Sam Lemonick

September's algae bloom has faded from the waters around Harpswell, but harvesters and growers are still taking stock of the damage.

The Baxter State Park Authority is selling the Austin Cary Lot, a 228-acre woodlot on the north end of Great Island, to the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust for $100. The agreement gives a local organization control over a property whose distance from northern Maine made it difficult for the park to manage.

State Rep. Cheryl Golek is running for her third term representing Harpswell and eastern Brunswick as a Democrat. She lives on Harpswell Neck, where she and her partner run The Vicarage by the Sea, a residential care center for people with dementia.

Braeden Webber is challenging current state Rep. Cheryl Golek to represent Harpswell and eastern Brunswick as a Republican. He lives on Great Island and works at the Safe Harbor Great Island boatyard while also going to college and helping his grandfather operate the Webber & Sons lobster wharf.

Maine School Administrative District 75 has opened negotiations with the union that represents bus drivers and other support staff, a month after several drivers told the school board that low compensation relative to nearby districts is hampering efforts to hire and keep drivers.

Starting this winter, crews could begin a multiple-year process to try to reverse harmful effects of agriculture on Long Marsh. If the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust and its partners are successful, the salt marsh will provide more habitat for animals and be more resilient to rising sea levels.

It's not exactly trash to treasure, but an old landfill behind Harpswell's current Transfer Station could be the site of a solar array that powers several nearby municipal buildings.