Stuff about me
My name is Keith Michaud and this is “Letters From Away,” a blog written by a Mainer living outside the comfortable and sane confines of New England. The blog is intended for Mainers, whether they live in the Pine Tree State or beyond, and for anyone who has loved ’em, been baffled by ’em or both. Ayuh, I am “from away.” Worse still, I live on the Left Coast – in California. Enjoy! Or not. Your choice.
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Category Archives: Maine
Maine plant ships canned meat to Haiti
Posted in Disaster, Food and Drink, Maine
Tagged aid, B&G Foods, B&M Backed Beans, earthquake, Haiti, Portland, relief, Stop Hunger Now
Baldacci strikes the ‘right tone’ for tough times, observers say
Many lawmakers and observers said Thursday that Gov. John Baldacci’s final State of the State speech struck the right balance for uncertain times.
“I thought he hit the right tone,” said Rep. Patricia Sutherland, D-Chapman. “He was realistic, with some hope. I think Maine people are ‘cut-to-the-chase’ people, and would accept nothing less from the governor.”
Baldacci highlighted achievements of his seven years in office as well as plans for the future, particularly in the areas of renewable energy, government efficiency, education and forest conservation.
Click here to read the rest of “Baldacci strikes the ‘right tone’ for tough times, observers say” by the Kennebec Journal’s Ethan Wilensky-Lanford.
And click here to read the prepared text of Gov. John Baldacci’s final State of the State speech.
Posted in Economy, Environment, Maine
Tagged 2010 State of the State, government, John Baldacci, Maine
More dispatches about Mainers helping Haiti quake victims
Here is a link to more “reporter’s notebook” items from the MaineToday Media crew writing from and about Haiti.
Posted in Disaster, Journalism, Maine, News and Newspapers, Newspapers
Tagged aid, eaqrthquake, Haiti, Mainers, relief, reporter's notebook
This time Mainer’s not hunting treasure, he’s delivering it – to Haiti
Normally when treasure hunter Greg Brooks embarks on his 220-foot ship Sea Hunter, he’s not 100 percent sure what he’s going to find.
Not so this time.
“I love the people of Haiti and I know that they’re suffering,” Brooks said Thursday. “Because of this tragedy, everybody’s willing to give to Haiti. I can transport the stuff they want to give.”
And then some.
Click here to get the rest of “This time Mainer’s not hunting treasure, he’s delivering it – to Haiti” by Portland Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz.
Tagged aid, Bill Nemitz, earthquake, Greg Brooks, Haiti, Mainers, relief, Sea Hunter, treasure hunter
Time Warner: Calls to Haiti from Maine, NH to be free
Time Warner Cable today announced that all calls placed by its digital phone customers to Haiti will be free through February.
The program will be retroactive to Jan. 12. Calls to both landline and cellular telephones are included in this program. Time Warner Cable has over 100,000 digital phone subscribers in Maine and New Hampshire.
Customers who are making calls to Haiti during the eligible period do not need to make any changes in order to take advantage of this program. The program will cover any Time Warner Cable digital phone subscriber.
Click here to read the rest of this story.
Posted in Maine
Tagged aid, callls, earthquake, Haiti, phone, relief, Time Warner Cable
Mentor, Sullivan to perform in Maine for Haiti relief
UNITY – Opera singer Phillip Mentor and Grammy Award-winning Maine composer and pianist Paul Sullivan will perform a benefit concert for Haiti relief efforts at the Unity College Centre for the Performing Arts on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $10 per person with all proceeds to benefit Haiti relief efforts by the American Red Cross and Water Projects International. Tickets are available online at http://www.unitymaine.org/theater/, by calling 948-SHOW, or at http://www.unitymaine.org. The Unity College Centre for the Performing Arts is located at 42 Depot St. (off Route 202) in Unity.
Click here to read the rest of this story.
Here are links to purchase online tickets for the concert.
Maine telethon for Haiti relief may raise more than $100k
Konbit Sante Cap-Haitien Health Partnership is on track to raise more than $100,000 for its earthquake response fund by the end of the day.
By 2:45 p.m. (EST) the telethon sponsored by Portland city government and news station WGME had raised $25,000, which will be added to the $75,000 already raised for quake relief. The telethon continues to 6:30 p.m. Donors may call 482-5100 to make a pledge.
Click here to read the rest of this story.
Posted in Environment, Maine
Tagged Cap Haitien, earthquake, Konbit Sante, relief, WGME
Reporter’s Notebook | Portland Press Herald
Here’s another “reporter’s notebook” from the MaineToday Media covering the earthquake in Haiti.
Posted in Environment, Journalism, Maine, News and Newspapers, Newspapers
Tagged aid, earthquake, Haiti, MaineToday Media, Portland Press Herald, reporter's notebook
Making a difference for poorest of the poor
CAP HAITIEN, Haiti — The pickup jostled through craters in the dirt road, pushing farther into Petite Anse, a packed collection of tin shacks, squat cinder block homes and abandoned trucks on the outskirts of Cap Haitien.
The three women in the back climbed out as it stopped and headed down one long dirt path, toward an opening piled with mound after mound of densely compacted garbage.
