Latest housing numbers

MaineToday.com:

"The median sales price of a single-family home in Maine fell more than 6 percent in September compared to a year ago, to $177,750, according to data released today by the Maine Real Estate Information System.

Statewide sales were off nearly 10 percent during the month, compared to 2007, with 928 homes sold."

Lobster Industry Task Force

Mainebiz:

"Gov. John Baldacci on Friday created a task force to study the ailing lobster industry, which has seen prices fishermen receive at the dock for their catch drop drastically over the past month.

The Task Force on the Economic Sustainability of Maine's Lobster Industry will make a comprehensive study of the industry and recommend specific strategies to help maintain the viability of the lobster industry in Maine, according to a press release from the governor's office. The group will attempt to identify opportunities to expand and diversify both live and processed markets for Maine lobster, to increase product quality and profitability, expand marketing initiatives and alternative business models.

The task force will deliver its recommendations no later than April 15, 2009, the release said."

Lincoln Group Opposes Wind Power

Mainebiz:

"A group of residents in Lincoln opposed to a proposed $120 million wind farm are pushing for a moratorium to block the project.

Friends of Lincoln Lakes plans to ask the town council and planning board next week for a moratorium on all pending wind projects, saying that the town hasn’t had enough time to study the wind farm’s potential impact on wildlife, according to the Bangor Daily News. Developer Evergreen Wind Power, a subsidiary of Massachusetts-based First Wind, is proposing a 40-turbine wind farm that stretches along a ridge through Burlington, Lincoln, Lee and Winn, and plans to apply for building permits with Lincoln’s planning board by the end of the year." (more)

“Maine Street Station”

Charting Maine’s Future:

"Maine Street Station will fill an empty lot in the middle of downtown Brunswick with over 40,000 square feet of new retail and office space adjacent to Brunswick’s planned passenger rail stop and Bowdoin College. A future phase of the project proposes to add a 75-room inn, another 18,000 square foot commercial building, and 16 units of housing.

The Downeaster passenger rail service is now moving forward with
expansion plans that will bring two trains a day from Portland north to Brunswick by
summer 2010. The first phase of construction at Maine Street Station is
expected to be complete sometime next year."

Lobster Prices Fall Futher

Portland Press Herald:

"The wholesale price of Maine lobster, considered low all summer, has plunged more than 20 percent in the past week to as little as $2.60 per pound in some harbors. Dealers say falling financial markets have ruined consumers' appetite for luxury items such as lobster, and the international credit crisis has effectively shut off orders from major processors in Canada.

Those and other factors undercut demand just as Maine entered its peak lobster season – and as fishermen are paying near-record prices for fuel and bait."

blueberry capital

"Every August, Wyman harvests its roughly 10,000 acres of blueberry fields along the coast of Down East Maine and in the Canadian Maritimes. It’s a big job, requiring 130 year-round employees and some 500 seasonal workers, the majority of whom are migrants. From early August through Labor Day, Wyman’s two processing factories in DeBlois and Cherryfield sift, sort, rinse, and box up to 1.5 million pounds of blueberries a day to satisfy customers like General Mills, Sysco, Sara Lee and Wal-Mart."

- Mainebiz

Free Electricity

"Former Gov. Angus King is one of the principals of Independence Wind LLC, which needs a zoning change to put wind turbines on the town's hills.

In a letter, King says Independence Wind is prepared to offer every household free electricity equal to the amount consumed by a typical Maine household. That represents 500 kilowatt hours per month for each of 200 households that were CMP customers as of Sept. 1."

- MaineToday.com

Windmill Moratorium Saught

Bangor Daily News:

"The group has gathered roughly 220 signatures on a petition seeking a 180-day moratorium on construction of commercial wind power facilities as well as processing of any applications. The petition would allow the Town Council to extend the moratorium or cancel it once Fort Kent’s zoning and land-use ordinances have been amended to address wind power facilities.

