Eleven months after the global coronavirus pandemic was declared, three restaurant owners talk about pushing past profound challenges to start or sustain their new businesses.
Jessica Lowell
Jessica Lowell covers business and economic development and general news in the Gardiner area.
After short but intense aspirations to be an opera singer (age 4) and a deep-sea diver (age 6) her most enduring passion has been telling stories.
A University of Maine graduate, she worked for newspapers in New Hampshire, upstate New York and Wyoming, where she has won awards for investigative and explanatory journalism.
She’s a fellow of the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources.
After several years out of journalism, she returned to Maine and to writing, where she spends her free time enjoying both trees and the ocean, two commodities that Wyoming lacks.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State
Gardiner gives initial approval to cannabis testing lab
The Massachusetts-based MCR Labs must also secure state approvals from the Office of Marijuana Policy and the Center for Disease Control as well as a business license from the Gardiner City Council.
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Posted inLocal & State
Richmond officials sell property at center of junkyard dispute
The sale of the property at 640 Alexander Reed Road leaves David Smith looking for a place to live and shifts the requirement to clean up the property onto its new owner.
Posted inLocal & State
Police and friends search for Augusta man missing since Monday
Pierre “Pete” Bolduc, a contractor who has worked on many construction and renovation projects in downtown Augusta, hasn’t been seen or heard from since Monday afternoon.
Posted inLocal & State
Little ice on Kennebec River system delays smelt season
Warmer than average temperatures and heavy rains so far this winter have slowed ice formation on the Kennebec River and its tributaries, and it’s not clear that enough ice will form for smelt fishing this year.
Posted inLocal & State
Second woman files civil complaint against Gardiner attorney
As Clarence H. Spurling denies the allegations brought against him last year by one woman, a second woman has filed her complaint alleging sexual assault against in him at the Capital Judicial Center.
Posted inLocal & State
Central Maine entertainment venues look to 2021 with caution, optimism
With 10 months experience weathering the coronavirus pandemic, the directors of Johnson Hall in Gardiner and the Theater at Monmouth are weighing the possibilities of survival in a world rocked by COVID-19.
Posted inLocal & State
Community solar development approved in Richmond
The project is among the most recent to be approved as renewable energy companies vie to get connected to the power grid in Maine.
Posted inCops & Courts, Local & State
Man sought in Dresden standoff arrested in Augusta
Nathon A. Taylor, 41, was sought on an outstanding warrant from Androscoggin County, leading to a standoff on Middle Road.
Posted inLocal & State
Special election set for Winthrop-area state Senate seat, left vacant by new secretary of state
Democrat Craig Hickman and Republicans Earle McCormick and William Guerrette Jr. have said they are interested in seeking the nomination for the District 14 Senate seat vacated when Shenna Bellows was elected secretary of state.