The rumors are true: The Lost Kitchen, the acclaimed locavore restaurant opened by Chef Erin French in late 2011 in downtown Belfast has officially closed it doors. Almost immediately, however, another restaurant has sprung up to take its place: The Gothic, which will offer locally inspired food and drink on, is set to open Friday, June 7. Even more tantalizingly, chef Matthew Kenney, a Searsport native and part-time Belfast resident who is internationally renowned for his take on raw and vegan food, will be the one opening The Gothic – named for the old coffee shop that was located at 108 Main St. until the mid-2000s. Kenney, who owns two restaurants in Santa Monica, CA and Miami, and who has written ten cookbooks, will offer a mix of raw foods, vegan and non-vegan dishes, and artisanal cocktails at his new eatery. (read more at Bangor Daily News)
First it took Maine colleges and universities by storm, then it quickly spread to the high school level. Now the flying-disc game originally called ultimate Frisbee is taking off at middle schools across the state. The popularity of the freewheeling sport was obvious Sunday in Cumberland, where a dozen high school teams from Maine and New Hampshire and a half-dozen Maine middle school teams took over the Cumberland Fairgrounds for the Cumberland Ultimate Invitational tournament. An enthusiastic crowd of parents cheered on the sidelines as teams rushed up and down the fields in the rain. “It is the best thing that has ever happened since sliced bread,” said Peggy Pisini, whose daughter, Kat, is captain of the Cumberland Ultimate high school team. Invented in 1968, ultimate combines the skills of soccer and football with some lacrosse thrown in. The teams are coed, play seven on each side and score points when the plastic disc is caught in the end zone, a 20-by-40-foot rectangle at each end of the field. (read more at Portland Press Herald)
RANGELEY — Searchers returned empty-handed Thursday after resuming their search for three snowmobilers missing in Rangeley Lake since winter. Throughout the day, Rangeley residents gathered in small groups at the bars and restaurants, along the lake and on the sidewalks, asking each other whether any of the bodies had been found. Cheryl Burkee, a server at Parkside & Main restaurant, said the residents want the family of the missing men to get a sense of finality after their ordeal, which has so far lasted just over four months. “We feel for the families and that they haven’t had closure,” she said. The search by the Maine Warden Service began Tuesday with the use of sonar in the area where the snowmobilers are thought to have fallen into open water on the partially frozen lake in late December. (read more at Kennebec Journal)
Greenwood selectmen and Planning Board officials recently discussed ideas for a proposed wind power ordinance to be crafted for a vote next year. Plans originally called for an ordinance proposal from the Planning Board for next month’s annual town meeting, but selectmen earlier this month decided to postpone it to allow more research and to study Woodstock’s recently-approved wind ordinance. Planning Board Chair Dave Brainard and Vice-Chair Larry Merloni offered some thoughts on how to proceed. Merloni expressed concern that an ordinance that is too restrictive might prompt lawsuits from a wind company wanting to develop a project. Woodstock’s ordinance requires a one-mile setback from neighboring property lines to minimize noise, which is the most common wind turbine-related complaint. Merloni said setbacks of that magnitude could be “a recipe for disaster.” (read more at Bethel Citizen)
PORTLAND, Maine — Portland city officials are hoping to finally overcome the century-old ailments that stripped the Forest City of some its most prominent trees. The latest and perhaps most high-profile step in the fight back came as Portland became one of the first to plant the latest version of blight-resistant American chestnut trees, the results of 30 years of backcross breeding and more than $30 million in nationwide research, according to the city. American chestnut trees were nearly wiped out by an Asian bark fungus introduced to the country in 1904, and scientists have spent much of the last century trying — until recently with little success — to proliferate trees immune to the blight. “What was once a plentiful tree has all but disappeared,” said Portland city arborist Jeffrey Tarling. “There are just a handful left.” (read more at Bangor Daily News)
