Maine News Thursday October 1

“Growing up in America at this time, there is a significant lack of hope. That is the sort of thing that young people need — hope when we are envisioning our future.” - Katya Fromouth, a 17 year old from Yarmouth

Press Herald - UMaine board votes to rename George Mitchell Center. The former Democratic senator’s name is also being removed from a scholarship after a task force recommended rebranding all campus institutions affiliated with Mitchell, who is referenced hundreds of times in documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. ….A task force established by the University of Maine had unanimously agreed that campus institutions affiliated with Mitchell should be renamed. That includes the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions and the George J. Mitchell Peace Scholarship, which supports students who study abroad in Ireland. The board voted 9-5 with one abstention to accept the task force’s recommendation.

….Mitchell, 93, represented Maine in the U.S. Senate as a Democrat from 1980 to 1995. He has denied allegations that he was connected to or aware of Epstein’s criminal activity and said he regrets ever having known the convicted sex offender.

Maine Morning Star -  More than a thousand immigrants in Maine will lose their health insurance starting Oct. 1, due to Medicaid eligibility changes passed through President Donald Trump’s 2025 budget law. H.R. 1 made significant cuts to the national health insurance program that millions of low-income households rely on, removing certain groups of immigrants, as well as adding work requirements that together will result in at least 7 million people nationwide losing their coverage. 

To watch or hear the governor debate tonight 

• On TV: News Center Maine WCSH Channel 6 (Portland/southern Maine) or WLBZ Channel 2 (Bangor/eastern Maine), over the air or on cable
• On your phone or tablet: Stream free on the News Center Maine app
• On your smart TV: Download the News Center Maine app on Roku, Apple TV, or Fire TV and watch live
• Online: Stream live at newscentermaine.com/watch

UPCOMING

OCT 1

Maine Naturalist and Executive Director of the Maine Humanities Council, Samaa Abdurraqib is the Featured Poet for our October 1st Open Mic Poetry eventaganza. The event will be held at beautiful Meetinghouse Arts at 7:00 PM

Thursday, October 1, 4:30-6:30 PM, we're bringing back the Great Golf Ball Drop at the state-of-the-art driving range at Maine Golf in Freeport, The event features a $1,000 cash prize for the golf ball closest to the pin, a Longest Drive Contest with $200 prizes for the top-finishing men and women, and special prizes for our youth divisions. golf balls are $5 each or 6 for $25. Each golf ball purchase includes entry into the Longest Drive Contest - (maximum 6 drives per person). 

Nature’s Palette: Art Inspired by the Season Meetinghouse Arts, 40 Main St, Freeport 10:00 am

Freeport Folio presents: Open Mic Poetry with Featured Poet Samaa Abdurraqib Meetinghouse Arts, 40 Main Street, Freeport 7:00 pm

OCT 2

Join researchers, conservationists, community members, and other partners from across the Casco Bay watershed for a day of presentations, conversation, and collaboration. The program will highlight recent research, restoration efforts, and community initiatives—from eelgrass and land conservation to sea level rise, ocean acidification, and changes in Casco Bay’s fish community.This event is hosted by Casco Bay Estuary Partnership. Location: University of Southern Maine’s Abromson Center, Portland, Maine. Time:    Welcome: 11:00 a.m.   Afternoon Sessions: 12 – 4 p.m.    Evening Sessions: 5 – 7 p.m. Cost: General Registrant: $40; Students: Free

Freeport Fall Festival 2026  L.L.Bean campus, Mallard Parking Lot, Freeport

Mainely Palestine - The Teach-In events at Bowdoin College on Friday, October 2nd, have been cancelled.  ALL Mainely Palestine events will happen on Saturday, October 3, 9 am - 6 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Middle Street, in Brunswick.  Details at www.mvprights.org/mainely-palestine

OCT 2-4

Patch - Freeport residents can look forward to the 27th Freeport Fall Festival Oct. 2-4, with five music stages, local food vendors, kids' activities, and a free shuttle linking downtown and L.L.Bean's redesigned flagship store. The piece also spotlights spooky nights and family Halloween fun at the Desert of Maine, plus fall-themed events in nearby Bath and Brunswick.

OCT 3

People Plus is hosting an afternoon of beer tasting on Oct. 3 at Wild Duck Pub in Topsham. Proceeds will go toward providing rides for homebound seniors.

