FREEPORT - The multi-year, $50 million “re-booting” of L.L.Bean’s flagship store in Freeport will be completed this fall and celebrated with a grand opening the weekend of Sept. 18 -20.
June 13 - Made in Maine Concert Series (Freeport) → L.L.Bean Flagship, 95 Main St, Freeport 7:00 pm
June 13 - Annual Plant Sale - Orr's Island Library Orr's Island Library, 1699 Harpswell Islands Rd, Orr's Island 10:00 am
JOBS
- Vineyard Vines, LLC posted a job opening for Crew Lead (Part Time Manager) - 58 Main St, Freeport, ME in Freeport. Apply here.
- Hannaford posted a job opening for FT Customer Service Leader in Brunswick. Apply here.
- You can search for other jobs near Freeport here.
Yarmouth elects 3 councilors, approves school budget (pressherald.com)
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Maine Monitor - 97 billionaires and their spouses backing Susan Collins
Maine Wonk - @SenatorCollins raised $9.8M from 100 billionaires and their spouses. grahamformaine raised $9.6M from small-dollar Mainers averaging $26.
Press Herald - The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety announced a new public awareness campaign Thursday aimed at eliminating pedestrian deaths. The number of pedestrian deaths and serious injuries doubled in Maine from 2024 to 20
Congressional Insider A New York Times hit piece on Maine Democrat Graham Platner just backfired, triggering a fundraising surge that should worry every nervous national Democrat watching this race.
Platner’s campaign reports a clear fundraising spike immediately after the New York Times exposé. Small-dollar donations from Mainers jumped, signaling home-state Democrats are not abandoning him...
Democratic Senate hopeful Graham Platner is supposed to be on the ropes after national stories exposed sexually explicit messages he sent to women early in his marriage, yet his own numbers tell a different story. A memo from the campaign says fundraising in the four days after the weekend exposé ran was seventeen percent higher than the previous four-day period, showing donors did not flee when the New York Times and other outlets dropped their stories.That is not how Democrats expected this playbook to go.
Bangor Daily News reports that small-dollar donations from Mainers themselves rose twenty-seven percent compared with the prior week, meaning the people who know the state best did not immediately bolt when the narrative turned ugly. Instead of drying up, grassroots gifts increased, giving Platner fresh cash just days before a closely watched primary.National Democrats counting on scandal fatigue to clear the field now face a candidate whose financial base looks more resilient than the headlines suggest, complicating their efforts to protect a vulnerable Northeast seat.
One of the women at the heart of the New York Times report, conservative activist Lyndsey Fifield, now says the newspaper “twisted” her account and that she felt “set up” by its journalists.ABC3340 describes how Fifield told the Times about incidents more than a decade ago, alleging Platner grabbed her forcefully, pulled her from a cab by the wrist, and once twisted her arm behind her back while preventing her from leaving a room.Those descriptions formed some of the most inflammatory passages in the exposé and have driven much of the commentary since.
Yet that same ABC3340 report underscores that the allegations of physical abuse could not be independently verified and notes that Platner has “strongly denied” them. The outlet explains that several former girlfriends painted a mixed picture: some praised him, while others called him insulting or volatile, adding to the sense of a complicated personal history rather than a settled criminal record. Platner, in a national television appearance, rejected Fifield’s claim that he pushed her into a room and framed the most serious accusations as politically motivated, while acknowledging he has other personal failings he has tried to address. For voters, that leaves a contested factual record, not a proven case.
Deer, dog ticks are abundant in Maine right now. Here’s what to do about them.
Maine Morning Star - A Superior Court judge on Tuesday upheld the secretary of state’s decision to invalidate the anti-transgender referendum that had been slated for the November ballot. After months of back and forth, that means the citizen-led initiative seeking to limit what school sports teams, bathrooms, and locker rooms trans students can access ultimately fell about 500 signatures short of the legal threshold to qualify.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision affirming the Secretary of State’s determination that this petition failed to qualify for the ballot,” said Ben Stafford, a partner at Elias Law Group, who represented Maine voters who challenged the petitions. “Today’s ruling confirms that Maine’s signature requirements were not met and the law was applied fairly.”
In a statement, the citizen group behind the initiative said it is “committed to continuing its efforts to allow the people of Maine to vote on the Protect Girls Sports legislation at the November general election.”
On June 11, Superior Court Justice Deborah Cashman denied Protect Girls Sports’ appeal. The signature gathering practices of the group first came into question in March, when three voters sued the Secretary of State for initially finding the petition valid.
In April, Cashman remanded the case back to the Secretary of State’s Office for a final determination. On May 12, Chief Deputy Secretary of State Katherine McBrien and Assistant Attorney General Jon Bolton held an hourslong hearing during which both sides presented their arguments. Through the course of that hearing, a pattern of improper signature collection emerged with out-of-state signature collectors admitting to leaving petition forms unattended, writing on the forms, and failing to sign required affidavits.
UPCOMING
Midcoast Federal Credit Union and GFCC at Mast Landing annual Cornhole Tournament - $50.00 for Pre-registration. $60 day of (if any spots are left) Cornhole Bags Provided. In the event of rain, the Tourney will be rescheduled to Thursday, June 25th. Register
A Conversation on Sustainability:D r. Katherine Richardson is a professor in Biological Oceanography at the University of Copenhagen and leader of its Sustainability Science Centre. Dr. Deborah Bronk is CEO and President of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. Tickets are $20 (plus Eventbrite fee), available through Eventbrite... When: Thursday, June 18, 2026 from 7:00 – 8:30 PM...Where: Freeport Performing Arts Center, 30 Holbrook St, Freeport, ME....Details: FreeportSpeech.org
Axios
Live on Tuesday,
June 23 for an event exploring how emerging technologies are shaping the
health care system.Chronic diseases drive a large portion of U.S. health care
spending — but the system still tends to wait until patients are very sick to
act. Early detection of at-risk patients could improve their quality of life,
long-term outcomes and overall costs. Axios congressional reporter Kate
Santaliz and health tech reporter Brock Turner will
moderate conversations Additional speakers to be announced. When:
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 | 5:30pm - 7:30pm ET. Where - The Showroom | 1099 14th St NW, Washington,
D.C. 20005
