The Register staff brought home five first-place, two second-place and five third-place awards from the 2009 Maine Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest held at the Point Lookout resort in Northport October 16 and 17. The contest was the highlight of the MPA’s annual conference which features the MPA’s annual Hall of Fame ceremony, seminars and more.

Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset has received a $501,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, under the Recovery Act Assistance to Rural Law Enforcement. Directors of the Lincoln and Sagadahoc Regional Jail Authority got the news at their monthly meeting on October 14.

"Some nights it is just pure magic. And on 100 other nights, it might be jazz or blues or folk music or comedy or theater or a lecture or a class, and even those are magical when they take place on the Opera House stage," notes the opening paragraph in this year’s Opera House fall appeal mailed out to area residents last week.

With another $100 million expected to be cut from general purpose aid, in addition to the already proposed $30 million from the state budget, Superintendent of Schools Eileen King warned that education would be taking another hit.

The state now has enough towns to take the proposed Gateway 1 Corridor Coalition to the next step. The milestone was reached Monday night in Edgecomb, when all three selectmen signed a start-up agreement.

Murray Hill woes heard, special town meeting set, at Boothbay selectmen’s meeting

Drainage on Murray Hill Road has not been the same since the 2004 Murray Hill Water Main project; such was the lament of several residents on the roadway at the Boothbay selectmen’s October 14 meeting.

Help us raise the roof November 12

The benefit concert for Glenn and Betty Lou Townsend originally scheduled on October 21 was postponed to a new date: Thursday, November 12 at the Opera House at Boothbay Harbor from 5 to 9 p.m.

The Boothbay Region YMCA’s 2009 Annual Fund Campaign led by Julie and Paul Roberts needs your support this year just as it has in the past.

One day while recording in a logbook that spanned the years 1856 through 1860, Burnt Island lightkeeper William McKown noted that just under 300 vessels had passed by Burnt Island in one night.

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Sagadahoc County

I am interrupting my four-part series on bail to interject a philosophical assessment of where we are and where we should go in our battle against domestic violence. If I were to be asked to give a speech on the state of affairs on domestic violence in our society, this is what I would say.

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Primo Cubano transforms Opera House

October 24

Boothbay Harbor will come alive with traditional Cuban Son music this Saturday night, when Primo Cubano, Maine’s only Cuban Son band, returns to the Opera House for an evening of great music and dancing.

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On October 11 at The Silver Spur Club in Mechanic Falls, Boothbay resident Bobby Reed was inducted into the Maine Ole’ Opry.

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In 1987, four musicians got together for what they envisioned would be a one-time performance at Tipitina’s in New Orleans. It was a night of acoustic music with sparse instrumentation and a strong emphasis on songwriting and vocal harmonies.