According to the Federal Trade Commission, theft through fraud may have been as high as $158.3 billion in 2023 alone. To put this into perspective, if fraud was a US company, it would be in the top 40 by revenue. That’s $434 million every day, or about $300,000 every minute – stolen from Americans by fraud criminals.

All reports on fraud that seek to measure the problem show a meteoric year-after-year increase. And we, at last, are beginning to see signs of hope in addressing the fraud crisis. We see more policymaker concern at the federal and state levels. The Aspen Institute has taken on a

Surrounded by the crisp ocean air and the deep green woods, it is easy to understand why Maine is called “Vacationland.” From the early “rusticators” of the 1900s to modern tourists, people come to bask in Maine’s natural beauty each summer. Whether we are on vacation, taking a staycation, or embarking on a day trip, Maine summers are filled with enough outdoor adventures, arts, and festivals to explore all season long.  

Maine State Parks offer a slice of summer fun for everyone. Maine’s 48 State Parks can be found along our coastline, blue lake shores and mountain trails. There is bound to

Summer brings beautiful weather, beach days, barbecues, visitors, and plenty of outdoor fun. As the season arrives, some of our programs at the Community Center are taking a short break to enjoy everything Boothbay Harbor has to offer. These include Ladies Who Love to Dance, Qigong, Tech Help with Bethany, and Healing Hearts. All of them will return in September/October—so stay tuned!  

No need to worry—our regular daily games continue each week, offering fun, laughter, and friendly competition. Whether you're a regular or new to the group, there's always a seat for you at the table! Not into

Walking our little black chug through the leafy streets of our neighborhood several times a day for years continues to give us an appreciation of the small things that can otherwise be easily missed in our daily lives. We notice when someone plants a new shrub in front of their house. We take notice when the first peonies start blooming.

Lately, we’ve noticed that the robins have started singing more vigorously again now that their first brood has fledged.

Over the years, we have tracked three cherry trees in our neighborhood, all within a mile of our house, that come into ripeness every

The 63rd Windjammer Days – a week full of events and spectacles – has ended with lots of memories of fun and hard work. Friends of Windjammer Days, made up of lots of volunteers, is to be commended for putting together another great festival.

It always helps if the weather cooperates and this year, despite the heat wave and the rain knocking out the Tug Across the Harbor and the Servers Shuffle events on Saturday, there were no downpours or socked-in fog the rest of the week. The Blessing of the Fleet, Parade of Sail and the Street Parade were three of the big events spared of bad weather. 

Co

Attendees at the Boothbay Harbor Opera House Tim Sample Show got a good "Sample-ing" of Maine and local humor. According to Mr. Sample, it was the last performance in the town where he grew up. The Opera House was packed, and Tim did not disappoint. Old friends, family and a significant number of “people from away” put aside their cares in the world for an evening of joy-filled stories, observations and occasional music. I was somewhat saddened by the fact that there were no “skidders” parked in the woods adjacent to the Opera House. But that did not impact the clear picture Tim painted from

The big anniversary is next year, and the powers that be, big and small, are already planning for the big super All-American 250th Birthday shindig.

This weekend, in our little corner of God’s great creation, we are recovering from another successful Windjammer Days extravaganza and racing into summer. But we will have fireworks, a band concert and other big things. Merchants, local (please patronize them) and national, will offer deals they tell us are too good to pass up.

The Maine legislature has packed up and gone home, leaving the heat on Gov. Janet Mills to pick through the leavings. In

Dear Editor:

The other half of the dynamic duo of librarians at the Southport Memorial Library, Jen Britton, has just retired. Like her former cohort or is it colleague, Anne Maher, she will be greatly missed! There's no question about that. Jen was always with a smile, plus being well organized, supremely helpful, and best of all, would always listen to my various life's ramblings (stories) as if they really were interesting/informative! Always best wishes, Jen, especially now that you have the time (and patience) to show husband, Charlie, the finer points in golfing! How did Charlie get so

The summer sailing season is launched at SYC! Children’s laughter echoes through the harbor and turnabouts, optis and 420s fill the Sheepscot River. With the traditional swim test and hot chocolate to start the season, there were many goosebumps and audible screams of delight last week with the commencement of the 2025 sailing program..

The annual meeting on Saturday had a smaller crowd but that made for an efficient meeting, allowing time to personalize the information and answer all of the questions. We appreciate the feedback and will be acting on the items as the summer progresses.

The

Dear Editor:

Just another haven for crime and devastation?

Maine will never become a Sanctuary State.

Soros, prosecutors  and judges fueling a gangland America.

Vehement Democrat governors promote a wasteland of violence.

Murders, rapists and thieves are arrested and released.

Black-robed impostors bang their gavels, retire to chambers, laughing up their sleeves.

Lest we forget. Georgia college student, Laken Riley, should be alive today.

Naked, stark reality reminds us, you the voter, are responsible for this. Maine must vote the bums out. Augusta Democrats envision a local chapter of Tren

Dear Editor:

Here’s a good idea for our current administration: Indiscriminately cut or eliminate federal funding for biomedical research and international healthcare programs, based purely on ideological grounds.