8:30am  Farmers Market at Crystal Spring Farm  277 Pleasant Hill Road, Brunswick

Local Buzz Reading: 2:45PM - 4PM  118 East Elm Street, Yarmouth, ME

OCT 4

10:00 AM - 2:00 PM | 50th Annual Pettengill Family Farm Day - 2026 is the 50th Anniversary of this beloved event! It is going to be an extra-special Farm Day. Live music, delicious food, vintage arts, crafts, and games, farmhouse and trail tours 31 Pettengill Farm Rd, Freeport

OCT 5
10/5, 8AM - Coffee with Town Council | Council Chambers
10/5, 6:30PM - Board of Appeals | Council Chamber

OCT 6
6:00 PM | Invasive Species Workshop Learn how to identify and manage invasive plants with experts from Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Bradley Room, Freeport Community Center
6PM - Town Council Meeting | Council Chambers

OCT 7
6PM - Planning Board | Council Chambers

OCT 8
The Greater Freeport Chamber of Commerce invites you to join it on Thursday, October 8, from 5–7 PM for Business After Hours at Brickyard Hollow.   Connect with fellow Chamber members and local business owners for an evening of networking, conversation, and community connection at one of Freeport’s local favorites.
6:30PM - Shellfish Commission Meeting | Council Chambers

OCT 9
Join us October 9th, at 4 pm at Sparhawk Mill, 41 Bridge Street, Yarmouth, to celebrate the removal of the Bridge Street Dam. No need to RSVP. Limited parking is available at Sparhawk Mill, and Main Street in Yarmouth is only a few minutes away on foot

OCT 13
Freeport Trail Challenge  Click Here to Learn About the Trail Challenge

OCT 18

Meet the Marsh - Cousins River Fields & Marsh Preserve in Yarmouth, Maine.  A family-friendly fall festival celebrating the ongoing restoration of the preserve with activities, trail exploration, fall-themed ambience, and tasty treats amid a beautiful seasonal landscape. Free to attend. More info.  .

OCT 24

ANNUAL WOLFE'S NECK CENTER FALL FESTIVAL -  Join us for hayrides, family activities, yoga, local food and more! One ticket secures a wagon ride around campus. 

Maine News Wednesday September 30

Maine Democrats - Maine will decide the Senate majority. By defeating Susan Collins, we can remove one key supporter of the corruption and cruelty of the Trump Administration and send a Senator to Washington who'll fight for working families.

Maine can elect a governor who’ll work for all of us. By electing another Democratic governor, we will have a leader who’ll treat working people fairly and strengthen opportunities for every Mainer to thrive.

Maine will deliver the House Majority. By winning both Congressional Districts, we can begin the essential work of reversing the greed, violence, and corruption that is running rampant in Washington.

A survey of 824 Mainers by the Siena Research Institute found an overwhelming 85% of people have negative feelings about the availability of affordable housing here. The rest of the story 

Royal River Conservation Trust - During this past spring's high flows, it was hard to imagine that the Bridge Street Dam could be gone by fall. And yet, here we are: the Bridge Street Dam has been fully removed - for good. After decades of advocacy by local residents and conservation organizations, our community was given the opportunity to remove the Yarmouth dams and restore the Royal to a free-flowing river -if we could come together to raise the necessary funding. Led by the experienced team at American Rivers, a coalition including state and federal conservation partners, Royal River Alliance, Maine Rivers, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, and dozens of others set about raising public and private funds to support the river's restoration. Over the past 18 months, the coalition successfully raised the $1.5 million needed to remove the Bridge Street Dam. Even amid this year's drought, the transformation is already visible. Newly revealed riffles and pools are beginning to reshape the river, creating areas of flowing water that will provide better habitat and oxygenate areas that were previously stagnant. View the Bridge Street Dam removal video and time-lapse.

But the work isn't finished. The coalition is now focused on Phase 2: Remove the East Elm Street Dam and complete the restoration. We still need to raise and additional $660,000 to secure a contractor for next summer. Contributions are currently being matched dollar for dollar, up to $300,000 ($150,000 already matched).

Maine News Tuesday September 29

 In just four years, from 2018 to 2022, Casco Bay’s eelgrass habitat diminished by 54 percent.

Maine Morning Star  - Historian Heather Cox Richardson described a Troy Jackson win as a step toward reclaiming American democracy Monday night in Portland. "This is our moment," the widely known scholar and Maine resident told a packed auditorium at the University of Southern Maine of the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee sitting beside her. Known for her daily substack "Letters from an American," which boasts over 3 million subscribers and connects daily headlines to long-term patterns in American history, Richardson has a public following rare to academics.

Here's what's in Yarmouth's new plan for safer streets (pressherald.com)

Central Maine Power Co.'s plan to raise rates by $7 is on the rocks.

