Maine News Monday September 21

Press Herald -   The Chair of the Cumberland Town Council was arrested on Labor Day for operating under the influence, police say.

The Yarmouth Police Department arrested Michael Edes, 67, at approximately 10:20 p.m. on Sept. 7, Chief David Gallant said. While being processed at the Yarmouth Police Department, Edes refused a breath, blood or urine test, police said. Edes was charged with operating under the influence and issued summons for October.

While Edes’ attorney Jon Goodman confirmed Edes was charged with an OUI, he disputed the allegation. “Mike absolutely did not operate any vehicle while under the influence, however, and he looks forward to the opportunity to share his side of the story in court,” Goodman said in an email.

Maine Morning Star -  The implementation of Maine’s recently passed gun safety laws — a red flag referendum voters overwhelmingly approved and a 72-hour waiting period facing a legal challenge — would greatly differ depending on who the next governor is.

Democrat Hannah Pingree said she supports both laws, and detailed how she would implement the red flag law that the current governor, Janet Mills, opposed. Independent Rick Bennett said he would enforce both laws if the waiting period survives its legal challenge while Republican Bobby Charles said he opposes both measures.

Both the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, groups that are typically on opposing sides of most gun-related legislation, singled Pingree out as being the outlier on an issue that has become increasingly relevant for Maine since the 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston.

“One of these candidates is not like the others,” Nacole Palmer, executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, which endorsed Pingree in the gubernatorial race. “Only one of these candidates is actually aligned with where the Maine people have shown themselves to be, and the other two are not.” 

WMTW - A building that was under construction in North Yarmouth partially collapsed on Saturday, landing on a crane. Firefighters were called to the construction site on Walnut Hill Road at about 12:30 p.m. and found part of the building had given way. One wall landed on a crane that was being used to lift parts of the building into place. There did not appear to be significant damage to the crane. Officials said the workers were at lunch when the structural failure occurred and no one was hurt.

Maine News Sunday September 20

Press Herald  -  Northern Cumberland County and southern Waldo County, plus a portion of coastal Hancock County, are the driest, but the entire state is now under at least moderate drought conditions, U.S. Drought Monitor says.

Part of Maine is under an extreme drought designation for the first time in several months, and the entire state is now considered to be in at least a moderate drought.

A stretch of Maine’s coastline from northern Cumberland County to southern Waldo County, plus a portion of coastal Hancock County, are considered to be under extreme drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s latest update on Thursday.

The last time any part of Maine was under an extreme designation was in early April. Conditions gradually improved in the following months thanks to spring showers.

By July, the majority of the state was free from any U.S. Drought Monitor designation, but a lack of rain in the weeks that followed allowed drought conditions to return.

Maine residents who walk through cemeteries to feel more alive

2 areas of Casco Bay temporarily closed to shellfish harvesting as algae bloom spreads (pressherald.com)

JOBS

• Giri Hotel Management LLC posted a job opening for Line Cook - Part Time in Freeport. Apply here.
• Regional School Unit 05 posted a job opening for Custodian (683) in Freeport. Apply here. 
• You can search for other jobs near Freeport here.

Maine News Saturday September 19

Patch -  Freeport town leaders back plan to make shopping district safer for pedestrians (wgme.com) — Freeport’s Town Council just backed a major Village Corridor Initiative to slow traffic and make the Route 1 shopping district safer and more walkable, while adding significant new housing. The plan would narrow parts of Route 1, prioritize pedestrians, and potentially create thousands of new condos and apartments over decades, aiming to keep Freeport livable for workers, seniors, and young residen

Opening of LL Bean’s new structure

Press Herald - Eliot Cutler will soon return to jail to serve two and a half months for repeatedly violating the terms of his probation, a Hancock County judge has ordered. The disgraced two-time gubernatorial candidate appeared in court in Ellsworth on Friday morning and made an impassioned plea to Superior Court Justice Patrick Larson that he should be allowed to continue his probation as normal, despite allegedly violating the terms of his release six times since his 2023 conviction for possessing thousands of sexually explicit images of children.

The Hill - As fuel costs rise amid the U.S.-Iran and Russia-Ukraine wars, Americans in the Northeast may have to pay significantly more to heat their homes this winter.  With the price of diesel, in particular, increasing, so too will the cost of a home heating fuel known as heating oil or fuel oil that is commonly used in Northeast states.

William O’Neil, principal research analyst at S&P Global, said that heating oil and diesel prices tend to move together, so when diesel prices go up, heating oil usually does, too.

“The price of diesel historically has a pretty strong relationship to the price of heating oil because they’re effectively chemically identical. They just have different additives, different treatments,” O’Neil said.  He said that those Americans could end up paying nearly 50 percent more this year to heat their homes than they were last year. 

