The Town Line

The Town Line is a community newspaper that operates as a nonprofit entity in South China, serving over 20 towns in central Maine. Managed by a volunteer board of directors, The Town Line, Inc. relies on a team that includes a managing editor, bookkeeper, and advertising manager. Additionally, many volunteers play a crucial role in helping with the newspaper's weekly production and are always welcome to join. Incorporated under the Maine Nonprofit Corporations Act, The Town Line has received nonprofit status under §501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The paper fulfills its mission primarily through revenue generated from local business advertising, along with memberships, subscriptions from community members, and support from private and municipal grants.

Local

English

Newspaper, Non-profit

Outlet metrics

Domain Authority

Ranking

Global

#3096140

United States

#1048707

News and Media

#20231

Traffic sources

Monthly visitors

Articles

China town meeting to be held via written ballot June 10

4 days ago | townline.org | Mary J. Grow

by Mary GrowChina’s annual town business meeting will be held by written ballot on Tuesday, June 10. Polls in the portable building in the town office complex will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Absentee ballots are available at the town office until 4:30 p.m. Thursday, June 5, for voters unable to come to the polls. Voters will act on 2025-26 municipal and school budgets, on two separate warrants.
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Augusta jail

4 days ago | townline.org | Mary J. Grow

by Mary GrowBefore proceeding to the history of the Augusta jail, your writer wants to clarify a sentence from last week’s article. It referenced Wikipedia’s statement that after Augusta became a city (instead of a town) in 1849, “Its early city offices were in the Opera House, and meetings took place in Winthrop Hall.”Apparently “early” doesn’t mean from the beginning. The history of the Augusta Opera House, from James North’s 1870 history and other sources, was part of the Nov.
Issue for June 5, 2025

4 days ago | townline.org | Mary J. Grow |Roland D. Hallee |Jude Hsiang |Peter Cates

Issue for June 5, 2025Scouting America teaches young boys and girls many great values. One of the more important lessons in Scouting is Duty to God and country.
Planners approve only application before the board

4 days ago | townline.org | Mary J. Grow

by Mary GrowChina Planning Board members approved the only application on their May 27 agenda and postponed everything else. Natasha Littlefield, owner/operator of Littlefield’s Gym, in the former Farrington building, at 9 Legion Memorial Drive, in South China, applied to use office space in the building for her accounting business. She’s run the business remotely from her home since 2013, she said.
Angry budget committee members confront select board

4 days ago | townline.org | Mary J. Grow

by Mary GrowVassalboro select board members were confronted by three angry budget committee members at their May 29 meeting. (See the May 22 issue of The Town Line, p. 2, for related information.)Committee chairman Peggy Schaffer, supported by members Douglas Phillips and Frank Richards, told select board members they failed to provide timely financial information this spring.
Up and Down the Kennebec Valley: Augusta’s civic meeting houses

1 week ago | townline.org | Mary J. Grow

by Mary GrowEnough, for now, of genealogies (although two boxes about people accompany this article). This week, your writer provides summary histories of more of Augusta’s 18th and 19th century public buildings. Settled in the 1760s as part of Hallowell, Augusta became a separate town in 1797; became the shire town of Kennebec County in 1799 and the capital of the State Maine in 1827; and was incorporated as a city in 1849.
Issue for May 29, 2025

1 week ago | townline.org | Mary J. Grow |Roland D. Hallee |Jayne Winters |Peter Cates

Issue for May 29, 2025Launching a trilogy of mystery novels at the age of 91 would be too daring for many authors.
QUINN MINUTE: Middle School smells

1 week ago | townline.org | Rix Quinn

by Rix QuinnI’m not sure I had much sense of smell until sixth grade. The only aroma I remember before that was dinner rolls in the elementary cafeteria. But junior high was different. For the first time, many girls started wearing perfume. Guys started splashing on after-shave. The aura in a small classroom was astounding. Imagine walking into a flower garden and inhaling the essence of spring mixed with a saddle and cheese. The school hallway scents were variable.
SCORES & OUTDOORS: Mild winter sets the stage for “perfect storm” of summer pests, expert warns

1 week ago | townline.org | Roland D. Hallee

by Roland D. HalleeThis week, this tidbit came in my email inbox. According to Smith’s Pest Management, be ready for a summer invasion of pests in Maine, following the state’s mild winter. Maine’s mild winter may have been a welcome break from the cold, but according to one pest expert, it came with a hidden cost: a likely explosion in warm-weather pests this summer.
Vassalboro town meeting will be held in two sessions

1 week ago | townline.org | Mary J. Grow

by Mary GrowVassalboro’s annual town meeting for 2025 will be in two sessions, eight days apart and in two different locations. On Monday, June 2, voters will assemble in the Vassalboro Community School gymnasium, at 6:30 p.m., to talk about and vote on articles number one through 41. On Tuesday, June 10, polls will be open at the town office for written-ballot voting on Articles 42 and 43.