Friends of Casco Bay - Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is a flowering plant that grows in dense thickets in the shallows of inlets, bays, and estuaries. Underwater, it looks like a wild meadow of graceful grasses swaying with the tides. Eelgrass meadows have been compared to rainforests and coral reefs for many reasons – they are dynamic ecosystems that play an essential role in the health of our oceans and planet. Eelgrass beds provide vital habitat and nursery grounds for fish, lobster, shellfish, and many other marine species, benefiting Maine’s fishing industries. In this era of climate change, seagrasses around the world, including Maine’s eelgrasses, are being studied as sources of carbon capture and are known for buffering ocean acidification. Plus, they reduce wave action, stabilize sediment, and prevent erosion – something we are more keenly aware of since the destruction from this past winter’s major storms. 

Maine News Monday September 28

 Morning Star - President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement could result in the state losing anywhere from $395 million to $3.3 billion in annual economic output.

That’s according to a report commissioned by the Maine Office of New Americans, which assessed the contributions of more than 33,000 foreign-born workers in Maine and modeled how federal enforcement could leave employers across various sectors critically short of workers.

….Maine’s immigrant workforce is relatively small but an increasingly important component of the state’s economy, concluded the report, which was prepared by Maine-based Wallace Economic Advisers using U.S. Census data.

An estimated 33,079 foreign-born workers directly generated about $177 million in state income tax revenue and $2.25 billion in personal income between 2020 and 2024, the report found. Factoring in broader economic activity that employment supports, the report estimates that immigrant employment helps sustain nearly 74,000 jobs and nearly $15 billion in total economic output. 

 WalletHub -  Portland, Maine, has the highest ratio of full-service restaurants to fast-food establishments, which is three times higher than in Jackson, Mississippi, the city with the lowest.

Here's what's in Yarmouth's new plan for safer streets (pressherald.com)

Morning Star - The Maine Department of Corrections has opted to continue its policy that allows staff to punish incarcerated people before and regardless of a finding of guilt, underscoring the discretion that props up the prison system.

Incarcerated Mainers raised concern about this section of the department’s disciplinary policy that permits prison staff to issue sanctions regardless of whether the formal disciplinary process has been initiated or if someone has been found not guilty.

It’s been a part of the department’s rules for decades, but proposed disciplinary policy changes recently offered an avenue to sound alarm. The department announced it would not alter the section of concern last week.

Defending its decision, the department argued in written responses to critical testimony that it would be unreasonable to wait for the formal process, which can take weeks to complete, and not take certain actions, such as changing one’s housing status, particularly when safety is at risk.  

Press Herald - On Sept. 20, the floors were lined with paper and three large canvases were spread over the tables. Eighteen artists worked from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to turn them into colorful banners.

The Artists’ Rapid Response Team!, or ARRT!, has been painting in Maine since 2013. The group works with progressive nonprofits to create banners, lawn signs and props. The goal is to help these organizations make their issues more visible.

At this weekend’s “marathon ARRT! workday,” the group made two banners for the Maine Multicultural Center, an organization that provides services to immigrants in the Bangor area. The banners will be used for tabling and taken to protests and rallies. When not in use, they will hang in the organization’s office and welcome people, said Adrian Arias-Palomo, the center’s executive director, who attended the work session to help the artists paint…

AART! was started by Natasha Mayers, an artist based in Whitefield. She had been making protest art for many years. She said she thought it would be beneficial for nonprofits to have an artist in residence, but knew many would never be able to afford it. So, she gathered a group of artists that were already individually doing protest art to make banners, and ARRT! was born. Fourteen years later, the group has worked with over 150 nonprofit organizations to create over 600 banners.

Maine News Sunday September 27

 HISTORY

Friends of Casco Bay -  On September 27, 1996, the Julie N tanker collided with Portland's Million-Dollar Bridge, spilling more than 179,000 gallons of oil into Casco Bay and the Fore River. It remains the largest oil spill in Maine history.

…13.8 miles of coastline were covered in oil, with the upper Fore River marsh heavily affected. The impact to birds was devastating. Friends of Casco Bay contacted 100 trained oiled-bird rehabilitation volunteers to assist Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife with oiled bird recovery… In the end, 78% of the oil was cleaned up, an amount considered exceptionally successful. (15-20% is considered a typical oil recovery success.)

Maine News Saturday September 26

WMTW -   Harriet Beecher Stowe School in Brunswick was closed Thursday after officials discovered a malfunction in the building's main fire alarm panel during a routine maintenance inspection. The Brunswick School Department said it made the decision to cancel classes after consulting with the Brunswick Fire Department, which determined the school should not operate without a fully functioning fire alarm system.

