#MaineMonitor

Maine’s pollen problem nothing to sneeze at: State to use federal funds for data collection

Maine has no statewide data on pollen, despite the reality that the fine plant powder causes congestion, sneezing and itchy eyes for thousands of Mainers each year. But new efforts are underway to…

The find, one of the richest on Earth, could test Maine’s 2017 metallic mining laws, considered the strictest in the nation

Staggering $1.5 billion lithium deposit discovered near Newry; excavating it poses a challenge

Pieces of kunzite, a variety of the lithium-bearing crystals found in Newry, for sale at the Rock & Art Shop in Bar Harbor. Photo by Kate Cough.

NEWRY — The richest known hard rock lithium deposit in the world lies a few miles northeast of the ski slopes of Sunday River and not far from Step Falls, where swimmers can wade in shallow pools…

‘The exhaustion is palpable’

As COVID-19 grinds on, stress piles up for public health workers

With coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths surging again across Maine, public health workers such as Charles Mugabe, the COVID-19 project manager for Catholic Charities of Maine, are as busy as ever, trying to stay resilient in the face of a fluctuating pandemic that began nearly two years ago. Photo by Jill Brady.

Charles Mugabe stopped keeping track of his work hours during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the pace was relentless. He opened his computer as soon as he awoke around 7 a.m., and often…

How ‘green’ is Maine? Recycling data so incomplete, state experts don’t have clear picture

Maine has never reached its goal of recycling 50 percent of the state’s solid waste. Of the towns that reported a measurable recycling rate for 2020, the figures ranged from a low of 5.1% in Mt. Desert to a high of 71% in Yarmouth. Photo by Kate Cough.

In more than 30 years, Maine has never reached its goal of recycling 50 percent of the state’s solid waste. Even figuring out how much progress it’s making — and how state agencies might help…

The fruitless effort to primary Gov. Mills

Grassroots effort to challenge Mills has one problem: Its candidate doesn’t want to run.

A political action committee tried to convince Maine Senate President Troy Jackson to challenge Gov. Janet Mills, his fellow Democrat, during the primary election. Jackson's team says the effort is for naught as the Senate president is committed to supporting Mills.

A political action committee dedicated to convincing Maine Senate President Troy Jackson to oppose Gov. Janet Mills is dead on arrival. That is, Jackson will not run against her.

The…

Thorndike and other communities list active departments, but they’re only a firefighter or two away from being unable to respond

‘Ghost stations’ in rural Maine mask depth of firefighter shortage

Most of the hooks at the Thorndike fire department have been empty since all but one of the volunteer firefighters resigned in 2019. Photo by Garrick Hoffman.

When Greg West received the alert for a motorcycle accident just after 2 a.m. last August, he dragged himself out of bed,…

Pan Am blames aging infrastructure, submerged pipe for some of its problems

After years of spills at Waterville site, Pan Am Railways says it cleaned up its act

Trains sit idle at a Waterville railyard plagued by previous problems, including oil discharge violations dating to 1986. In February, Pan Am Railways was fined after the Maine Department of Environmental Protection documented 45 occasions between 2015 and 2018 that oil was released into the Kennebec River. Photo by Samantha Hogan.

For more than a century, locomotives have been brought to a rail yard in Waterville on the banks of the Kennebec River, where they can be stripped, repaired and sometimes rebuilt entirely. Once a…

advocates say assessments in child protective cases not thorough, continue to leave children at risk

Diagnosing abuse requires collaboration and expert advice, child advocates say

Christine Alberi, Maine’s child welfare ombudsman, has repeatedly raised concerns about inadequate child protective investigations that leave children in jeopardy. Photo by Garrick Hoffman.

Hailey Ann Goding loved anything that sparkled.

The 3-year-old also adored her pet chickens and insisted on taking them to McDonald’s for chicken nuggets. The blond-haired girl was just…

damage to maine children causing mild learning disabilities, damaging neurological conditions, deaths

Child homicides are the tip of Maine’s ‘iceberg of abuse’

$Dr. Amanda Brownell, Maine's sole pediatric abuse expert, sits before images of babies who suffered injuries. The CT scan of a 2-month-old infant shows blood in the brain as a result of abusive head trauma. The X-ray of the other baby indicates multiple rib fractures from physical abuse. Photo by Garrick Hoffman.$

The infants arrive at the hospital with broken legs and arms.

Sometimes their ribs are fractured.

