Speedy work by firefighters contains blaze at private art gallery
Fast and strategic work by firefighters kept a blaze that had been growing inside a private art gallery from roaring out of control Saturday evening off Basin Point Road.
Bench dust-up surfaces tensions in Giant’s Stairs neighborhood
Ruby Pinders grew up in Maine, spent years building a business with her husband in Vermont, and then came home. As her 77th birthday approached this summer, she traveled to the Giant's Stairs on Bailey Island to walk beside familiar waters.
Fire chiefs: Town should hire overnight crews to fight midnight blazes
A shortage of volunteers responding to nighttime fires has the leaders of Harpswell's three community departments saying it's time for the town — and taxpayers — to fund 24/7 coverage by paid town firefighters.
Town and vendor may divide cost of $190K cyberfraud
Lawyers for the town and a vendor caught up in a six-figure scam are negotiating a settlement that would have the two parties splitting the cost of money lost in the fraud, Select Board Chair Kevin Johnson said in an interview on Monday, Aug. 16.
Harpswell raccoon tests positive for rabies
A raccoon tested positive for rabies in Harpswell on Wednesday, Aug. 12, prompting state health officials to warn residents to take precautions to avoid contracting the potentially fatal illness.
Harpswell cuts tax rate as revaluation shows 49% hike in property values
The taxable value of Harpswell's residential and commercial properties rose 49% in the first townwide reappraisal in two decades, but town leaders say that doesn't automatically mean higher tax bills.
First Person: ‘My job is to show up. God does the rest’
"Did I always want to be a priest? It's an unfortunate answer, but it shows God has a sense of humor — and knows what he's doing. I was going to Seton Hall University on a track scholarship. It's a Division I school, so I was pretty fast. I went to the weight room, went to the workouts. The one thing I wasn't going to was the classes."
Driver charged in Orr’s Island fatality had long history of OUIs, drug use — and kept driving for months after crash
The husband of an Orr's Island grandmother who died in a January crash — and the first responders who tried to save her — are asking why the driver accused of killing her was on the road at the time of the crash and for months afterward, despite a record of impaired driving and drug possession.
Purple shark warning flags to fly all season
After a fisherman spotted a shark swimming near Bailey Island's Cedar Beach in late June, Harpswell town officials raised a purple caution flag alerting beachgoers to the potential risk. But rather than continue to raise and lower warning flags at this and other swimming spots as shark sightings occur, they've decided to keep them up throughout the summer tourist season.
First Person: ‘I’ll walk down the street proudly and speak up when I need to’
"I grew up in Brunswick, but I've always come to Harpswell. This was the place we would take people from out of state because it's so beautiful. During the pandemic, Harpswell got gentrified. But when my girlfriend and I decided to move in together three years ago, we found an affordable apartment on Orr's Island. Our landlord had bought the property and lowered the rental rate for locals, people who would benefit from the community."