Press Herald - The nor’easter moving north along the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coast this weekend will bring hazardous beach conditions, rain and gusty winds to southern Maine. The storm has slowed and was moving into southern New England on Friday, said Jerry Combs, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s office in Gray.

While there may be a chance of rain Saturday morning and afternoon in Maine, the odds increase Saturday night and into Sunday and Monday. The rain may start sooner in York County, Combs said. Southwestern Maine can expect 1 to 2 inches of rain, but Combs said he is not expecting any flooding.

Press Herald -  Former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree continues to hold a comfortable lead over Republican Bobby Charles and independent Rick Bennett in the race to become Maine’s next governor, a New York Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena poll shows.

Pingree — a 49-year-old Democrat from North Haven who led a policy office under Gov. Janet Mills and is the daughter of U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree — has had double-digit polling leads over Charles and Bennett since winning the crowded Democratic primary in June. That trend continued in the latest poll of the race.

Pingree garnered support from 48% of respondents, compared to 36% for Charles and 8% for Bennett in the poll of 309 likely Maine voters that was conducted from Sept. 15-17 and had a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points. Among the respondents, 8% said they “don’t know” or refused to say whom they will for in November.

$1.8 million: The amount made by softshell clam harvesters in Brunswick in 2025. An algae bloom in Casco Bay is threatening the industry and caused the Department of Marine Resources to close certain harvesting locations in Brunswick and Harpswell.  “This is the biggest mortality event I’ve ever seen along the Brunswick shores and in particular in Maquoit Bay, but it’s also the most dense I’ve ever seen softshell clams in this town,” said Dan Devereaux, Brunswick coastal resource manager.

The Brunswick Visitor Center is closed for renovations through Sunday. 

Maine News Friday September 25

 A Rendering of The Jay, the mixed-use building planned for the former J&J Cleaners site on Maine Street in Brunswick. (Courtesy of town of Brunswick)

Mount Airy’s Autumn Leaves Festival was ranked second in a national USA Today readers’ poll, and Freeport’s own Fall Festival also made the top‑10 list of fall events. That recognition puts Freeport alongside major festivals nationwide, offering extra visibility for the town just weeks before the October celebration draws visitors to its waterfront and downtown.

Press Herald -  A new report says federal immigration enforcement could lead to the loss of up to 7,000 workers in the state and $3.3 billion in annual economic output, according to the Maine Office of New Americans.

The state-commissioned report, released Thursday, analyzes the contributions of over 30,000 foreign-born workers in Maine and explores the potential impacts of federal immigration enforcement on the state’s workforce and economy.

Prepared by Maine-based Wallace Economic Advisers, the report shows the loss would affect businesses across the economy — including food production, housing, hospitality, construction and healthcare — as well as the people who rely on them.

“This report is the first of its kind to examine what Maine’s economy could look like if immigrants continue to disappear from our workforce,” Gov. Janet Mills said via email. “President Trump’s cruel and dangerous immigration agenda is forcing us to contemplate this reality, from the immediate moral and humanitarian harm to the undeniable consequences for Maine’s workforce”

Maine Morning Star -   Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey is urging residents to check if they bought certain generic drugs, in which case they may be eligible for new settlement funds.  Maine and 47 other states and territories plan to use settlement funds from drug manufacturers to refund consumers that paid inflated prices for certain generic drugs from May 2009 and December 2019, according to a press release from the Office of the Maine Attorney General.

The coalition filed a series of antitrust lawsuits against drug manufacturers, starting in 2016, arguing the companies conspired to raise the prices of generic drugs. The coalition has reached settlements with several manufacturers, totalling roughly $96.5 million.

This month a federal judge gave initial approval to the coalition’s plan for the settlement funds.

Consumers can check the list of eligible drugs here or at https://aggenericdrugsclaims.com/, or call 1-866-290-0182 and email info@AGGenericDrugs.com. Consumers can then submit a claim for the drug purchase until March 8, 2027.

The Nation  - - [Susan] Collins's undeniabl gift for pork-barrel spending could now come back to haunt her, thanks to a new pay-for-play scandal broken on Tuesday by ProPublica. The ProPublica story focuses on Collins's links to Martin Kao, the former CEO of a defense contractor called Navatek. Last year, Kao was sentenced to 87 months in prison for bank fraud and Covid relief fraud.

Prior to his conviction, Kao had provided damning testimony to the FBI about a political quid pro quo scheme he was working. Legally, defense contractors are not allowed to donate to campaigns, so Kao used shell corporations to donate to super PACs supporting politicians who promoted Navatek projects to the Pentagon. Collins and her office were in the crosshairs of the FBI investigation into Kao's activities, but the senator was saved from possible criminal charges by Donald Trump's reelection, which led the president to fire FBI agents working on the investigation (some of whom had also investigated Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election).

