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Last week was spring break for much of Maine, my family included. We spent five days in Quebec City after traveling north up the Kennebec River through Jackman and across the border.
It felt good to step away from the responsibilities of this job to wander the fairytale streets of Old Quebec with my daughter and husband (though if you ask my 4-year-old, she’d say her favorite part was the hotel pool).
I attempt to be an inbox-zero person, so the return to work Monday was rough. But by Tuesday afternoon, I was starting to settle back in. I left the second half of the day meeting-free to do focused work like crafting this newsletter.
But despite my best efforts, working ahead didn’t happen. And the reasons were glorious.
First, I caught reporter Reuben Schafir and managing editor Julia Arenstam chatting outside my office and called them in. I owed them a response on a story pitch involving a budget for gun range time and ammunition (that’s all I’ll say for now). It was a chance to hash out whether to move forward or not.
By the time they tagged out, reporter Daniel Kool and his editor Kirby Wilson tagged in. Daniel has done an impressive job making himself a mini expert on the contentious and complicated matter of data centers. Our conversation included how we could break down the proposals that have caused consternation and how they differ. The back and forth with the Legislature and the governor may be over for now but the issue isn’t going anywhere, and I feel fortunate we have Daniel to keep on top of it.
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Lorea Telletxea, right, gives her doubles partner Valentina Padilha a high-five during practice in Saco on Monday. Telletxea is from Spain and Padilha is from Brazil. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)
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Once that was done, sports reporter Drew Bonifant came by to find out if I knew anyone who could translate Korean. He was working on a story about the international melting pot that is the Thornton Academy girls tennis team, and how they’ve adopted a Korean cheer that means something along the lines of “Let’s Go!”
We tried to see if AI could be helpful (it wasn’t), and then we went the old-fashioned route and Googled whether Maine had a Korean studies professor. To our delight, someone from Bowdoin College popped right up. I sent Drew his email, and away he went. Drew came by later to say the professor had responded almost immediately. A good reminder that asking a human expert can still win out.
Many of my working moments are now spent in strategy and budget meetings, or helping editors manage up, down and across. The opportunities to work with reporters directly have become fewer.
I feel honored to be a part of charting our path forward with publisher Stefanie Manning and her leadership team. But it was nice to spend a few hours Tuesday just doing journalism. It was a reminder of why I’ve given so much to this calling — always for the readers, but also for the joy of being with other journalists.
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Welcome to new community reporters
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Seven months ago we had one reporter covering York County. As of Monday, we will have three. Next week we welcome Isabelle Oss, fresh from a master’s degree at Boston University, who will cover southern York County, including Kittery, York, Ogunquit and the Berwicks.
Later this month, after decades of dedicated work covering southern Maine, reporter Bob Lowell will be retiring. Taking his place covering Gorham, Buxton, Standish and the surrounding areas is Madeleine Kaptein, newly graduated from Middlebury College where she was the school newspaper’s editor-in-chief.
If you see Bob around town, please congratulate him.
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Come see the Maine Cabin Masters crew (and me)
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On Friday, May 5, I’ll be interviewing the Maine Cabin Masters at 7 p.m. in the Abromson Center at the University of Southern Maine. As a supporter, we’re offering you two free tickets if you use the code CAROLYN26 here.
If you have any burning questions for Chase, Ashley, Ryan or Dixie, please let me know. And if you can’t make the event, I’m happy to report back the answer!
Hope to see you there, and thanks for reading.
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