Showing posts with label U.S. Coast Guard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U.S. Coast Guard. Show all posts
Monday, November 22, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Where is Ram Island light?: Newly sold lighthouse to be added to the tax rolls of Cape Elizabeth or Portland | Portland Press Herald
Ram Island Ledge Light will move onto the tax rolls because of its pending sale from the federal government to a doctor from Windham.
Ramp Island Ledge Light
The question is, which tax rolls?
According to the online auction site set up by the U.S. General Services Administration, the lighthouse is at the entrance to Portland Harbor, off Cape Elizabeth.Click for the rest of this story by Edward D. Murphy in the Portland Press Herald.
The site says its street address is “Cumberland County,” and the city is Cape Elizabeth.
That’s news to Cape Elizabeth's town manager.
“We don’t believe it’s in Cape Elizabeth,” said Mike McGovern. “We believe it’s in the city of Portland.”
Portland’s tax assessor, Richard Blackburn, said McGovern is probably right.
“There have been some questions” about which municipality the lighthouse is in, Blackburn said, and those questions have never been answered.
Light show: Open Lighthouse Day offers rare chance to peek inside the towers, keepers’ houses at 25 of Maine’s lighthouses | Portland Press Herald
Living in Maine and never climbing a lighthouse is kind of like living in South Dakota and never seeing Mount Rushmore, or visiting Memphis and skipping the tour of Graceland.
You know you should do it, but somehow you just never get around to actually going.
Well, here’s your chance. On Saturday, 25 ocean, river and island lighthouses throughout Maine will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Some of these lighthouses aren’t normally open to the public, so this is a rare chance to peek inside their light towers and keepers’ houses.
Even if you've been to Portland Head Light a million times with visiting relatives, during Open Lighthouse Day, you’ll be able to climb the tower, which is usually closed.
“At the 25 sites that are going to be open, there will be people there staffing, and many of them will have guided tours,” said Bob Trapani Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation in Rockland, which is sponsoring the day along with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Maine Office of Tourism. “It’s an educational opportunity, not just a chance to climb.”
Click here for the rest of the story by Meredith Goad in the Portland Press Herald.
For more info and a complete list and map of lighthouses that will be open for Open Lighthouse Day, http://lighthousefoundation.org// or http://www.lighthouseday.com./
Friday, September 10, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Anonymous bidder raises stakes for lighthouse: Bid casts doubt on Maine-based organization’s effort to acquire Ram Island Ledge Light | Portland Press Herald
Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse
An anonymous bidder has raised the stakes in what appears to be a three-way struggle for ownership of a historic lighthouse off the coast of Cape Elizabeth.
The $35,000 bid, made online Thursday by a party known only as “tugdocto,” cast doubt on a Maine-based organization’s effort to acquire Ram Island Ledge Light.Click for the rest of the story by Dennis Hoey in the Portland Press Herald.
Robert Muller of Brunswick, executive director of the Ram Island Ledge Lighthouse Community, said his group must somehow raise $5,000 to $10,000 in the next day or two “to stay in the game” and put the lighthouse under public, locally based ownership.
“I really need to make up the gap with some large pledges,” he said.
Under federal rules, bidders have until 3 p.m. today to outbid tugdocto. Bids must be made in increments of at least $5,000.
If someone does outbid tugdocto today, the online auction will continue on to the next regular business day – Tuesday.
Anyone who wants to get more information or make a contribution can go to http://www.ramislandlighthouse.com/, call (207) 956-0699 or e-mail Muller at bob@RamIslandLighthouse.com.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Lab goes to sea: USM science team sails south to study oil spill’s effects on whales | Portland Press Herald
PORTLAND, Maine — A University of Southern Maine professor and a crew of students are embarking on an expedition to learn how the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is affecting the health of whales.
The research vessel, Odyssey, a 93-foot, two-masted sailboat packed with laboratory equipment, is now berthed at DiMillo’s Marina. The vessel is scheduled to depart Portland next Friday.
John Wise, a professor of toxicology and molecular epidemiology at the University of Southern Maine, is the lead scientist. At least 10 USM students will be on board for some portion of the three-month expedition.
The vessel is carrying Wise’s cellular molecular laboratory – the only laboratory of its kind at sea, according to Iain Kerr, chief executive officer of Ocean Alliance, the Massachusetts nonprofit that owns the $1.5 million ketch.
Wise and the crew will be hunting for cell samples of sperm, humpback and Bryde’s whales. Wise will study DNA extracted from the cells to examine the effects of pollution.
He will use his lab to grow additional cells, which in effect become a permanent living sample for further study.
The creation of new cell lines from wild marine animals is difficult if not impossible to do because the cells degrade within hours, Wise said. That’s why it’s important to have a floating laboratory.
Click on the link for the rest of this story by Tom Bell in the Portland Press Herald.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Deadly Portland kayaking trip: Young women die in ‘very cold’ bay | Portland Press Herald
PORTLAND – Two young college friends, one of them a longtime summer resident of Peaks Island, died after setting out for a short kayak trip Sunday and apparently falling into the cold and choppy waters of Casco Bay.
Irina McEntee, 18, and Carissa Ireland, 20, were found about 9 a.m. Monday by Coast Guard helicopter and boat crews about three miles off Cape Elizabeth and seven miles south of the kayakers' original destination, Ram Island.
The women, both wearing life jackets, shorts and light shirts, were severely hypothermic and unresponsive and had no apparent vital signs when they were pulled from the 48-degree water, the Coast Guard said.
A helicopter crew rushed them to Maine Medical Center, where doctors tried to resuscitate them before pronouncing the women dead about 9:30 a.m., according to a hospital spokesman.
Forty-eight degrees “is very, very cold,” said Coast Guard Cmdr. Brian Downey. “Survivability is very short in that type of water condition.”
Click on the link for the rest of this story by John Richardson in the Portland Press Herald.
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