Category Archives: Maine

Lewiston teacher wins national award | Lewiston Sun Journal

LEWISTON — After her name was called out, jubilant Montello Elementary School teacher Kristie Clark ran to the podium. Delighted students screamed and applauded.

 “What a way to start a week! Woo-hoo Montello!” Clark cried out during a K-3 student assembly.

 During the surprise assembly students were told they’d soon learn about a secret: Clark is the winner of the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award for excellence in teaching. Only one teacher in Maine will receive the award this year, according to the Maine Department of Education. The announcement was made by Education Commissioner Angela Faherty.

 As a Milken Award winner, Clark becomes a model teacher for Maine and the nation, wins an all-expense paid trip to California in April, and receives a cash award of $25,000.

Click for the rest of the story by Bonnie Washuk in the Lewiston Sun Journal.

As a football fan, this Mainer is a can’t-miss | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

As a football fan, this Mainer is a can’t-miss | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

THE NEVER MISS A SUPER BOWL CLUB

DON CRISMAN, of Kennebunk: He was living in Denver when he was given tickets to the first Super Bowl by the insurance agent who was handling his mortgage, and continued attending with him even after he moved to Maine.

TOM HENSCHEL, of Natrone Heights, Pa., and Tampa, Fla.: He compares the Super Bowl to “the Fourth of July and New Year’s put together.”

ROBERT COOK, of Brown Deer, Wis.: He was introduced to the other three at Super Bowl XXXIII by a member of the Green Bay Packers front office, who vouched for his perfect attendance.

LARRY JACOBSON, of San Francisco: Attended the first Super Bowl with a date he was trying to impress. She didn’t like football, so he stopped seeing her.

To see the Visa commercials featuring Crisman and his friends, go to: ww.visa.com/advertising

Pot stores slowed by glitches, resistance | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Pot stores slowed by glitches, resistance | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram.

Fort Kent man, 94, surprised with long-overdue diploma | Bangor Daily News

Fort Kent man, 94, surprised with long-overdue diploma | Bangor Daily News.

Another Maine native living ‘from away’

I spotted a sign the other day that was sort of out of place – “Mainely Stampin’.”

It was out of place because I spotted it in Fairfield, Calif.

I would have stopped in to find out more about Mainely Stampin’ – obviously the Mainely part caught my attention – but I was on a schedule and did not have the time. So I went to Mainely Stampin’s fairly limited website and learned this under “About Us”:

“We are a friendly stamping and scrapbooking store located in Fairfield, California, and have been opened since January of 2006. The owner is from Maine, which explains the name Mainely Stampin’, and has enjoyed a stamping hobby for many years. When she moved to California in 2001 she soon got a job working at a local stamp store and enjoyed meeting new people and helping them with their hobby of stamping. After the store closed she opened her own store and with the help of many friends and supporters the store is gaining popularity and is known for its warm atmosphere and a sincerely helpful customer service.”

See, there are plenty of Maine natives now living “from away.”

Oh, and the motto apparently is “The way stampin’ should be … Fun!” Part of that, I’m pretty sure, comes from a Maine tourism motto from a few years ago: “Maine: The Way Life Should Be.”

By the way, Mainely Stampin’ is located at 1318 W. Texas St., in Fairfield, Calif., in Solano County, the edge of the North Bay Area.

Political change has familiar feel, George Mitchell says | Maine Sunday Telegram

It was November 1988. Maine’s own George Mitchell had just been elected Democratic majority leader of the U.S. Senate. And high atop his to-do list was a sit-down with then-Republican minority leader Sen. Robert Dole.

“I said to him, ‘This job is hard enough under the best of circumstances. It’s impossible under bad circumstances,’ ” Mitchell recalled last week.

And so Mitchell and Dole agreed on a few ground rules:

Never surprise each other.

Never try to embarrass each other.

And finally, be as fair as possible to each other under whatever circumstances might arise.

“We kept our word for six years,” Mitchell said. “Bob Dole and I never had a harsh word pass between us – in public or in private.”

Ah, the good old days.

Click for the rest of the column by Bill Nemitz in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

 

Maine hockey team sweeps No. 2 North Dakota | Bangor Daily News

Maine hockey team sweeps No. 2 North Dakota | Bangor Daily News

 

Author, humanitarian to speak at USM | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Author, humanitarian to speak at USM | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram.

Lobster competition came down to chef’s confidence | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Lobster competition came down to chef’s confidence | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram.

Mitchell Institute gala raises $150,000 | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Mitchell Institute gala raises $150,000 | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram.

