Chellie Pingree - Starting this week, the U.S. Senate is considering the SAVE America Act, which would increase the burden for Americans to register and vote by requiring a passport or birth certificate. Millions of Americans do not have their passport or birth certificate readily available, and attaining those documents can be costly and time-consuming. If enacted, this bill could threaten to disenfranchise millions of eligible American citizens and put your private information at risk as all 50 states would be required to hand over their unredacted voter rolls with sensitive, personally identifiable information to the Trump Administration.
Midcoast Now- Brunswick's Curtis Memorial Library will begin work on its lobby revamp on Monday, March 23. The central lobby will be walled off during construction but all library services will be available. Work is expected to be completed in July 2026.
Topsham Fire and Rescue is hiring a full-time firefighter/paramedic. Interested? See more information here.
Press Herald - A deep winter chill across the Maine woods has kept maple trees dormant longer than usual this year, forcing producers into a high-stakes race against time as the sap finally begins to flow. The delay has some worried about the length of their harvest window before the spring warmth triggers budding and ends the season. While the cold start has been grueling, producers are hoping for a stretch of 40-degree days and freezing nights to keep the “golden flow” moving.
Frank Thompson, a fifth-generation Vinalhaven lobsterman, is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a federal regulation requiring commercial lobster boats to be monitored by GPS trackers 24 hours a day. Thompson argues that the continuous, warrantless surveillance violates his Fourth Amendment protections from unreasonable searches, while regulators say the data improves understanding of lobster populations and can inform future rules.
The University of Maine is planning budget cuts, staff reductions and a tuition increase as the school aims to address an expected $18 million shortfall next year. The budget proposal calls for more than $10 million in cuts and a 4% tuition increase across the board. The university lists declining out-of-state enrollment, shifting federal priorities and a decrease in credit hours per student as “persistent challenges.
Press Herald - The University of Maine is planning budget cuts, staff reductions and a tuition increase, according to documents made public Friday, as the school aims to address an expected $18 million shortfall next year. ...In a letter this month, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy described this year as “the most difficult” budget process since she became president in 2018.
University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy photographed in October 2024. (Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer)
Now, the school is proposing a budget that includes $5.6 million in permanent budget cuts and $5.7 million in one-time cuts, according to a slideshow that will be presented at the university’s budget committee meeting next week. Fewer than 10 staff positions will be eliminated, which Ferinni-Mundy said this month was achieved “without faculty retrenchments.”
The university also plans to increase tuition across the board. In-state tuition is expected to rise 3.9% to $13,230, and out-of-state tuition 4% to $38,340. The school notes that those rates are still less expensive than other land-grant colleges in New England.
Troy Jackson (candidate for Governor) -I grew up in Aroostook County, a poor kid in a town full of poor kids. My dad was a logger, like his dad and his dad before him. After my parents split up, he'd sometimes bring me into the woods with him. He wasn't trying to teach me the trade, he just wanted time with his kid.
There's one day I think about more than any other: I was around eleven, and the loggers were on strike — not for a raise, just to hold onto the wages they already had.
At first everyone was joking around, passing the time. Then the landowner showed up, and everything changed in seconds.
He told them: do the work for what I'll pay you today, or I’ll replace you tomorrow.
I didn't understand all the issues at hand, but I understood how wrong it felt to watch a rich man with power that knew how to use it.
It took me about twenty years to truly understand what my dad must have felt that day. By then I had a family of my own. I was logging, driving hours every day chasing jobs, missing time with my kids, worrying about money and my family every single night.
One night on the road it all hit me at once: the stress, the anger, the feeling that no matter how hard you work, someone else still controls your fate and your family’s future.
I thought: no parent should have to lose their dignity just to make ends meet.
A couple years later I was part of a big labor fight of my own — blocking the border to stand up to landowners cutting our wages — and a couple years after that, I ran for the legislature, because I believed that someone who grew up like I did needed to be in the room when decisions got made.
I spent twenty years there, six as Senate President. We did a lot of good work: Free school meals for every kid. Real investments in housing, child care, and education. Some of the strongest reproductive health protections anywhere in the country.
