As expected, the garden, the yard, and the back deck are snow-covered. What did you expect, Grasshopper? We live in the Great State of Maine. Do you expect palm trees in January?
One thing…
Talk
letter to the editor
Dear Editor:
In his Jan. 19 letter, John Splaine asked us, ”Remember the Alamo?” Everyone does, but each person’s memory is inflected by their own ideology.
For generations,…
letter to the editor
Dear Editor:
Collateral damage and not so friendly fire. Our young are victims in the cultural war. Children have an enhanced and amazing ability to learn…
The Garden Club of Wiscasset will hold its next program at 1 p.m. Feb. 2 in Fellowship Hall of First Congregational Church, 28 High St.,…
In the 1800s, when the ocean was the highway, the Boothbay region’s four lighthouses (Burnt Island, Hendricks Head, Ram Island, and Cuckolds) served as signposts guiding vessels safely in and out…
The next public supper will be Wednesday, Feb. 1. The menu will be vegetable soup, rolls, salad, steak tips with mushrooms (smothered beef), mashed potato, green beans, and…
Winter is upon us and with temperatures plummeting in many areas, keeping the heat on is critical – a fact that criminals try to take advantage of. They impersonate utility companies, threatening…
From the assistant editor
Wiscasset Fire Chief Rob Bickford’s December report, released ahead of the Jan. 17 selectmen’s meeting, contains winter home safety tips worth our passing along.
One is to keep chimneys…
From the editor
Have we seen Tom Brady’s last game? After losing at home to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night, the “unfinished business,” as Brady said following his “unretirement” tweet last year, is finished…
Joe’s Journal
On Saturday, we all woke up to the news that someone in Maine hit the winning lottery jackpot and could soon collect a boatload of cash. It is a big deal, a $1.35 billion deal.
For the…
’Round Town
Every morning we escort our pup to the back door and out to a small fenced in area for her daily contribution to the Earth’s surface. She’s not pushy at all about this, in fact if truth be known,…
The next public supper will be Wednesday, Feb. 1, menu as follows: Vegetable soup, rolls, salad, steak tips with mushrooms (smothered beef), mashed potato, green beans, raspberry…
We all want to be helpful, especially when the request comes from our boss, a friend or a community leader. This instinct is something criminals take advantage of. That’s why you should be…
Salt ’n Spar
Before we get too far along into the new year, let’s spend a few moments considering some unfinished Wiscasset business from last year and years past. Maybe 2023 will be the year of taking care of…
A Bird’s Tale
This week’s column is provided from Jeff’s perspective following his trip to Matinicus Island.
The Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Matinicus Island reached its almost…
From the assistant editor
Want a closer look at selectboard, planning board and town committee meetings?
Night time may be the right time for most of these panels to meet, to maximize members’ attendance, and the…
From the editor
It wouldn’t bother me if we keep getting these light snowfalls here on the coast. They make driving, walking and shoveling a bit easier. Plus, the fallout from the one on Friday produced beautiful…
Joe’s Journal
The Dec. 23 superstorm brought us downed trees, power outages, lots of worries, and a whale.
Yes, a whale. The carcass of a 30-foot-long juvenile humpback whale washed ashore on Farnham…
’Round Town
Bill Kirby came to Boothbay Harbor in 1988 on a road trip with his father. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but he liked the area, close to the ocean and less complicated than the…
letter to the editor
Dear Editor:
Little has changed after another year of global warming headlines. Maine’s record high temperature of 105°F, set on July 10, 1911, is now one hundred and twelve years old.…
letter to the editor
Dear Editor:
The following is a tribute to Jeff Averill, who is retiring from Ames Supply in Wiscasset:
…
Where It’s At
Remember the scene in “The Wizard of Oz” when the Cowardly Lion, awakened by falling snow in a poppy field, says, “Unusual weather we’re having, ain’t it?” Well, it’s January – in Maine – and we’…
If you’re like a lot of Americans, you spent a lot this holiday season and you might be in the mood to tackle your debt in the new year. Getting yourself out of debt is hard work and it is time…
The next public supper is Wednesday, Jan. 18. Menu will be corn chowder, biscuits, salad, baked chicken, rice pilaf, peas, and snow pudding. Cost is $10 for members, $12 for non-…
From the assistant editor
I saw Jameson Brooks’ obituary Monday. I don’t upload the obituaries, so usually when I see them on our websites or on the pages before press time, I am seeing them for the first time, like other…
A while back, I collected a series of kids’ responses to the question, “What does love mean?” Some of the answers were quite profound.
