Maine News Saturday October 24

The Trump administration plans to remove 50% tariffs on some Canadian products. The tariff changes, effective Oct. 30, are a bid to help Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and other Republicans in the coming midterm elections. Duties will be removed on some products used in agriculture, including certain machinery and refrigeration products, packaging and plywood sheets, according to documents posted on the White House website. At the same time, a 50% tariff will be placed on other Canadian goods, including carpet, certain valves and waste products

Press Herald - New solar panels on the roof of Harpswell Community School could start generating electricity this year.  Shawn Johansen, director of facilities for Maine School Administrative District 75, said that after contractors receive a few remaining pieces and paperwork is finalized by Central Maine Power, the array will generate about 110,000 kilowatt-hours of energy each year. The electricity will be sold back to CMP rather than going to the building, but the generation will slightly exceed the school’s current usage. A 2026 report by the architecture and engineering firm Harriman said the building used approximately 87,000 kilowatt-hours in the 2024-25 school year.

Press Herald - New solar panels on the roof of Harpswell Community School could start generating electricity this year.  Shawn Johansen, director of facilities for Maine School Administrative District 75, said that after contractors receive a few remaining pieces and paperwork is finalized by Central Maine Power, the array will generate about 110,000 kilowatt-hours of energy each year.

The electricity will be sold back to CMP rather than going to the building, but the generation will slightly exceed the school’s current usage. A 2026 report by the architecture and engineering firm Harriman said the building used approximately 87,000 kilowatt-hours in the 2024-25 school year.

UPCOMING

Wander in Terror walk in Freeport mixes spooky sounds and lighting across historical eras.  Freeport families can head to the Desert of Maine for the Wander in Terror walk, a Halloween attraction filled with eerie lighting, spooky sounds, and themed scenes from different historical eras. On Halloween day, organizers are adding trick-or-treating, a pumpkin scavenger hunt, a train ride, and other family activities, with extra tickets now released online after earlier sellouts

OCT 24

6PM - 8PM:   Orange Bike Brewing Company. Enjoy an evening of live music by 100 Thorns

Guild Fine Craft Show: 8AM - 5PM  14 Maine Street, Brunswick

Concerts for a Cause presents YARD SAUCE , 7:30PM - 9:30PM  1 Middle Street, Brunswick

Meetinghouse Arts Presents: Fiddle-icious → Freeport Performing Arts Center, 30 Holbrook St., Freeport 2:00 pm

Frightfully Yours: An 18+ Halloween Cabaret 6:30PM - 8PM 675 Old Portland Road, Brunswick, ME

An Evening with Tom Acousti Live at Ground Floor, Freeport → Ground Floor, 13 School St., Freeport 7:30 pm

Adventuring through Maine: Discovering Hidden Gems 1AM - 12PM  10 Library Drive, Freeport, ME

Haunted house this weekend at Howell House, Bowdoin College! 228 Maine St

OCT 25

Open Stage Variety Show → Freeport Community Library, 10 Library Dr, Freeport
2:00 pm

OCT 27

Tonic, 7 Dunlap St., Brunswick: Open mic with Rexy Dinosaur, 6-8

Town Manager's Office Drop-In →30 Main Street, Freeport 4:00 pm

OCT 29 

Maine News October 23

UMaine shares plan to bring budget deficit down

Press Herald - Thos. Moser is closing its longtime Freeport showroom and relocating the operation, along with its Freeport staff, to Portland’s Old Port by January. The move shifts a notable high-end furniture destination and local jobs out of town, while highlighting Portland’s growing cluster of Maine-based designers and retailers in the historic Storer Bros. Building.

At $6.04 per gallon, it will cost Mainers about $750 more to fill the standard 275-gallon oil tank this winter than last.

AOC stumps for Jackson as high profile figures descend on Maine ahead of election

Press Herald - The Maine Department of Health and Human Services took action against two Portland behavioral health companies that receive federal funds through MaineCare, according to records from the agency’s program integrity unit.

DHHS suspended Medicaid payments to Maine Connect Care earlier this year and another company, USA Family Wellbeing, has received violation notices for alleged overbilling, according to letters sent to the providers.

Both providers were included in a confidential list of criminal division cases the Office of the Maine Attorney General accidentally sent to reporters and other non-office employees on Oct. 8. Neither company appears to have been charged in state or federal court, according to a review of online records. 

