Take a day for an island getaway

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 20, 2020

In this pandemic summer, when staycations are preferred by many, there’s no reason why a day trip to a nearby island can’t feel exotic, or at least restful and rejuvenating. It’s a luxury we Mainers probably don’t take advantage of enough. You can start your island-hopping planning by checking out the website of Casco Bay Lines, which runs ferries from Portland to about a half dozen Casco Bay Islands daily. If you’d rather not wait at a ferry terminal and then sit with others on a ferry, you can always drive to Bailey Island.

Coronavirus and papermaking woes bring tough times to Maine’s logging industry

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 20, 2020

Even for an industry known for difficult labor without great rewards, these are particularly hard times for Maine’s loggers. Wood prices were low going into a winter that was relatively brief and mild, which made it hard for loggers to harvest trees – long stretches of cold to freeze the ground solid is best for getting heavy equipment in and out of the woods, while tearing up soft soil can mean fines for environmental damage or stuck machinery. Then the coronavirus hit and demand dropped further as orders to paper mills were canceled and shipments of wood pulp to Asia scuttled when paper plants halfway around the world closed their doors.

Letter: CMP project not the only hydropower option

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 20, 2020

In a recent op-ed published in your paper, CMP’s (seemingly) only two allies, Tom Rumpf and Lloyd Irland, make the case that CMP’s unpopular corridor project is necessary to reduce the effects of climate change, and they argue that “we must move quickly.” They left out an important detail – CMP’s project is one of 45 applicants to fulfill Massachusetts’ new clean energy quota. This amount of so called clean energy, will be added to the New England grid to supply Massachusetts ratepayers: and it is not Maine’s’ burden to bear! CMP’s corridor project was one of three to deliver Hydro Quebec’s energy to Massachusetts, and it wasn’t even the first choice. TDI proposed a buried line through Vermont. Please vote yes this November! ~ Gary Lachance, Carrabassett Valley

Letters: Power line would bring clean power to New England

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 20, 2020

I support the New England Clean Energy Connect. First, we also need to find cleaner energy sources that do not pollute our air and water. Climate change is already here and its already impacting our environment and threatening our fisheries. Also, I am all for taking steps to increase our energy supply to lower prices. ~ Andrea Yong, Sanford

Opinion: Biden gets it on clean energy

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 19, 2020

Former Vice President Joe Biden has drastically ratcheted up his ambition for the fight against climate change. Last year he envisioned an emissions-free power sector by 2050. Now he recognizes that the goal is achievable by 2035. As he explained Monday, “2050 is a million years from now in the minds of most people. My plan is focused on taking action now, this decade, in the 2020s.” After years of climate inaction in Washington, the need for urgency has never been greater, and Biden is right to accelerate his timetable. ~ Michael R. Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City and a global ambassador for the World Health Organization

Cumberland boy discovers unusual blue frog living in his backyard

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 19, 2020

A 9-year-old’s discovery of a rare blue frog has brought some magic back into the life of a boy who has been housebound since schools closed several months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic. Max Doane found the frog two months ago in his backyard in Cumberland. The amphibian was living among the lilies in a small pond his father, Rick Doane, created to attract wildlife. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said that most frogs are green because of a combination of yellow and blue pigments in their skin. Blue frogs lack the yellow pigment, which is a relatively rare occurrence.

Portland’s East End beach closed over contamination fears

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 19, 2020

Portland officials closed the East End Beach on Sunday after being notified by the Portland Water District of a “malfunction” that occurred at the nearby East End Wastewater Treatment Plant. Jessica Grondin, spokeswoman for the city of Portland, said the popular beach will remain closed until test results prove that the water conditions are safe for swimmers. A power outage at the Portland Wastewater Treatment Plant and a backup generator that failed at the same time convinced city officials they should close the beach out of an abundance of caution.

Opinion: NECEC opposition groups keep moving the goalposts

SUN JOURNAL • July 19, 2020

I have spent the past year working to ensure Mainers know exactly how Maine will benefit from the New England Clean Energy Connect project. Despite what groups opposed to the project would have people believe, Mainers won’t pay a penny to build the project. There will be thousands of new jobs during construction, millions in new property tax revenue, hundreds of millions in electrical infrastructure improvements, and lower energy costs as a result — all while cutting three million metric tons of carbon emissions over the next decade. The opposition groups will blindly oppose the project at every turn, no matter the circumstances or terms. ~ Jon Breed, executive director of Clean Energy Matters, a political action committee working in support of the NECEC project

Letter: Collins’ abandonment of Arctic Refuge overshadows recent conservation vote

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

Last month, Sen. Susan Collins helped pass the Great American Outdoors Act, a rare, piece of pro-environmental legislation in the Age of Trump. The bill includes permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Act and directs money to address the National Park Service’s maintenance backlog. Sen. Collins is rightly touting that good vote for the environment, but the past 3½ years show a much more mixed record. The defining moment came when she voted for Donald Trump’s notorious Tax Cut and Jobs Act. That legislation not only increased the nation’s deficit by perhaps $1.5 trillion with its lavish tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy but also undercut protections for our country’s water, air, wildlife and wildlands. One of those pristine wilderness areas was the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. ~ John Demos, South Berwick