But there were real frustrations, too. Time and time again I saw legislation that would be a gamechanger for working families get watered down, killed, or vetoed. Powerful people marched in and dictated what we would do. It wasn’t so different from what I saw as a kid in the woods with my Dad.
I'm tired of watching working families get squeezed while the wealthiest keep getting more.
That's why I'm running for governor. For the workers who've been told they're replaceable, for the families who do everything right and still fall behind, and for that eleven-year-old boy who learned early what it looks like when people with power don't care about the people doing the work.
Prress Herald - A $200 billion funding request from the Trump administration to continue operations in Iran — launched in February with joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes — is higher than expected, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said. Collins, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, told reporters in Washington, D.C., that the request made by the Pentagon to fund the ongoing conflict “is considerably higher than I would have guessed.”
Portland officials are facing growing backlash over plans to host a Turning Point USA Faith gathering at the Portland Expo in May, but are defending their decision — as of now — to allow the event to proceed. Critics argue the city was intentionally misled by Calvary Chapel Greater Portland, which secured the venue under the guise of a local outreach event before it turned into a stop on the group’s “Make Heaven Crowded” tour
Court-appointed lawyers will be paid on time after Gov. Janet Mills signed an emergency bill into law, giving $21 million to the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services. The commission had previously warned that it would run out of money later this month to reimburse private attorneys representing low-income criminal defendants and parents who risk losing custody of their children to the state.
Wolfe's Neck Center - For a limited time, when you book 5 nights in ourCove Cabin, you’ll receive 2 additional nights free. That’s a full week to enjoy the coast, take part in a hands-on class, stop by the dairy barn and explore the trails around campus at your own pace. Cove Cabin offers a comfortable, laid-back retreat with a galley-style kitchen, open living and dining space, and room for everyone. The downstairs bedroom includes a queen bed and bunk beds, while a sleeping loft above provides two additional twin beds, making it an easy fit for families or small groups. Offer ends March 23. Valid for stays enjoyed any time during the 2026 season. To book - (207) 865-9307
Maine Morning Star-"Apartment
owners shouldn’t be dragged into the middle of the fight between the Fed and
the state over immigration. That’s not the job of apartment owners, and they
don’t have the expertise to figure out who’s right and who’s wrong." – Dan
Bernierwith the Central Maine Apartment Owners Association, on
legislation
Mills for Maine - Governor Mills has a record of stepping up and delivering for Mainers. On day one as Governor, Janet Mills expanded health care to more than 100,000 Maine people. She has fought for education, fully-funded schools for the first time in Maine history, guaranteed access to free school meals and made community college free for all Maine students. While Senator Collin's pivotal vote for Brett Kavanaugh stripped reproductive healthcare away from 1/3 of all American women, Governor Mill's was committed to expanding reproductive care across the state. And as Trump's tariffs push housing prices even higher, Governor Mills has made the biggest investment in housing in Maine history.
Maine Morning Star - Mainers will vote on the rights of transgender student athletes to access sports teams, bathrooms and locker rooms aligning with their gender identity this November. On Tuesday, the Secretary of State’s Office confirmed that more than valid 70,000 signatures were collected by proponents of the citizen-led ballot initiative, which means the question will be decided on by voters during the midterm elections.
Top of theMorning - Gov. Janet Mills and each of the Wabanaki Nations reached agreement on two bills that initially sought to grant greater self-governing power to the Tribes on Tuesday, though the amended versions are far narrower.
Press Herald - Maine superintendents have been rolling out early drafts of their budgets over the past few weeks, and things aren’t looking great, with districts projecting increases of 5% to 10% over the last fiscal year. Portland, South Portland and Lewiston schools have proposed budgets that would cut a combined 128 positions and increase taxes. Why? Officials say rising salary and health care costs, and declining enrollment, are stressing their books.
Portland will close its shelter for asylum seekers this month due to a rapid decline in use over the past year, attributable to the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies. The 179-bed facility in the Riverton neighborhood, which housed 157 people at this time last year, now has only one remaining resident who is expected to leave by March 20. The closure will result in 35 layoffs.
