BAR HARBOR -- They take their darkness seriously in Bar Harbor.

The Down East resort town has passed an ordinance that says bright lights must be fully shielded at night so beams don't stray upward into the atmosphere. The idea is to make sure the natural spectacle of the nighttime sky is not hampered by manmade light. story continues..

By JOHN RICHARDSON,

As lobstermen see profits dwindle, the coastal towns they live in
try to help – and wonder how they'll make ends meet.

There are still lobsters to catch, but lobstermen up and down the Maine coast have been hauling their traps back to shore as much as two months earlier than usual. Many in southern and midcoast Maine are now fishing for other jobs to pay the bills, while those in more isolated parts of the state are simply hunkering down for a long, lean winter.

»pressherald.mainetoday.com/story···c=PHnws

Historic Plymouth OKs building $488M movie studio

PLYMOUTH— In this place sometimes known as America’s hometown, schoolchildren and tourists flock to see Plymouth Rock, a replica of the Mayflower and the place where the Pilgrims and Mashpee Wampanoags Indians shared the first Thanksgiving meal.

But the staid and historic image of Plymouth could soon be tempered by a decidedly modern attraction: a $488 million film and television studio, complete with 14 sound stages, a 10-acre back lot, a theater, a 300-room upscale hotel, a spa and 500,000 square feet of office space. story continues..

HARWICH — Police are seeking key evidence to solve the mystery of a piano found in the Bells Neck woods yesterday.

At 3 p.m., a woman walking on trails inside the conservation area discovered a piano in the middle of the woods. The Baldwin piano, which had a matching bench, is in perfect working condition, police said. story continues..

Daily commuters from the western suburbs would be forced to spend $250 to $500 more a year to help pay off Big Dig maintenance and debt under a set of steep toll increases approved yesterday by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.
The cost of driving through the Allston-Brighton and Weston tollbooths would rise to $2 for cash customers early next year, up from $1.25, if the increases are given final approval after a series of public hearings. story continues..

CHATHAM — For the Cape's fishermen, the cost of doing business — fuel, bait, ice, docking fees — has gone up over the past few years. But nothing has risen faster than the price of being allowed to catch the fish.

Rest of story:

»www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.···1/NEWS01

DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — Two of three friends who jumped naked into Moosehead Lake last summer for a free Skinny Dip sandwich at the Black Frog Restaurant in Greenville were found guilty of indecent exposure Monday in 13th District Court.

The court found that Bernard Beckwith, 31, of Poland and Christian Simpson, 37, of Bethel knowingly exposed their genitals in a public place under circumstances that likely caused affront or alarm to others. Each man was fined $200 plus a $50 court fee by Judge Kevin Stitham, who presided over the combined trial. See them...

The Skinny Dip sandwich on the new menu now states: “We used to offer this for free if you skinny dip, but the selectmen objected so don’t blame us, proving there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The price of Maine lobster, which accounts for 80 percent of the U.S. catch, is tanking.

The primary factor, a drop-off in demand by penny-pinching diners, has been in place since summer. But a secondary problem recently surfaced: the global banking crisis left Canadian processors short on credit, trapping Maine lobstermen and dealers with too much supply. story continues..

Bangor Daily News
GREENVILLE, Maine — Although it was an appealing meal for some, the Black Frog Restaurant will no longer promote a free Skinny Dip sandwich for a naked plunge into Moosehead Lake.

»bangornews.com/detail/90329.html

PORTLAND, Maine — A ferocious-looking denizen of the deep that can gobble up whole urchins and crabs in a few swift chomps is in need of protection, according to a petition filed with the federal government.

The Conservation Law Foundation asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday to list the Atlantic wolffish — a species with large protruding teeth and a face that’s downright ugly — as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. story continues..

‘GOOD MORNING’ TOUR DEPARTS FROM WORCESTER

Diane Sawyer took a few pieces of Worcester with her as her train pulled out of Union Station yesterday.

The star of ABC’s “Good Morning America” still had confetti lodged throughout her blond mane, remnants of the rousing reception she and her co-anchors had received in Worcester.
story continues..

MANCHESTER – The remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna unleashed a deluge that flooded businesses and homes yesterday, sending 6 feet of water into the police station's garage.

The station last night was using backup power from the next-door fire department, according to Mayor Frank Guinta. story continues..

BALTIMORE -- Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski underwent triple bypass surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, and was said to be doing well when the procedure was finished at roughly 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

The invaders are nearly invisible -- even from a short distance -- but they're lurking in trees, such as maples, in Worcester's Greendale section. Their damage is obvious, but the extent of it is uncertain.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.), says they threaten billions of dollars in losses to lumber, maple syrup, nursery and tourism industries. Story continues..

DURHAM (AP) - On a recent scorching-hot summer day, workers at Reed's Firewood used heavy equipment to cut and split logs into firewood until it was too dark to see.
Despite its relentless pace, the family-run business is failing to keep up with demand as homeowners shellshocked by the price of heating oil look to old-fashioned firewood as a way to lower their bills this winter. story continues..

See article ---> »Massachusetts Signs New Broadband Law

They're getting ready to christen a new lobster cooker that'll serve up thousands of pounds at the Maine Lobster Festival.

The festival has replaced its well-worn, decades-old cooker with a new one that features eight stainless steel cooking tubs, each of which can cook 150 pounds of lobster at a time.

A stunning Navy decision to abort a $20 billion plan for a new fleet of destroyers yesterday threw into question the future of Raytheon Co.'s largest defense program and renewed longstanding concerns about the fate of the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine.

Waltham-based Raytheon is the prime contractor for the ship's combat systems, which are being developed at its Tewksbury and Andover plants. Assembly work on the guided-missile destroyers was to have been divided between the 124-year-old Bath shipyard, owned by General Dynamics Corp., and a yard in Mississippi. story continues..

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) _ Two years ago, New Hampshire refused to accept heating oil from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the pro-Castro U.S. critic who once called President Bush "the devil." But with fuel prices rising, well, free oil is free oil.

With the state's blessing, New Hampshire residents will be receiving some of the fuel this winter. Story continues..

The intense fire started around 9:30 a.m., and black smoke could be seen from the bridge linking Wiscasset and Edgecomb, about 10 miles away.

"I've never seen smoke like that," said Kristina Ford, who lives near the boatyard.