Press Herald - This summer, the Maine Trust for Local News commissioned a survey of 824 Maine residents by the Siena Research Institute, the primary pollster for The New York Times...The results were predictable in some ways and surprising (and even contradictory) in others.

Overall, three out of four people surveyed described the quality of life in their community as positive. In southern Maine (Cumberland and York counties), that jumped to 84%, but in northern and western Maine, it fell to 68%.

Perhaps paradoxically, 38% said life was either getting somewhat worse or much worse, nearly twice as many as the number of people who said things are getting better. The why here was perhaps the most predictable: Housing and other economic factors, including job opportunities.

.Affordability ranked lowest among the four main categories — and by a wide margin. The high cost of housing, childcare, groceries and fuel contributed to those negative feelings.

The best thing about living in Maine, according to respondents, was the quality of life and sense of community, followed by nature and the environment. More

 

Maine News Friday Setember 18

Maine Morning Star- The Penobscot Nation received 11,000 acres of ancestral land back this week, the first phase of what is expected to be one of the largest land returns ever between a U.S.-based nonprofit and a tribe.  Located near the base of Katahdin, the land return affords the Penobscot Nation access to a culturally significant area, natural resources for hunting and harvesting, and more authority to expand its longstanding conservation work, said Penobscot Nation Natural Resources Director Chuck Loring. While specific plans are still being developed, one goal is to create an access route to the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. 

The Campus -  On Thursday, the University of Maine sent a letter to its employees addressing a projected $19 million budget deficit. In the letter, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy and Provost Gabriel Paquette outlined a plan that will include staff layoffs and faculty retrenchments across both UMaine and UMaine Machias campuses to reduce university spending. The plan would go into effect for the next fiscal year (FY28) if the draft budget is approved by the Board of Trustees (BoT). The number of faculty and staff positions that will be eliminated, and when those affected will receive notice, has not yet been determined.  

Maine Fraternal Order of Police Executive Director Arrested on OUI Charge (themainewire.com)

JOBS

• TJX posted a job opening for Store Cleaning Associate in Brunswick. Apply here.
• Bowdoin College posted a job opening for Food Service Worker (part-time) in Brunswick. Apply here. 
• You can search for other jobs near Freeport here.

Maine News Thursday Sep 17

Ten largest businesses in Maine

Shaw Brothers Construction is doing roadwork at the intersection of Mallet Drive and US Route 1 (Main Street). This project will run day and night until it is completed. Lane reductions will occur as necessary as the project continues. The only weekend work scheduled is for Sunday evening (9/20) for paving. As this is a Maine Department of Transportation project, the timeline of the work has been subject to MDOT scheduling. However the Town has been working closely with MDOT to facilitate the work and mitigate traffic disruptions as much as possible. View it on website

Press Herald - The planned pedestrian improvements to the Main and Bow streets intersection of Freeport as outlined in the Freeport village corridor initiative plan include an all-way stop and increased sidewalk space.

….The plan, developed over the past 16 months, includes creating narrower traffic lanes and more sidewalk and multiuse path space, with buffers between pedestrians and vehicles to improve safety. It identifies three areas for improvement stretching about 3 miles along Route 1 from Maine Beer Co. to Upper Mast Landing Road: the “village gateway;” “Freeport village;” and “northern corridor.”

The report sets a goal of adding about 70 residential units per year, Stantec Senior Planner Jessa Berna said at Tuesday’s meeting.

It also calls for an all-way stop with narrower travel lanes and wider sidewalks at the intersection of Main and Bow streets in the Freeport village area and a 2,000 square-foot plaza space in front of Linda Bean’s restaurant.

Maine’s $1B lottery winner wants to drop his lawsuit against a former partner, right before a federal court ruled that he must disclose his identity at trial

State workers union ratifies contract, over a year after previous agreement expires

WGME -- Police say good Samaritans rescued a driver from a burning vehicle on I-295 in Freeport.  Maine State Police say troopers responded to a crash on I-295 northbound near mile marker 20 on Monday around 6:50 p.m. When troopers arrived, they found a Volvo XC60 approximately 60 feet off the road in a wooded area and fully engulfed in flames.

Before first responders arrived, troopers say passing motorists stopped and were able to pull the driver from the burning vehicle and get him to safety. 

Freeport and Yarmouth firefighters extinguished the fire, which had begun spreading into the wooded area.  The driver was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland with minor injuries. The good Samaritans who helped the driver were treated at the scene for minor injuries and smoke inhalation.

JOBS

·       Domino's Pizza posted a job opening for Delivery Driver (03020) - 208 Maine St in Brunswick. Apply here.

·       Northbridge Companies posted a job opening for Housekeeper, FT- 7a-2:30p in Brunswick. Apply here. 

·       You can search for other jobs near Freeport here.

