Folks are battening down the hatches along the Maine coast and officials at Acadia National Park are considering measures to safeguard visitors as Hurricane Earl bears down on the East Coast of the United States. Last year, the wake of Hurricane Bill, one girl died and several others were injured as a result of storm surge, flooding and wave action. Read all about preparations for this year’s storm in the Mount Desert Islander, on newsstands now.

A group of tourists took an unexpected detour on their way to Waterville from Bar Harbor recently and ended up in a driveway in Hall Quarry where several residents rallied to take care of them until the bus could be towed.

And in Southwest Harbor, voters approved more than a million dollars in bonds for projects in the town, at a special town meeting Tuesday.

This coming Tuesday is the first day of school for most students on Mount Desert Island, and that means two things – drivers should watch out for students coming and going to school; and the fall sports season is upon us in all its track-driven, football-worshipping glory.

But just because the summer is ending doesn’t mean it’s the end of “the season” on MDI.  The numbers show that this has been a record year for business and tourism on the island, and area merchants are looking forward to a bang-up fall season as well; and sailors are still looking forward to plenty of good sailing.

Read all this and more of the latest cops news, town news, arts and sports information in the Mount Desert Islander.