Entries by Eric W. Austin

Karen Hatch: Queen of the Swap Shop

by Eric W. Austin Walking into the Swap Shop at the China Transfer Station, you may find that you don’t recognize the place anymore. Gone are the disorganized piles of clothes, toys, tools and odds and ends with no apparent plan or place to stand. Instead, the small space has been arranged with a finesse […]

China unveils new emergency notification system

by Eric W. Austin China’s town manager, Dennis Heath, is excited about a new emergency contact system the town is rolling out next year. Called Hyper-Reach and developed by Ashergroup, based in Rochester, New York, the application is an opt-in emergency broadcast system that can notify residents of important announcements, weather advisories and emergency alerts. […]

Welcome home: A Vietnam experience

by Eric W. Austin “The war was so unpopular, you couldn’t go anywhere in public in uniform,” says Vietnam veteran Clinton Hayward. “You would be berated, assaulted, threatened. It was frightening.” We’re sitting in the living room of his home in South China, looking out over Three Mile Pond. He pauses a moment, leans forward […]

The 2020 census comes to central Maine

by Eric W. Austin Some of you may have noticed a strange man or woman snooping around the neighborhood with a briefcase. Do not be alarmed. This is not a new type of high-class burglar brazenly scoping out your house for a midnight break-in. Adrian Cronkhite, a partnership specialist with the United States Census Bureau, […]