The petition is a response to a Texas-based company, Horizon Wind, which has been negotiating lease agreements with landowners in the Fort Kent area and in other parts of Aroostook County."

North Haven and Vinalhaven Wind Project

"On July 28, members of the Fox Islands Electric Cooperative approved the wind power project by a vote of 383 to 5. 'It was a huge vote of confidence by the co-op in the wind power project,' said Dr. George Baker.

'We were extremely pleased,' said Chip Farrington, the co-op's interim general manager. 'It makes the project that much more exciting when you have that much support.'

As soon as the vote was held, Dr. George Baker was on the phone trying to track down turbines. 'Because turbines are in such short supply, anyone who has one only wants to sell them to people who are bona fide,' Baker said. 'All of a sudden, we're bonna fide.'

Baker had been on sabbatical from his post as a professor of the Harvard Business School, advising the co-op.

The next step is for the co-op board of directors to vote on creating a limited liability company (LLC), which would run the wind power project. This form of business organization is needed in order to finance the project, Baker said. As an LLC, the wind power project could enlist passive tax investors and would be eligible for federal tax credits that the co-op could not use, he said."

- Working Waterfront

East Boothbay Boatyard Operating Again

"Penni Barbeau removes her welding helmet and tugs off heavy canvas gloves as she steps out from under a fire-scorched hull at the Washburn & Doughty boatyard. After weeks of doing cleanup, painting and odd jobs in the wake of a devastating July 11 fire, Barbeau is glad to be back to her welding duties.

'As fast as it's been, it's been a surprise,' Barbeau said of the recovery efforts at East Boothbay's largest employer. 'It's been a lot of hard work by people here.'

Two months after the fire, Washburn & Doughty has an almost-full complement of about 90 employees working on tugboats, even as subcontractors continue to clear debris and rebuild facilities so workers can be indoors this winter."

- Portland Press Herald

Acadia visitor count up in 2007

"ACADIA NATIONAL PARK -- Acadia National Park had 2.2 million visitors last year $ an increase from 2006 but still below the highs set in the mid-1990s.

According park officials, last year's visitor count was up from just under 2.1 million in 2006 and was the highest total since 2004.

But it was still well below the 2.8 million people who visited the park in 1995.

Acadia National park is located on Mount Desert Island in eastern Maine, with parkland also located on Schoodic Peninsula and Isle au Haut."

- MaineToday.com

Greater Fishing Limits

"Maine's commercial fishermen expect yet another round of painful limits on their catches in the wake of a new scientific status report on New England's fish populations.

A federal report presented to fisheries managers last week said that although some fish species such as haddock and cod are healthy or rebounding, others – including most varieties of flounder – are still declining and severely depleted.

It was the first comprehensive look at 19 so-called groundfish species in four years.

State officials and members of Maine's struggling fishing industry said Monday there is no doubt that a new round of federal fishing cuts is coming for next spring.

'This is just plain bad news,' said Terry Stockwell, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

'The difficulty for the industry is that they've done what's been asked of them. They fished fewer days at sea, used bigger mesh, stayed out of certain areas, and all of these measures haven't resulted in a healthy fishery. It's extremely frustrating.':

New England's groundfish fishery is the oldest in the nation and was once the bedrock of Maine's coastal economy.

It now supports a compact fleet of boats and a collection of Portland-based businesses – including the city-owned Fish Exchange – that service the fleet. .... more

- Portland Press Herald

Kirby Wind Power work started

Mainebiz:

"Work has begun on the $320 Kibby Wind Power project on Kibby Mountain in northern Franklin County.

Plum Creek, which owns the land, has started clearing for the 17 miles of roads, and developer TransCanada MaineWind Development Inc. has hired Woolwich construction firm Reed & Reed to lay the roads, build the foundations for the 44 turbines and install them, and construct the electrical collector system, according to the Sun Journal in Lewiston.

The first set of 22 turbines are planned to be operational in December 2009, and the second half in 2010. LURC approved the wind farm in July."