#MaineMonitor

Researchers seek statewide changes to save clam fishery from collapse
Sat, 02/04/2023 - 9:45am

The Harraseeket River recedes slowly but steadily around Chad Coffin’s metal skiff, until the boat is beached on a partly exposed mudflat. Coffin and his daughter, Bailey Pennell, are already out of the skiff, rakes in hand and rubber boots sinking deep into the gray-brown muck. They begin to dig — but not for soft-shell clams, also known as steamers, belly clams or Ipswich clams, a prized Maine commodity that Coffin has harvested here in Freeport for decades. Instead, he and Pennell are...
NRA endorses LePage, gives improved grade to Mills
Mills, LePage navigate tricky politics of gun rights
Thu, 09/29/2022 - 10:30am

After a downgrade in her first campaign, Gov. Janet Mills’ ranking with one of the most prominent gun lobbying organizations increased this year without much fanfare — reflecting the changing political terrain on gun rights since her first campaign. The release of the National Rifle Association’s campaign scorecards last week saw Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Gov. Paul LePage earning the group’s endorsement, as he did in 2014 . The endorsement praised LePage for issues such as...
Copy cat demands for data mirror those in other states
Elections clerks field ‘frivolous requests’ in apparent effort to sow distrust
Thu, 09/08/2022 - 4:30pm

Clerks across the state have just nine weeks until the pivotal 2022 elections. But their tasks increasingly include responding to misinformed election data requests rooted in national efforts to sow distrust in the process. The requests are part of a national trend that is slowing down clerks’ ability to do their jobs. Those efforts stem from skeptics who believe that former President Donald Trump should have won the November 2020 general election, despite officials in several states finding no...
Registered voters who did not vote in the past two federal elections have 20 days to verify address
State mailing seeks to confirm voter eligibility
Thu, 06/23/2022 - 9:45am

Yes, the state of Maine is mailing notices to some registered voters asking them to verify their address ahead of the November election. But the state’s top elections official says voters should not be alarmed. The Secretary of State mailed 248,227 postcards on June 15 to registered voters who didn’t cast ballots in either of the past two federal elections — 2018 and 2020 — to verify their residence and eligibility to vote in Maine. This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor...
The situation has created myriad health problems
Legislators address housing shortage, but advocates say so much more needs to be done
Sat, 04/30/2022 - 1:00pm

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 swell from sleeping in her Subaru. One time she woke up with 15 ticks on her. Another time her face “swelled shut” from mosquito bites. This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor . The Maine Monitor is a local journalism product published by The Maine Center for Public Interest...
Boaters under 25 would be required to pass safety course
Maine’s first boating license law would go into effect in 2024
Tue, 04/12/2022 - 8:30am

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 year. Maine is an outlier among states by currently not requiring boating licenses. The proposed law requires operators of motor boats and jet skis to be educated on state boating laws, wildlife and environmental impacts, or risk fines and misdemeanor criminal charges for noncompliance. This story...
Maine needs visionary, collaborative approach to address browntail moths
Cutting-edge, aerial drone technology could help combat browntail moths
Mon, 03/07/2022 - 12:45pm

After five years enduring a rain of toxic hairs from browntail moth caterpillars , Sally Donelson is ready for a novel solution. She has to suit up at her family’s lakefront camp in Litchfield — duct-taping gloves and socks to minimize exposure and showering as soon as she returns indoors. Donelson is concerned that their infested oak trees could die due to repeated BTM defoliation, as trees have on nearby properties. Last winter, a licensed pesticide applicator treated their oaks, but it didn’...
legislative advocate for children is optimistic about pending reforms
Maine’s struggles with domestic violence and child abuse worsened last summer
Wed, 01/12/2022 - 8:15am

Maddox Williams. Hailey Goding. Sylus Melvin. Baby Harding. Two Maine toddlers and two babies died in their homes last summer. A 6-week-old infant was shaken to death. A month-old baby died due to injuries police have not yet revealed. A 3-year-old was beaten to death. Another 3-year-old overdosed on fentanyl. Parents have been charged with murder in all four cases.
Walking trails, bicycle paths and other improvements are under consideration
Bicycling alone, no more: Maine moves toward active transportation
Mon, 12/27/2021 - 1:30pm

