BELFAST – “Are we having a baby boom in Belfast that no one’s told us about,” Elizabeth Minor asked fellow Planning Board members Thursday in response to an…
Maine
Roadside distraction
KNOX - Drivers traveling on Route 220 during the past week may have noticed a ring of unusual steel structures and a lot of displaced dirt on a rise just south of Knox Ridge Baptist Church. But…
Alcohol and speed suspected
THORNDIKE - A July 4 car crash in Thorndike killed one person and seriously injured two others, according to Waldo County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Jeff Trafton.
Trafton said the single-…
Technical difficulties cited in ill-fated bear search
BURNHAM - The pilot and passenger of a helicopter that crashed on July 3 suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to a release from the Waldo County Sheriff's Office.
…
Public meeting July 22, referendum July 30
BELFAST - In a split vote, the Regional School Unit 20 board of directors approved a revised 2013-14 budget that goes lighter on staff cuts than those that prompted a backlash in May, and easier…
Belfast brokers deal for trailhead parking and bathrooms
BELFAST - A series of deals struck this week has apparently cemented the future role of City Point Station as a shared hub for excursion train rides and a recreational rail trail.
Joe Feero…
Public meeting to be held July 22
BELFAST - The Regional School Unit 20 finance committee on Wednesday approved revisions to the 2013-14 budget, settling on a bottom line midway between the board's original austere budget and a…
Postponed vote settled at special town meeting
SEARSPORT - Voters at a special town meeting Wednesday rejected a proposal to build a new North Searsport fire station. They also declined to keep the land on which the station would have been…
Sampan on the Passy
BELFAST – A local blogger was on hand when Maynard Haslett launched his boat Shanty at the public landing in February. Later a few photos appeared…
Front Street Shipyard to Steamboat Landing
BELFAST – After seeing the Belfast Harbor Walk through several years of planning, residents could be forgiven for thinking the project was nothing more than a Planning Office pipe dream.
But…
Proposed expansion of downtown board ban draws strong opinions, no action
BELFAST – Motorcyclists cruising down sidewalks, jackasses joyriding the grade on wheeled office chairs, motorists picking roadkill out of their tire treads,…
Voters buck budget committee recommendation, kick in for a new cruiser
STOCKTON SPRINGS – Residents at the annual town meeting Saturday voted 82-19 to keep their police department. The decision went against the recommendation of the town's budget committee, which had…
Notes from abroad: BELFAST—BELGIQUE
I have had two pets in my lifetime. The first was a rare African frog that arrived in the mail, a surprise present from my grandparents. The second was a red-backed salamander (that I christened "…
Corrected: next meeting June 25
BELFAST – The Regional School Unit 20 Board of Directors met on Thursday for the first time since the district's 2013-14 budget was rejected by voters in all of its eight municipalities. Several…
Supporters see second chance in overlooked provision of law
BELFAST — A bid by six towns to withdraw from Regional School Unit 20 failed in Tuesday's referendum on a technicality requiring a minimum voter turnout. But it may not be off the table for two…
Apparent landslide victory for six-town movement fails on technicality
BELFAST - An ambitious bid by six Waldo County towns to secede from Regional School Unit 20 was approved by an overwheming majority of voters in a June 11 referendum. The vote won't count, however…
A database 10 years in the making, complete as can be
BELFAST - Steve Boguen recently finished digitizing the roughly 8,000 handwritten burial records of Grove Cemetery where he has served as superintendent for 34 years. He started the indexing…
Withdrawal question on ballot for RSU 20 towns
MIDCOAST - School budgets don't typically bring voters to the polls in droves, but deep cuts coupled with tax increases in many districts may make this year an exception to the rule.
On…
Notes from abroad: BELFAST—BELGIQUE
NORMANDY, France – Belgium has a complicated relationship with France. On one hand, France offers sunny beaches, snow-capped mountains, picturesque countrysides, and vibrant cities…
Popular after school program ventures into Western Waldo County
THORNDIKE - Imaginary pets and fantasy warfare aren't explicitly addressed in the rules of Regional School Unit 3, and role playing probably falls…
LOCAL ARTIST TRANSFORMS WASTE INTO ART, GIVES PAINT A NEW LIFE
BELFAST – I can feel the paint creeping in between my toes. It’s cold and wet and borderline uncomfortable, but I know if I move I will mess up the shot. It’s crawling over my big toe now, but my…
Referendum on revised budget to be held June 11
BELFAST - Voters from the eight towns of Regional School Unit 20 on Thursday added almost $1 million back into the district's proposed 2013-14 budget in an attempt to restore staff positions and…
'I've been fishing since I was a boy'
ROCKPORT — Ken Dodge, of Rockport, is no stranger to early mornings. He lobsters out of Rockport Harbor, but Thursday he was getting ready to go out for halibut on his boat the Becca &…
'It really is a family show this year'
CAMDEN — Rockport Dance Conservatory will present its sixth spring showcase this evening, May 24 and 25 atthe Camden Opera House. Director Kari Cameron and assistant director Sally Leighton have…
Skipped town for the winter? Here's some of what's new
BELFAST - If summer residents of Belfast share one thing aside from a love of their adoptive city, it might be a subscription to Down East Magazine. For those who don't, there was an…
Board made the wrong cuts according to teachers, staff