WBLM - It is rare to find a business that has been around for a few decades.  It is incredibly rare to find a business that has been around for over a century, let alone several centuries! However, that is the case with one hotel located in Southern Maine.

According to various sources, including the history of the inn itself, this hotel has been welcoming guests since the 1660s!  Yes, the place has been around for about 360 years.

Trish and Ken Mason are America’s only known ninth-generation innkeepers.  Trish’s family has operated The Seaside House since 1756, when her ancestor Jedidiah Gooch purchased the property from a cousin.

The history of the property goes back even further.  Records indicate an inn was operating there as early as 1660, when ferrymen were asked to live on the oceanfront peninsula at the mouth of the Kennebunk River and help travelers cross the river.

News Center Maine - Freeport is taking another step toward transforming its downtown, with town councilors unanimously approving a new Downtown Tax Incremental Financing District to help fund future improvements.  The Town Council voted Oct. 20 to establish the TIF district, which would provide a dedicated funding source for infrastructure upgrades, pedestrian amenities, public spaces, and other downtown investments….

The district covers approximately 300 acres along the U.S. Route 1 and Main Street corridor, stretching from Mallett Drive to the Metro Breez bus stop near Maine Beer Company.

…..Freeport has also updated zoning regulations to encourage new housing and mixed-use developments. Nearly 150 housing units are currently under construction within the proposed district, including three multifamily projects.

….According to Town Councilor Daniel Piltch, the district would give town leaders flexibility to address changing community needs.

"The strength of this TIF is the flexibility it affords to town leaders to adapt to evolving community needs over time without passing the cost on to existing taxpayers," Piltch said.

The town will now seek approval from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development before the district can move forward.

Maine News October 22

Patch - The Nov. 3 general election is coming up. Official Maine election resources: Find your polling place | Register to vote | Absentee, mail and early voting. Maine has no online registration-status lookup; contact your municipal clerk to confirm your registration.

Press Herald - Th e U.S. Department of Agriculture is launching an $8 billion fuel relief program that offers a one-time cash payment to help food producers manage the strain of high diesel prices and rising operating expenses. The  Harvest Relief program breaks ground as the first federal bailout to extend emergency fuel aid to fishermen as well as farmers, according to USDA. It comes at a time when the dock price of lobster remains static, said Ben Martens, director of the Maine Coast Fisherman’s Association.

Maine News October 21

WBLM -   How Should I Act While Crossing the Street?

1. Walk up to the crosswalk.
2. Wait to make sure a car stops. (You never know with those Massachusetts-plated cars.)
3. Start walking across the street.
4. Wave your hand in a kind gesture to the driver while crossing.|
5. Go on living your life.

 

Maine News Monday Oct 19

Here’s what Yarmouth voters will see on November’s ballot

Maine Morning Star -   The latest precipitation across the state still was not enough to alleviate Maine’s statewide drought, according to the Maine Drought Task Force.

The task force convenes when abnormally dry conditions in the state compound with the aim of increasing communication and awareness. Members from state and federal agencies met Friday for the second time this year.

Since the task force last met in early September, drought conditions have expanded, now reaching all areas of the state. The latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor, with data from Tuesday, had 4.64% of the state in extreme drought conditions, 43.10% in severe drought and the remaining 52.26% in moderate drought.

The conditions are already affecting the fall harvest for farmers, and there has been a rise in the number of dry well reports.  The midcoast region is experiencing extreme drought, with severe drought spreading wider across that area as well as much of Northern Maine.

Maine Morning Star -  With 17 days to go before the November elections, Democratic Party leaders, supporters, and candidates took to the streets across Maine on Saturday as part of a nationwide mobilization to get out the vote.

Underscoring what she sees as the stakes of the midterms, particularly Maine’s Senate race, Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts told an estimated crowd of 1000 people who rallied in Portland’s Deering Oaks Park that a vote for a Republican is essentially a vote for President Donald Trump’s agenda.

“Two years of Donald Trump and the Republican majority in the House and the Senate have never had the backbone to say no to anything,” she said. “Not an illegal war, not illegal tariffs, not tax cuts for billionaires, not taking away healthcare for millions of people, not to the biggest grifter in the history of the United States.”

