Alex Lear

Staff Writer

Alex Lear is a lifelong Mainer who has spent 25 years in journalism -- the first 20 as a reporter for newspapers in Damariscotta and Falmouth, then as Opinions section editor for the Sun Journal and now a digital producer with the Maine Trust for Local News. His long-running “Learics” column won first place in the Maine Press Association’s 2023 Better Newspaper Contest. He and his wife Lauren are kept young by their 9-year-old daughter Alaina. Send feedback and suggestions to Alex.

The Forecaster

Bath, Brunswick housing authorities to receive federal funds

February 19, 2020

BRUNSWICK — The Bath and Brunswick housing authorities are among 19 agencies in Maine to receive a total of $9.53 million through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Public Housing Capital Fund Program. Brunswick’s authority is due to receive $438,463, Bath’s, $232,353, according to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). “This funding will help Maine […]

The Forecaster

Bowdoin College Arctic Museum to host family day Feb. 22

February 19, 2020

BRUNSWICK — Bowdoin College’s Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum will host a family day from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. The museum is located at Hubbard Hall, and admission is free and open to the public. Participants can learn about how the Arctic Ocean is filled with life, including some of Earth’s largest mammals. […]

The Forecaster

Phippsburg sportsmen’s group to host winter field day

February 19, 2020

PHIPPSBURG — The Phippsburg Sportsmen’s Association will host its Winter Youth and Family Field Day on Sunday, Feb. 23. The event, to be held at the John Rogers Outdoor Education Center on Pitch Pine Hill, 272 Main Road, will include dog sledding, Nordic skiing, snow shoeing, tracking, an introduction to orienteering, a cell phone scavenger […]

Coastal Journal, Northern Forecaster, The Forecaster

Freeport High’s beard-growing contest raises funds for heating assistance program

by Alex Lear February 18, 2020February 18, 2020

Freeport’s Carol Kaplan Fuel Assistance Fund could help about 60 households this winter.

The Forecaster

Cumberland taxes due March 16

February 17, 2020

CUMBERLAND — The second half of the town’s 2020 property tax bills are due Monday, March 16. Payments can be made by stopping by Town Hall between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, and between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday. Checks can also be mailed to Attn: Tax Collector, 290 Tuttle Road, […]

Coastal Journal, The Forecaster, Times Record

New Mt. Ararat High School nears 75% completion mark

by Alex Lear February 12, 2020February 16, 2020

A New Hampshire company will remove hazardous material in the original school before it’s demolished later this year.

The Forecaster

Bath seeks input on Elm Street-Front Street Redesign Project

February 12, 2020

BATH — Having completed work on alternative design concepts for the intersection of Elm Street and Front Street, along with part of Front Street, the city seeks public input in order to refine the design. Bath contracted with Terrence J. DeWan & Associates, a Yarmouth landscape architecture firm, to create the design, which is meant […]

Coastal Journal, The Forecaster, Times Record

Harpswell Coastal Academy students share personal stories, poems with new book

by Alex Lear February 11, 2020

The students worked with the Portland-based Telling Room to write and publish “Somehow I Knew What to Do: Personal Narratives from Harpswell Coastal Academy.”