Platner's interview with NBC News
Portland Press Herald - Amid growing political pressures on American higher education and the rising cost of college, some southern Maine students are heading across the border. The number of American study permit holders in Canada reached its highest point in a decade in 2025. Last year, after President Donald Trump took office and began slashing grant funding and threatening schools with investigations, Canadian universities began seeing rising interest from American students
At first glance, 2025 appears to have been a banner year for housing production in Portland. The planning board approved 1,420 units — a city record and an almost 200% increase from the 477 approved the year before. However, last year was one of the worst years for completions in the last decade, with just 187 units added, down 68% from 2024.
Holy Donut workers at Portland’s Park Avenue store vote to unionizeMaine Morning Star - The Maine chapter of the Sierra Club has endorsed three candidates in the Democratic gubernatorial primary: Shenna Bellows, Troy Jackson and HanAt a press conference Wednesday, Emma Conrad, chair of the chapter’s political committee, said the organization often endorses in primary elections, but this is the first time endorsing three candidates, which they said was a benefit of the state using ranked choice voting in the primary. More
Yarmouth: Lawmakers reject speed camera bill, but MDOT and Turnpike plan to try again (newscentermaine.com)
The Lincolnville-based Cellardoor Winery has closed its Portland tasting room on Middle Street.
Jetport update: A new approach for airplanes landing at the Portland International Jetport will minimize ongoing noise complaints, officials say.
Student walkout: Students at Lyman Moore Middle School in Portland walked out of class last week in support of social studies teacher Josephine Tibbetts, who believes she was retaliated against when administrators declined to renew her teaching contract.
187: The number of housing units built in Portland in 2025, after 582 were built in 2024, and 780 built in 2023.
Press Herald - The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to drop U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from its contract with the U.S. Marshals Service to hold federal detainees at Cumberland County Jail. The board voted 3-1 to drop ICE from the agreement roughly eight months after dozens of constituents began showing up to commission meetings to advocate for such a move.
The decision also comes about three months after the Department of Homeland Security pulled its prisoners out of the jail. That was in the wake of Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce referring to ICE’s arrest of a corrections officer during the January surge in Maine as “bush-league policing.” DHS officials also cited the county’s decision to hire an “illegal alien” in the first place, though Joyce had said the correction officer’s record was “squeaky clean.”
JOBS
L.L.Bean, Inc. posted a job opening for Security Officer - 3rd Shift in Freeport. Apply here.
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC posted a job opening for Senior Production Technician (Shift) in Yarmouth. Apply here. You can search for other jobs near Freeport here.
EVENTS
Tidal chart for May in South Freeport
APR 23
Archery Hunter Safety: Addendum Course - Freeport - L.L.Bean Outdoor Discovery Programs, 11 Desert Rd, Freeport 1:00 pmStorytime Stroll - Brunswick Downtown Association , 124 Main St Ste 107 , Brunswick 12:30 pm
Business After Hours: with CMP at Goodfire Brewing Co
Thursday, April 23 5:00–7:00
APR 24
Erica Brown & The Bluegrass Connection at Meetinghouse Arts 40 Main St , Freeport
7:30 pm
Friday, April 24 • 10:30 AM
@ Bradley Room at Freeport Community Center
Age-Friendly Freeport & Pownal is hosting the Art Van every second and fourth Friday. Join us in the Bradley Room to make art and see what the Art Van has in store. Free and open to all!
APRIL 25
Visit Freeport & Meetinghouse Arts present
Saturday, April 25 • 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
@ Various Venues in Freeport!
Visit Freeport & Meetinghouse Arts invite you to join us on a journey through Freeport, Pownal, Durham & New Gloucester to explore the artist & maker studios often hidden on side streets and
country roads. You’ll be invited into their working studios to view their newest projects up close. Learn about their inspirations and process in intimate conversations that are sometimes not possible at art show openings.
Earth Day Festival -Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary, Brunswick
Freeport Folio presents
Pressure Makes Diamonds | Poetry Workshop with Joseph Coleman
Saturday, April 25 • 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
@ Freeport Community Library
In this workshop, “Pressure Makes Diamonds,” students will use the pressure of workshopping an original poem and then reading that poem at an open mike that same evening. The instructor will provide prompts and each student will get a typewriter if they would like to experience what it was like pre computers. As a Barnum and Bailey Ring Master would yell out when a rogue elephant dashed for the exits: “The Show Must Go On!” or in this case: “Poems Must Be Read!”
APR 26
O’Donoghue’s Pub, 103 Pleasant St., Brunswick: Open mic hosted by Billy The Kid, 3-7
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Shuck Yeah! Oyster Shucking and Cooking Class
Sunday, April 26 • 3:00 PM
@ Wolfe’s Neck Center
Join Chef Malcolm Kelly to learn about how to safely shuck an oyster along with some tasty recipes. Using oysters from Quahog Bay Conservancy, you will learn raw, grilled and baked oyster preparation and enjoy these yummy bivalves.
APRIL 27
Royal River Conservation Trust:
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April27th 6:00 PM Public Hearings
27th 6:30 PM Select Board meeting28th 6:30 PM Conservation Commission Meeting29th 6:30 PM Capital Asset Plan Funding Committee Meeting
May16th 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Pownal Community Day
APRIL 30
The inaugural Wolfe’s Neck Center “Twilight Meeting” for Freeport community and local partners. Updates on Wolfe’s Neck Center campus stewardship, farm operations, education programs, historical buildings and research. Expect a 45-minute presentation, 15 minutes of small group Q&A, and light refreshments. RSVP here
MAY 1
Maine Democrats Biennial Convention. 1 Thompson Point, Portland. 9 am
Wolfe's Neck Center - Our beloved Farm Cafe opens on May 1 and you’re going to want to see this menu! Chef Macolm Kelly has outdone himself, offering a variety of rotating freshly made pastries, breakfast sandwiches (beginning May 22) and salads, all made with Wolfe’s Neck meats and produce. Hours: 8am-1pm
Sample items:Squash MuffinsEgg & Bacon Breakfast SandwichGarden SaladRoast Beef Sandwich
MAY 3
MAY 9
Climate Solutions Dance Party: Dance your way into climate action! in collaboration with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and SPACE Gallery. The event is a celebration of the paperback release of Dr. Johnson’s New York Times bestselling book What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures —an inspiring collection of possibilities for building a better climate future. The first 200 people to arrive will receive a copy of the new book. Grab your tickets before they sell out. TICKETS
MAY 11
Join Maine Historical Society’s Donor Engagement and Events Specialist, Sophie Bray, for an entirely informal opportunity to socialize and converse. In Novare Res Bier Cafe, 4 Canal Plaza, Suite 1 Portland, ME, to mingle, hang out, and chat a little history. Our History Happy Hour offerings are held on the second Monday of every month at a different establishment in greater Portland from 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Join two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Alan Taylor for an engaging evening on the American Revolution. He’ll share the story of Joseph Plumb Martin, whose firsthand account reveals the hardships endured from Valley Forge to Yorktown.Taylor will then join MHS Executive Director Steve Bromage to discuss Maine’s role in the Revolution, his Maine roots, and his work on Ken Burns’s The American Revolution. The evening continues with a reception at MHS and access to Pathways to Freedom, featuring our rare Dunlap Broadside of the Declaration of Independence. Register
