Newsweek - Between 5 and 8 inches of snow is expected to fall across areas in western Maine through Sunday, until early Monday morning. Parts of south-central, southwest, west-central, and western Maine, along with northern Piscataquis and Somerset counties, could see between 2 and 6 inches of snow through Sunday, and parts of the central Highlands, coastal and interior DownEast, Far Eastern, and the Penobscot Valley could see 3 and 6 inches of snow by Monday morning.
Portland Press Herald - Fifty school districts have assumed control of
preschool and pre-K special education from the state and many more will follow
suit in the fall. Although challenges persist, district leaders say the shift has benefited students. “I
need my kids entering school age in as best shape as possible,” said Scott
Reuning, who directs the special services for Regional School Unit 35. “And I
think we’re doing pretty well with that.”
News Center Maine - A new report is offering a first look at how January’s immigration enforcement surge may have affected Maine’s economy. The Maine Center for Economic Policy said what the Trump administration called “Operation Catch of the Day” led to a noticeable slowdown in consumer activity, especially in immigrant communities. According to the report, the operation contributed to a roughly $3.4 million drop in retail sales over 10 days, with a broader economic hit estimated between $10 million and $20 million.
For some small business owners, that impact was immediate. Inside Moriah Store in downtown Portland, owner Lucie Narukundo has now seen the foot traffic she depends on. But she said business looked very different during the January operation when fear spread through many immigrant communities across the state. “For all day, I couldn’t have any clients,” Narukundo said.
Narukundo, who said she is a U.S. citizen, said she was still afraid to leave home during the enforcement surge. She ultimately decided to open her store anyway, hoping to make enough money to cover her bills. Instead, customers stayed away.
PARKING BAN: Sunday 8AM until Monday NOONDue to the weather forecast, a parking ban will be in effect for the Town of Freeport from8AM Sunday (3/22) until Noon Monday (3/23). During a winter weather parking ban, no parking is allowed on public streets nor in turnarounds during winter storm events – please keep streets and turnarounds clear of vehicles (including trailers, campers, etc.) during a storm. A vehicle so parked may be removed from the street by order of the Police Department, at the expense of the owner of such vehicle. See all Winter Road & Plowing information here
3 PM @ Bradley Room at Freeport Community Services
MARCH 24
Public drop in at Town Manager's office - 30 Main Street, 4 pm
Appointments Committee Meeting - 30 Main Street 6 pm
Town Council Workshop - 30 Main Street 6 pm
Tonic, 7 Dunlap St., Brunswick: Open mic with Rexy Dinosaur, 6-8
MARCH 25 Casco Baykeeper Ivy Frignoca will be joined byChristoph Aeppli, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Jim Stahlnecker, a biologist with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and Heather Kenyon, Friends of Casco Bay’s Science and Advocacy Associate, for a practical discussion of new PFAS data from across Casco Bay and the lower watershed, including results connected to the Brunswick spill.
PFAS—often called “forever chemicals”—are long-lasting pollutants that can build up in water, wildlife, and people, raising concerns for environmental and human health.
In this conversation, Ivy and the panel will talk about the completed study and how the results compare to EPA criteria and limits used in other states. They’ll look at state PFAS data from fish and shellfish in Casco Bay. They’ll also discuss potential sources and next steps in Maine.
Please join us with your favorite hot beverage as we explore the evolving science of PFAS and what it means for Casco Bay. We’ll leave time for your questions so we can learn together and consider informed next steps in protecting the Bay.
O’Donoghue’s Pub, 103 Pleasant St., Brunswick: Open mic hosted by Mike Aron, 3-7
April 6
Sustainability Workshop - 6:30 pm Freeport Community Services, 53 Depot Street
April 7
April 8-10
ARTIST WORKSHOP!
Luminous Landscape: Color and Composition
By Philip Frey
April 8 - 10, 2026 | 9 AM - 3 PM
This is your opportunity for an in-depth exploration of the the fundamentals of composition, color theory, as well as best photo and sketching practices for landscape painting.
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
More Freeport Folio events
April 25 Poetry Workshop with Joseph Coleman at Freeport Community Library April 25 Community Poetry Reading at the Freeport Community Library April 30 National Poetry Month Statewide Grand Finale: Maine Poet Laureates Public Reading. A first-time, historic gathering of all Maine State Poet Laureates July 30, Open Mic Poetry with Featured Poet Richard Blanco October 1 Open Mic Poetry with Featured Poet Samaa Abdurraqib
October 31 Dead Poets Poetry Death Match
APR 11 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
APR 24 ERICA BROWN & THE BLUEGRASS CONNECTION: Friday, April 24 at 7:30 PMA fun and energetic five-piece band featuring some of the finest musicians in New England.
MAY 1 Maine Democrats Biennial Convention. 1 Thompson Point, Portland. 9 am
MAY 20
Are You Cyber-Savvy?Understanding the 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 also to Bob Green for his music contributions to this list, He notes, "It is strongly recommended that you call ahead to confirm any performances and the conditions for entry. "
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.
