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Maine Dispatches

Opinions, advisories, and musings from the length and breadth of Maine

Boothbay Harbor

Former Maine governor Paul LePage got a summer job tending bar at McSeagull’s, the waterfront restaurant where his wife, Ann, waits tables. Customers wondered, would his pours be more liberal than his politics?

Brunswick

“You got to be spontaneous,” U.S. Senator Angus King said, after his flight from DC to Portland was cancelled. King and four similarly stranded strangers rented a car and drove in shifts through the night. He reached his Brunswick home at 6 a.m., then took a nap.

 

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Road Trip!! So, the flight from Washington to Maine was cancelled (after we sat on the runway for over an hour). I was going to try to make a later flight, which may or may not have made it out, when I ran into this crew who had decided to forget the airlines, rent a car, and drive through the night to Maine. I signed on on the spot, and here we are just north of Baltimore headed to an early-morning arrival in Portland. Two software engineers, a college professor, a lawyer, and a U.S. Senator—what could possibly go wrong? Left to right, Rebecca Gibbons, Ramon Krikken, his own self, Matt Dusoe, and Tim Schneider. Takes me back—sharing the driving, trying to find music everyone likes, and chipping for gas. Hey Maine, see you in the morning! #roadtrip #interstate95 #cancelledflight. UPDATE—11:55 and we’re on the George Washington Bridge; GPS says landfall in Maine should be about 4:00 AM. Like I said, see you in the morning! UPDATE 2—Portland! Made into Maine a little after 4:00 AM; home stretch (literally)! UPDATE 3 (Final) Home, Safe and sound. I took the last driving shift (wanted to be behind the wheel when we entered Maine), and hit Brunswick about 6:00. Thanks to our fun crew for including me and to all of you who wished us safe travels; now for a couple of hours sleep; g’night (or actually) g’day!

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Newport

Firefighters deployed their ladder truck to rescue a barred owl perched in a tree, tangled in fishing line. Soon after they brought it down, the exhausted but healthy bird was released.

Bar Harbor

Peter Alley, a custodian at the local K–8 school, won $500,000 on a scratch ticket. A year and a half earlier, he won $100,000 on a scratch ticket. His odds? One in 137,143 and one in 264,000, respectively.

Westbrook

The Walking Man, a big metal cut-out of a television repairman, landed on the National Register of Historic Places. Repair-shop owner Al Hawkes installed the Route 302 landmark in 1962. It was one of the state’s first mechanical, moving signs.

Calais

Mike Bravener, an Elvis impersonator from New Brunswick, was all shook up after U.S. border agents denied him entry en route to perform at Eastport’s joint Fourth of July–Canada Day celebration. At issue was proper paperwork for his $500 honorarium.