 

Maine News Wednesday September 16

Press Herald - The Supreme Court will decide later this month whether to hear a lobster fisherman’s challenge to a government requirement that boats use electronic tracking devices. That case could have broad consequences for the American commercial fishing industry.

Maine lobsterman Frank Thompson filed a federal lawsuit against the head of his state’s marine resources department over a requirement that he install a GPS tracker on his boat to keep his fishing license.

In 2023, the state, where lobster fishing is a critical and historic industry, required all federally permitted lobstermen to do so to comply with a new U.S. rule aimed at data collection.

Thompson asserted that the monitoring constituted unreasonable search and seizure, but a federal appeals court denied his claim last year. He appealed to the Supreme Court, which is set to review the claim on Sept. 28.

….Many U.S. commercial fishermen are monitored at sea by human observers and electronic devices to collect data that regulators say is crucial to keeping the industry and fish populations sustainable and healthy. Fishing groups have used the courts over the years to try to curtail monitoring requirements with mixed results. Authorities have said the lobster boat monitoring program is important to improve understanding of the valuable crustacean’s population at a time when it appears to be declining in New England.

The U.S. lobster industry is based mostly in Maine, where fishermen caught more than 78 million pounds of the crustaceans last year. That was on par with the industry’s typical annual catch in the 2000s but a sharp decline from a decade ago, when catches routinely topped 120 million pounds a year.

Press Herald - Maine forests are proving to be more resilient to changing climate conditions in the fall than in the spring and summer, with scientists predicting the colorful canopy will be providing a steady stream of food and photos to wildlife and tourists alike for years to come.

There will still be off years, when the vibrant reds, yellows and oranges of the maples and oaks are dulled by drought or dropped by an early frost, ecologists say, and over time, global warming will drive the onset of the color change deeper into the calendar year.

“But we’re talking days, not weeks,” said Jay Wason, an associate professor of forest ecosystems physiology at the University of Maine. “The pace of fall change is so much slower than what we are seeing in our springs and summers.”

Maine Morning Star -  The average Maine household has paid an average of $4,300 more for goods and services since President Donald Trump began his second term, according to an analysis released last week, which attributes much of that increase to the war in Iran, tariffs and rising healthcare costs. 

The left-leaning Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) released a summary of cost increases last week, relying on analysis from Democrats on the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee and other sources that have tracked price increases due to Trump administration policies.

Healthcare is the biggest variable: since Congress allowed enhanced premium tax credits for marketplace health plans to expire at the beginning of this year, some families saw much more than the average $4,300 increase, while those with employer-sponsored health insurance have not seen such dramatic price hikes.

But other increases — such as gas, which now costs more than $4 per gallon, and heating oil, which is now $5.15 per gallon — are more ubiquitous, and expected to add more than $2,000 to household budgets by the end of the year.

Friends of Casco Bay - Maine’s Superior Court has upheld key provisions in a federal stormwater permit that applies to the state’s most urban areas. The court’s action upholds a requirement that regulated municipalities must adopt low impact development (LID) ordinances. This is good news for Casco Bay and many other waters in the state because stormwater is one of the largest sources of pollution into our waters.

The permit is called the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Permit, or “MS4" permit. It is required under the Clean Water Act and covers thirty municipalities in Maine, including thirteen that are in or influence the Casco Bay watershed.

Friends of Casco Bay has long advocated for the LID ordinance requirement in the permit because it is one of the few tools towns have to preserve the natural flow and filtration of water as land is developed. Once those features are lost, it is nearly impossible to restore water quality.

Maine News Tuesday September 15

A homemade 80-ton steel schooner trapped in a Maine backyard may finally see water — if voters agree (boston.com) — A long-running dispute in Freeport over Harold Arndt’s 80‑ton homemade schooner is heading to voters, who may decide whether he can build a temporary ramp to finally launch it. Supporters are racing to collect 774 signatures by Sept. 23 so the question appears on November’s ballot, amid town concerns about zoning, liability, and environmental impacts.

WHOM-   Okay, L.L.Bean fans... the wait is almost over. The iconic L.L.Bean Flagship Store in Freeport is reopening September 18 after nearly two years of renovations, and there are some pretty fun changes inside...

Here's what caught my attention: 

1. A brand-new entrance with a huge staircase. 
2. A bigger, two-level trout pond. Yes, really. 
3. An upgraded stream tank with even more fish. 
4. A new Custom Shop where you can personalize your L.L.Bean gear. 
5. A refreshed 1912 Café with more seating. 
6. A totally redesigned kids' area inspired by a Maine summer camp. 
7. An expanded Discovery Park with more room to hang outside. 
8. New displays showing off L.L.Bean's history and some of its most iconic gear. 
9. And yes... 24-hour shopping is coming back! 

