Maine House votes in favor of marriage equality, 89-57. In the process, Rep. Sheryl Briggs reveals that she cannot vote for the bill, despite the fact that her daughter is a lesbian. No word yet as to whether Governor John Baldacci will sign the legislation, but a campaign for a People's Veto is already underway.
posted by hermitosis on May 5, 2009 - 175 comments

So you go to be spaceman. If the space race had taken a few different turns, we might have ended up with a historical exhibit that looked like the one cooked up by the American Dream Technical Institute. [more inside]
posted by mikepop on Mar 18, 2009 - 6 comments

For your listening pleasure... the soothing sounds of Crank Sturgeon. [more inside]
posted by geos on Feb 25, 2009 - 38 comments

Science & technology funding has an enormous long term impact on the economy, a fact that has not escaped China. Yet, Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have proposed cutting all National Science Foundation and Department of Energy Office of Science funding from the Senate American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, along with almost all other proposed funding of the sciences and technological development, as a part of a $77.9B reduction effort. Why? Well, you'll notice that Nebraska & Maine don't contribute much to science & technology in the United States, nor win many grants, and hence no bacon for Nelson and Collins. [more inside]
posted by jeffburdges on Feb 6, 2009 - 86 comments

The story of Benjamin Darling and his descendants begins with a dramatic shipwreck and ends, generations later, in a dark moment of human injustice [more inside]
posted by Foam Pants on Oct 23, 2008 - 5 comments

Dick Stacey's Country Jamboree is now available on DVD/CD after years of slowly fading into obscurity. "I was wrong in thinking the Jamboree was a thing of the past," said Dick Stacey, a man whose three gas stations and motel took over sponsoring this uniquely Maine talent showcase on a whim in 1973—and ended up lasting just over a decade. [more inside]
posted by boost ventilator on Sep 3, 2008 - 7 comments

"Are ice cream trucks sacred like fresh apple pie and high school football or are they unwelcome nuisances we tolerate?" You can weigh in here.
posted by Mayor Curley on May 5, 2008 - 70 comments

Mounted 70 feet up in a white pine tree on the coast of Maine, the BioDiversity Research Institute's live eagle webcam provides, "live video of a nesting pair of bald eagles, 24 hours a day. These eagles are the most successful pair in the state. They have nested at this site for 13 years, and raised 20 offspring." Warning: the live stream can be habit forming (especially when waiting for the eggs to hatch).
posted by VicNebulous on Mar 27, 2008 - 14 comments

Meet Billy the kid, an outsider growing up in small-town Maine.
posted by JPowers on Jan 5, 2008 - 18 comments

Northeast Historic Film is the best of quirky Maine. They archive home movies, collect postcards of New England movie houses, and study depictions of New England in major films. Browsing the list of collections is tantalizing; if only some of these were available as clips or on YouTube. They're one of many archives preserving home movies. Also.
posted by Miko on Oct 23, 2007 - 9 comments

"...it looks like the dad's selling the tickets, the boy's complaining about something, and the mom and girl are extremely disinterested." If you liked Ted Bates, you'll love the Portland Sea Dogs. Quoth King Kaufman: "The hilarious part of the controversy is the statue itself, which is funnier than Spinal Tap's Stonehenge. It's that bad."
posted by staggernation on Apr 10, 2007 - 54 comments

Fight the Powah! Small-town Maine teens set off bombs at their local Wal-Mart. Maybe they were hopped up on Skowhegan Martinis. Perhaps they wouldn't have been so angry if The Revolution had happened.
posted by Mayor Curley on Nov 27, 2006 - 38 comments

At forty miles (64.4 km) from Pluto to Sun, the Maine Solar System Model is the largest complete three-dimensional scale model of the solar system in the world. What, you didn't know there was more than one? And yes, Pluto is staying put.
posted by jessamyn on Sep 4, 2006 - 29 comments