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 dusting of snow. I was riding my bike across (Martin’s Point) bridge and I saw other bicycle tracks,” Bordwell said. “I was so excited to see that somebody else was actually riding their bike into Portland.” This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor . The Maine Monitor is a local...
COVID rapid tests can be scarce, yet holidays approach
Tue, 11/23/2021 - 3:30pm

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 difficult to find. Dr. Dora Anne Mills, chief health improvement officer for MaineHealth and former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, laid out five layers of protective measures, which she equated to wearing layers of warm weather gear. This story was originally...
How ‘green’ is Maine? Recycling data so incomplete, state experts don’t have clear picture
Mon, 10/18/2021 - 9:45am

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 municipalities with recycling programs — has been tough. “We’re going backwards,” state Rep. Nicole Grohoski (D-Ellsworth) told a virtual audience last spring during an event hosted by the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “Our recycling is estimated to be more like 36 percent, but we don’t really have...
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?
Sun, 09/26/2021 - 9:00am

In the wake of Ida, a hurricane intensified by the warming climate , more than a million electric consumers in Louisiana and hundreds of thousands more households across the eastern U.S. lost power. It was the latest demonstration of how climate stressors are pummeling an outdated and vulnerable electric grid – following California’s rolling blackouts , a winter storm that devastated Texas , and power outages during the Pacific Northwest’s record heat wave . Climate upheaval generates a...
As COVID-19 continues, Maine’s battle with opioid addiction rages on
Opioids: A continuing epidemic, within a pandemic
Sun, 09/19/2021 - 4:15pm

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 ages of the 504 Mainers who died of an overdose in 2020. “I don’t think we will eradicate COVID — I think it’s probably here to linger — but we’re going to be better at managing it,” Bradeen said. “We have not been able to manage this substance use crisis in our country. In fact, if you look at the...
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?
Mon, 09/06/2021 - 8:30am

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 invasive insect that’s responsible for painful skin rashes and occasional dangerous breathing problems. This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor . The Maine Monitor is a local journalism product published by The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, a nonprofit civic news...
New leadership at helm of nonprofit newsroom The Maine Monitor
Wed, 08/11/2021 - 12:45pm

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-profit, foundation- and donor-supported journalism organizations surfaced throughout the U.S. to counter declines at traditional media outlets. Its mission is to “deliver fearless, independent, citizen-minded, non-partisan journalism that informs Mainers about issues affecting our state and inspires them to...
use of contract nurses and assistants in Maine has soared since 2017
Nursing homes face ongoing staff shortages, a problem that predates the pandemic
Mon, 08/02/2021 - 9:45am

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 assistants through outside agencies to prevent staffing shortages. A four-month investigation by The Maine Monitor and Investigative Reporting Workshop found that contracted hours for certified nursing assistants in nursing homes across the state have nearly doubled since 2017. And agency staffing hours...
Maine’s largest private electricity supplier renews legal battle over its deceptive practices
Sun, 02/21/2021 - 8:00pm

Maine’s largest electricity reseller wants to pony up a $500,000 fine. The state’s utility regulator suggested pulling the plug. A report last year recommended revoking the license of Electricity Maine, the state’s largest independent electricity supplier, amid a raft of complaints about a deceptive door-to-door sales campaign. This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor . The Maine Monitor, formerly known as Pine Tree Watch, is a local journalism product published by...
Waldo County official ‘frustrated’ emergency management agencies haven’t played larger role
Vaccinations ramp up in rural Maine, but limited doses cause uncertainty
Mon, 01/25/2021 - 11:45am

Vaccination efforts across rural Maine to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic are going as well as could be expected, according to emergency management officials in eight northern counties, but plans for future phases remain fuzzy. And at least one official is frustrated because emergency management agencies, he feels, have been sidelined in the vaccination rollout. Nearly all eight directors of county emergency management agencies (EMA) told The Maine Monitor their primary concern was the limited...
Shah: ‘matter of time’ before variant strain of COVID-19 is detected in Maine
Maine’s COVID-19 vaccination rate among highest per population in U.S.
Mon, 01/11/2021 - 9:45am

More people in Maine now have been vaccinated for COVID-19 than have had the virus. About 46,600 Mainers were vaccinated as of Friday , according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That represents nearly 3.5 percent of the state’s population. At least 3,271 of those vaccinated have received their second dose. In comparison, 28,400 Mainers have had confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19, as of Friday. More than 1,100 have been hospitalized and 426 have died. This story...
Q&A on COVID-19’s trajectory heading into 2021 with Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah
Mon, 12/28/2020 - 10:45am