MSN -Maine and Colorado this week approved ballot initiatives by advocacy groups seeking to ban transgender student-athletes from playing on girls’ sports teams, putting a debate that has become an enduring political flash point up for direct vote in blue states where leaders have resisted such policies.
The states are the latest to take up the issue this election year. Voters in Washington state will also vote on trans athletes in November, and similar measures have been proposed in Arizona, Nevada and Nebraska.
The groups pushing the initiatives, which would bar transgender student-athletes from participating in sports teams of their gender identity, have called them citizen-led efforts to bypass state legislatures. Critics said the proposed bans are discriminatory.
Leyland Streiff, with the advocacy group Protect Girls Sports in Maine, said in an interview that a majority vote would be “the most democratic way possible” to decide on the issue and that the petition sidesteps “elected officials that are clearly out of touch right now with what the rest of the state actually wants.”
Press Herald - Portland will close its shelter for asylum seekers this month due to a rapid decline in use over the past year attributable to the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies. The decision will result in 35 layoffs.
City officials said Tuesday that the closure is necessary to adapt to the realities of the immigration system. This time last year, there were 157 people staying at the 179-bed shelter in Portland’s Riverton neighborhood. This week, city officials said only one individual remains, and they will be leaving March 20
Leslie Bridgers went on an excursion recently to an Aldi location in New Hampshire in order to find out why the grocery store chain has such a cult following. A Portland location is set to open March 26.
Maine lawmakers signed off Wednesday on emergency funding
for the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services amid a critical shortfall
for private lawyers who represent low-income criminal defendants and parents in
court. The vote came a week after the commission said it would stop
paying those lawyers later this month. The proposal now heads to Gov. Janet
Mills; if she signs it, the funding will take effect immediately.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Thursday she’s backing political
newcomer Graham Platner in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Warren, a
Massachusetts progressive and 2020 presidential candidate, said she
thinks Platner
is the best candidate to challenge five-term Republican incumbent
Susan Collins in November. Warren said Platner "is going to flip Maine and
then actually deliver change for working people.
Maine Public - Maine voters finally learned this week who will appear on the Republican and Democratic primary ballots for governor, absent any successful challenges to their signature-gathering efforts. There were very few surprises.
Four of the five Democratic candidates who qualified — Secretary of State Shenna Bellows of Manchester, former Senate President Troy Jackson of Allagash, former House Speaker Hannah Pingree of North Haven and former Maine CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah of Brunswick — all already have high levels of name recognition among engaged Democratic voters. The fifth candidate, businessman Angus King III of Portland, is a relative political newcomer but has undeniably received a boost from the name that he shares with his well-known father, former two-term governor and current U.S. Sen. Angus King.
Bellows, Jackson, Pingree and Shah are all campaigning on their track records in government and/or politics in addition to their individual policy priorities. King, on the other hand, is running as the political outsider who hasn’t “spent my life in Augusta debating policy or drafting reports” and is, instead, touting his years working in Maine’s affordable housing and clean energy sectors....
This week, Mills, who's been trailing Platner in publicly available polling, launched an attack ad that leans heavily on one of her strengths to try to expose a potential weakness in her opponent’s resilient candidacy: women voters. In doing so, her campaign took a confrontational tack in a party primary, outracing the armada of political action committees that often assume that role.
The ad focuses on Platner’s 2013 post on Reddit about a website providing locking underwear for women to guard against sexual assault while on a “blind date, taking an evening run, ‘clubbing’, traveling in unfamiliar countries.” Platner, in a post that originally surfaced in October, responded, “How about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so (expletive) up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?”
He added, “Rape is a real thing. If you’re so worried about it to buy Kevlar underwear you’d think you might not get blacked out (expletive) up around people you aren’t comfortable with.”
The ad repurposes the post in a 30-second spot in which a group of women are portrayed as reacting to it for the first time while a narrator impersonating Platner’s gravelly voice reads it out loud — an official for the Mills campaign said the voiceover was performed by a human, not artificial intelligence.
