It was Saturday. Grocery shopping needed to be done. Prescriptions needed filling. The floors needed a vacuuming and the towels needed to be folded and put away.
A major snowstorm was…
Columns
Joe’s Journal
Three years ago, I was driving down I-95 en route to Boston when I heard something on the radio that almost made me swerve off the road.“They have breached the Capitol,“ said an NPR announcer.…
’Round Town
Well, we finally got it! And maybe then some. At 5 p.m., right now, it is still snowing. I plowed all our roads once around 1 o’clock thinking that maybe the weather folks might have an inside…
The next Public Supper will be Wednesday, Jan. 17. Menu will include chicken soup, salad, rolls, baked haddock, baked potato wedges, vegetable medley, and chocolate bread pudding…
It’s New Year’s Resolution time. Time to make a commitment to be fraud aware in 2024. For the next 52 weeks, like clockwork, scammers will be on the prowl looking to steal our money or sensitive…
A Bird’s Tale
Something unusual seems to be happening.
Here in Maine, it started off with the discovery of the western sibling species to our familiar eastern towhee, a spotted towhee, at Fort Foster in…
’Round Town
Without a wintry look right now I thought it might be fun to dig out an image from a winter past. Not that I’m complaining, but there is only so much one can do with fog and rain, especially at…
Joe’s journal
Months ago, when the world was younger, and we were too, we looked forward to the coming primary election season.
The Iowa caucuses are in a couple of weeks, and Super Tuesday (and the…
The next Public Supper will be Wednesday, Jan. 17. Menu is chicken soup, salad, rolls, baked haddock, baked potato wedges, vegetable medley, chocolate bread pudding with whipped…
If there is one thing we know, it’s that criminal scammers are not stupid. They often use cutting-edge technologies to make their schemes more sophisticated and harder to detect. However, these…
The next meeting of the Garden Club of Wiscasset will be on Jan. 4 in Fellowship Hall of the Congregational Church, 28 High St. in Wiscasset. There is a brief…
New Hope Midcoast
Many believe that substance use is an underlying cause of domestic abuse, but this is a misconception. There is nothing in drugs or alcohol that causes someone to believe that they have the right…
Salt ’n Spar
There was a time, much to the chagrin of lobstermen, when huge tanker ships laden with fuel oil journeyed up the waters of the Sheepscot River. Their destination was Central Maine Power Company’s…
Joe’s Journal
Here we go – the last column of 2023.
I am writing this one in advance as my kids sent me an airline ticket so I could be with them over the holidays. I am grateful for their…
Where it’s at
Morgan Mitchell’s Creative Flow Circles got their start while she and husband Andrei Bazaiac were living in Portland. Morgan was working at an ad agency and observed how mentally drained her…
A Bird’s Tale
The Augusta area Christmas Bird Count took place Saturday, Dec. 16. It was a very mild day for mid-December, another in a series of rather mild days that increasingly have become the new normal as…
The next Public Supper will be Wednesday, Jan. 3. Menu will include vegetable noodle soup, garlic bread, salad, spaghetti and meatballs, brownies with ice cream and chocolate…
The holidays are a time when friends and family of all ages gather together, share updates on their lives and recount cherished memories. One thing to add to that list this year: a conversation on…
’Round Town
This will be the second installment of my season-enhancing attempt. Without the expectation of snow for the foreseeable future it only seemed right to offer a view from winter past. I hope you…
’Round Town
As I sit here at my desk, such as it is, this morning on the 18th of December I can hear the wind gusts in the fireplace flu and get a healthy puff of smoke from the wood stove. The wind was…
Joe’s Journal
Dear Readers,
It has been a tough year for us all, but 2024 has all the earmarks of being even more trying than the last.
We are in the midst of change.
Old guys and gals,…
The next Public Supper will be Wednesday, Jan. 3. Menu will be vegetable noodle soup, garlic bread, salad, spaghetti and meatballs, and brownies with ice cream and chocolate sauce…
It’s the season of giving, and for those in the spirit, telling the difference between a real charity and a con can be a challenge. Legitimate charities make a big push at year-end for last-minute…
A Bird’s Tale
Most people find birds beautiful, fascinating, even entrancing. Some recognize only a few that they see in the backyard and neighborhood—chickadees, crows, cardinals, blue jays. These they may…
Joe’s Journal
Years ago, a man we call Luke told us this tale that has been retold for generations.