As COVID-19 cases continue surging in Maine and the first vaccination doses offer some hope, Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, spoke to health reporter Rose Lundy of The Maine Monitor to reflect on the state’s pandemic response, and outline challenges and opportunities in 2021. The Maine Monitor, formerly known as Pine Tree Watch, is a local journalism product published by The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, a nonpartisan, nonprofit...
GOP to look for ways to reassert legislative power while Democrats eye health care and climate change
State budget to take center stage during 2021 legislative session
Mon, 12/28/2020 - 10:30am

Amid a pandemic and an economic downturn, lawmakers will return to Augusta in January with a list of priorities that span topics such as healthcare, climate change and the power of the executive branch. And while Democrats and Republicans have different goals, they agree on two primary items – balancing the state’s budget, which has a $150 million deficit, and agreeing on a new two-year spending plan. This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor . The Maine Monitor,...
Vaccines arrive in Maine, but battle against COVID-19 remains far from over
Mon, 12/21/2020 - 8:30am

December has been a month of hope and concern, with COVID-19 vaccines deployed for the first time to hospitals across Maine but health officials warned that the state continues to battle “a surge on top of a surge.” Hospitals this week received the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine and began inoculating frontline workers. The first phase of vaccinations focuses on healthcare workers in intensive care units, emergency rooms and COVID-19 wings of hospitals. This story was originally published...
state must dramatically expand renewable power generation and transmission
Building a renewable future poses daunting task for Maine
Sun, 11/08/2020 - 6:45pm

A protracted fight over the New England Clean Energy Connect plan to wheel 1,200 megawatts of hydropower from Quebec, through Maine and on to Massachusetts has dominated the airwaves for the last two years. But as the corridor — which will help the Bay State meet its clean energy goals — nears construction , Maine is facing pressure to build up in-state generation capacity in order to secure its own renewable future. Ambitious goals set by the Legislature in 2019 require Maine to “decarbonize”...
Fleeing to Maine from climate disasters
Maine’s climate plan must address growing number of people moving here in wake of catastrophes elsewhere
Sat, 10/17/2020 - 1:00pm

What do you do when the place you call home becomes unlivable? Tens of millions of Americans will face this wrenching choice over the coming decades as they contend with climate-fueled disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes , sea-level rise and unbearable heat. A recent New York Times/ProPublica report suggests that many uprooted Americans will likely move farther north . Judging from the influx of in-migrants since the coronavirus pandemic began, Maine may be a preferred destination. Climate...
Council votes Sept. 30 on changing requirements for groundfish monitoring
Fishermen have mixed thoughts on increased groundfish monitoring
Mon, 09/28/2020 - 8:45am

After returning home for a hot meal and quick snooze following three days alone at sea, Randy Cushman wakes up at 3:30 a.m. to begin the final steps of his fish and data processing in the sleepy, pine-lined fishing village of Port Clyde. Cushman took his first two-day groundfishing trip out of this harbor with his father when he was five years old. Now, over 40 years later, Cushman counts and prepares fish all morning with his wife — who is also his business partner — to get...
The preacher and the outbreak
For pastor and Islesboro church founder at center of East Millinocket wedding, sin is ‘a pandemic worse than the coronavirus’
Tue, 09/01/2020 - 11:15am

As news broke about Calvary Baptist Church’s COVID-19 outbreak, Pastor Todd Bell shined his black shoes. Before the Sanford reverend spoke to his church, Bell took a picture of his polished wingtips and his leather-bound black Bible resting on the corner of his desk. This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor . The Maine Monitor, formerly known as Pine Tree Watch, is a local journalism product published by The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, a nonpartisan...
Maine’s financial stability depends on further federal action
Funding is ‘scarce’ to stabilize Maine’s economy after pandemic
Tue, 08/18/2020 - 11:15am

A committee of Maine economic experts and industry representatives this month outlined a $1.1 billion plan to steady the state economy in July. The plan from the Governor’s Economic Recovery Committee includes 11 focus areas based on insights from hundreds of Mainers, according to the report. The focus areas are grouped as follows: Maine people: $497 million Maine employers: $430 million Maine infrastructure: $165 million The largest allocations are $350 million for employer grants, $300...
four experts weigh in on the metrics that paint the clearest picture of the pandemic
Navigating number fatigue: How to understand COVID-19 in Maine
Fri, 08/14/2020 - 8:15am

