Maine Election
Platner (D): 46.5%Collins (R): 40.5%
Collins (R): 42.8%
Mills (D): 42.5%
News of Maine near Freeport
‘We live here. We need this’: Portland considers closing Cliff Island school
Maine lawmakers advance bill to allow more ADUs, greater housing density
Study: Portland a top 10 small U.S. city for careers, thanks to quality of life, job market
Search
for missing Brunswick woman resumes after nearly 2 months, closing local trails
Spring
snow could be on the way to southern Maine

The university asked each department, including athletics and administration, to submit budgets in December that reduced expenses by 7%.
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.
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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.
Lawmakers advance bill to reform Maine’s school funding formula
Why Angus King and a Utah Republican are worried about a rural home program
Millions of pounds of food donated across Maine
Maine may spare some scam victims from paying taxes on losses
Plan to boost child care in Maine gains support, but funding remains uncertain
Wolfe's Neck Center - For a limited time, when you book 5 nights in our Cove 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 Bernier with 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 the Morning - 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
The developers behind the massive Portland Foreside project plan to build a natural gas-fired cogeneration plant to provide electricity, heat and hot water to the property, raising concerns about potential environmental impacts.
ICE surge cost Maine’s economy millions, report says
3 members of Portland family released 4 months after immigration arrest
Maine announces $12M to help fund housing first projects in 3 cities
Portland software firm ranks 3rd in growth among New England businesses
Platner supporters hit Mills over funding for sexual assault cases. Here’s the full story.
Kennebunk Elementary principal placed on leave amid police investigation
Amid war with Iran, military moms hope to start Maine’s first Blue Star Mothers chapter
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.
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.
Press Herald
UMaine poised to end Spanish degree, suspend medical lab degree
He’s been to every town in Maine, mostly for something to say.
‘Buy America’ rule killing Maine affordable housing, developers say
The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch on Mar 15 for Central Interior Cumberland.
Why Maine Became a State (And Not a Commonwealth)
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 Prevention leads recent polling for 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.
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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.
Women’s sports bar coming to MaineWolfe's Neck Center March events
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.