by Will Gottlieb

Coastal Journal staff

Peter Goodwin, manager of the Sagadahoc History and Genealogy Room at the Patten Free Library, has been appointed interim director of the library, to replace Anne Phillips, who announced her resignation at a special meeting of the Board held on June 18. Phillips has held that position since 1989.

Goodwin was named to the position by a search committee that includes Board of Trustees President David Miller, trustees Susan Beegel and Julie De Bery, staff member Teeter Bibber, and corporators Arthur Mayo and Steve Singer.

by Gina Hamilton
Coastal Journal staff

BRUNSWICK — It started out as a simple story about a family who fell through the gaping holes in the safety net of social services designed to keep people from living on the street, but as soon as I saw Christina’s two teen daughters, Mary and Leann, sobbing as they pushed two shopping carts filled with the remnants of their worldly possessions in the rain on Saturday morning, I realized it was going to be something more than that.

by Gina Hamilton
Coastal Journal staff

BATH —  Newly confirmed Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, toured BIW with Senator Olympia Snowe and Representative Chellie Pingree on Monday morning, before holding a brief press conference.  Mabus was once Governor of the state of Mississippi, where BIW’s main competitor, Northrop Grumman’s Ingalls Shipyard is located.
Bath is the first shipyard Mabus has visited since his confirmation.  “It’s the first time I’ve been out of Washington,” he quipped.

by Gina Hamilton
Coastal Journal staff

BATH — The parent company of the Coastal Journal, Midcoast Life and the Midcoast Health Journal, Blethen Maine Newspapers, is close to closing on the sale of its assets in the state, including the Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal in Augusta, and Morning Sentinel in Waterville, as well as the CJ and its affiliated publications.  The closing could occur by next week, according to Richard Connor, whose new company, MaineToday Media Inc., is purchasing the properties.