Others undergo CT scans and tests that show bleeding in their brain and behind…

Bits of plastic from the December 2020 accident are still surfacing

DEP proposes fining Sprague for Sears Island plastic spill

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is poised to fine Sprague Operating Resources for violating the state’s pollution control law after the company failed to promptly report that two shredded plastic bales fell into the ocean at Sprague Terminal in Searsport. Photo courtesy Rolf Olsen/Friends of Sears Island.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has proposed fining Sprague Operating Resources $17,800 for violating the state’s pollution control law after a December 2020 incident.

Two…

opinion: Making the grid more climate resilient will take planning grounded in science and localized power generation

How prepared are Maine’s electric utilities for climate disruptions?

Many of Maine’s island communities, like Vinalhaven, are working toward reliance on local, renewable power and battery storage that can provide energy even during power outages. (File photo)

In the wake of Ida, a hurricane …

North Berwick woman says COVID-19 restrictions inspired her to go after Gov. Mills.

Why one Mainer is trying to impeach Gov. Mills – even though she can’t

Jessica Rainville is leading an effort to gather signatures to impeach Gov. Janet Mills, though the effort is for naught as Maine does not allow for citizens to launch formal recall campaigns. (Photo by Andrew Howard/Maine Monitor)

Jessica Rainville can’t impeach Gov. Janet Mills, and she knows it.

Yet, out of self-described frustration with Mills “doing whatever she wants” by enforcing mask mandates and asking…

As COVID-19 continues, Maine’s battle with opioid addiction rages on

Opioids: A continuing epidemic, within a pandemic

Scott Knowles became a recovery coach after his own experience with substance use, which began when he was 11. He has been sober for three years and is working on a degree from Eastern Maine Community College. (Photo by Garrick Hoffman/Maine Monitor)

Maine lost 18,000 years of life last year to opioid overdoses. That’s what Oliver Bradeen, executive director of Milestone Recovery in Portland, calculates based on average life expectancy and the…

As child deaths rise, ‘nothing’s changed’ in child welfare system says former school nurse for Marissa Kennedy

Ten-year-old Marissa Kennedy loved to read and write, her teachers said. Marissa's parents were both convicted of beating their daughter to death. (Composite image provided by The Maine Monitor)

Mary Wright thought she heard the news wrong.

“Four kids killed in one month?” she asked her husband.

A former school nurse, Wright was stunned. From late May through the end of…

unsafe homes: children in peril

Premature birth, premature death: The sad, tragic life of Maddox Williams

Maddox Williams was the third of four Maine children who died of suspected abuse between May 31 and Aug. 29. (Composite image provided by The Maine Monitor)

Maddox Williams’ short life began with a struggle to survive.

The blond-haired boy was born in January 2018 and weighed just under three pounds. From his start as a premature infant…

opinion: Lending support to climate action

How a group of Maine philanthropists demonstrates climate leadership

As the climate crisis subjects Maine to more extreme weather and rising seas, the state is working to help communities foster greater climate resilience. Generous contributions from a climate-focused group of funders have helped Maine develop and start to implement its ambitious Climate Action Plan. (Photo credit: The Maine Monitor)

In a summer awash with climate…

Financing public education at that level will be a challenge in two years. Backtracking won’t be easy, either

Education officials, advocates celebrate 55% state funding achievement. But can it endure?

For the first time since a voter initiative passed in 2004, the Maine state government will meet its obligated 55% share of the cost of public K-12 education.

An increase in state revenue…

Maine is still in an outbreak, but a cool, wet spring could knock down the irritating insects.

Summer of 2022: Will browntail moths be this bad again?

After one of Maine’s worst browntail moth seasons, there are signs 2022 could continue a years-long outbreak of the invasive insect responsible for painful skin rashes and occasional dangerous breathing problems. But winter and spring weather could determine the scale of next summer’s infestation. Photo by James Dill

Next summer may be just as itchy and painful as this one.

After one of Maine’s worst browntail moth seasons, there are signs already that 2022 could continue a years-long outbreak of the…

Many cite better gas mileage, hybrid and electric vehicles for the dwindling Highway Fund. The big culprit is much simpler.