Maine News Thursday September 24

Town of Pownal - Pownal continues to offer a Senior Property Tax Assistance Program to help eligible residents offset the cost of property taxes.  The program is available to qualifying seniors who receive Maine's Property Tax Fairness-related tax relief benefits and meet the Town's eligibility requirements. Eligible applicants may receive a supplemental refund or credit from the Town to help reduce their property tax burden. This local assistance program reflects the Town's commitment to helping seniors manage the burden of property taxes. Interested in applying? Applications and eligibility information are available on the Town website or by contacting the Town Office. Town Office: 207-688-4611 

Mortgage rates rose in 37 of the 50 states between Q1 2026 and Q2 2026, the personal-finance company WalletHub today released its new report on the States Where Mortgage Interest Rates Are Increasing the Most, based on proprietary user data.

Press Herald -    Bowdoin College has climbed to near the top in a national ranking of higher education institutions, tying for third best liberal arts college. Williams College and Amherst College, both in Massachusetts, were ranked one and two respectively.

The Brunswick school is among seven Maine institutions to appear on the U.S. News and World Report’s 2027 rankings of the country’s best colleges and universities. Third is the highest rank Bowdoin has held, although it last appeared there in 2018. The college dropped to the ninth spot in 2024, and has been rising since.

U.S. News and World Report’s rankings includes separate lists for liberal arts colleges and universities and ranks schools based on factors like graduation rates, how the school is regarded by peer institutions, financial resources and faculty salaries.

On the university list, the public flagship University of Maine sits at 262, five spots below last year and nearly 50 down from its ranking several years ago. It’s now tied with the private University of New England, which climbed more than 30 spots.

Maine News Wednesday September 23

MS NOW - According to a new investigation from ProPublica, Sen. Susan Collins narrowly escaped being embroiled in an FBI bribery probe into defense contracts, lawmakers and large campaign contributions. For that, she can thank the Trump administration's commitment to making America a place where the wealthy, connected and morally flexible can get away with almost anything. The good news is that if we're determined enough, we can undo the damage that has been done.

ProPublica's story begins in 2019, when the head of Collins' super PAC, Scott Reed, met with executives from a defense contractor called Navatek that the senator had helped land a Navy research contract in Maine. Then Collins' fundraiser made a request: The company should make a six-figure donation to help the senator in her re-election bid. The executives said they would pony up - if Collins helped them get more contracts.

…."To skirt campaign finance laws and conceal the source of the funds," ProPublica reported, "Navatek planned to funnel the donation through a shell company. The CEO [Martin Kao] wanted assurance that Collins would know where the money came from. Reed confirmed that she would, the executive said - and that Navatek would get its government contracts."

More on Susan Collins 

Portland Press Herald on Susan Collins

Maine News Tuesday September 22

Maine Democrats - Last week, Susan Collins endorsed MAGA extremist Bobby Charles for Governor, once again showing she’ll always put her party over the people of Maine.

Collins is proudly backing a candidate who wants to ban abortions, raise the retirement age, and threaten to send ICE to Maine polls – someone so extreme that even his own sister publicly denounced him.

This is yet another example of Susan Collins choosing party loyalty over what’s best for Maine. If she’s re-elected, she will just continue being another rubber stamp for MAGA’s extreme agenda — and her endorsement of Bobby Charles proves it.

Where Susan Collins and Troy Jackson stand on immigration policy

WMTW - Two clam flats are temporarily closed due to a large phytoplankton bloom along southern Maine's coast. According to the Department of Marine Resources, these targeted closures include the entire intertidal growing area of Maquoit Bay in Brunswick and the eastern side of Middle Bay in Harpswell.  Until further notice, no clams, quahogs or oysters can be harvested from Maquoit Bay, and no softshell clams or quahogs can be taken from the eastern side of Middle Bay. The closure notice explains the department's concern that continued harvesting during the bloom will cause additional stress for the area's shellfish and more deaths.

Maine Morning Star -  Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King endorsed Democratic gubernatorial nominee Hannah Pingree at Bowdoin College on Sunday.  Their hourlong conversation, attended by 300 people in a standing-room only auditorium, also covered the stakes of Maine’s gubernatorial election in light of the cuts to health care, food security and affordability as a result of federal policies, as well as the polarization of both parties and how the next governor needs to bridge that gap.  “We’re going to have some challenges, and that’s one of the reasons I’m supporting you, because I think you’re the person to confront them,” King told Pingree as the crowd cheered.