After all, ideological thinking and policy making protect the agendas of campaign contributors and lobbyists. They are extremely efficient; just scan for prohibited words in mission statements, then outsource budgeting authority to a multibillionaire and his twenty-year-old tech bros. Promises made, promises kept.

Be sure to ignore the inconvenient truth that every dollar spent on

Winter sports -- from cheerleading, girls basketball, to both junior varsity and varsity boys basketball -- are required to share one gym at Boothbay Region High School, BRHS; the current winter sports gym practice schedule times are as follows: 3-4:30 p.m., 4:30-6 p.m., 6-7:30 p.m., 7:30-9 p.m., and they are rotated each week by the various teams to ensure no one team always has late practices. How are these late practices benefiting the well-being of our student-athletes who have to learn and be active in school at 8 a.m.? What can we do as a community to fix this issue and improve the

Welcome back to Sprucewold and Boothbay Harbor! Cabins are filling up and the roads are now walkways for people and dogs. Please drive carefully! A wonderful 63rd annual Windjammer week has been and gone for another year, beautiful sailing ships and activities galore: the blessing of the fleet, vintage and decorated boat parades, e-bike tours, fireworks, fashion show, pirates, history and ghost walks, food, international rock skipping, and much more. We are fortunate to live in this active community that honors both the past and the present.

We hope that you are able to get to the Boothbay

I guess last week’s skimpy column elicited some sympathy; quickly several newsy emails came in. 

This from Betty Repa: “We (Ted and Betty, aka Granddad and Nanaby) are excited with upcoming visits from family! For the week of the Fourth, we will have our younger son Ted, his wife Michelle, and one granddaughter who is home just having finished her freshman year at University of Southern California. As Stanford grads, with SC our biggest rival, we are sort of holding our noses ( not really) as we find ourselves now rooting for USC! During the week we will be enjoying the lobster bake, a sail

What a difference a week makes; after too many cold, wet days we are now experiencing some Ocean Point weather and our community is expanding!

Ocean Point is ready to officially kick off our summer season with the annual Horribles Parade this Saturday, July 5 beginning promptly at 9:30 a.m. on Van Horn Road to be followed by ice cream, prizes and races.

The Ocean Point 5K and Kid’s Fun Run is scheduled for Sunday, July 6 beginning at 8 a.m. Registration and volunteer sign up is online. 

The Rev. Wesley A. Smith, American Baptist Churches, USA (ret.) Harvey Cedars, New Jersey will conduct

Welcome to July! The cottages are filling up and Bayville is swinging into full summer mode.

The moorings continue to get there dance partners and this week I noticed that Celebration, Simple Interest and Montana 1 were added to the fleet.

All the launchings went smoothly - except for one. It wasn’t quite as bad as the recent mishap in North Korea, but Captain Greg somehow got his foot stuck between Celebration and Mary Alice. The result was a quick trip to St Andrew’s for nine stitches before getting right back to the boat. Welcome to the world of Friendship Sloop racing - hockey players have

A sweltering heat hit the region, some deck thermometers showing 100+ degrees, humidity that is not often felt here, the kind that hits like a wave and enters your lungs as if you have taken in water.  Two days of that and then on the third, a morning of reprieve and cool enough for a light flannel, I believe we all took a deep sigh of relief.  We were not the only ones, plants revived, lifting their drooped blooms and stems. Animals, too, emerged, woodland birds back to the feeders, turkey mamas and their little ones ripping seeds from the tall grasses, fox running along the shoreline, does

So, the 4th of July is here! How did that happen so fast! As usual, the Boothbay area is a fun place to be on the 4th.  Things are happening on the Common all day, including games, contests, and live music. There areextraordinary things happening in our local eateries. And, of course, the traditional fireworks in the evening (well, when it gets dark). If you are a baseball nut, then you know the Red Sox are at home against the Washington Nationals on the 4th against the Nationals and the Sea Dogs are home against New Hampshire. Even if you aren’t a baseball enthusiast, a great way to get in

Last Thursday was “Changeover” dinner, the annual meeting when we thanked our outgoing co-presidents. Thank you Mike Thompson and Alden Wood for your leadership, time, energy and good humor. And, Ta Da!!  Wwe welcome the amazing Laurie Zimmerli to be our president for this year along with co-vice Presidents Conxa Packard and Byron Cortez. What a dynamic team. It's sure is going to be a good year. We're a quite diverse group of people working and having fun together hoping to make our world a kinder, more compassionate place with the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self.” Thank you Laurie

The first week of the 2025 Southport Junior Yacht Club program was incredibly successful and so much fun for everyone! Monday, June 23 was the first day back and, while there was not much wind, it was a beautiful sunny day to begin sailing. 

In the morning class, five new sailors did their swim test in Cozy Harbor to kick off their SJYC experience. Austin Carte, Joshua Atkinson, Zoe Atkinson, Liz Giampetruzzi, and Jeremiah Carroll all braved the cold water, passed, and celebrated by warming up with hot cocoa in the senior building. During the week, the morning class enjoyed the Maine weather