A coyote raised on Moxie and Allen's. Maine's chupacabra dead at 25. Finally done in by a bondo covered El Camino SS (poster speculation on car type and quality).
posted by Mayor Curley on Aug 16, 2006 - 24 comments

Start or stop Atlantica. [via CBC]
posted by boost ventilator on Jun 11, 2006 - 30 comments

Rough draft or a copy made by a Da Vinci acolyte? A painting entitled, "La Gioconda" which bears a striking resemblence to this one hangs in the distinctly non-Parisian Portland Museum of Art (Portland, Maine). Technical studies indicate that it was painted in 1510 (3-7 years after the orignal Mona Lisa). The Portland museum recently decided to re-display the painting [NB: link to public radio story] (having last hauled it out of the basement when the book came out).
posted by scblackman on Jun 3, 2006 - 17 comments

Maine's favorite drink is Allen's Coffee Brandy and milk. No, really, it is Maine's favorite drink. Let's go get a sombrero, brother!
posted by Mayor Curley on Jan 10, 2006 - 26 comments

Old lady versus bobcat. Old lady wins. Don't mess with Maine's rural elderly-- Mildred's a badass.
posted by Mayor Curley on Apr 19, 2005 - 22 comments

Maine is an exciting place for children.
posted by Mayor Curley on Mar 8, 2005 - 24 comments

Palaverous Diatribe on the ethics of lobster consumption by the equally equanimous David Foster Wallace.
posted by svenvog on Dec 9, 2004 - 55 comments

"The principle issue is the federal government's total disregard of local government," said Gerald Cayer, director of Portland's Department of Health and Human Services. "It's the Department of Homeland Security not appreciating other levels of government as they go through their work." The feds take 5 Honduran nationals from a jail in Bangor, Maine, where they've been held since Sept. 27, and without any notice to local health or law enforcement officials, drop the men off this week at a homeless shelter 2 hours south in Portland. When he asked whether the city would be reimbursed by the federal government for providing services to the men, Cayer said, he was told that the department did not have the money for that.
posted by damn yankee on Nov 18, 2004 - 15 comments

The Great Bear in Maine.
posted by homunculus on Oct 28, 2004 - 3 comments

It's that time of year - time for thru-hikers to start the Appalachian Trail! Last year, over 1700 hikers started the hike with only 352 completing the 2,200 mile walk from Springer Mtn, Georgia to Katahdin, Maine. Given that walking the AT takes about six months, most hikers start in March and April so they can finish before winter sets in. With town spread out along the trail, many hikers keep online journals - probably some of the few blogs where what you had for breakfast and what the weather was like make for interesting topics.
posted by borkus on Feb 29, 2004 - 23 comments

6000 breathtaking aerial photos of American towns and other sites, with particularly good coverage of towns in New England (MA, VT, CT, NH, RI, ME). All of this by one photographer, Joseph Melanson, whose mission in life is "to show you facets of your environment that you never realized no matter how long you lived there."
posted by dougb on Aug 6, 2003 - 23 comments

Mt. Moosilauke. Folklore and stories around a mountain in New Hampshire, with a nice interactive map.
Related interest :- Nos Histoires de L'Ile, historical photographs of a French community in Maine.
posted by plep on Apr 16, 2003 - 2 comments

Laptops transform learning for 7th graders in rural Maine : It "was more controversial than abortion, gay rights or even clear cutting," said former Gov. Angus King. But "Just six months after Maine began a controversial [and first in the nation] program to provide laptop computers to every seventh grader in the state, educators are impressed by how quickly students and teachers have adapted to laptop technology."(NYT)
posted by troutfishing on Mar 11, 2003 - 17 comments

Got Sprawl? This story from Maine’s Portland Press Herald about a rich widow “from away” (as we say) who wants to build a high-end subdivision on her land in scenic Falmouth against objections from the Town Council -- which is citing her property as the most valuable undeveloped tract in the town -- illustrates on a very human level (complete with affluent in-family spats) what rural towns in New England and the rest of the country feel is at stake in their fight against unplanned development. (more inside)
posted by damn yankee on Mar 9, 2003 - 34 comments