Press Herald - Monday was the deadline for party candidates in state and federal races to submit enough signatures to get on the ballot, and the race for Maine governor just got a little less crowded — voters will see five Democrats and eight Republicans on their ballots in the June 9 primaries. In the 1st District, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree won’t face a Democratic primary challenger after all, while Maine's U.S. Senate race will feature four candidates.
Maine lawmakers could soon vote on a plan to create a nearly $88 million contingency fund for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program after last fall’s record federal government shutdown temporarily froze food stamp benefits. But any decision on the proposal from House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, tied to the federal program that helps about 175,000 Mainers, could run into budget constraints.
A survey of more than 1,000 Portland residents conducted late last year shows that while most people are happy with core city services like public safety and trash pickup, there is broad concern about the city’s overall affordability. The results of the community survey suggest that residents are generally pleased with city services but are worried about the ongoing trends of expensive housing and rising taxes.
Maine
Morning Star - After eight years of waiting for the federal
government to schedule a hearing for his case, a father seeking asylum in Maine
was instead detained, thrusting him into hostile court proceedings with limited
opportunities for appeal. It is a pattern lawyers said they are seeing as
President Donald Trump’s administration is targeting immigrants regardless of
whether they are lawfully present in a push for mass deportations.
Heather Cox Richardson - March 15 is a crucially important day in U.S. history... The importance of March 15 is, of course, that it is the day in 1820 that Maine, the Pine Tree State, joined the Union.
Maine statehood had national repercussions. The inhabitants of this northern part of Massachusetts had asked for statehood in 1819, but their petition was stopped dead by southerners who refused to permit a free state—one that did not permit human enslavement—to enter the Union without a corresponding “slave state.” The explosive growth of the northern states had already given free states control of the House of Representatives, but the South held its own in the Senate, where each state got two votes. The admission of Maine would give the North the advantage, and southerners insisted that Maine’s admission be balanced with the admission of a southern slave state lest those opposed to slavery use their power in the federal government to restrict enslavement in the South. They demanded the admission of Missouri to counteract Maine’s two “free” Senate votes.
But this “Missouri Compromise” infuriated northerners, especially those who lived in Maine. They swamped Congress with petitions against admitting Missouri as a slave state, resenting that slave owners in the Senate could hold the state of Maine hostage until they got their way. Tempers rose high enough that Thomas Jefferson wrote to Massachusetts—and later Maine—senator John Holmes that he had for a long time been content with the direction of the country, but that the Missouri question “like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. It is hushed indeed for the moment, but this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence.”
Congress passed the Missouri Compromise, but Jefferson was right to see it as nothing more than a reprieve.
Press Herald - After Dr. Nirav Shah became the public face of the state's pandemic response in 2020, the former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Preventionleads recent pollingfor the Democratic primary in Maine's race for governor. He's one of five Democrats in a field of 22 candidates.
Despite promises of a federal crackdown,enforcement of illegal marijuana grow houses has slowed in Maine. Sheriffs say they're bearing the burden of investigating operations run by transnational criminal groups. "These cases have been very, very difficult to work with compared to any other case I’ve ever worked on," said Guy Dow, a sergeant who has executed search warrants at 10 grow houses across Piscataquis County.
Inside Climate News - It’s one of Maine’s most desirable locations—home to a vibrant and diverse community, nearby beaches, and close proximity to Portland’s downtown. But for years, residents in South Portland have wondered: With 120 massive petroleum storage tanks dotting the shore and knitted into some neighborhoods here, is the air safe to breathe?
Now the first answers are in, thanks to a year of emissions monitoring along the fencelines of the city’s tank farms. At two of those locations, in particular, the results showed levels of benzene—a known carcinogen—well above the state’s limit.
“We’re about 300 feet from those tanks,” said Ted Reiner, whose home is surrounded by three of the city’s tank farms. It’s where he and his wife raised their two daughters, now 38 and 28. Around Christmas, Reiner had surgery for bladder cancer. Now he’s undergoing immunotherapy, and he can’t help but wonder whether his environment is contributing to his health woes.
Press Herald - Maine leaders are divided on the appropriateness of text messages that were sent among local police officials and an immigration agent during a surge of enforcement in January. Some say the communications are normal and a necessary part of public safety. Others are concerned by the messages – and the tone of some that convey supportiveness for enforcement. Read more.
