Court appoints receiver to oversee shuttered Hampden waste plant that owes more than $50M

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 4, 2020

A court-appointed receiver will now oversee the recently shuttered Hampden waste plant that owes tens of millions of dollars to a mix of contractors and creditors, including the bondholders that originally provided $52 million for the construction of the facility, according to recent court filings. The Coastal Resources of Maine plant has failed to make any payments on those bonds and incurred many other additional debts. The $90 million enterprise has run into a number of development and operating challenges.

Weekly rentals in Maine are ‘busier than ever’ as tourists seek socially distanced vacations

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 4, 2020

Gov. Janet Mills has eased some of the restrictions for out-of-state visitors, and has waived the quarantine mandate for visitors from certain states. As a result, the summer has turned out to be much busier for weekly rental owners than they thought it would be three months ago. “I think that’s an understatement,” said Paige Teel, general manager of On The Water in Maine Vacation Rentals and president of the trade group Northeast Vacation Rental Professionals. “We are insanely busy.”

How to keep deer out of your garden

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 3, 2020

Deer are an inevitable pest for Maine gardeners. To deer, gardens are basically a bottomless salad bar. Keeping deer out of the garden is a balance of preventative measures along with, potentially, physical and chemical deterrents.
• Remove things that attract deer
• Choose plants that deer don’t like
• Fence deer out
• Use other repellents

Unity College abruptly lays off staff ahead of plan to retool academic offerings

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 3, 2020

Unity College abruptly laid off 33 members of its faculty and staff and furloughed another 20 on Monday, ahead of a plan to retool its academic offerings and largely abandon its main campus. The cuts represent nearly 30 percent of Unity College’s workforce. The board of trustees also has authorized school officials to explore selling its 240-acre main campus in Unity, which has been a central hub of the community for more than 50 years. The possibility that the college might abandon Unity was shattering for local business owners, alumni and others the college employs.

Vaccine bait to be dropped to try to curb rabies in Maine

ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 3, 2020

Authorities in Maine are distributing oral rabies vaccines in bait form in the northeastern part of the state early this month. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services said the vaccines will be distributed starting around Monday and the effort will last for several days. The baits will be distributed by the air and ground and target raccoons over a 2,650-square-mile area. Forty animals have tested positive for rabies in 14 of Maine’s 16 counties this year.

Volunteers upgrade Carrie On trail at Mt. Apatite in Auburn

SUN JOURNAL • August 3, 2020

A bridge over a wet section of Carrie On trail, a new 1.3-mile mountain biking trail at Mt. Apatite in Auburn on Monday, was built by volunteers with the Tuesday Night Trails program. Such projects are undertaken Tuesdays at various trail systems across Central Maine by members of the Central Maine Chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association. Trail builders are hoping Carrie On will be ready to ride by this fall.

Land trust to close Step Falls due to overcrowding

SUN JOURNAL • August 3, 2020

Step Falls, the popular waterfall and tourist destination on Route 26, will close for a month starting Saturday due to overcrowding and unruly visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was made Friday by the Mahoosuc Land Trust, which owns the property. The area is expected to reopen to the public after Labor Day weekend. The Nature Conservancy transferred title of Step Falls to the Mahoosuc Land Trust in 2013. The trust rebuilt the trail to the falls and parking lot that summer. In  the summer of 2014, more than 10,000 people visited Step Falls, according to the land trust.

Column: Contemplating the latest cougar sightings in Maine

SUN JOURNAL • August 3, 2020

The elusive and mysterious cougar has become somewhat of a Maine folklore icon, the Maine equivalent of Bigfoot in the Pacific Northwest. State and Federal wildlife officials insist: “No known cougar populations exist in Maine.” Although Maine once had a cougar population, they have long been officially listed as extirpated. On the other hand, anecdotal cougar-sighting reports by laymen have been on the upswing. What do you think? ~ V. Paul Reynolds

Unity College laying off 15% of staff, exploring sale of main campus under ‘hybrid’ model

MORNING SENTINEL • August 3, 2020

Unity College officials announced Monday the school will explore selling its main campus and is laying off about 15% of its staff as part of sweeping changes to its education program that embraces a “hybrid” approach. Unity officials said a hybrid learning model would give students “control over their education through a nonstandard calendar, shorter terms, differentiated tuition and a multimodality curriculum that does not rely on maintaining a physical campus.” Penny Picard Sampson, chairwoman of the Unity Board of Selectmen and a Unity College alumna, said she was shocked by the news. Unity College students contribute much to the community, including making up about half the Fire Department. Other concerns are the facilities the college provides the town, from the performing arts center to the Field of Dreams park, and the impact on local businesses.

Maine Forestry Museum auction is online this year

TURNER PUBLISHING • August 3, 2020

The Maine Forestry Museum (formerly the Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum) will hold it’s auciton onlinline this year. The auction is the first of the three major fundraisers the museum holds in the season. The 2020 Maine Forestry Museum auction will open at 7 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, and will close at 7 pm on Saturday, Aug. 15.

