Features

Sarah Milner isn't sure when her journey as a writer began, but when she gained traction on her first novel — a "paranormal romance" set largely in Harpswell — she learned that every writer's journey is different and personal. Like many writers, she learned the hard way.

"My stepfather ran gas stations all his life. He was old style, where you'd go in and someone would pump your gas, check your oil, wash your windshield. When it was slow at the pumps, he'd show me how to work on the cars in the garage. Growing up, my friends and I had cars, and we'd do our own work."

The humanitarian crisis in Cuba may not resonate with Americans who feel whiplashed by conflicts and crises around the globe and at home. But one Harpswell woman who first crossed the 90 miles between Cuba and Florida years ago recently returned to help people whose basic necessities are disappearing under the U.S. oil embargo imposed in January.

Across Harpswell, more than a thousand private docks are being assembled and readied for summer recreation and commercial use.

The boathouse on Bailey Island is dark and cold. A couple of long, wooden kayaks coated in dust are pushed to the side behind a stack of lobster traps. Johnny Berchtold kneels in a pool of light, trying to ignite an old tin heater. He looks up and peers into threatening shadows, then turns his attention back to the task at hand.

In February, Freeport-based photographer Michelle Antoinette was mulling over ways to commemorate International Women's Day on March 8 when she received some inspiration from a friend.

A group of University of North Carolina students set out in 2022 to make a horror thriller called "The Harpswell Incident," which would have taken place in a spooky seaside town.

Kelley Hughes and Jill Jacobs, friends for nearly 20 years, sat on the floor behind the serving counter at Itty Bitty Coffee Shop, crying. They had fallen and couldn't get up.

As climate change continues to impact Harpswell's coast, a group of students has proposed creative solutions aimed at helping the community adapt and become more sustainable.