JOBS

• C. & J. Clark International, Ltd posted a job opening for Asst Store Manager in Freeport. Apply here.
• Bowdoin College posted a job opening for Assistant Professor of Earth and Oceanographic Science in Brunswick. Apply here. 
• You can search for other jobs near Freeport here.

Maine News Monday September 14

Why you should vote for Troy Jackson anyway

Sam Smith – I learned 74 years ago, as a 12 year old stuffing envelopes  in a Philadelphia campaign that ended nearly  seven decades of Republican  rule, that politics isn’t about perfection. It’s about the best you can get when you go the polls.

Subsequent reporting on, and taking part in, elections in places like Cambridge Massachusetts and Washington DC taught me not to expect role models but to seek the best politics we coud find each time. Sometimes that even included a campaign you know you’re not going to win but will end in increased knowledge and support for your causes.

 Now we have Troy Jackson and Susan Collins to choose between. Jackson has been accused  of anger and mistreatment of women. He also had a bitter rivalry with former Republican Governor Paul LePage. And as one website reported, “He had intense public shouting matches and arguments in the Maine State House.”

Meanwhile Susan Collins voted for justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. She was the deciding in vote in favor of Trump’s Medicare cuts, and helped Trump double health insurance fees. She also wrote the bill to increase ICE funding.

When we go to the polls we are not choosing between personal moral models or choosing a minister. We are having an effect on the political future of our state and nation. We need to stop wondering who is a more decent human and pick the one who will most help the political causes we support. And Troy Jackson is clearly one of them. 

MORE NEWS

Sarah Sullivan, WBLM- If you're like me, you are very curious about the forecast that the Old Farmer's Almanac puts out every year, especially when it's talking about Winter.  This season, 2026 into 2027, the Almanac predicts that some of us will have a mild winter and others will freeze our faces off when Old Man Winter shows up.

The almanac says that the Southern part of the region will have a snowier, more challenging winter.  So, the bottom half of New Hampshire and Vermont into the Western part of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

If you live in the Northern part of New England, including the entire State of Maine and the upper two thirds of Vermont and New Hampshire, you could experience a fairly mild and dry winter. 

WMTW  - Some of the new features customers at the reimagined L.L. Bean flagship store in Freeport can expect include a new first floor primary entrance centered by a grand staircase, a new 1912 cafe, a remodeled kid’s department, a new stream tank with twice the space for fish, and an expanded Discovery Park, the center of the Flagship campus, that adds green space and enhances outdoor programming. For more see Sept 18-20 below

JOBS

• Domino's Pizza posted a job opening for Delivery Driver (03020) - 208 Maine St in Brunswick. Apply here.
• Hannaford posted a job opening for PT Deli Service Associate in Brunswick. Apply here. 
• You can search for other jobs near Freeport here.

• Domino's Pizza posted a job opening for Delivery Driver (03020) - 208 Maine St in Brunswick. Apply here.
• Hannaford posted a job opening for PT Deli Service Associate in Brunswick. Apply here. 
• You can search for other jobs near Freeport here.

Maine News Sunday Septemeber 13

Maine Democrats - When Susan Collins first ran for Senate, she promised to serve only two Senate terms.  Now, five terms later while she’s running for her sixth term, she’s refusing to rule out running for a seventh! That would be nearly 40 years in Washington.

She already had 30 years in Washington, and she spent those decades repeatedly turning her back on Maine by:

• Becoming another rubber stamp for MAGA’s extreme agenda.
• Casting the deciding vote to confirm far-right Justice Brett Kavanaugh — leading to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
• And voting with Trump 96% of the time, even at the expense of Mainers.

Hannaford recalls 81/19 ground beef sold at Yarmouth store (wmtw.com)

 

Maine News Saturday September 12

Press Herald  -Freeport’s housing market is now among southern Maine’s priciest, with median sale prices topping $900,000 alongside other coastal hotspots. A new report shows York and Cumberland counties hitting record or near-record medians, with rising inventory but fewer sales, making it even tougher for local first-time buyers to stay in the region.

Press Herald - Maine began its annual fall foliage reporting season Sept. 9, but forests across the state remain overwhelmingly green. The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry rated both color change and leaf drop as “very low” in all seven foliage zones. Maine Forest Service experts expect color to develop along its typical progression from north to south, with trees at higher elevations generally changing before those at lower elevations. When the change comes depends on daylight, temperature, moisture and local growing conditions, according to University of Maine Cooperative Extension.

As days shorten and temperatures cool, trees stop producing chlorophyll, the pigment that gives leaves their green color. As chlorophyll breaks down, yellow and orange pigments already present in the leaves become visible. Other chemical changes produce the reds and purples associated with some species….The timing can vary considerably across Maine.

Students from Maine and other New England states will be able to attend the University of Vermont at a discounted rate — for certain majors