Running on fumes: Lack of will imperils fund that keeps Maine roads, bridges safe

With promises from automakers and President Biden to increase the sale and production of electric vehicles, the highway funding shortfall likely will get worse. (Photo by Kate Cough/The Maine Monitor)

Last May, the Legislature’s Taxation Committee spent hours hearing testimony on a number of bills. One of them, to increase the state’s top corporate income tax rate to 12.4 percent, drew…

opinion: Getting to the grid of the future

As Maine reinvents its electricity grid, it will need greater public engagement, utility oversight and data-sharing

Grid expansion and reinvention pose a daunting challenge for Maine, requiring vast technological transformation without loss of short-term grid functioning. Photo by Gabe Souza.

The U.S. electricity grid is a dinosaur, a huge, unwieldy relic of the past. Built with an expected lifespan of 50 years, much of its infrastructure is now more than 60 years old. Its outmoded…

officials say Maine must overcome lack of port infrastructure, need for a skilled workforce

UK company wins contract to analyze Maine ports for offshore wind capabilities

In March 2020, Gov. Mills visited the Mack Point Terminal in Searsport to announce her Administration would examine it for opportunities to support offshore wind. Photo by Kate Cough.

AUGUSTA — Xodus Group, a global company with roots in Scotland, has been …

as call volumes rise and firefighter ranks thin, leaders sound the alarm for solutions

Lack of data stymies efforts to address firefighter shortage

In barely more than a year, an aggressive recruitment campaign boosted the number of firefighters in Liberty from from seven to 18. “I feel right now we’re fortunate, (but) we never have enough,” said Bill Gillespie, the Liberty Fire Department chief and chair of the Length of Service Awards Program committee. Photo by Vanessa Paolella.

Even when he works two consecutive 24-hour shifts, Chris Aberle rarely sleeps at the fire station.

Sometimes he tries. If he is lucky, he might pick up a couple hours of rest. But lately…

‘I don’t think anybody really thought, ‘How’s it going to impact the counties of Maine and New England?’

Awash in federal cash, Maine counties ponder limited ways to spend it

Maine's counties have been allocated federal funding between $3 million and $58 million. County officials are now tasked with determining the best ways to spend that money, while navigating guidance from federal officials that Knox County administrator Andrew Hart called vague. (Photo by George Harvey/Maine Monitor)

With more than $261 million in federal funding flowing in from the American Rescue Plan Act, Maine counties are debating how to use the money, while awaiting further guidance from the feds.

…

New leadership at helm of nonprofit newsroom The Maine Monitor

Eric Conrad has been hired as the new editor and executive director of The Maine Monitor.

AUGUSTA — The Maine Monitor has a new editor and executive director: Eric Conrad, a veteran Maine journalist and communications professional.

The Maine Monitor was founded in 2009, as non-…

use of contract nurses and assistants in Maine has soared since 2017

Nursing homes face ongoing staff shortages, a problem that predates the pandemic

A nurse at St. Mary's D'Youville Pavilion in Lewiston walks past a nurse's station. As workforce challenges grow, Maine nursing homes in recent years increasingly have turned to outside agencies to meet staffing requirements. (Photo by Garrick Hoffman/Maine Monitor)

In the years before the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the nation’s long-term care facilities and overwhelmed healthcare workers, Maine nursing homes increasingly hired nurses and nursing…

lawmakers pass measures to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to climate impacts

Legislature produces results with work on climate change initiatives

Legislators approved up to $10 million annually for the next four years to help advance state and federal climate goals to conserve 30 percent of lands by 2030. (Photo by Wendy Almeida/Maine Monitor)

Last month the U.S. experienced its hottest June on record. Despite enervating…

Hard-fought reforms to public defense system were enacted without the signature of Gov. Mills

Gov. Mills lets public defense changes become law

State lawmakers unanimously approved $21.8 million in new funding for Maine's public defense agency, though the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee reduced the amount to $18.5 million. Gov. Janet Mills allowed the reforms to become law without her signature. Photo by Samantha Hogan.

Maine will change how it provides some legal services to low-income residents after lawmakers parsed a multi-million dollar proposal to fit in the state’s two-year budget. The compromise, however…

opinion: The next solar frontier

Community solar farms hold great potential benefits, if the State does more to guide the industry’s growth

Shortly after passage of a 2019 bill, construction of community solar farms began ramping up in Maine and the search for subscribers began. These farms hold great potential to help Maine transition off fossil fuels and benefit consumers financially – but careful state oversight of the industry is needed. (Photo courtesy of Nexamp via The Maine Monitor)

As community solar farms spring up around Maine, RISK-FREE offers of GUARANTEED SAVINGS for subscribers descend on residents – in mailers and online, and even from …

reforms could change how Maine provides legal services to its poor and pays court-appointed attorneys