Despite efforts to save it, the last major U.S. shirt manufacturing plant has closed. The Hathaway factory had been around since 1853 and had once produced shirts for the Union Army in the Civil War. Most of the 235 women let go had spent more than a decade working there. Cutting fabric and stitching garments was their marketable skill. Retraining isn't an option because these workers will have to find immediate employment. And if this hard reality isn't enough, to be eligible for severance pay, each worker must sign an nondisparagement agreement and promise not to hold Hathaway responsible for liabilities or damages. Why does free trade have to work this way?
posted by ed on Oct 22, 2002 - 47 comments

The Appalachian Trail is a continuous marked footpath that goes from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, a distance of about 2160 miles. It passes through 14 states and takes about 5 to 7 months to hike through. Hey, if a blind man could do it, so can you. If you are not actually up for hiking right this moment, you could always...(more inside)
posted by Secret Life of Gravy on Oct 8, 2002 - 22 comments

"To this day, the illustrations march right off the page" describes a rare book published in 1493 found in a Maine farmhouse. The book is illustrated with more than 1,800 exquisite pictures made from woodcuts. Where will they find my rare digital photo in 500 years and will they say "it marches off the CD-ROM" or "data-error.. should have used wood block"
posted by stbalbach on Mar 10, 2002 - 5 comments

Maine man escapes from prison by having another man trade places with him while out on work-release. The next night he gets into a bar fight and is arrested, by some rather confused cops.
posted by damn yankee on Feb 28, 2002 - 7 comments

The National Toboggan Championships will be held this coming weekend in Camden, Maine. As a past resident of the area I can say that this event, and toboggan runs in general, are a blast. Read About or Listen to (about 40 minutes into the Real Audio File), descriptions of the event.

Any toboggan runs or similarly impressive downhill snow events in your neck of the woods?
posted by dhacker on Jan 30, 2002 - 10 comments

Maine man hits moose at high speed on I-95, three other people die. Once again, the Wheel of Fate is a steering wheel, and the story a warning to all Good Samaritans out there.
posted by lelilo on Dec 19, 2001 - 19 comments

Advice for Maine: Piss poor education technology planning yields piss poor results. Is anyone aware of a large scale "computer per student" education initiative that has worked well? Teachers still need better wages don't they? (more inside)
posted by machaus on Dec 3, 2001 - 16 comments

Murder on Swan's Island Not a Stephen King story or a Murder She Wrote episode, but a real tragedy in a real small town in Maine (not far from my home town) where the deaths of two people change the lives of an entire community forever. It set me thinking ... how would this story be different if set in Boston, or LA, or London? Would the pain and loss for those who knew Jamie and Stacy be the same? Or is it magnified by the close-knit family that makes up a rural island township?
posted by anastasiav on Jul 29, 2001 - 4 comments

Great, but will it work in larger states? "Maine’s Clean Election Law goes into effect for the 2002 governor’s race, establishing public financing for candidates. Political observers are beginning to realize it may cause a revolution. " A green governor? I almost feel ... Canadian.
posted by foist on Mar 13, 2001 - 6 comments

Liar, Liar
If you can explane away the DUI (DWI, OUI) arrest, then you will have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Bush used his family's power and influence to first restore his Maine license on 7/25/78, in the middle of his Congressional campaign. Then, 15 years later had his Maine driving record updated with "violation free credits" on 12/31/93 at right around the time Bush was gearing up to run for Governor of Texas. Read more here.
posted by DragonBoy on Nov 3, 2000 - 11 comments

George Bush DUI in Maine. Impregnates a 15 year old girl, caught drunk driving in Maine - are there any laws he hasn't broken?
posted by kristin on Nov 2, 2000 - 22 comments