on the 100-year old brick building.
…
A side-by-side look at the three contenders in front of a live audience
BELFAST – The city’s three candidates for mayor sat down together for the first time at a public forum, Oct. 24. During the 75 minute session, they talked about their backgrounds and…
Superintendent: reorganization proposals to be disclosed in December
BELFAST - The Regional School Unit 20 board of directors made a rough list of long-term objectives at a special meeting, Oct. 22. The goal-setting session is an annual procedure for the board, but…
A new steeple just like the old, and a clock that finally runs on time
MIDCOAST – Two Waldo County church restoration projects wrapped up this week. In Belfast, the antique machinery of the First Church UCC clock tower was replaced with modern electronic works, and…
Three sent to hospital, store reopens after clean-up
BELFAST - A chemical spill at Hannaford supermarket in Belfast sent three employees to the hospital and kept portions of the store closed from Thursday afternoon through late Friday morning.
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