THE U-TURN: ‘What are you doing here?’
May 6, 2026
Workers at the culvert replacement project on Bayview Road in Penobscot have found a large mill stone that had been buried under the roadway as part of the old granite culvert. Billy Hutchins, the town’s road commissioner, examines the large stone that serves as evidence for the local creek’s name: Mill Stream.
At the same location, folks involved in the construction project meet at the job site every Friday morning for an update. On May 8, the assembled crew found some other kinds of objects: pastry treats made by neighbor Casey McGraw. Previous treats have included glazed donuts from Northern Bay Market. From left are: Maddy Noble of the engineering company VHB, Brent Williams and Jeshua Dearborn of Sargent Construction, Ciona Albrich of Maine Coast Heritage Trust, State Rep. Steve Bishop, and Penobscot select board chair Harold Hatch. Photo by Mike Talhauser/Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
Blue Hill residents Susan Kirk, left, and Libbey Gulliver sit outside the Blue Hill Public Library on May 11.
The two women, both members of the Blue Hill Democratic Committee, were handing out literature on the upcoming primary next month on June 9.
Gulliver told The Rising Tide’s John Boit that she was the first person in Blue Hill to cast an early voting ballot that morning in Blue Hill.
Early voting started this week across Maine. “It’s really important to vote,” Gulliver said, noting that about 1,200 voters in town sat out the 2024 presidential election.
State data from 2025 showed Blue Hill has almost 2,600 total registered voters.
Prudy Heilner, of South Blue Hill, discovered and unexpected visitor last week when she looked outside to find a bear pawing at the bird feeder.
According to the Maine Deptartment of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, Maine is home to the largest population of black bears in the eastern U.S. and are most active between April 1 and November 1.
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