There are moments in our communities here on the coast and islands when we local yokels get to have our say on big questions.

This fall, the Frenchboro School studied island history and ecology. As the makeshift social studies and science teacher at the two-student school, I tried to design lessons that would put the kids into the wildness of their island's past.

I was left with the impression that if something needed to be done, people in the community step up and do it.

A late-April ruling by the Maine State Ferry Service (MSFS) meant blood samples taken in island health care clinics could no longer be transported by ferry crews and captains. But after the May 7 meeting of the Ferry Advisory Board, the MSFS agreed to investigate how to comply with federal and other regulations regarding the practice.

ROCKLAND — Ferry captains and crew will no longer be able to carry blood samples to the mainland, a policy change that the director of Swan's Island's health clinic says will impact her ability to serve patients.

On a brisk late spring morning in 1920 the Governor Bodwell was docked at Tillson's Wharf in Rockland and preparing for departure to Vinalhaven. Several capable deckhands wheeled dollies loaded with freight

Leaving from Portland, we arrived in D.C. and immediately jumped on the metro train, taking it to the other side of the city where we were welcomed by a couple that summers on Deer Isle. Volunteering to host us for the long weekend, they were excited to offer students a "big city experience."

Why are women holding most of the top positions in the city? "Women tend to be community oriented," City Manager Elaine Abbott says, then adds, enthusiastically, "Let's do it and why not!"

Manufacturing remains a force in Maine—you just have to know where to look.