‘Managing Woodchucks’ publication now available

TURNER PUBLISHING • August 3, 2020

 University of Maine Cooperative Extension has a new publication in response to a common issue — how to manage woodchucks on lawns and in gardens in Maine. “Managing Woodchucks on Your Maine Property” includes recommendations to help protect vegetable gardens and prevent destructive tunneling, as well as techniques to avoid based on the biology and natural history of woodchucks. 

Shark-related water restrictions lifted at 3 Maine state parks

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 3, 2020

The state Bureau of Parks and Lands on Monday lifted water restrictions at three state parks that were imposed last week following Maine’s first fatal shark attack. Swimmers at Popham Beach, Ferry Beach and Crescent Beach state parks are no longer restricted to knee- or waist-deep water, but a waist-deep restriction at Reid State Park will remain in place because of a lifeguard shortage, according to the bureau. The restrictions were put in place following the first recorded fatality from a shark attack in Maine’s history.

Farms bring the fun, from just far enough away

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 3, 2020

Health officials continue to remind us that if we’re going to gather and do stuff, it’s much safer to do it outdoors. In August, the state will allow outdoor gatherings of up to 100 people, while the indoor gathering limit remains at 50. Maine farmers are listening. Many are offering fun, socially distanced events, including an extra-wide corn maze, small-group guided tours and spaced-out yoga with minimal goat contact. Before heading out to any farm, you might want to check the website for specific rules and restrictions.

Opinion: Belfast aquaculture facility will be a big win for Mainers

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 3, 2020

On July 17, after an occasionally arduous two-year process, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection issued the first of four draft orders that will allow Nordic Aquafarms to commence construction of a $500 million state-of-the-art, sustainable land-based salmon farm in Belfast. At full capacity, the facility will produce roughly 33,000 metric tons of Atlantic salmon per year — equivalent to 7 percent of the U.S. salmon market. The Nordic Aquafarms project bodes well for our collective future in terms of jobs, our food supply, and reduced environmental impact, and it elevates the Maine coast as a hub for this critical rising industry. This is a huge win for the people of Maine, and for seafood lovers around the world. ~ James D. Herbert, University of New England

Letter: Maine jobs and homegrown energy

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 3, 2020

Logging and forest trucking contractors are in full agreement with a July 23 OpEd in this paper calling for legislative support for a bill to encourage more wood heating in our state. With markets disappearing, including SAPPI’s biomass energy generation facility in Westbrook later this year, any new outlet for wood could be a lifeline for these businesses. We urge passage of the bill to save Maine jobs, increase homegrown energy and reduce fossil consumption. ~ Dana Doran, Professional Logging Contractors of Maine

Corinna woman killed in ATV crash as wardens respond to multiple incidents Saturday

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 2, 2020

A Corinna woman was killed Saturday night in an ATV crash in Lincoln that was one of several emergencies to which Maine game wardens responded. In separate incidents, in Standish a 22-year-old local man suffered hip and leg injuries when the ATV he was driving crashed and rolled over, two people were injured in an ATV crash in Kingsbury Plantation, three kayakers were rescued from the south branch of the Dead River after calling for help, and a Portland man had to be carried from the summit of Tumbledown Mountain in Weld after he injured his ankle.

Parts of former high-end corporate retreat in Maine up for auction

ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 2, 2020

Parts of one of Maine’s most unique resorts are going to be auctioned this week as the former Point Lookout corporate retreat is scaled back. That means four buildings and their contents, including stuffed moose and a bowling alley, will go to the highest bidder.

Opinion: Bringing hydropower to New England

SUN JOURNAL • August 2, 2020

Climate change is real and has been a topic of discourse for centuries. The question is “how fast is our climate changing?” because we can adapt, as long as change is slow. After measuring greenhouse gas emissions from a variety of sources it was concluded that fossil fuels were the primary culprit and an effort to curb their use began. CMP and HydroQuebec were asked to help New England do that by bringing hydroelectric power to Maine’s grid, which is unquestionably cleaner in that regard. ~ Jamie Beaulieu, Farmington

Editorial: This is still a good time to explore Maine

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 2, 2020

Maine’s tourism industry could see a 40 percent drop in revenue this year, according to analysis by University of Maine researchers. This is largely because visitors from other states and countries are foregoing visits to the Pine Tree state due to the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions that have come with it. Mainers can’t make up all that lost revenue, but we do still live in vacationland. So, if you have the chance and the resources, this is the perfect summer to explore your home state — while following distancing and mask-wearing requirements, of course. There is plenty to explore here in Maine.

Fatal shark attack shakes sense of security along Maine coast

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • August 2, 2020

In nearly 200 years of record-keeping, there was never a documented report of a person being bitten by a shark on the Maine coast – until last week, when a woman was killed by a great white shark off Harpswell. Interviews with beachgoers, surfers, kayakers and others who enjoy Maine’s cool water during the summer indicate that the relative sense of safety and security enjoyed by visitors to the state’s idyllic coastline may have evaporated, at least in the short term.