For decades, Sears Island’s mostly undeveloped wilderness and proximity to a deep-water cargo port in Searsport have put it at the center of battles between conservationists and advocates for a variety of industries that want to build there. A new study commissioned by the state asks what if a small part of the island were used to build and launch floating wind turbines, which would help the state meet its ambitious carbon-reduction goals?

Also in this issue, 50 years ago today, as a young reporter in Hawaii, David Butwin got scooped so badly that years later he dreamed of getting it back.

Builder Jim Bahoosh talks about using a camera as a tool on the jobsite. Michael G. Roskin considers American diplomatic moves in Ukraine and Taiwan, Georgeanne Davis suggests garden-based gifts, and birder Don Reimer looks at the winter finch forecast.