Employer: Detainee from Maine said he knew bomb suspect | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Employer: Detainee said he knew bomb suspect | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram.

New law clears way for all Maine children to be vaccinated | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

New state law clears way for all children to be vaccinated | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram.

Coffeehouse observation No. 126

A woman just sat down at the table next to me. Tattoos on her shoulder and both her cheeks are pierced. Is that something new? She is the second woman in about a week and a half who has come into the coffeehouse with studs in her cheeks. Oh, and the one today is wearing a yellow strapless top that she keeps having to, um, adjust.

Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.

 

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State revenues exceeded estimates again | Maine Public Broadcasting Network

State revenues exceeded estimates again | Maine Public Broadcasting Network

Maine GOP apologizes for convention incident | Bangor Daily News

Maine GOP apologizes for convention incident – Bangor Daily News.

Maine soldiers make Bangor stop before deployment | Bangor Daily News

Maine soldiers make Bangor stop before deployment – Bangor Daily News.

Salmon released in Branch Lake for first time in a decade | Bangor Daily News

Salmon released in Branch Lake for first time in a decade – Bangor Daily News.

Get thee to Westbrook: Fancy a bit of the Bard? | Portland Press Herald

Acorn Productions hosts Shakespeare Festival

this weekend and next at Riverbank Park

If you fell asleep in English class when your teacher made you read “Macbeth,” well, fie upon thee.

Away, I say.

Get thee hence to Westbrook’s Riverbank Park, where methinks you’ll find redemption at the Westbrook Shakespeare Festival. This weekend and next, the Naked Shakespeare company, presented by Acorn Productions, will hold outdoor performances of “As You Like It” and “Romeo and Juliet” in the park.

But soft! There is more, my liege.

The plays are free (verily, donations will be accepted), and will include a musical prologue featuring a guitar and mandolin playing music contemporary to Shakespeare.

The audience is welcome to bring a picnic or buy a boxed dinner from Blue Burrito, which is preparing food especially for the event. Other local restaurants, including Portland Pie Co. and the Frog and Turtle, will be offering specials afterward.

Click on the link for the rest of this story by Meredith Goad in the Portland Press Herald.

Call it class struggle: How politics went too far at a Maine school | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

[I’d like to say I’m surprised by the so-called adults who showed extremely bad manners while they were very temporary guests in the classroom in question, but more often than not, politicians take the low road. — KM]

Nemitz: Call it class struggle: How politics went too far at a Maine school | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Energy week’s second wind | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Energy week’s second wind | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram.

Coffeehouse observation No. 125

I am at the coffeehouse sitting next to a gray-haired woman with “U.S. Census Bureau” on her briefcase. She’s fumbling around attempting to text on her cell phone and not doing a particularly good job at it. I sure hope she’s better counting than she is texting.

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Coffeehouse observation No. 124

Arrived at the coffeehouse early for a change. Still didn’t help me get done what I wanted to get done. Need more coffee.

Go to Coffeehouse Observer for more coffeehouse observations.

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Frost hits Maine’s berry and apple crops | Bangor Daily News

Frost hits Maine’s berry and apple crops | Bangor Daily News

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Mainers call for an end to offshore drilling | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Mainers call for an end to offshore drilling | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram.

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Lewiston church group returns from mission trip to Haiti | Lewiston Sun Journal

LEWISTON — For two days after he returned from Haiti, Peter Geiger had trouble talking about his experience.

It was too emotional. Too intense. Simply too difficult to put into words.

“It was overwhelming,” he said.

Geiger had spent days as part of a rubble brigade, passing one bucket of debris after another down a line of volunteers working in 100-degree heat to clear a collapsed building that once housed a church and school. He had walked through the streets of a neighborhood built on trash, its water tainted brown. He had handed out soccer balls to children whose last play area was a sewer.

“Until you’re physically down there and you see it, smell it, hear it, it’s hard to describe,” Geiger said. “I knew it would be an emotional experience, but I didn’t realize, particularly until I came back, how emotionally I was affected by it. I’ve always been passionate about helping people, but this is a whole other level of need.”

