Maine officials anticipate a modest turnout on June 14 for the state’s primary elections, though they are on heightened alert for threats against poll workers amid a growing cloud of…
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one of many steps needed to make cultivated landscapes more ecological
Spreading like dandelion fluff, a “No Mow May” initiative to support bees and other pollinators is taking seed in Maine.
It began when two Rockland residents sent City Councilor Nathan…
For years, environmental stewards trying to slow global warming have sought to limit the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by encouraging the use of what are known as carbon offsets. The idea…
be prepared to deal with the pesky insect again this summer
Browntail moths, the invasive pests that can cause irritable rashes, breathing problems and extensive tree damage, have begun to emerge from their winter webs with experts predicting a likely…
The situation has created myriad health problems
For seven years, off and on, Cheryl Harkins lived out of her car and in a homeless encampment in Portland. Harkins, who is 100% disabled related to degenerative conditions, said her legs would…
warning of "imminent" crisis in being able to find lawyers for all needing public defense
A last minute push by state lawmakers has succeeded in securing money to hire Maine’s first public defenders.
Maine lawmakers plan to spend nearly $966,000 to establish a “rural public…
Maine prisoners may have access to cheaper phone calls after state lawmakers agreed to eliminate some fees and cap prices at rates set by the Federal Communications Commission at jails and prisons…
If Paul LePage succeeds in winning back the governor’s office this November, he could become the first person to receive a gubernatorial pension while serving as Maine’s chief executive.
It…
Boaters under 25 would be required to pass safety course
Most boaters under age 25 will be required to pass an education and safety course before January 2024 to operate on Maine’s lakes and rivers because of a bill passed by the state Legislature this…
Shannon Craig-McDaniel used to get recognized when she walked around downtown Lewiston. As a state public health nurse, her clients often remembered her.
“We enter people’s houses so we…
Committee proposes dispatchable unit of lawyers to work in underserved rural courts
Lawmakers are making a second attempt at hiring Maine’s first public defenders with a $8.1 million proposal to the state budget committee.
Gov. Janet Mills left $20 million unallocated for…
‘We have more people, we can hear more cases. It’s simple math’
Plagued by member vacancies, turnover and the pandemic, the new chair of the Maine State Board of Property Tax Review and the governor’s office say they are working to move forward dozens of cases…
lawmakers believe that 13 members of a committee should not be able to easily spike bills with popular support
Despite garnering support from committees or even full chambers, many bills each session never make it off the “Special Appropriations Table,” where those with fiscal notes land before receiving…
Paige Solans will graduate from the University of Maine School of Nursing this spring, but she’s been working part-time in a hospital intensive care unit for the last 10 months of the COVID-19…
Lawmakers stripped away penalties in favor of committee to explore problem
AUGUSTA — A bill that would penalize prosecutors who listen to recordings of attorney-client conversations made by Maine county jail phone systems was instead turned into a study group on Thursday…
Steven Clarke has recently been living in northport
A man recorded more than 70 times while having confidential conversations with his attorneys at a Maine county jail will not get a new trial.
Steven Clarke, who was …
residents worried about reliability, cost and unproven technology
ISLE AU HAUT — The news reports were glowing: A planned microgrid on Isle au Haut could …
Incineration of plastics containing ‘forever chemicals’ could be generating potent greenhouse gas emissions
How much does household waste fuel the climate crisis? Official numbers suggest a small role, but the full contribution is not yet known — even by regulators and scientists.
As New…
Maine needs visionary, collaborative approach to address browntail moths
After five years enduring a rain of toxic hairs from browntail moth…
Legislation would mandate boaters pass exam before operating on inland waters
A bill to make education and safety classes mandatory for many boaters in Maine is working its way through the Legislature, but its fate is uncertain with lawmakers wavering on how to roll it out…
Mills instructs Dept. of Corrections to work with lawmakers to protect attorney-client privilege
Maine county jails “must stop” recording and listening to calls that inmates make to their attorneys, Maine lawyers and lawmakers said this week. Gov. Janet Mills instructed the Department of…
Frustrated by lack of progress, 'last resort' lawsuit alleges state commission violates defendants' constitutional rights
Civil rights lawyers sued Maine officials on behalf of impoverished criminal defendants on Tuesday, alleging the state failed to create an effective public defense system in violation of their…
Barely more than a quarter of varsity girls’ basketball teams are led by women. Most other sports also could do better.
When Lynne and Abby Hasson faced off on Feb. 17, 2021, they made Maine high school basketball history. With Lynne as the varsity girls’ coach at South Portland and Abby leading Portland, they…
Municipalities lose hundreds of thousands whether they fight the retailers or not, and a slow-moving state appeals board doesn’t help.
