Maine Morning Star - A coalition of 22 states [including Maine] told a federal court that the Trump administration appears to have violated a court order that limited the types of health data that could be shared with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation proceedings.
Maine Morning Star - Maine’s budget committee added a tax on millionaires to its plan, which could prompt a notable departure for Gov. Janet Mills, who has long opposed calls to increase income taxes. This amendment to the governor’s budget proposal came late Tuesday night from the Democratic majority of the Maine Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, which is expected to vote on the overall spending package on Wednesday.
Press Herald - The Island Rover sits, tucked away in a forested neighborhood, with boarded up windows and a rusting construction ladder nearby. The 80-ton steel ship is only a few hundred yards from the water, but the coast can’t be seen from the cluttered lot it has occupied for the last two years. It’s not what the original owner and builder, Harold Arndt, had in mind when he started construction on it more than 30 years ago.
Arndt, who worked as a waste minimalization specialist for Bath Iron Works before retiring in the mid-1990s, wanted to teach young people about creative ways to reuse what they might otherwise discard. The now-83-year-old said his dream was to cast off nearby, taking a group of college students on a trip to the Arctic.
But the Island Rover remains landlocked.
Last year, the Freeport Coastal Waters Commission denied a temporary boat launch for the roughly 90-foot schooner in the residential area, where the water in Raspberry Cove‘s mudflat only reaches about 6 feet at the highest astronomical tide. Now, several of Arndt’s supporters are pursuing a referendum to override the town’s decision. The group has until April 22 to gather signatures for a petition to add the referendum to the ballot for the June election.
Freeport has asked the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to weigh in on whether the agency might determine portions of the ordinance violate state shoreland zoning laws, town attorney Amy Tchao said. A spokesperson for the DEP said Tuesday that the “entire matter is under review.”
Arndt also sued Freeport in February, claiming the town has spent more than 20 years fighting him in court to get the schooner removed, imposing thousands of dollars in fines, while rejecting his efforts to launch the ship. The town has asked a federal judge to dismiss the case.
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The Island Rover in 2012. (John Ewing/Press Herald Staff Photographer) |
His legal battles with the town have spurred news stories and documentaries. Judges have repeatedly found Arndt violated court-imposed deadlines to move the ship. Its ownership is also unclear, after Arndt mortgaged some of his property and granted a security interest in the ship to a local businessman to take over and help finish construction, according to court records. The town sued both men in 2017, arguing Freeport is the ship’s owner after Arndt went back on an agreement to remove it.