Press Herald -  The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a challenge to Maine’s 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases. Justices on Monday denied a petition for a writ of certiorari in the case, one of dozens that they declined to take up. The court, as is its standard practice, did not explain its reasoning for declining to hear the appeal.

Maine Democracy -    Over the past year, ICE has been terrorizing and harming our communities. And during the debates, Susan Collins defended her vote to give them $70 billion without guardrails. Now, her latest FEC filings revealed that she received thousands of dollars from Trump’s ICE contractor for her re-election campaign. Susan Collins has shown, once again, that she’s more concerned with appeasing her billionaire donors and special interests than standing up for the people of Maine. Enough is enough.

Press Herald -  More than 60,000 students, faculty and staff at Maine colleges and universities will receive free one-year digital subscriptions to Maine Trust for Local News publications this fall through a new sponsored program. The subscriptions will provide access to the Portland Press Herald, Sun Journal, Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal, among other Maine Trust publications. Funded by Bangor Savings Bank, the program covers Maine’s public universities, the Maine Community College System, Husson University in Bangor and Thomas College in Waterville.

Maine News Sunday October 18

WGME - Freeport residents will soon vote on whether a massive 80-ton homemade boat, built over 30 years in the woods off Lower Flying Point Road, can be launched into the Gulf of Maine. Neighbors and supporters clashed at a recent public hearing over safety, property access, and potential liability, and any launch would still need DEP and Army Corps approval.

Maine Biz -  Freeport will receive $218,400 to replace aging docks and floats at Cove Road Wharf, the commercial river floats, and the town dock along the Harraseeket River, bolstering the working waterfront. The upgrades aim to better support more than 60 shellfish license holders, fishermen, and aquaculture operations while improving resilience against storm surge and sea level rise.

Press Herald - Approximately 23 seventh-graders from Portland’s Lyman Moore Middle School sat in the front rows of the Portland Museum of Art’s auditorium on Thursday as Jonathan Tunstall, assistant professor of education at Bowdoin College, took kids through a presentation on Black music, spanning spirituals to hip-hop. As the musical journey took the kids from spirituals to the blues and then to funk, they gradually became more energized and engaged. By the time Tunstall arrived at hip-hop, they were pointing at the screen, moving along to the music snippets and yelling out the names of celebrities they recognized.

“That’s Cardi B,” yelled one seventh-grader.

A few minutes earlier, a group of 10 students was on the second floor of the museum’s gallery, standing around a display of sugar bowls when their tour guide, museum educator Beth Walker, asked a question: “Did anyone have sugar this morning?”

After a few children raised their hands, Walker explained the connection between the sugar trade of the 19th century, which relied on slave labor, and the way in which Portland economically benefited from that system. She wanted students to understand the brutal history behind what looked like just a beautiful piece of art. 

Troy Jackson -  [Susan Collins] votes with Trump 96% of the time. If she knows one of his bad bills is going to tank, she’ll vote against it. If she’s the deciding vote, she’ll always vote for it, just like how she was the deciding vote for Brett Kavanaugh, who then overturned Roe v. Wade. The same is also true with Trump’s tariffs. Mainers and folks across the country are hurting badly from rising costs – and too many families are having to pick between picking up their prescriptions or putting food on the table.

See Who's Single & Over 50 in Freeport

UPCOMING

OCT 18

Meet the Marsh - Cousins River Fields & Marsh Preserve in Yarmouth, Maine.  A family-friendly fall festival celebrating the ongoing restoration of the preserve with activities, trail exploration, fall-themed ambience, and tasty treats amid a beautiful seasonal landscape. Free to attend. 

OCT 19 

Porter's Landing Ad Hoc Committee → Town Hall Council Chambers, 30 Main Street, Freeport 5:00 pm

OCT 24

ANNUAL WOLFE'S NECK CENTER FALL FESTIVAL -  Join us for hayrides, family activities, yoga, local food and more! One ticket secures a wagon ride around campus.

Maine News Saturday October 17

Soaring heating oil prices put struggling Maine families in a bind as winter nears: (cbsnews.com) — Freeport families like Chris and Cheryl Oliver are struggling to afford heat as oil prices soar nearly 80 percent, forcing painful tradeoffs between essentials. The Freeport Wood Bank is stepping in with donated firewood, but demand is extremely high and supplies may run out by midwinter. Local donations and awareness are becoming critical to help neighbors stay warm.

