“On a clear night, the Milky Way cuts across the sky and down to the horizon like a celestial lightning bolt, a giant, luminescent spear shrouded in a graceful veil of back-lighted stardust. The sight has always been up there. But today, few Americans can see it, especially not in brightly lighted cities like Boston. On the densely populated East Coast, Mount Desert Island is one of the last inhabited places where the naked eye can still clearly observe the heavenly wonders that have inspired religion, mythology, science, and culture. To preserve that natural spectacle — and protect one of the tourist attractions of the island’s Acadia National Park — voters in Bar Harbor this month approved a ‘dark sky’ ordinance aimed at limiting the manmade lighting that has blotted out the view of the stars over much of the country. Bright lights installed after Dec. 4 will have to be shielded from the sky to illuminate only the area beneath them.” [editor’s note: That this was done locally, and with an essential consensus built for its passage, MIGHT mitigate against the tyrannical nature of such an incursion on private property … or maybe not! - SAT] (11/28/08)