During the past five months of the coronavirus pandemic, Mainers and other Americans have been inundated with numbers. Confirmed COVID-19 cases per capita. Death rates. Test positivity rates. Hospitalization rates. Available ICU beds. There is a staggering number of ways to measure the pandemic. So what are the most important metrics now and moving forward? The Maine Monitor spoke with four public health experts about the figures they use to best understand COVID-19 — and the limitations of...
opinion: expect to see swings between soil-damaging rain events and more regular drought conditions
When it comes to weather, abnormal is the new normal
Mon, 07/27/2020 - 3:15pm

The words of University of Maine soil scientist Ivan Fernandez reveal a troubling truth. “Never again will we have the climate system of the 20th century,” wrote Fernandez, co-chair of the Maine Climate Council’s Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, in a recent issue of Wild Seed magazine. On a rapidly warming planet, historical weather records no longer signal what the future will bring. Nearly three-fourths of Maine is now in a moderate drought with an additional 13 percent labeled “...
More than 57,000 organizations and individuals formally opposed the petition
6,000 Maine solar projects in limbo amid uncertainty over federal decision on net metering petition
Sat, 06/27/2020 - 7:45am

The fate of net metering in New England — and across the United States — remains unknown, but resistance to its erasure is mounting. More than 450 organizations, 57,000 individuals and 37 states submitted comments opposing a petition that could set a national precedent and end a billing practice that credits users for investing in solar. Twenty-two organizations and individuals filed support for the proposal. The public comment window ended on June 15. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (...
A resurgence of Victory Gardens could inspire lasting changes in food production
Growing an enduring culture of gardening
Sat, 05/09/2020 - 10:15am

The home gardening boom underway is “totally unprecedented” in the eyes of Frank Wertheim, who for 33 years has helped farmers and gardeners as an educator with University of Maine Cooperative Extension. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” he says. Enthusiasm for vegetable gardens and eating local foods was “trending up over 15 years or so,” according to Wertheim, but grocery supply disruptions, food safety concerns and the economic downturn spurred by the coronavirus pandemic have left...
sea change: In crisis and starting anew
Tackling in tandem the existential threats of coronavirus and climate chaos
Wed, 04/22/2020 - 9:00am
Last week’s storm decimated the trees in our yard, exposing raw tissue where limbs severed. Branches, graced by buds that will never open, lay scattered on the killing snow. Taking in the scene, I felt more grief than shock. Wreckage from erratic weather is one inevitable consequence of an atmosphere turbocharged by excess greenhouse gases. With coronavirus, as with climate upheaval, our species is confronting realities that are horrifying but should come as no surprise. Scientists have warned...
After adjournment due to COVID-19, lawmakers feel pressure to decide on more than 450 bills
Fri, 03/27/2020 - 5:00pm

More than 450 pieces of legislation are in limbo, including measures to reform Maine’s criminal justice system, following the sudden adjournment of the Legislature last week because of concerns about the spread of coronavirus. Some of the criminal justice bills address how juveniles are punished and rehabilitated, whether steps can be taken to reduce the use of cash bail and whether some violations now considered crimes should be reduced to civil offenses. “The unfortunate thing with the abrupt...
Electricity rip-off: Private electricity suppliers cost Mainers an extra $132 million in seven years
Sun, 03/01/2020 - 7:15am

Mainers have spent $132.5 million more than they needed to on electricity over the past seven years. It’s not because of a faulty billing system or a mistake. It’s because of a legal market for reselling electricity to residential customers that blossomed in 2012 and since 2014 has struggled to compete with the power Mainers get by default, called the standard offer. The rate from so-called “competitive electricity providers,” or CEPs, can be pennies or fractions of a penny different. When you...
Maine voters affected, even with state’s good election history
Navigating Super Tuesday in a world of social media disinformation
Sat, 02/29/2020 - 8:00am

The national voting season now begins in full force. Maine will hold primaries on Super Tuesday (March 3) along with states all the way to California. Next Tuesday will be the single biggest day for the selection of national convention delegates who pick their party’s nominee for president. The foundation of the American Republic’s system is that the people vote, choosing those who will govern on our behalf. The system is under attack. In some states, the legislature engages in voter...
A steep climb
Growing solar generation and EV use in Maine as federal help dwindles
Fri, 02/14/2020 - 2:00pm