PORTLAND — The Island Times, a 10-year-old, monthly community newspaper covering Peaks Island and other Casco Bay islands, is ceasing operation, publisher Kevin Attra announced last week. Shrinking ad revenue, distribution and readership accounted for Attra’s decision to close, he wrote in the free newspaper’s final issue. “(The Island Times) was quite self-sustaining until last year, when ad revenue started disappearing,” Attra said on Sunday. He noted that the paper was “an all-volunteer enterprise” with about a dozen people helping. Revenue was used to cover printing costs and other operating expenses. “Several large ads dropped out … some regulars stopped paying as well,” Attra said. “Then I also noticed circulation was shrinking. People just weren’t reading it.” Circulation usually ranged from 3,000 during off-seasons to 5,000 during the summer, according to Attra. He printed just 2,000 copies of the 12-page final issue. “It was a bittersweet moment when I sent the last file to the printer,” he said. A carpenter, environmental chemist, musician, and since 2007, a Peaks Island resident, Attra began writing for The Island Times as a volunteer without previous journalism experience. He took over as publisher after co-founders Mary Lou Wendell and David Tyler left the paper in 2008. (read more at The Forecaster)
The best Maine has to offer its many visitors is often summed as “lobsters and lighthouses,” and according to the thousands of tourists and residents alike who go up and down the coastline to view the latter, that statement is at least half right. For our complete online lighthouse guide, click here. According to the Maine Geological Survey, the state has 3,478 miles of tidal-influenced shoreline, counting all the nooks and crannies that form the coast from Kittery to Calais. Before the time of advanced instruments, that coastline was protected by lighthouses, 65 in all, from Whaleback Light at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, to Whitlock’s Mill Light on the south side of the St. Croix River. (read more at Keep Me Current)
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is reminding all hunters that the deadline to apply for the 2013 Maine Moose Permit Lottery is less than three weeks away. Prospective moose hunters have until 11:59 p.m. on May 14 to apply for the permit lottery online. Go to www.mefishwildlife.com to see the online application. This year, 4,110 permits will be awarded, up from 3,725 permits last year. (read more at Wiscasset Newspaper)
The Lady Wolverines softball team is still looking for its first win of the season after losing to Lisbon and Telstar this week. On Friday, April 19, it looked as if Wiscasset was going to win. The Wolverines jumped out to an early 6-1 lead over Lisbon. But giving some pitching experience to new pitchers proved unsuccessful and the Greyhounds beat Wiscasset, 19-9. With the lead, Coach Claire Daniels gave Abby Dunn the ball in the third and Dunn gave up five runs. Megan Corson retook the mound sent the Greyhounds down in order in the fourth inning. Daniels made her fourth pitching change in the game and put Heidi Pinkham on the mound in the fifth inning and then gave Corson the ball again in the same inning. (read more at Wiscasset Newspaper)
AUBURN — Compounding structural problems with the St. Louis Catholic Church have led church officials to recommend to the bishop that the 1905 building at 80 Third St. be deconsecrated and razed. At a Sunday meeting at Sacred Heart Church in Auburn, parishioners of both churches filled the downstairs in anticipation of hearing what will become of St. Louis Church. Pam Vaillancourt of Auburn, a member of Sacred Heart who went to the meeting as a show of support, said, “We’re just here to support them. It’s their home.” It was a sentiment throughout the room as people met, hugged and hoped for the best. Those hopeful feelings faded when, in his opening prayer, Father Richard McLaughlin quoted from Ecclesiastes: “To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” McLaughlin likened the assessment of St. Louis to an elderly relative going to the doctor and finding out there is something seriously wrong with them. As more tests come back, the prognosis gets worse. He likened St. Louis’ condition to one of a pervasive illness. (read more at Lewiston Sun Journal)
The rumors are true: The Lost Kitchen, the acclaimed locavore restaurant opened by Chef Erin French in late 2011 in downtown Belfast has officially closed it doors. Almost immediately, however, another restaurant has sprung up to take its place: The Gothic, which will offer locally inspired food and drink on, is set to open Friday, June 7. Even more tantalizingly, chef Matthew Kenney, a Searsport native and part-time Belfast resident who is internationally renowned for his take on raw and vegan food, will be the one opening The Gothic – named for the old coffee shop that was located at 108 Main St. until the mid-2000s. Kenney, who owns two restaurants in Santa Monica, CA and Miami, and who has written ten cookbooks, will offer a mix of raw foods, vegan and non-vegan dishes, and artisanal cocktails at his new eatery. (read more at Bangor Daily News)
