I must be the latter for continuing to buy and read the thing; however, that is/was the whole purpose of this blog: to show YOU, the beloved reader, what my fellow citizens and I are receiving for news in my little corner of the world.
It is up to YOU, dear readers, to decide if they have served me well.
"Shuttered sardine plant reopens as lobster processor" July 11, 2011|By Clarke Canfield, Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine - Maine lobstermen caught a record 94.7 million pounds last year, and industry officials want to process more of those lobsters in Maine instead of sending them to processing plants north of the border.
“We need to take control of the industry and take control of processing in Maine,’’ Bussone said. “To send 50 or 60 million pounds of lobsters to Canada each year is not the way to preserve the resource or jobs in Maine.’’
I'm not trying to be a wise guy or nuthin', but why were they going there in the first place?
When Bumble Bee LLC closed the plant in April 2010, it cost 130 people their jobs and marked the end of Maine’s long sardine-processing era. For 135 years, sardine canneries were a vital part of the state’s coastal communities, employing thousands of workers who put out billions of sardine tins over the years.
It’s been estimated that more than 400 canneries came and went in Maine. Output peaked at 384 million cans in 1950, but production then declined and plants went by the wayside.
The sardine industry in Maine is the story of AmeriKa.
Live Lobster, which is based in Chelsea, Mass., completed its purchase of the Stinson plant in January. The reopening has been slow in coming, and the plant is still awaiting arrival of holding tanks and freezing and processing equipment....
But with the Globe fishing around for any positive economic story to promote....
--more--"
"Maine’s loon count may have slipped; 3 N.E. states to tally population" by Clarke Canfield, Associated Press / July 14, 2011
PORTLAND, Maine - Maine’s loon tally could go down this year, because of the wet spring, following last year’s record numbers....
Wet, and thus contradictory cool.
While the state’s adult loon population has been growing, the number of loon chicks has been holding flat, yo-yoing between 150 and 400 over the years. There could be any number of reasons why the adult population has been going up while the chick numbers have not, said Susan Gallo, Audubon’s staff wildlife biologist.
“It’s a mystery,’’ she said.
The loon and its loud wailing cry are often associated with the wilds of Maine. The iconic bird is on the state’s conservation license plate....
--more--"
Is it louder than a train horn?
"1 dead in crash of train, truck in Maine; Most Downeaster passengers unhurt" by July 12, 2011|By John M. Guilfoil and Martine Powers, Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent
NORTH BERWICK, Maine - An Amtrak Downeaster train crashed into a trash-hauling truck that had gone past a crossing gate yesterday, causing a fiery wreck that killed the truck driver and injured some passengers on the Portland-bound train.
North Berwick Town Manager Dwayne Morin said yesterday that the crash of Train 681 occurred at the railroad crossing at Elm Street, which is also Route 4, in the southern Maine town around 11 a.m.....
Train passenger Mark Monti, 51, of Cambridge, Mass., said he was headed for a day on the beach when he heard the train whistle sound and then felt the impact of the crash.
“I felt a big hard jolt, but it was nothing that would throw people all over,’’ Monti said. “After we heard the impact, everyone was a bit shaken.’’
When police arrived at the scene, the truck’s trailer was enveloped in flames and black smoke, lying on its side in a ditch, next to the tracks. The cab was in pieces. Trash was strewn about the tracks....
--more--"
Related: Questions remain on why truck in train crash didn’t stop
Also see: Celebrating AmeriKa: Landing in Maine
Landmarking Maine
At Home in Maine
I gotta keep moving.