They are part of a team of outreach workers who go into Cap Haitien’s poorest slums, working out of a health clinic at Fort Saint Michel and funded by Konbit Sante, a Portland-based nonprofit.
The clinic is one of only two that serve the devastatingly poor neighborhoods bordering Cap Haitien, offering maternity care, tuberculosis testing and treatment, prenatal care, emergency care and other services.
Traveling Wednesday into Petite Anse, which is built on refuse, the women walked across a causeway built up with old tires, dirt and trash that held back the fecal-contaminated pools of stagnant water.
Click on this link to the rest of “Making a difference for poorest of the poor” by Portland Press Herald staff writer Matt Wickenheiser.
Posted in Maine, Newspapers
Tagged aid, Cap Haitien, earthquake, Haiti, Konbit Sante
Maine coon cat rules
I was pretty sure I had the answer of the DownEast.com trivia question for the day.
What species of cat originated in Maine?
Answer
The Maine coon cat. The legendary feline was created by natural selection, the Maine climate, and a polyglot gene pool of cats brought back to Maine during the Age of Sail. It is the largest domestic cat in the book.
It is also the Maine state cart. Yes, the Maine state cat. Here’s what the Maine.gov site had on the Maine Coon Cat.
Maine Coon is regarded as a native of the state of Maine. Most Coon Cat breeders believe that the breed originated in matings between pre-existing shorthaired domestic cats and overseas longhairs (perhaps Angora types introduced by New England seamen, or longhairs brought to America by the Vikings).
Maine Coons were well established more than a century ago as a hardy, handsome breed of domestic cat, well equipped to survive the hostile New England winters.
Everything about the Maine Coon points to its adaptation to a harsh climate. Its glossy coat, heavy and water-resistant, is like that of no other breed, and must be felt to be appreciated. It is longer on the ruff, stomach and britches to protect against wet and snow, and shorter on the back and neck to guard against tangling in the underbrush. The coat falls smoothly. The long, bushy tail which the cat wraps around himself when he curls up to sleep can protect him from cold winters. His ears are more heavily furred (both inside and on the tips) than many breeds for protection from the cold, and have a large range of movement. Big, round, tufted feet serve as ‘snow shoes.’ Their large eyes and ears are also survival traits, serving to increase sight and hearing. The relatively long, square muzzle facilitates grasping prey and lapping water from streams and puddles.
Maine Coon Cats are tall, muscular, big-boned cats; males commonly reach 13 to 18 pounds, with females normally weighing about 9 to 12 pounds. Maine Coons don’t achieve their full size until they are three to five years old. Their voices set them apart from other cats; they have a distinctive, chirping trill.
For full disclosure, I am allergic to cats and think they are plotting to kill us all in our sleep. But the Maine Coon Cat is pretty cool. For a cat.
MaineToday Media’s landing page has much on Haiti
I was so busy the past couple of days passing along links from the home pages of Maine newspapers that I failed to take a look at the landing page set up on the Web site of MaineToday Media’s Portland Press Herald.
Here’s a link to the landing page or you can move from the Portland Press Herald’s home page by clicking on the icon showing a crying Haitian child and the text: “Haiti Quake: Mainers respond to catastrophe.”
That will bring you to a landing page with a multimedia presentation. There are local stories and commentary, wire stories, tweets, slideshows, and information on how to donate to the Haiti relief effort. It’s not a bad collection of what’s been written by MaineToday Media so far on the earthquake in Haiti.
The one thing it lacks – at least from a cursory standpoint – is video. But that is highly understandable under the circumstances; newspapers are not set up to broadcast video via satellite and getting a memory card to the mainland to be edited and sent to the MaineToday Media websites wouldn’t make sense. My hope is that the reporters and photographers – perhaps a videographer – are taking video so that can be added to the landing page later.
I’ll post other landing pages if I spot one by a non-MaineToday Media paper.
Posted in Environment, Journalism, Maine, News and Newspapers, Newspapers
Tagged aid, earthquake, Haiti, MaineToday Media, Portland Press Herald, relief
Lack of information slows efforts to aid quake refugees
CAP HAITIEN, Haiti — The numbers are slippery; information is hard to get a handle on.
According to Justinian Hospital’s medical director, the hospital saw 130 patients through the weekend who were earthquake victims. At the end of Tuesday, he didn’t have solid numbers for Monday or Tuesday.
There were reports that a gymnasium in the city was set up as a shelter for victims. There may be 300 people there. Or 1,500. Or nobody. And it’s unclear who’s in charge – if anyone is.
Amid the confusion, Nate Nickerson is trying to coordinate efforts to get aid – particularly U.S. medical personnel. Nickerson is executive director of Portland-based Konbit Sante, a nonprofit that has been working with partners to improve northern Haiti’s health care system at Justinian Hospital and at a clinic at Fort St. Michel, Cap Haitien’s poorest neighborhood.
Here’s a link to the rest of “Lack of information slows efforts to aid quake refugees” by the Portland Press Herald’s Matt Wickenheiser.
Posted in Environment, Journalism, Maine, News and Newspapers, Newspapers
Tagged aid, Cap Haitien, earthquake, Haiti, Konbit Sante, nonprofit
Letters From Away 