With her youngest son headed off to college in the fall, Liliana Thelander finds herself with a rare moment to think about her next move.

Visitors to Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset come from all corners of the state, from every kind of background, for all sorts of reasons, almost always involving some form of legal trouble. Since 2015, every single one of them has shared one thing in common: in one form or another they have all passed through the administrative hands of Cpl. Aaron Smith.

John Otterbein was ready for retirement when he decided to embrace his next career. In 2022, he had sold his Waldoboro business, Wooden Screen Door Co., and found himself at loose ends, not used to having time on his hands.

Liberated from a relationship, temporarily between commitments, and freshly returned from a lengthy trip to Europe to visit family, Jackie Hassenpflug looked at her adopted hometown of Bristol in 2019 with fresh eyes.

Somerville Fire Chief Mike Dostie has been such an integral part of his community for so long it might be hard to believe he ever lived anywhere else.

There’s local and then there is B.J. Russell local.
In the crush of summer time, whenever Russell wants to get away, he and his wife Lori Crook can always decamp for their summer home, a seaside cottage in Pemaquid about six miles from their home in Round Pond.

Almost every evening he’s at home in Boothbay, usually beginning sometime around 7 p.m., Garry Blackman Sr. starts livestreaming on his personal Facebook page. For a half-hour or more Blackman plays a virtual DJ, spinning a selection of songs chosen from the 20,000 or so 45 rpm records in his collection.

Together for 35 years now, Bob and Lynne Plourde talk on the telephone maybe 10 times a day. Each conversation could be a few seconds or many minutes, but no matter how many times they talk or for how long, they still make it a point to say “I love you” before the end of almost every call.

Twice a day, the Great Salt Bay Community School student body flows past Samantha Adickes’ desk, located just inside the Damariscotta school’s main entrance. According to Adickes, the organized chaos of arrival and dismissal is just a small part of what can a very busy job.