As I speak with families across Lincoln County about the challenges they’re facing, one thing I’m hearing time and again is the difficulty of…
Columns
The next public supper will be Wednesday, May 4. The menu will be black bean soup, salad, bread, lemon chicken, rice pilaf, green beans, and blueberry cottage pudding with lemon…
Debt is something that can creep up on anyone, and before long, you are looking for a way out of it. But use caution — sometimes, tempting offers of debt relief will only make your own problems…
Salt ’n Spar
Wiscasset lost one of its leading citizens this past week in Lawrence R. Gordon of Federal Street who passed away. Better known as “Larry,” (I don’t recall anyone ever calling him Lawrence) will…
From the assistant editor
I was excited to see St. Philip’s Strawberry Festival is back, one of the last local…
Joe’s Journal
Once upon a time, an old editor sat down with a cub reporter and looked over a story the youngster had worked so hard to land.
Interesting, he said. This is a real good story.
To…
’Round Town
Sometimes things can be a blessing in disguise in addition to being a pain in the wazoo!
One of the biggest challenges for me, over the years, is managing the huge volume of images I have…
A Bird’s Tale
In celebration of spring, we decided to share a few of our photos of some of our favorite birds that are returning from their winter homes to our south. Some are blessing us with a short stay in…
The next public supper is Wednesday, April 20. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. The menu is fish chowder, salad, biscuits, macaroni and cheese, peas, and lemon pound cake…
Tax time is here again and so are the IRS impostors. Scammers posing as IRS agents or Treasury Department officials are calling to convince taxpayers…
Joe’s Journal
Last week, Phil Chapman hosted a 50th anniversary party marking the end of the Vietnam war.
It was a quiet afternoon of pizza, conversation and smiles for 30 to 40 grey-bearded Vietnam…
A Bird’s Tale
It may still be rather chilly and windy most days so that it may not feel so much like spring, but birds are returning. We were rather surprised to see the distinctive wing shape of an osprey…
The numbers are in. The Federal Trade Commission released its annual compendium of fraud reports from last year, and the news is shocking. Over the past three years,…
The next public supper will be Wednesday, April 20. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. The menu will be fish chowder, salad, biscuits, macaroni & cheese, peas, and lemon…
A Bird’s Tale
Brother Andrew texted us the other day with a question about identifying an odd-looking blackbird. Could it be a starling or a red-winged blackbird, he asked? He went on to ponder as to whether a…
Joe’s Journal
Last week, a reader sent me a note suggesting I should stick to (writing) features about sailmakers. “Foreign policy is not your schtick,” the reader said.
I could not agree more. I would…
’Round Town
First and foremost let me point out that Laurie Spofford Simmons adhered to First Federal Savings masking policy to the letter. When I stopped by the bank to make this photograph, Laurie…
The next meeting of the Garden Club of Wiscasset is on April 7 in Fellowship Hall of the First Congressional Church, 28 High St., Wiscasset. A brief business meeting at 12:30 p.m. will be followed…
Extreme weather season seems to be a misnomer, with catastrophic weather events happening throughout the year these days. Whenever weather events occur, shady contractors and outright impostors…
The next public supper will be Wednesday, April 6. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. The meal will be bean soup, garlic bread, American chop suey…
A Bird’s Tale
Birders often talk about their favorite birding “patches.” By that they mean the local places that they regularly frequent. Often these are not the well-known birding hotspots but some small park…
Joe's Journal
Last week, I told you how we clipped a few forsythia twigs and set them in water. This week, bright yellow flowers burst from their buds.