Lockheed Martin gave Sen. Susan Collins tens of thousands of dollars as a F-35 program hit turbulence, The Intercept reported. Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Troy Jackson got $15k from big oil and pharma lobbyists, but is giving it to charity to keep his 'Dirigo Pledge,' he said.

Midcoast Now -  On Monday, environmental groups started raising alarm about thousands of dead river herring appearing on the shores of the Androscoggin River in Brunswick. The fish kill event was attributed to the Brunswick-Topsham dam, which is up for federal relicensing.

Maine News Friday October 16

Big Loop Trail at Hedgehog Mountain is CLOSED for a new bridge installation, to be completed over the next 1-2 weeks. 

Maine Morning Star - Incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic nominee Troy Jackson offered new insight on how they view the state of American democracy, gun rights, campaign finance and more during their final debate on Thursday. 

…While the debate had a live audience, attendees were invited by the campaigns, not members of the general public. The format of debates had been a point of disagreement, as Jackson’s campaign had requested town hall-style forums, where voters could ask questions on the spot. 

Jackson continued to try to tie Collins to President Donald Trump on Thursday, while the five-term senator again pitched her seniority as most beneficial to Mainers, something that has been a thorough line in earlier debates and the campaign season. 

Tensions were high both on and off stage Thursday. In addition to the candidates continuing to take jabs at one anothers’ records, fifteen minutes into the debate a member of the audience interrupted, yelling to Collins, “AI data centers are destroying our climate,” before being escorted out. 

Collins turned the blame on Jackson, saying, “so this is obviously one of Troy’s supporters.” Jackson responded, “Oh shut up, I don’t even know that kid.” The audience member had a press badge on but it was unclear who he was. 

Soaring heating oil prices put struggling Maine families in a bind as winter nears: "How are we going to stay warm?" (cbsnews.com) — Freeport families like Chris and Cheryl Oliver are struggling to afford heat as oil prices soar nearly 80 percent, forcing painful tradeoffs between essentials. The Freeport Wood Bank is stepping in with donated firewood, but demand is extremely high and supplies may run out by midwinter. Local donations and awareness are becoming critical to help neighbors stay warm. 

(949whom.com) — Freeport residents can now check out the expanded 1912 Cafe inside L.L. Bean’s newly renovated flagship store, which reopened this fall with more seating and an updated menu. It’s one of nine new or revamped Maine restaurants that debuted in September, offering everything from comfort food to Asian fusion for your next in-state foodie road trip.

Maine News Thursday October 15

 7PM - Troy Jackson and Susan Collins' debate will be streaming live on pressherald.com, centralmaine.com and sunjournal.com.

Maine Morning Star -   More than 250 people sent a letter to Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey Wednesday requesting that his office investigate corruption allegations against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. The group argues that a state statute would permit such an investigation because it governs state election laws and does not distinguish between state officials or federal officials. Title 17-A M.R.S.A. Section 33 states that the Maine Attorney General “shall” designate the deputy attorney general or an assistant attorney general to investigate alleged violations of election law.

Maine News Wednesday October 14

Susan Collins and Troy Jackson square off in latest debate

Constant Contact -    No Mainer should be forced to choose between paying for heat or other essentials like food, gas and medication. A reminder that you can connect with the folks at Freeport Community Services if you would like more information about heating assistance with oil, pellets or K-1 propane. They also have a relationship with the Freeport Wood Bank to get firewood delivered to your home and can connect you with the Opportunity Alliance to help you apply for the federal Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP). HEAP is an income-based program that sends a direct payment to your fuel vendor for homes heated with oil, kerosene, wood, propane, natural gas, electricity or other fuels. 

Three takeaways from the latest Senate debate between Collins and Jackson

Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment - The Northeast Farmers Fund provides technical and financial assistance to farmers across the region working to expand market opportunities for regenerative products. Funding can support projects ranging from equipment and infrastructure to certification, value-added processing, marketing and distribution.

A button lost hundreds of years ago. A fragment of a ceramic dish. A piece of glass left behind near a kitchen door. Individually, these objects may seem small, but together, they offer clues about the people who lived, worked and gathered at a place over generations. In August, Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment’s Casco History Lab hired archaeologists from the Northeast Archaeology Research Center to conduct a Phase I archaeological survey at the historic Saltbox House on our Freeport campus. The survey was an important step in preparing the house for preservation and learning more about its history. More