Rebecca, age 8, said her grandfather paints her…
Joe’s Journal
I looked in the handbook for local columnists to see what you are supposed to write about for the first week of the New Year.
It suggested you call a friend and ask what they are looking…
The next public supper is Wednesday, Jan. 18. Menu will be corn chowder, biscuits, salad, baked chicken, rice pilaf, peas, and snow pudding. Cost is $10 for members, $12 for non-…
A Bird’s Tale
Some have called it the “mountain mockingbird” or the “mockingbird of the sagebrush” but its official name is the sage thrasher. If you’ve never heard of it, don’t feel bad. It’s not a bird we…
letter to the editor
Dear Editor:
Friends, I want to thank you for all your support over the past 30 years. I am retiring now, and I’m so grateful for having had this career in this Midcoast community. I’m…
Here’s a New Year’s Resolution we could all benefit from: be vigilant about cryptocurrency scams. Fraud involving crypto investment schemes and crypto as payment in other schemes skyrocketed in…
From the assistant editor
At press time, Maine Department of Public Safety’s press release about a child not breathing in Edgecomb, and then pronounced dead at a Damariscotta hospital, was hours old in our email box and on…
From the editor
Is “Auld lang syne” starting to ring in your head as we move onto a new year? The Scottish term means “times long past” and the song is traditionally sung on New Year’s Eve.
In case you…
Joe’s Journal
Dear friends,
As you know, this has been a tough holiday season for me. ’Nough said. I didn’t get around to sending out cards, even though they were sitting on the computer desk not far…
’Round Town
According to the 1940 census, Katherine Johnson, born about 1907, lived on what was then called the East Boothbay Road. She was 33 years old, widowed and head of household with six children –…
The next public supper will be Wednesday, Jan. 4. The menu will be turkey soup, biscuits, salad, beef Stroganoff, noodles, carrots and whoopie pies. Cost is $10 for members, $12…
Federal data suggest that losses from elder financial abuse perpetrated by a known person are greater than when fraud is perpetrated by anonymous scammers. Far too many families find out about…
Where It’s At
Which gingerbread was your favorite at the 2022 Gingerbread Spectacular? Hard question, isn’t it? If you’re like me, probably more than one, am I right? How about that Carla Warren? Two years in a…
A Bird’s Tale
Over this weekend, while much the world was fretting over holiday shopping, the clock ticked closer to the end of the largest and most important biodiversity negotiation in the world. It took…
From the editor
It is five days before Christmas as I write this and I didn’t have a clue what to write besides wishing our readers a Merry Christmas. But I figured it out as the next deadline loomed.
…
From the assistant editor
Remembering growing up turning the knobs of an Etch-A-Sketch, standing on a chair to use the phone on the wall, and snapping through Disney story frames in a View-Master, it is a little wild to…
Joe’s Journal
Tis the week before Christmas, and here in my house,
I sit at the keyboard and mess with the mouse.
Attempts to bring joy to readers we love,
…
’Round Town
The recent snow reminds me of winter, a season with which I have a love-hate relationship.
…
letter to the editor
Dear Editor:
The Wiscasset board showed indifference and prejudice towards Mr. Juntura when it denied his liquor license renewal. The board chose to take Chief Hesseltine’s words as fact,…
New Hope Midcoast
Central to New Hope Midcoast’s work with survivors of domestic abuse, dating violence, and stalking is a lens of empowerment. The Oxford English Dictionary defines empowerment as the process of…
Where It’s At
Walking into Boothbay Region Art Foundation during its annual Art in the Square the week of Dec. 11, I felt a slow smile cross my face ... and then I saw June Rose making a sale and the smile…
Who doesn’t want to give their loved ones that perfect holiday postcard moment? You know, the big box with a bow that has a furry new member of the family inside. Unfortunately, that desire to…
A Bird’s Tale
Just a few hours’ drive from us here in Maine, one of the world’s largest meetings on biodiversity is underway in Montreal. Not only is it one of the largest, with something like 20,000…
