Amid virus outbreak, state opens fishing season early to encourage Mainers to get outside

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 20, 2020

The state on Friday kicked off the open-water fishing season early and waived the requirement that an angler must have a recreational license. The order is effective immediately and will run through April 30, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. All waters that were slated to open April 1 are now legal to fish. The idea is to make it easier for Mainers to get outside and enjoy the outdoors during the COVID-19 outbreak, while following social distancing precautions.

With coronavirus limiting options, more people are visiting Maine’s state parks

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 20, 2020

People who want to avoid coronavirus and yet get outside and stretch their legs are creating an uptick in the amount of traffic usually seen at state parks this time of year. Maine state officials won’t have exact crowd estimates until they gather numbers at the end of the month, but the busiest state parks generally are seeing a 30 to 50 percent increase in traffic.

Letter: Put wilderness over financial incentives

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 20, 2020

The chief development officer of Iberdrola, the majority owner of Avangrid, Central Maine Power’s parent company, admits there have been problems with billing and management, adding, “Let’s forget about what happened. When it comes to the corridor, I personally don’t need a study of the financial impact to know that I’m against it. I believe CMP has baited Maine with a financial incentive to allow a swath of wilderness to be destroyed. ~ Mary Offutt, Deer Isle

Maine Broadens Restrictions To Curb Spread Of Forest Pests

ASSOCIATED PRESS • March 19, 2020

Maine forestry officials are broadening restrictions about the movement of some wood and forest products to try to stop the spread of a pair of invasive pests. The new rules are designed to halt the spread of the emerald ash borer and hemlock woolly adelgid. The pests can cause damage to the state's forests. The quarantine area to prevent the hemlock woolly adelgid has also expanded.

Federal Lawsuit Ensues After Maine City Opposes Cell Tower

ASSOCIATED PRESS • March 19, 2020

An affiliate of AT&T has sued a Maine city over its decision to reject a proposed 120-foot cellphone tower. Bay Communications filed the lawsuit against Rockland in federal court on Tuesday. The city's planning board shot down the proposal after neighbors expressed opposition to it. The company says the city is stopping it from meeting a federal mandate to provide as broad coverage as it possibly can.

Black bear visits Carrabassett Valley homeowner

SUN JOURNAL • March 19, 2020

It is that time a year when black bears come out of hibernation. Police were called to the Baxter Street area in Carrabassett Valley at the lower end of the Access Road to Sugarloaf Wednesday for a report of a black bear on a porch. The homeowner took a photo of the bear, which the Police Department posted on its Facebook page.

Acadia National Park names new chief ranger

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 19, 2020

Acadia National Park has tapped a 17-year veteran of the National Park Service as the new chief ranger. Acadia’s superintendent, Kevin Schneider, announced Wednesday that Therese Picard, who currently serves as the deputy chief ranger, would assume that role. Picard has served as the acting chief ranger since September 2019.

Maine Supreme Court Upholds PUC Approval Of Energy Corridor

ASSOCIATED PRESS • March 19, 2020

The Maine Supreme Court has rejected a challenge of utility regulators' approval of a 145-mile power transmission corridor in western Maine that would serve as a conduit for hydropower from Canada. NextEra Energy Resources appealed to the state supreme court after the Maine Public Utilities Commission granted its approval to the $1 billion New England Clean Energy Connect. In its unanimous ruling, the court on Tuesday brushed aside NextEra's complaint that the PUC made a number of errors.

Letter: A polluted Androscoggin River?

SUN JOURNAL • March 19, 2020

I write in response to the Sun Journal’s article to upgrade the Androscoggin River’s classification. The current federal administration has reversed the 1972 Clean Water Act that limits pollution in waterways. The Obama administration had clarified that rule. A wide range of environmental protections are similarly being eliminated. The Trump administration has embarked on the biggest land protection rollback in U.S. history. I hope the Androscoggin River does not revert to its polluted state. ~ Donald Vaillancourt, Lewiston

Court thwarts challenge to regulator’s approval of CMP corridor

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 18, 2020

Another potential barrier to Central Maine Power Co.’s proposed $1 billion hydropower corridor through western Maine was removed Tuesday when the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled against a challenge to a regulator’s approval of the project. In a case filed last fall, NextEra Energy Resources appealed the certificate of public convenience and necessity that the Maine Public Utilities Commission granted last April for the controversial project. The project needs a series of regulatory approvals. Last Friday, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection became the latest agency to give preliminary approval to the project.