It’s Wednesday afternoon at Walmart in Thomaston, and shoppers are rushing around — grabbing dog food, picking up prescriptions, perusing the towel aisle. It’s clear that the store, less than a…
new advisory council tasked to obtain insight into underappreciated — yet critical — workforce
Maine nursing home and assisted living facility employees soon will be represented by a new statewide advisory council that is among the first of its kind in the nation, and that marks the first…
gambling that a justice will let him take back his guilty plea
This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor. The Maine Monitor is a local journalism…
Murder suspects fear they can’t get a fair trial after state police acknowledge listening to portions of phone calls with their attorneys.
This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor. The Maine Monitor is a local journalism…
Caribou Rehab and Nursing Center last year had more certified nursing assistants turn over than it had CNA positions.
The Aroostook County nursing home typically employs between 60 and 65…
On an overcast afternoon in early July, Michael Dennett drove to a paddock near midcoast Maine to check on his sheep. They’d been there for a couple of days, and it was almost time to move them to…
lincolnville native is head coach for Pennsylvania wrestling program
John Kelly remembers as if it happened yesterday.
A “scrawny, bony” fourth-grader named Tim Boetsch competed in a “takedown tournament,” something aspiring, grade-school wrestlers did at…
One month after The Maine Monitor published an investigation into rising rates of contracted staff in nursing homes, five Maine nursing homes announced they were closing due to staff shortages.…
signals new phase for the nonprofit, investigative news organization
AUGUSTA — The Maine Monitor has hired Renée Johansson, a Bangor resident and well-known Maine non-profit leader and brand strategist, to fill a new position as development director for the non-…
The Freemans say they will extract spodumene responsibly
The Maine Monitor’s Oct. 24 report on the recent discovery of what looks to be the world’s richest lithium deposit in western Maine stirred up a number of subsequent news reports and even a…
legislative advocate for children is optimistic about pending reforms
Maddox Williams. Hailey Goding. Sylus Melvin. Baby Harding.
Two Maine toddlers and two babies died in their homes last summer.
Lawmakers may recommend enacting bill to open the state's first trial-level public defender office
Maine’s first public defender office was slated to begin accepting cases this month, but delays by the Legislature have kept the state’s flawed system of public defense in place for another year…
The Maine quest for truly green power
“Sign up to stop climate change,” the mailer read: “Save the world with renewable energy.” Even simplistic sales pitches can draw in electricity consumers. Purchasing green power to accelerate the…
majority of House Republicans opposed measure while senate unanimously passed
For state Rep. Tim Roche, his vote on a Maine resolution …
$800 million surplus, COVID-19 will dominate upcoming session
While lawmakers in Augusta wrangled their bills through the Legislative Council ahead of the second session, there is another pressing issue that lawmakers will tackle in January: How to spend $…
As the Legislature’s second regular session approaches on Jan. 5, lawmakers have been working behind the scenes to get their proposed bills through the powerful Legislative Council.
Maine…
Walking trails, bicycle paths and other improvements are under consideration
Sue Ellen Bordwell rarely saw another bicyclist during her commute on Route 1 from Yarmouth to the University of Southern Maine in the 1990s.
“Then one day there had been this little…
The local nonprofit managing conserved land on Sears Island said it was blindsided by a proposal commissioned by the Mills administration to use part of the island as a hub to assemble massive…
WATERVILLE — This fall, on an unseasonably warm day in a warehouse on a dead end road, Chris Martin, founder of Give IT. Get IT., reached into a box of iPhones and turned one on. The phone…
Four of the five nursing homes that closed this fall had big increases in contracted staff hours leading up to COVID
COOPERS MILLS — A barren flagpole rope clinked in the breeze outside Country Manor Nursing Home on a recent fall morning. It was the only outward sign that the Lincoln County facility, once home…
Amy Fairfield, who was the center of a Maine Monitor investigation in 2019 about abnormally high billing by her law firm, is …
Ever wanted to spend two hours baking pies with state Rep. Shelley Rudnicki (R-Fairfield)? How about the chance to own Rep. Laurel Libby’s (R-Auburn) used baseball cap from the 130th Legislature…
Keeping a culture alive, one drumbeat at a time
PLEASANT POINT — The drumbeat and the song called the elder back to her childhood.
Mildred Mitchell Yatroussis swayed to the music and remembered when her people were not allowed to speak…
As the holiday season approaches during the state’s worst surge of COVID-19, Maine health experts say testing is one of a variety of ways to stay safe, but rapid at-home tests remain expensive and…
As vacationers continue to flood maine, labor shortage is causing businesses to confront wage, housing problems
The local radio ad had a particular appeal as it played over the airwaves early this summer.
“We’re all trying our best to give you the service you expect and the vacation you’ve been…
PATTEN — Despite a rebuke from the Maine Land Use Planning Commission in mid-October, Wolfden Resources will not give up on its proposal to mine for copper, zinc and lead at Pickett Mountain,…
While politicians favor expanding the train service, COVID has changed riding habits, perhaps permanently
State Sen. Joe Baldacci wants it for Bangor, and 1,700 people at the “Bring the Downeaster to Bangor” Facebook page agree with him.
State Sen. Ben Chipman of Portland has had it in his…
