The 2025 Annual Freeport Report can be read online by clicking here, and you can pick up your own copy at Town Hall or the Library! View it on website
Sorry: Our original Wednesday Maine News report was wiped out accidentally
Maine News Tuesday
Newsweek - The latest poll of the race from Impact Research showed Platner with a sizable lead over Mills. The poll was posted to X by former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, a Democratic candidate in the state’s gubernatorial race, and surveyed 500 likely voters from March 19 to 23. It showed Platner with support from 66 percent of respondents, while 28 percent said they would vote for Mills.
Rep Melanie Sachs - Since the war began, gas prices have climbed almost a dollar, and heating fuel costs have surged nearly 30%. According to the Maine Department of Energy Resources, filling a standard 275‑gallon oil tank now costs roughly $316 more than it did in February – a painful increase for our state, where roughly half of all homes rely on fuel oil as a primary heating source.
....Just this month, we passed a new law that will require the Public Utilities Commission to consider affordability for residential customers when setting new electric rates. We’re also considering bills that would create a sales tax exemption on residential electricity and expand funding for a program that helps eligible Mainers afford to pay their bills.
Shenna Bellows - After I stood up to ICE, the attacks against me have escalated. I’ve been repeatedly doxxed – my home address and personal details deliberately spread online to intimidate me and put my family’s safety at risk.
Unfortunately, this is nothing new. For years, I’ve been targeted for standing up to Donald Trump and his allies – for refusing to back down when I was pressured to break the law or abandon my values.
These attacks are meant to scare people like me out of public service – and to warn anyone else who might stand up next. They didn’t. And they won’t – because if we give in to fear, we lose who we are.
Maine Morning Star - A bill ensuring that lawfully present immigrants can access food assistance received initial approval in both chambers of the Maine Legislature. In response to the federal government limiting some immigrants’ eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the proposal aims to clarify current state law to ensure they still receive state-funded SNAP benefits
- 5th – Overall Tax Burden (10.01%)
- 5th – Property Tax Burden (3.95%)
- 15th – Individual Income Tax Burden (2.71%)
- 29th – Total Sales & Excise Tax Burden (3.35%)
Regional School Unit 05 posted a job opening for Athletic Coaching Positions 2025-2026 in Freeport. Apply here. You can search for other jobs near Freeport here.
Hobby Lobby to open in Brunswick this summer (pressherald.com)
Brunswick science teacher selected for NASA summer program in Texas (newscentermaine.com)
Events
April 2
Island Drumming Circle 89 Central Avenue 6 pm
Frances Perkins: Champion of American Workers 1:00 p.m. Online on Zoom Learn More | Register
POWNAL MEETINGS & EVENTS
April1st 7:00 PM Economic Development and Sustainability Committee meeting6th 7:00 PM Board of Appeals meeting7th 6:30 PM Future Facilities Committee meeting13th 6:00 PM Public Hearings13th 6:30 PM Select Board meeting15th 6:00 PM Planning Board meeting11th 6:30 PM Open Mic Night27th 6:00 PM Public Hearings27th 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
Apr 3
April 4
Poetry Workshop Freeport Community Library, 12 pm
April 5
O’Donoghue’s Pub, 103 Pleasant St., Brunswick: Open mic hosted by Mike Aron, 3-7
April 6
Coffee with Council Leadership - 8 am 30 Main St
Board of Appeals - 6:30 pm 30 Main St
Sustainability Workshop - 6:30 pm Freeport Community Services, 53 Depot Street
April 7
Town Council Meeting 6 pm
April 8
Library Board of Trustees 10 Library Drive 6 pm
Coastal Waters Commisison 30 Main Street 6 pm
Library Board of Trustees 10 Library Drive 6 pm
Coastal Waters Commisison 30 Main Street 6 pm
April 9
Take a colorful trip down memory lane with our Girl Scouts of Maine collection. Girl Scout alums and supporters are invited to a special evening celebrating the rich history of scouting in the Pine Tree state. If you're a former Girl Scout, staff member, board member, or friend, MHS and the Girl Scouts of Maine welcome you to explore a thoughtfully curated collection of uniforms, photographs, letters, and treasured artifacts. Alums receive a special discounted ticket, so whether you were a Brownie, a volunteer, or earned your Gold Award, it all counts. A wonderful chance to "meet new friends, but keep the old." 5-7 PM Register
Green Curtain Roadshow, Freeport Hear from NRCM's Luke Frankel about what we are doing to protect Maine's older growth trees and how you can help. FMI: https://greencurtainroadshow.org/.