On the road to all-renewable power, Maine is moving like a car near the base of a long, snowy hill. It’s accelerating now, knowing it may lose momentum and traction in the ascent. One icy patch that could slow its progress is the recent congressional decision not to extend tax credits for solar panels or new electric vehicles (EVs). Tax credits for renewable energy are popular across the political spectrum, which makes the action by Congress particularly nonsensical. A survey done last fall by...
A breaking wave
Climate disruptions could wallop Maine’s economy in coming years
Fri, 12/20/2019 - 12:15pm

Stonington, the state of Maine’s top fishing port in landed value, is facing seismic change. By mid-century, its lobster fishery could drop by 15 to 20 percent due to warming ocean waters, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute predicts. Tethered to the mainland by a thin thread of causeway and an 80-year-old bridge, this small town also faces rising seas that threaten infrastructure — including the town pier and a waterfront fire station. Kathleen Billings, Stonington’s town manager, knows that...
In the name of resilience
Reshaping Maine’s energy landscape with a focus on affordable and resilient green power systems
Wed, 12/18/2019 - 4:15pm

During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Hoboken, New Jersey “literally became an island,” recalled its mayor at the time, Dawn Zimmer, during a recent talk she gave in Maine. The city was 80 percent submerged, and generators nearly ran out of diesel fuel. That traumatic event reinforced for residents there how energy choices shape community resilience. For true island communities, though, it doesn’t take a storm to recognize their vulnerability. Isle au Haut is a case in point: the 7-mile undersea...
‘We’ve got to make these children and moms with opiate-use disorder our priority’
Maine ranks ninth in number of children impacted by opioid crisis
Mon, 12/16/2019 - 12:15pm

Babies withdrawing from opiates. Children watching their parents shoot up heroin. Orphans growing up in foster care. They are the opioid epidemic’s youngest victims. Nationally, an estimated 2.2 million children and adolescents were in crisis as of 2017 — 28 out of every 1,000. According to The Ripple Effect , a report released today by United Hospital Fund (UHF) and the Boston Consulting Group, these children had a parent with opioid use disorder or had the disorder themselves. The...
Nearly three drug-affected babies were born each day in Maine from 2013-2017, severely taxing hospitals, foster care system
Piercing cries and a state of crisis
Mon, 12/31/2018 - 8:30am

The baby girl was born on a Sunday. By Tuesday, she was suffering from opiate withdrawal. Exposed to drugs in her mother’s womb, she could not sleep. Inconsolable, her high-pitched cries racked her tiny body. At four days old, a nurse administered the first dose of methadone to ease the infant’s distress. Sedated, the newborn sleeps in a darkened nursery on this drizzly spring day. Electrodes attached to her chest and fingers monitor her heart and respiratory rate. “She’s had some trouble,”...
Pine Tree Watch releases second edition of online tool to research potential conflicts of interest
Tue, 11/07/2017 - 12:30pm

AUGUSTA — They are bus drivers, fishermen, lawyers and cooks. The members of the 128th Maine Legislature — a “citizen legislature” in the truest definition of the term — come from backgrounds as varied and interesting as the state itself. To help Maine citizens research the private financial interests and identify potential conflicts of interest of their elected lawmakers, Pine Tree Watch, a nonprofit news service focused on state government, has released the second edition of its popular...
Legislature kills proposal to prevent lobbyist contributions to lawmakers
Wed, 05/31/2017 - 4:45pm
AUGUSTA — Maine lawmakers have killed a proposal to ban legislators, the governor and Constitutional officers — and candidates for those positions — from accepting donations from lobbyists. The bill, titled An Act To Limit the Influence of Lobbyists by Expanding the Prohibition on Accepting Political Contributions, was defeated in both the Maine Senate and House on May 24 and 25, respectively. Members of both parties, in both chambers, voted against the measure. Sen. Justin Chenette (D-Saco),...
Report: Lottery doesn't target low-income Mainers
Sat, 04/29/2017 - 5:00pm

AUGUSTA — There are too many variables to determine conclusively which Maine municipalities and counties spend the most per capita on lottery tickets and no evidence that the state's $231 million lottery has targeted the poor in its marketing, a study released Friday by the Legislature's investigative arm said. The report by the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA) cited several limitations that prevented the agency from determining the breakdown of lottery ticket...