About fifteen of every 100,000 Mainers commit suicide each year. Over 70% range in age from twenty-four through seventy-four. Suicides occur at a rate of about seven times that of murders. See other causes of death. The method of choice for males is a gun; for women it is poisoning. The good news is that…
The use of weapons in crimes and other violent acts varies with the acts involved. However, the proportion used in particular types (murder, robbery, etc.) has remained relatively constant in recent years. The reporting categories of “hands, fists, feet” dominate domestic assaults and aggravated assaults. Guns were the most frequently used weapon in suicides from…
For the nearly 100 years from 1857 through 1954, the Republican Party dominated the state’s politics. Thirty-one Republican governors served during the period, compared with four Democrats. During the 1950s and 1960s Republican enrollment began to slide as Democrats and unenrolled voters became a larger portion of the electorate. Registration is the process for “signing…
Assertive and Independent: Maine Women in the World by Polly Welts Kaufman From a presentation at the June 6, 2008 Norlands Conference. Maine women in every imaginable field have left the state taking their independent spirits, imagination, talents, and education to make their marks on the world. Others remained, breaking new ground in many areas.…
Lobster landings occur all along Maine’s long coastline. Stonington in Hancock County is by far the port receiving the largest amount and value of this commercial fishery. Lobster’s $435 million plus ex-vessel value accounted for 77% of the total value of commercial fish landings in 2011. Historical landings have increased substantially in recent years. The…
(1894-1973) an Academy Award winning motion picture director, was born in Portland in an area now part of Cape Elizabeth. His family moved back to Portland where he grew up on Munjoy Hill. Ford was born John Martin Feeney to a poor Irish family, changing his name to Ford in 1923 when he was in…
Elvers are young eels. According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, “After spawning, the adult eels die. The eggs hatch after several days and develop into a larval stage (leptocephalus) which is shaped like a willow leaf. The larvae drift in the ocean for several months and then enter the Gulf Stream current to…
Despite an increasing tonnage of shrimp landings by commercial fishermen in recent years, the 2013 season will feature a landing quota equal to about 25% of the 2012 season’s landings. Historically the shrimp populations have varied substantially. Marine scientists believe that the resource is again under pressure with the threat of another population decline. …
Otherwise known as the Common Eel or Freshwater Eel, they range in size of up to 6 feet for females and up to 2 feet for males. Color is olive-green to brown on the back, with yellow-green on the sides and gray-white below. Adults leave freshwater for the ocean to spawn, changing color to black…
The following is abridged from Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife internet site at http://www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/species/endangered_species/atlantic_salmon/ (accessed December 2, 2012) In Maine, Atlantic salmon were historically found in all major river systems and many of their tributaries with suitable spawning habitat. Today, they have disappeared from much of their historic range. In Maine they…
The U.S. Department of Education released a report November 26, 2012 “detailing state four-year high school graduation rates in 2010-11 – the first year for which all states used a common, rigorous measure.” The new calculation, the Department emphasized, is not comparable to previously reported rates. Some news reports in Maine hailed the state’s ranking…
The overall political party balance in the Legislature is important since a joint convention of both bodies elects the Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and State Auditor. The Republican party controlled that joint convention from 1917 through 1974 except for 1965-1966 and 2011-2012. Since 1974 the Democratic party has had an overall…