NxE

	September 29, 2008 How does your bank rate? Optimism over the economy is in short supply these days, and Maine banks and credit unions aren’t immune to the turmoil in the larger financial world. Wall Street and Main Street intertwine far more than they did just a decade ago. The good news is that Maine-based banks are by and large in much better shape than the Wachovias of the national and international stage, according to state banking officials. Many Maine banks avoided involvement in the esoteric financial instruments that dragged down Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual. Bankrate.com, a website that rates banks and credit unions on a five-star scale, gives just two Maine banks one-star ratings, while almost every local bank in the state, from Bangor Savings and Camden National to Katahdin Trust in... Read more » Posted on Monday, September 29, 2008 in NxE \| Permalink \| Comments (0)

August 14, 2008 Putting a muzzle on cell tones A Bangor city councilor has a fine way of silencing cell phones. Read more » Posted on Thursday, August 14, 2008 in NxE \| Permalink \| Comments (0)

	July 24, 2008 Bath breathes easier over scrapped ship The Navy's decision to scrap its new destroyer program won't hurt BIW as much as workers first thought. Read more » Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008 in NxE \| Permalink \| Comments (0)

July 17, 2008 Dam Good News Years of debate come to an end today with the demolition of the Fort Halifax Dam in Winslow. Read more » Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008 in NxE \| Permalink \| Comments (0)

	July 3, 2008 The 7 Wonders of Maine: Survey Results We asked DownEast.com users to choose the greatest Maine landmarks. Read more » Posted on Thursday, July 3, 2008 in NxE \| Permalink \| Comments (0)

	June 12, 2008 Something's Fishy Maine fishermen shouldn’t fall for the feds’ latest tall tale. Read more » Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 in NxE \| Permalink \| Comments (0)

	May 30, 2008 Where Does the "Real Maine" Begin? Driving to work the other day, I passed a sign outside a restaurant in Woolwich. “The real Maine starts here!” it announced in no uncertain terms. Oh really? If you want to start an argument among Mainers and those who love Maine, ask them where Down East Maine begins. Not the bridge in Kittery, but the “real Maine” of picturesque coves where lobsterboats outnumber pleasure craft and pulp trucks rule the highway and people really do say “Ayuh.” Call it Mythical Maine, if only because it seems to lie just over the next bridge from wherever you are, someplace known but never seen. I used to work for a man who insisted Maine really started in Cape Porpoise, because that was the next village up from his family’s summer home in Kennebunkport. A... Read more » Posted on Friday, May 30, 2008 in NxE \| Permalink \| Comments (1)

	May 7, 2008 Should the Waldo-Hancock Bridge go up in smoke? We’ve heard all sorts of proposals for the old Waldo-Hancock Bridge, that increasingly rusty suspension bridge standing beside the spiffy new Penobscot Narrows Bridge over the Penobscot River between Prospect and Verona. Bikeway, pedestrian walk, solar and tidal power center — all those ideas surfaced and disappeared again. Now the Department of Homeland Security has come up with a proposal that sounds as if it should have an April Fool’s Day dateline on it. DHS wants to blow the thing up! The article quotes current and former Maine Department of Transportation officials as saying DHS is curious about what it would... Read more » Posted on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 in NxE \| Permalink \| Comments (2)

	May 6, 2008 Maine's Secret Places A few weeks ago George Smith, executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and a columnist for the daily Kennebec Journal in Augusta, wrote a column bemoaning an article in Down East that focused on his hometown of Mount Vernon. “Down East magazine has ruined my summer,” he declared. We had not only discovered his quiet, uncrowded, quaint village, but we had also told our readership about it. The secret was out. Just which secrets we should reveal is a problem we wrestle with on an almost daily basis at Down East. We know Maine better than anyone else, and with that knowledge comes a certain responsibility. Sometimes we find places that... Read more » Posted on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 in NxE \| Permalink \| Comments (1)

	March 14, 2008 Is Maine Going Beige? Between the critical smellers in Rockland and the purple protesters in Freeport, Maine seems to be confronting the double-edged sword of “charm.” Read more » Posted on Friday, March 14, 2008 in NxE \| Permalink \| Comments (1)