As corporate clients dry up, Maine farmers are finding ways to feed their communities

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 18, 2020

Around Maine, small farms that normally sell everything from meat to cheese to baked goods to regular wholesale customers are dealing with indefinitely canceled orders as restaurants reduce their services to takeout and delivery or shut their doors entirely. To make matters worse, some local indoor farmers markets that normally take place around the state are canceled, leaving farmers with even fewer options to get their food into the hands of Mainers. With direct customer and wholesale sale options greatly limited, farmers are turning to social media to get the word out on what they have available and how best to access it.

As corporate clients dry up, Maine farmers are finding ways to feed their communities

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 18, 2020

Small farms that normally sell everything from meat to cheese to baked goods to regular wholesale customers are dealing with indefinitely canceled orders as restaurants reduce their services to takeout and delivery or shut their doors entirely. To make matters worse, some local indoor farmers markets that normally take place around the state are canceled, leaving farmers with even fewer options to get their food into the hands of Mainers. With direct customer and wholesale sale options greatly limited, farmers are turning to social media to get the word out on what they have available and how best to access it.

LL Bean Is Shutting Down Retail Stores Across US

ASSOCIATED PRESS • March 17, 2020

L.L. Bean is closing all of its retail stores across the country, including its flagship store in Maine that's closed only five times previously, to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. The closings will begin at midnight and continue through March 29. It'll be the first time the 24-hour flagship store in Freeport has closed for more than 24 hours. Smith said all store employees will receive pay and benefits during the closure; customers can still place orders online or by calling a toll-free number.

With Canada’s cruise ship ban, Maine likely to lose 50 visits and 80,000 passengers

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 17, 2020

Maine stands to lose about 50 of its scheduled cruise ship visits this year, the result of a Canadian ban on cruise ship visits in that country until July 1. The Canadian ban has such a large effect on Maine cruise ship visits because the majority of visits that Bar Harbor and Portland — Maine’s two busiest cruise ship ports — get each year are from foreign-flagged vessels that make stops in Maine while traveling to and from Canada. Those vessels have to stop in a foreign country under a 100-year-old federal law.

Developer wants to put up more than 10,000 solar panels in Ellsworth

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 17, 2020

A New Hampshire-based developer wants to build a solar array of 10,900 panels, producing about 4.3 megawatts of electricity on Route 180 in Ellsworth, according to a proposal before city planners. Sunraise Investments, based in Portsmouth, would build the project on two campuses — one 28.92 acres and the other 11.6 acres.

Letter: CMP continues to bury head in sand

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • March 17, 2020

Well just when I think Central Maine Power may be trying to turn their image around, I get snapped back to reality. They seem to have plenty of money to finance false and misleading television ads for the new corridor to send power to Massachusetts, which it seems more than obvious that the people of Maine do not want. Then they ask for a rate increase. They seem to find more funds to hire private investigators to follow Maine citizens exercising their right to collect signatures for partitions to stop that same corridor. ~ Jay Battersby, Solon

Waterville Mayor Nick Isgro asks for ban on reusable bags to prevent coronavirus’ spread

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 16, 2020

Waterville Mayor Nick Isgro is calling for a ban on reusable shopping bags, calling it a “temporary” measure to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. Isgro was a vocal opponent of the November 2018 referendum to ban single-use plastic bags in the city. That measure passed by about 150 votes.

Maine Audubon project hopes to prevent turning turtles into roadkill

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 16, 2020

In nature, turtles can live past the age of 100, and they’ve been on this earth for more than 200 million years. But some species have been threatened by a comparatively much more recent threat — getting hit by cars on the roadways. That’s why Maine Audubon seeks volunteers for the Maine Turtle Roadkill Survey, to find stretches of road across the state that have a high risk of turtles being victims of roadkill. The project is done in coordination with the Maine departments of Transportation and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.