Last week, we began daylight saving time. This…
’Round Town
When I stopped by to visit Richard Macdonald, one of the first things he mentioned was the cedar shingles I had applied to a side of his house close to the gallery section of his…
The next Public Supper will be Wednesday, April 6, doors open at 4:30. There will be a “Bring a Can” collection for the Wiscasset area food pantry. The…
From the Maine Senate
If you’ve been keeping up with the news lately, you’ve likely heard a lot of talk about PFAS. PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of chemicals found in many products…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has declared social media a “Gold Mine” for scammers after consumers reported losing $770 million in social media scams in 2021. That was double…
Where it’s at
It’s almost here! Maple Sunday Weekend, that is, and it’s March 26 and 27 with Sunday, the 27th designated Maine Maple Sunday (thanks to Senators Angus King and Susan Collins). At participating…
A Bird’s Tale
During these still-cold days of March, we celebrate any of the earliest returning birds of spring—red-winged blackbirds, American woodcock, turkey vultures, perhaps robins in your neighborhood (…
’Round Town
Every year, about this time, old friends begin to show up in the neighborhood. It has always been quite remarkable to me that this happens. We have kept track on the calendar of returning critters…
Joe’s Journal
I picked a few forsythia twigs the other day for my bride.
She cut the stems and arranged them in water-filled vases. In a few days, they will sprout festive golden blossoms.
One…
The next public supper at the Senior Center will be April 6. There will be a collection of canned goods to benefit the food pantry for the Wiscasset area at the supper. Please bring what you are…
A Bird’s Tale
After the wild swings of temperature that we all endured this winter, it is hard to imagine that spring could really be in the cards. But there is no stopping the seasonal changes that come about…
’Round Town
Edie McDaniel Climo started coming to Maine at a very early age to visit with her grandparents in Boothbay Harbor. As a child she would often “hang out” at their store “Angels Unawares” which was…
Joe’s Journal
On Sunday morning, as we were sipping coffee and enjoying a day without snow, Southport Island’s Paul Zalucky was on his computer trying to figure out a way to get his cousins out of Ukraine.…
Maine needs visionary, collaborative approach to address browntail moths
After five years enduring a rain of toxic hairs from browntail moth…
These days, celebrities share career news, personal views, even travel videos on social media and interact with fans in comment threads. But if you get a direct message out of the blue from a…
The next public supper at the Senior Center will be Wednesday, March 16. Menu will be corn chowder, salad, Irish soda bread, corned beef & cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and applesauce cake. Cost…
A Bird’s Tale
Each morning for the last week or so, our neighborhood has seemed to echo in bird song. The cheerful “PEA-ter, PEA-ter, PEA-ter” of a resident tufted titmouse has been serenading us on our dog…
’Round Town
Albert Greenleaf was wired differently. Not in a bad way. Just the occasional drifting between positive, negative and the ground. I never personally observed any significant “misconnections” but…
Joe’s Journal
The smartphone camera has changed how we see the face of war.
We don't see slick propaganda images of smiling young men in spotless uniforms marching into the…
It’s National Consumer Protection Week —and while AARP is focused on protecting consumers year-round – this is a good time to highlight some key consumer protection tips.
Giving out…
The next public supper at the Senior Center will be Wednesday, March 16. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Cost is $10 for members, $12 for non-members. Menu will be corn chowder, salad, Irish soda bread,…
A Bird’s Tale
Seagull. It’s a term that we probably all grew up hearing and using. Most people still do.
Birders, on the other hand, never say “seagull.” In fact, when many birders hear the term “…
Joe’s Journal
It is hard to write a weekly newspaper column about world events as I have no official sources or history in that game.
But it is evident, as I write this piece, the drums of war are…
’Round Town
Recently, carrying an arm full of firewood into the house, I hurried to get the evening stove perked up before dark. My internal clock, significantly aggravated by the shorter days of winter,…
The next Public Supper will be Wednesday, March 2. Doors open at 4:30, eats are available at 5 p.m.: Tomato soup, salad, rolls, bratwurst and…
From the Maine Senate
It’s important to me to know what folks in our community are struggling with, so late last year I sent out a survey to every household in my district asking you to let me know what challenges you’…
The workforce has become a seller’s market and millions of people are leaving their job for greener pastures. More money, working from home and more time off are just some of the…
A Bird’s Tale
We don’t want to sound too boastful but it appears our prediction about where the Steller’s sea-eagle was going to be seen again was right. A few columns ago (…