Sunday River opens first ski trail in the U.S. | Bangor Daily News

Sunday River opens first ski trail in the U.S. | Bangor Daily News.

Maine knocks off No. 2 North Dakota | Bangor Daily News

ORONO — The University of Maine men’s hockey team didn’t waste much time welcoming the North Dakota Fighting Sioux to Alfond Arena Friday night.

 Maine scored just 43 seconds into the game en route to a five-goal outburst in the opening period that carried the Black Bears to 7-3 win

 over the nation’s second-ranked team in front of 5,216 fans.

 Maine snapped a three-game winless streak and improved to 2-1-2. North Dakota fell to 3-1-1.

 The teams will play again tonight at 7.

 “We played Maine hockey tonight,” said Maine junior right wing Gustav Nyquist, who had a goal and two assists. “We got the puck down low, we worked hard, we moved our feet and we were tenacious.”

Click for the rest of this story by Larry Mahoney in the Bangor Daily News.

In Greenwood, a turn for the better: Mills offer new opportunities | Lewiston Sun Journal

GREENWOOD (AP) — Many people gave the Saunders Brothers manufacturing plant up for dead when it closed its doors and went to auction last spring, a victim of the sour economy and cheap imports flooding in from overseas.

Less than five months later, machines are humming and the smell of sawdust is in the air again as a skeleton crew puts out rolling pins, brush handles, dowels and other wood products.

Maine’s wood products industry has been on the slide for years. Numerous plants that made hundreds of everyday things — toothpicks, tongue depressors, Popsicle sticks, pepper mills, checkers pieces, clothespins, you name it — have gone out of business.

Now, a Portland woman and her partners have bought not only the shuttered Saunders Brothers factory, but three other plants as well in hardscrabble areas of interior Maine. Louise Jonaitis says she intends to bring the plants back to life in regions where times are tough and jobs are scarce.

“I grew up knowing a mill of any size was the life of a community in Maine,” said Jonaitis, 49, whose father worked in a paper mill when she was growing up in Rumford. “What I’ve been seeing as plants close is the decline of the social fabric in Maine. And I thought, ‘What else do we have?’”

Click for the rest of the story by Associated Press Writer Clarke Cainfield found in the Lewiston Sun Journal.

 

5 things to do this weekend | Bangor Daily News

5 things to do this weekend | Bangor Daily News.

Yacht maker offers to buy Eastport’s Boat School | Bangor Daily News

EASTPORT, Maine — One of the world’s premier yacht makers, who has previously focused his manufacturing efforts in Taiwan, China and Tampa Bay, Fla., has made an offer that could turn around the financially struggling city of Eastport. David Marlow of Marlow Yachts approached the City Council during a workshop this week and floated a proposal to buy The Boat School, which is owned by the city and leased to Husson University.

His plans include expanding The Boat School program from a two-year to a four-year marine trades program while keeping Husson University involved. He also plans to revamp the campus, expand the existing boatyard and build an on-site yacht manufacturing facility that could create 100 new jobs.

“This could be a godsend for Eastport,” City Manager Jon Southern said Thursday. “This business is compatible with every city goal for our working waterfront. It is ecologically friendly. It would create high-quality jobs. It protects The Boat School and retains the partnership we have with Husson.”

Click for the rest of the story by Sharon Kiley Mack in the Bangor Daily News.

 

Three Maine newspapers restore online comments | Bangor Daily News

[This is what MaineToday Media probably should have done from the beginning rather than eliminate the comments all together. Close monitoring is essential. I was part of the online team that monitored comments on recordnet.com, and some online users simply are looking for a way to be anonymous bullies. That should never be allowed. One more thing, this flip-flop move by MaineToday Media simply makes them look as if they lack the abilty to make carefully consider decisions. That is never good for a business, especially for a newspaper. — KM]

Three Maine newspapers restore online comments | Bangor Daily News.

Jackson Lab radio interview about hundreds of Maine jobs created by Collier project causes ruckus | Naples (Florida) Daily News

Jackson Lab radio interview about hundreds of Maine jobs created by Collier project causes ruckus | Naples (Florida) Daily News

Portland Press Herald Drops Reader Comments in Response to ‘Vicious Postings’ | Poynter Online

Portland Press Herald Drops Reader Comments in Response to ‘Vicious Postings’ | Poynter Online

Cookbook of favorite Maine recipes links past to present | Bangor Daily News

Cookbook of favorite Maine recipes links past to present | Bangor Daily News.

Bangor crime rate highest in the state | Bangor Daily News

Bangor crime rate highest in the state | Bangor Daily News.