Lawmakers agree on ‘good start’ to overhauling state’s troubled legal defense system

Lawmakers in the House and Senate voted Thursday to pass a $21.8 million package that will direct funding to address the embattled Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services. The spending includes a raise for state-contracted defense lawyers and money to open the state's first public defender office. (Photo by Samantha Hogan/Maine Monitor)

A multi-million dollar deal to overhaul Maine’s troubled criminal public defense system passed the state House and Senate on Thursday in rebuke of Gov. Janet Mills, who has resisted adding money…

opinion: Climate predictions don’t factor in surface winds, despite indications they may be changing

Wind is an overlooked wild card in climate change

Among the 1,157 wildfires that occurred in Maine during 2020 was a fire at Baxter State Park that was controlled after 45 acres had burned. Wind-driven fires tend to be most damaging so wind speeds are a major concern for firefighters. (Courtesy of the Maine Forest Service/Forest Protection Division via The Maine Monitor)

Through an “abnormally dry” spring, Maine had numerous fire weather watches due to some combination of wind speed,…

Maine to publish staff vaccination rates from hospitals and other healthcare facilities

Diane Hynes, RN, at PenBay Medical Center, was among the first Knox County hospital workers to receive the vaccine. (File photo/Pen Bay Medical Center)

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services is collecting employee vaccination rates for each hospital in the state, numbers it is expected to post publicly for the first time.

The…

brain-damaging disease affects hundreds of Maine children a year

‘Incremental’ progress: Maine’s effort to address lead poisoning was gaining momentum before COVID-19

Lewiston resident Hibo Omer reads the hazard warning about lead paint posted on a Maple Street home in Lewiston. (Photo by Hannah Rafkin/Maine Monitor)

LEWISTON — Hibo Omer’s campaign against lead poisoning began nearly two decades ago. When she brought her 8-month-old and 3-year-old to a doctor for a routine checkup, she was asked what she…

lawmakers, governor in funding standoff

Defense lawyers say system crumbling under huge backlog, inadequate funding for indigent defendants

Since opening his law practice on Lisbon Street in downtown Lewiston in 1990, Jim Howaniec has never been in a situation like the one he now faces. He has four murder cases awaiting trial, on top…

opinion: Putting savings to work for the local good

Widespread impact investing could help Maine tackle pressing social, environmental needs

The balance of deposits in Maine’s financial institutions is roughly $45 billion. That figure raises an obvious question to experts in socially responsible investing like Scott Budde, who runs …

Private phone contracts at jails, prisons add millions of dollars to state and local coffers while financially straining families

As families struggle to afford phone calls from jail, Maine counties rake in millions

An excerpt of a letter sent by Jacorey Monterio from Cumberland County Jail describing the costs of making phone calls from the facility. (Obtained by The Maine Monitor.)

She set dinner on the table before sharing the bad news with her 10-year-old son Wyatt.

On and off throughout Wyatt’s life, his father has been incarcerated at the Kennebec County…

CARES Act funding not enough to offset pandemic costs

Despite federal bailout, Maine’s largest hospitals ended 2020 in the red

MaineHealth, which operates Maine Medical Center in Portland, was among the hospital systems that reported negative operating margins in 2020. (Photo by Roger McCord/Maine Monitor)

Maine’s major health systems ended 2020 in the red as they grappled with the costs of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospital leaders expect 2021 to be less dire but predicted the financial…

Growth of Maine’s aquaculture industry sparks conversation about carbon footprint

A rendering from 2021 shows the proposed Nordic Aquafarms facility in Belfast. (Courtesy of Nordic Aquafarms)

Maine’s first commercial aquaculture permit was granted to Ed Meyers in 1975. Known as the “…

Domestic abuse linked to 43 percent of Maine homicides in 2018-19

Regina Rooney, communications director for the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, said COVID-19 has heightened stress and increased barriers to resources for survivors of domestic abuse. (Photo by Fred J. Field/Maine Monitor)

There were 18 domestic abuse homicide cases in Maine in 2018 and 2019, accounting for nearly 43 percent of the state’s homicides during that period, according to a report released by Attorney…

Chasing Maine: The Cultural Ambassador

Messan Jordan Benissan unifies through food, African drumming

Jordan Benissan. (Photo by Roger McCord/Maine Monitor)

Messan Jordan Benissan is both a music teacher at Colby College and the owner of the Mé Lon Togo restaurant in Camden.

