ASSOCIATED PRESS • February 9, 2022
A legislative committee has signed off on a plan to create a new fund to help Maine communities deal with an invasive moth. The fund would start by making $150,000 in grants available in the 2022-23 fiscal year to try to slow the spread of the browntail moth. The moth has been the subject of an outbreak in the state for several years and its caterpillars have poisonous hairs that can cause an itchy rash in humans.