“And it came to pass that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole…
The next Public Supper will be Wednesday, Dec. 20. The menu will be black bean soup, rolls, salad, roast beef, mashed potato with gravy, green beans, and mocha chocolate cake.…
’Round Town
You know, this wandering around that happens from time to time can yield some interesting results.
Quite a while ago after a job in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area and stops with my…
Most of us do it several times a day. We have a question, need a phone number or are looking for a website, so we open a search engine and type in our request. What happens next is becoming more…
Salt ’n Spar
Once upon a time there was the Wiscasset Theater, a movie house downtown offering more than just Hollywood films. Its front entrance didn’t have a glitzy marque of flashing lights, but inside…
A Bird’s Tale
We’ve all faced the dilemma: We want to show our love or appreciation for someone through a gift at the holidays but what is something that reflects who they are and what they enjoy in life?
…
’Round Town
One of the curious things about Facebook is how it remembers things and, from time to time, shares collected images recalled from over the years. One such memory I’ve shared in today’s adventure.…
Joe’s Journal
Merry Pre-Christmas.
P.S., As we prepare for the nation’s third best holiday, I wish you the best, but please don't send me anything. I don't need anything, including new underwear and…
Community of Hope
Recent events in Lewiston, coupled with the number of clients served by Maine’s Regional Domestic Violence Resource Centers, highlight the need to take another look at the link between domestic…
The next Public Supper will be Wednesday, Dec. 20. Menu will consist of black bean soup, rolls, salad, roast beef, mashed potato with gravy, green beans, and mocha chocolate cake…
One of the most nefarious scams today is bank impersonation. Money stolen through these schemes is rarely recoverable, so it’s particularly important to be aware of this scam and share what you…
A Bird’s Tale
It sometimes seems hard to believe that so many mysteries still remain within the natural world, including within the most well-known group of wild creatures: birds! But new discoveries of all…
’Round Town
I suspect, over the years, in one form or another, that almost everyone has some experience with the moon. We all got a dab of lunar learning in school. You know – waning and waxing, crescent,…
Joe’s Journal
In case your TV remote misfired over the weekend, as you switched between the dozens of football games, you might have seen a commercial that brought a…
Maine House District 47
One of Maine's Climate Action Plan Goals is to "Reduce Maine’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions" and help Maine achieve its Net Zero Goal. …
In August of 2022 the Veterans Administration (VA) began the largest expansion of benefits in its history with the enactment of the PACT Act. The Act, which compensates military personnel and…
The next Public Supper will be Wednesday, Dec. 20. Menu will include black bean soup, rolls, salad, roast beef, mashed potato with gravy, green beans, and mocha…
A Bird’s Tale
The two most well-known birds in the world would have to be—no, not Steller’s sea-eagles, albatrosses, or hummingbirds—but two species that have probably become rather mundane in most of our…
Joe’s Journal
Most of us will soon sit down to the traditional Thanksgiving repast in a few hours.
It is a special day set aside for family, food and friendship.
As we try not to slop too much…
’Round Town
Some projects are so vast and expansive it’s impossible to imagine. Such is the case for the massively detailed 400-page book “The Kyrenia Ship…
The next Public Supper will be Wednesday, Dec. 6. Menu will consist of white bean and sausage soup, garlic bread, salad, baked ziti, and pumpkin bread pudding. Cost is $10 for…
The holiday deals have already begun, but buyer beware – not all of those great deals you see online are legit. Because if the online shopping season has started it means that online scam season…
Well, apparently it's winter! That was (too) quick.
Firewood donations: The Town of Westport Island is accepting donations of cut, dry, ready-to-burn firewood to make sure all our…
A Bird’s Tale
Many long-time readers of this column will remember that we have an abiding interest in the islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire—three islands off the Venezuelan coast that were historically once…
’Round Town
I hope my obsession with reflections is not driving people over the edge. It’s just that I am totally captivated by how things are transformed by their appearance in water.
My interest in…
Joe’s Journal
Last weekend, we celebrated Veterans Day, a time set aside to honor those who wore the uniform.
In our little corner of God’s great geography, we saw towns and civic groups host vets while…