BELFAST - The Regional School Unit 20 board of directors on Tuesday heard objections from district teachers and staff members to the elimination of certain positions in the district's proposed…
Sixty-nine-foot workshop would hit ceiling on vessel size, representatives say
BELFAST - Plans and sketches for a proposed building at Front Street Shipyard that would be the business' largest to date have been in discussion for months, but on Thursday representatives used…
North Carolina company and others claim assets from 2010 sale
UNITY - On Wednesday afternoon, Tom Falicon of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad watched as…
Plans include new amenities at Oak Hill Road crossing
BELFAST — The crossing of the former Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad at Oak Hill Road could become a outlying hub for city recreation and tourism, according to a picture painted at a meeting…
Dinner and a show: Lobster Ravioli, Fiddlehead Salad and Blueberry Cobbler
ROCKPORT – Camden Hills Regional High School presents its spring Dinner Theatre production of John Cariani's Almost, Maine beginning May 9 through May 11. Almost, Maine is a…
Public to weigh in at May 22 meeting
UNITY - In a story that has become familiar among Maine school districts this year, the proposed 2013-14 budget for Regional School Unit 3 includes a combination of deep cuts and a likely tax…
Primo's Melissa Kelly first repeat winner of prestigious award
NEW YORK CITY — Melissa Kelly, executive chef and co-founder of Primo…
Public to vote on components of budget on May 30
BELFAST - The 2013-14 budget approved by the Regional School Unit 20 board of directors on this Tuesday seemingly left little for anyone to be happy about — $1.7 million in cuts to the budget drew…
Belfast the subject of new take on popular photo blog
BELFAST - Last Thursday, Alexandra Chapin took her dog to the beach. She also took her camera in hopes of collecting portraits for her Facebook page…
A sample of three bands that wowed the crowd
BELFAST - The streets of Belfast are flooded with people looking to get their music fix... of every type. The fourth annual celebration of Belfast's Free Range Music Festival is currently ongoing…
Maine Maritime Products and Mathews Bros. back away from original plans
BELFAST — Expansions by two Belfast businesses that were heralded earlier this year and given city-sponsorship for grant applications totalling over a half-million dollars have been taken off the…
New developments underway at Front Street Shipyard, Mathews Bros.
BELFAST- The waterfront was quiet on Sunday, but from Steamboat Landing to the Footbridge, evidence of the coming Belfast Harbor Walk was everywhere. The $1.5 million pedestrian and bicycle…
A conversation with Dr. David Loxterkamp
BELFAST - Early in his book What Matters in Medicine: Lessons from a Life in Primary Care, David Loxterkamp says that for as long as he could remember he…
Ciao, arbor vitae
BELFAST - Workers from Maine Earth, of Hampden, were busy laying down a double row of tall screening shrubs between Belfast Common and Steamboat Landing Monday in the first substantial work on the…
Search for new executive director still underway, appointment expected by June
THORNDIKE and UNITY - The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association is seeking exemption from property taxes on the roughly 400 acres in two Western Waldo County towns where the organization…
Developer leaves party early, town officials stay, tidy up
SEARSPORT - The Planning Board finished deliberations Thursday night on a proposed liquefied petroleum gas (propane) storage and distribution facility, ruling that the application by Denver, Colo…
'Scottish Sushi' smoker expects to double production capacity, hire 40 to 50
BELFAST - Ducktrap River of Maine on Tuesday announced plans for a major expansion that would increase the size of its seafood smoking and processing facility by neary 50 percent, double the…
Town awaits official notice
SEARSPORT - The developer behind a controversial proposal to build a liquefield petroleum gas (LPG, or propane) terminal in Searsport has announced plans to withdraw its…
Students find living history of World War II, often close to home
BELFAST - What was life like during World War II, and how was it different than life during today's wars?
That was the big question posed to fifth graders from the Extended Learning program…
Updated - Move from RSU 20 starts in July, includes one-year transition
FRANKFORT - Voters on Thursday approved a measure to join Regional School Unit 22 by a margin of 181 to 59.
The vote was the last for Frankfort in a process that has stretched over several…
Developer fails to make case for commercial zoning interpretation
SEARSPORT - Jamie Kilbreth, attorney for DCP Midstream, was brief in his closing remarks to the planning board Wednesday night. The answers to many of the big questions about the propane terminal…
New owners see a future in century-old hydroelectric system
BELFAST - Nicholas Berner and Nicholas Cabral, third year students at Maine Maritime Academy, recently made one of many trips from Castine to their new office in Belfast, an unassuming…
Planning Board chairman: 'It's not going to be a circus'
SEARSPORT - After nearly two years of debate culminating in a string of sometimes-heated public hearings, the Searsport Planning Board is scheduled to begin…
Opponents threaten legal action for second look by Army Corps of Engineers
SEARSPORT - After nearly two years of debate culminating in a string of sometimes-heated public hearings, the Planning Board is scheduled to begin deliberations next week on an…
Updated with comments - Orono parks director, Norman Poirier, to start in April
BELFAST - The City Council on Tuesday appointed Norman Poirier as the city's new Parks and Recreation Department director, filling a six-month vacancy and leaving city officials optimistic about…