Portland Foreside developers want to build a cogeneration plant next to the densely populated Munjoy Hill neighborhood, raising concerns about emissions, exhaust stacks and other environmental impacts. But what is it and how would it work? We dig into some answers.
BRUNSWICK — Applications are open for Brunswick's Nathaniel Davis Fund, which supports local events and programs serving Brunswick residents. Grants range from $200-$2,500. Applications are due on April 23.
FREEPORT — The Freeport Town Council will have a budget workshop on its 5-year capital program on March 17 at 6 p.m. in the council chambers.
TOPSHAM — The Topsham History Committee is looking for volunteers to dig into the archives and help digitize the town's historical records, dating all the way back to 1787!
Hannah Pingree - I’m proud to be the first Governor's candidate in Maine history to be endorsed by Maine Conservation Voters in the primary. And this week, our campaign received another meaningful endorsement—from perhaps Maine’s most famous resident, Stephen King.
Press Herald - Maine service providers are raising the alarm about the possibility that recruiters may be targeting homeless people to go to out-of-state detox centers. The Maine Statewide Homeless Council this week issued an announcement, warning that recruiters have reportedly approached people with “flashy brochures showing program residency in mansions, vague program details, and everything you need to get to California or other inviting locations.”
Top police officials in Portland and South Portland communicated regularly with a federal agent during the immigration enforcement surge in late January, according to records released Thursday. Text messages obtained by the Portland Press Herald and dated between Jan. 21–26, indicate police leaders in both cities collaborated to keep immigration agents safe during their hotel stay and helped surveil protesters. Read all of the texts.
Maine Morning Star -The Maine House of Representatives overwhelmingly supported a bill allocating $13 million to the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services on Thursday, one day after the agency warned it would halt payments to lawyers because of a budget shortfall. The bill received broad bipartisan backing, with 120 representatives voting in favor and one opposed.
Earlier: The state’s public defense agency has run out of money to pay the private defense lawyers it contracts with, who handle the vast majority of constitutionally-mandated indigent legal services in Maine. Hundreds of private attorneys who work for the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services will now go unpaid for legal work that they have already done, and will not be paid again until the start of the next fiscal year in July, unless the Maine Legislature approves emergency funding to close the commission’s $13 million budget shortfall. The budget shortfall is due to years of underfunding. On Tuesday, the public defense agency sent an email informing rostered attorneys that the last payments for this fiscal year will be made on March 23, according to Frayla Tarpininan, the commission’s executive director. “The indigent defense crisis has been festering in Maine for years. Just as we are beginning to turn a corner to resolve this situation, we find ourselves unable to pay the people who have done the work,” Tarpinian said. “This is a serious problem that will hurt people and result in fewer attorneys willing to accept these cases and a continued failure of the state to fulfill its obligations.”
Down East Magazine - This weekend, on March 15, we’re celebrating Maine's statehood anniversary. From our endless coastlines to the mountains and tiny islands to bustling mainland small towns, there is a pull about this state that keeps us craving more, and a lot of history behind where we are now. Maybe it's the fresh seafood, the unbeatable views, or just that certain Maine stubbornness that feels like home no matter where you go. Maine is the place where, if you know how great it is, you know.
Maine Morning Star - In Sanford, nearly one in six of the 3,200 or so public school students are considered economically disadvantaged, facing challenges such as food insecurity or housing instability. But because of the way school funding is currently determined, officials say the district is not getting enough support from the state, nor can it turn to local residents to make up the difference.
Instead, the district has been forced to close schools, cut essential staff and educational programming, Sanford Superintendent Matt Nelson told the Legislature’s Education Committee on Monday.
Dozens of school leaders from all over the state attended the public hearing and echoed Nelson’s call to update the public education funding formula. They highlighted how the current formula has consistently left schools in less affluent communities with far fewer resources than wealthier districts.
For instance, Sanford can spend about $15,000 on each student annually to provide basic services, which is about $3,500 less than the state average, and about $9,000 less than a wealthy district where less than 10% of the student population is considered economically disadvantaged.