Click on the link for the rest of today’s story by Lindsay Tice in the Lewiston Sun Journal. The story is accompanied by photos and video.

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Unveiling of climate bill will include offshore drilling clauses | SustainableBusiness.com News

The long-awaited climate change bill is due to be unveiled in the U.S. Senate today. But a summary of the bill circulated in the media yesterday.

The Associated Press reported that under the new bill, coastal states could veto offshore drilling plans of nearby states, if they can prove negative impacts from an accident. 

This clause is undoubtedly part of last-minute changes made in response to the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf. 

Click on the lick for the rest of this story on SustainableBusiness.com.

Poll: Gulf spill influences public’s desire for clean energy legislation | SustainableBusiness.com News

Seven in ten Americans say clean energy legislation must be fast-tracked in the wake of the catastrophic Gulf oil spill, according to a new Natural Resources Defense Council poll.

In addition, two-thirds want all new offshore drilling delayed pending the outcome of a full and independent investigation into the disaster and the implementation of new safeguards to protect against such debacles in the future.

The survey queried 803 registered voters nationwide May 4-6, and suggests that the public – if not Congress–is ready to support reasonable climate change and energy legislation.

“It’s no surprise to me that Americans watching this ghastly disaster unfold are seeing it as a wake-up call for action we urgently need to take,” NRDC Director of Programs Wesley Warren said. “Now is the time for Washington to give America the change in direction it deserves.”

Click on the lick for the rest of this story on SustainableBusiness.com.

Coffeehouse observation No. 123

Rudeness sucks. And a person can be educated and rude. A local educator is sitting at the coffeehouse table next to me and she is conducting a web-conference and is speaking very loudly into the microphone of her headset. This has to breach some sort of coffeehouse etiquette, especially in a coffeehouse frequented by students trying to study. And to boot, the Bluetooth on her computer seems to interfere with mine so I’m about to shove her headset down her throat to my elbow. … OK, perhaps I’ll just work off line and turn on Autoslave (with headphones) to drown out her side of the webconference

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Maine is more than half unorganized

Today’s DownEast.com trivia question is fun. It is about “unorganized territory” or UT. I used to camp, fish, and canoe in some of that UT. It is essentially and specifically and eternally Maine.

 What is “unorganized territory” and how much of it does Maine have?

Answer:

The UT is land outside the boundaries of organized towns or cities, and is predominately found in the sparsely populated North Woods. The UT includes 16,250 square miles, or some 10.4 million acres, of the state’s 30,862 square miles, more than half the state.

Picture is worth a 1,000 words – or just under $200

I finally dove into digital photography.

Sort of.

I’ve been without a camera for a quite a while. Well, that’s not exactly true. I still have two 35-mm film cameras – a Canon single-lens reflex camera and a Pentax.

But who shots film anymore? Not many people.

And ever since I started the Letters From Away blog, I’ve wanted to include photos to illustrate some of the things I’ve written about.

I’ve been thinking about getting a camera for a while, but I’m still unemployed and funds being what they are, I have been putting it off.

Finally, I gave in and picked up a Canon PowerShot A1300 IS at Best Buy. I know, I know, it is a very basic camera. But it will do what I need it to do until I can get a job and can pad my bank accounts and buy a better camera.

The package I purchased for a bit under than $200 included the camera, wrist strap, battery, charger, cables to connect the camera to the computer and another to connect it to a TV, software, a 4G memory card, carrying bag, and Flexpod gripper tripod. I figured it was worth putting on a credit card in order to put more photos on Letters From Away.

So, expect more photos. Some will be good. Some will be, well, not so good.

Also, if any reader has a photo of Maine or Mainers or taken by Mainers and you’d like it to have a little play, please forward it to me and I’ll put it up on this blog. Don’t forget to give me your full name, your connection to Maine, and a bit of information so that I can write a cutline to go with it.

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