Born and raised in Togo, West Africa, he uses music and food to enhance…

Lawmakers delay decision whether to add money to next state budget for legal services for Maine's poor

Two-year budget leaves public defense reform underfunded

A budget that will guide the next two years of spending in Maine passed the Legislature late last month without expanded funding for legal services for low-income Mainers. The decision opens the…

‘MCILS was not strictly following the rules’ for these appointments

Public defense commission nominees, including Jefferson resident, broke rules to work on serious criminal cases

State senators may vote to confirm nominees for the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services at their next in-person session April 28, including Meegan Burbank of Jefferson and Matthew Morgan of Topsham. (Headshots provided by Maine Monitor)

Two lawyers nominated to oversee the legal defense for low-income Mainers are among the attorneys who broke state rules and were not eligible for some cases they were appointed to work on, a…

Achieving goal of Mainers eating 30% locally sourced foods will require fundamental changes to food system

Twin Villages Foodbank Farm in Damariscotta has doubled its annual production since its first growing season in 2016. (Photo courtesy of Good Shepherd Food Bank.)

The Great Recession gave rise to an innovative model for meeting Maine’s food needs with local resources. The number of residents experiencing hunger had grown markedly by 2010 just as donations…

Proposed legislation would combat PFAS contamination, expand testing and add protections for those affected

Rep. Pluecker working to tamp down ‘forever chemicals’ tied to health risks

Representative Bill Pluecker. (File photo/Courtesy photo)

State lawmakers are considering nearly a dozen pieces of legislation to better regulate PFAS, a group of “forever chemicals” associated with various health risks, and widely used in industrial…

local caregivers fear being overrun by big corporations and out-of-state interests

In the weeds: The battle to regulate Maine’s most valuable crop

Marijuana products line the counter at Your Coastal Connection in Belfast. (Photo by Garrick Hoffman/Maine Monitor)

The way King Bishop sees it, there would be no adult-use recreational marijuana shops in Maine if not for the foundation laid more than 10 years ago by medical cannabis caregivers.

And the…

seeking support to overturn a parole ban existing for 45 years

‘Do we believe in redemption or not?’: Rep. Evangelos pushes to restore parole to Maine’s justice system

Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos, an Independent from Friendship, is sponsoring the first bill in nearly a decade that would restore parole in Maine. (Photo by Garrick Hoffman/Maine Monitor)

If you’re sentenced to a long prison term in Maine, your chances of being released early are almost nil.

In 1976, Maine became the first state to abolish parole entirely, also doing away…

opinion: targets for protected lands could help slow climate and extinction crises, support local food production

Conserving land to save our future: A goal to protect 30 percent of lands from development by 2030

A view of Mount Katahdin from Abol Stream at the edge of Baxter State Park. (Photo by Wendy Almeida/Maine Monitor)

The ethereal refrain of the white-throated sparrow runs through memories of childhood. My own children…

Hunger remained high through winter, but federal aid staved off worst fears

A volunteer at the Dover-Foxcroft Food Cupboard prepares a box of produce for a local resident in early October. (Photo by Bailey Beltramo/Maine Monitor)

Demand for food assistance this winter remained high during the COVID-19 pandemic, but organizers say federal programs…

number of homeschool students increased 71 percent

Homeschooling soared during pandemic: ‘They don’t need to sit down in a classroom with a book’

Vaughn Hurd moves around his basement as he solves math equations posed by his mom, Angela Hurd, while his brother Sheridan looks on. The boys are among nearly 11,500 Maine students who registered for homeschooling during the 2020-21 school year. (Photo by Fred J. Field/Maine Monitor)

Fourth-grader Vaughn Hurd paced the floor of his basement in Morrill as he considered a math question posed by his mom, Angela. Stumped for a moment as he multiplied, Vaughn continued to walk in…

opinion: Adopting clean energy requires turning away from fossil fuels

Maine needs strategic plan, policy changes to get households, businesses off fossil fuels

Without an advance-permitting system, gas utilities are allowed to expand into unserved municipalities without the approval of Maine's Public Utilities Commission. The above photo shows part of a natural gas pipeline that runs through rural Otisfield. (Photo by Dan Dinsmore/Maine Monitor)

In the energy transition underway, Maine has strong assets and lingering liabilities. The Legislature and the Mills administration have set ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse emissions and…