April
11
Wabanaki Stories
Co-Commissioned with Akomawt Educational Initiative
Saturday, April 11, 3 PM 
Merrill Auditorium, Portland
Runtime: 70 minutes, no intermission
Open Mic Poetry with Betsy Sholl - Free tickets can be reserved here now for our next Freeport Folio Open Mic Poetry featuring Betsy Sholl, Poet Laureate of Maine 2006-2011. We have also invited the to be crowned 2025-2026 Maine State Poetry Out Loud Champion. The event is on April 11th, 1pm at the Freeport Community Center. Tickets are free but seats are limited
LADIES OF FLAME 7:00 PM A beloved all-women musical ensemble that performs a lively selection of heartfelt songs and popular hits. Reserve tickets
APRIL 15
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APR 24
ERICA BROWN & THE BLUEGRASS CONNECTION: Friday, energetic five-piece band featuring some of the finest musicians in New England.April 24 at 7:30 PM
APRIL 25
Earth Day Festival -Saturday, April 25, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary, Brunswick
APR 26
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MAY 1
Maine Democrats Biennial Convention. 1 Thompson Point, Portland. 9 am
MAY 8-9
First Parish Hall, 40 Main St, Freeport (lower side door)
5:30 pm doors, 6 pm show.
TICKETS : https://our.show/crabcakes/fp
MAY 20
Are You Cyber-Savvy? Understanding thet Geopolitics and Personal Threats of Cyber Attacks, which will be held on Wednesday, May 20, at 7:00 pm at the Freeport Performing Arts Center. You will hear from Nathaniel Fick, a Maine resident, former American diplomat, technology executive and author of the memoir One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer. Ambassador Fick was selected to lead the U.S. State Department's Bureau for Cyberspace and Digital Policy in 2022. Ambassador Fick will be joined by Rachel Wilson, Head of Cybersecurity for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Ms. Wilson transitioned from a career leading counter-terrorism and cyber-exploitation missions at the National Security Agency to protecting the financial sector. Tickets go on sale a month before the event.
Thanks to Patch for some of the above
Maine News Monday
Press Herald - Each year, Maine allocates a small percentage of moose tags for sporting camps, which have long been destinations for hunting and fishing trips in the most rural parts of the state. Hunters pay anywhere between $10,000 and $33,000 for packages that include a guaranteed tag, lodging, meals and guiding services. Officials, guides and outfitters say loose guidelines have allowed some sporting camps to access tags through a lucrative secondary market. Now, state officials are pushing for changes to a system that some say takes opportunities from other guides and limits availability for nonresidents seeking tags in the Maine's prime hunting season.
Over the past 25 years, an influx of men, women and children originally from Somalia settled in the old mill city of Lewiston and, like the many immigrants before them, changed it. Since 2001, the Somali community in Maine’s second-largest city has gone from a small refugee group to a prominent demographic that has played a major role in shaping the region’s identity. Here's a look at how that community has grown, the challenges it has faced, and the significant impact it has had on the city and the state.
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Maine Morning Star - As Maine lawmakers enter the final weeks of the legislative session, a bill to expand ranked choice voting is awaiting a judicial opinion to help determine whether it becomes law.
In turn, that means the ruling could decide if voters will use ranked choice voting in November’s contentious governor’s race.
“Ranked choice voting is not just a great way to ensure voter satisfaction, it just makes a lot of sense for Maine in particular: we have a lot of independent voters, we have a lot of voters who do not identify with the major political parties,” said Jen Lancaster, deputy director of the League of Women Voters of Maine.
The League has been advocating for ranked choice voting in Maine since the issue initially arose with a successful statewide referendum in 2016, but since then its application has been limited.
.... The Maine Supreme Judicial Court will hear oral arguments on Wednesday in Portland, first on whether the Legislature’s request meets the threshold of a “solemn occasion” — under which lawmakers ask the court to produce a nonbinding decision on the legality of pending legislation —and then on the constitutionality of the bill itself.
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