Letter: CMP corridor won’t benefit Maine

MORNING SENTINEL • June 19, 2020

Whenever I hear about any proposed project being considered in Maine, I wonder what is in it for Maine. Applying this standard to CMP’s proposed corridor easily reveals the answer as “not much.” Since CMP is owned by Avangrid, which is in turn owned by Iberdrola of Spain, the majority of the profit will not stay in Maine. It will leave the state and go to a foreign company. As former Republican state Sen. Tom Saviello has said multiple times, the corridor will benefit Avangrid to the tune of $60 million annually for 20 years. On the November referendum, vote yes to protect our Maine way of life. ~ Linda Woods, Waterville

1 in 3 Maine lobstermen lands federal pandemic loan

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

Maine lobstermen reeled in more small federal emergency loans under the Paycheck Protection Program than members of any other industry in Maine, with about one out of every three commercial lobstermen landing one, but the average loan was barely large enough to cover a month’s worth of bait at the height of the summer fishing season. Right now, with much of the state’s 4,300 lobster boats just starting to set traps, wholesale prices are down 40 percent from this time last year.

Maine lobster industry’s large PPP loan recipients

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

$350,000 to $1 million:
Carver Shellfish Inc.
Maine Shellfish Co. Inc.
Greenhead Lobster LLC
Maine Coast Shellfish LLC

$150,000 to $350,000:
Cape Porpoise Lobster Co.
Taylor Lobster Co. LLC
Bean Maine Lobster Inc.
Greenhead Lobster Products LLC
Lobster 207 LLC
Mill Cove Lobster Pound Inc.
Maine Lobster Outlet LLC
Harbor Fish Market
S&M Fisheries Inc. (The Lobster Co.)
Higs Co. Inc. (Island Seafood)
O.W. & B.S. Look Inc. (Look Lobster)
Freedom Fish LLC
Math-Copper LLC (Bob’s Seafood)
Bristol Seafood LLC
Browne Trading Co.
A C Seafood Ltd. (Nova Seafoods)
Shucks Maine Lobster LLC
Maine Seafood Ventures LLC (Ready Seafood)
Sea Salt Products LLC
Acadia Seafood LLC
Maine Lobster Now LLC
D.C. Air & Seafood

Column: Some females seek a mate with prime real estate

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

Generalities about habitat preferences in birds don’t always hold. Red-wing blackbird males wants to grab one of the better patches for its breeding territory. The competition for the best territories is intense, probably explaining why males return to Maine in the spring a month ahead of the females. Downy woodpeckers prefer edge habitats when feeders are present but switched to a preference for deciduous forest when feeders are absent. Blue jays, house finches and American goldfinches prefer edge habitats when feeders are present, but that preference disappeared if feeders are absent. The closer we look at biological interactions, the more complicated they become. ~ Herb Wilson 

Column: You won’t get bored at Peaks-Kenny State Park

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

Peaks-Kenny State Park is a popular public playground in the Maine Highlands, a little more than halfway between Bangor and Moosehead Lake. The park features 7 miles of hiking trails, camping, swimming, paddling, boating, fishing and picnicking. Spend a day, a weekend or a week, and you’re unlikely to run out of things to do here and in the surrounding area. ~ Carey Kish

Opinion: They came, they saw, they trashed the place

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • July 19, 2020

Welcome to Summer of 2020 and the never-ending collision between the public good and “Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do!” For those of us who call Buxton home, Pleasant Point Park has long been, as the town website describes it, “a treasure right in our own backyard.” The park is closed and will remain so until further notice for one distressing reason: Over the past couple of weekends, it’s been overrun by mostly young people, many of them from out of state, who see it as a place to get drunk, leave behind a debris field of empties and other trash, even lob rocks at passing boaters on the river.

Opinion: Outdoor recreation needs sustainable funding

SUN JOURNAL • July 19, 2020

As a state that relies heavily on tourism and recreation as one of its primary economic forces, Maine has been squandering one of its most valuable assets for far too long: the land and open space that locals and visitors love so much. Many people see recreation as a “non-essential,” but during the COVID-19 crisis, people have seen just how important these resources are. The Great American Outdoors Act, which would permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, may soon become law. With those funds requiring a 50% match, there is a great need for the state of Maine to pass legislation that would establish a sustainable revenue stream to help local and state applicants leverage the increased LWCF funding, as well as other federal conservation and outdoor recreation-related funding programs. ~ Matthew Foster, director of parks and recreation, Farmington

Maine bear hunters can start setting out bait soon

ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 18, 2020

The bear hunt in Maine lasts from late August to late November, but most of it takes place in the first few weeks, when it’s legal to lure bears with bait. Hunters are allowed to start laying bait on Aug. 1. The fall deer, moose and turkey seasons all follow the start of the bear hunt. Those animals make up the state’s “big four” game animals. Bear baiting is controversial in Maine, and opponents of the practice are in the midst of a drive to try to phase it out by the end of the decade.

Column: Still time for a shot-in-the-dark trip

SUN JOURNAL • July 18, 2020

A few days ago my sons and I, still thirsting for one more 11th hour trout trip before the warming water put the brookies into the silt and the spring holes, took a spur of the moment over-nighter to the West Branch (Penobscot River) country for salmon and trout. Although another trout season in Maine is fast fading into the fleeting “sweet of the year,” you still have a few evenings left to take a shot in the dark. ~ V. Paul Reynolds