Letter: Planning for climate resilience

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 2, 2023

Eastern Maine Development Corp.’s community resilience team is working in Piscataquis, Penobscot and Aroostook counties to assist to plan for climate resilience. This is part of a concerted statewide effort to embrace clean energy while making our Maine communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change. I am assisting Dover-Foxcroft, Greenville, Monson and Beaver Cove in Piscataquis County; Enfield and Howland in Penobscot County; and Limestone in Aroostook County to apply for this round of Community Action grants for climate resilience projects. There’s still time for other towns to apply, and our team is ready to answer questions and help with applications to access these funds before the July 7 deadline. ~ Laurie Osher, Climate Resilience Specialist, EMDC

Timber, Coal, Oil, and Wind

DOWN EAST magazine • July 2023

There is an effort to bring “big wind” to the Gulf of Maine, with arrays proposed for 40 or more miles offshore, where the winds are highest and most sustained. In 2009, Maine set a goal of installing 5,000 megawatts of wind power in the Gulf of Maine by 2030. To date, not a single watt has been sited offshore. The governor has proposed a research array, with a dozen or so large floating turbines, anchored with long cables to the seabed. It’s the kind of large-scale undertaking on which meeting the state’s emissions goals depends — and which plenty of Mainers oppose. If Maine’s energy history shows us anything, it is this: transitions are usually wrenching.

Dead whale found on the shore of Peaks Island

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 1, 2023

Peaks Island residents discovered a dead whale on the shore Saturday morning. “It is a minke whale,” Sgt. Matt Wyman of the Maine Marine Patrol said. The agency is assisting Marine Mammals of Maine in getting to the island so officials can do sampling that will determine what happened to the whale. Threats to minke whales include vessel strikes, fishing gear entanglement, climate change and whaling.

In the U.S., the world’s deadliest animal is on the move

WASHINGTON POST • July 1, 2023

The deadliest animal in the world is smaller than a pencil eraser and weighs around two-thousandths of a gram – less than the weight of a single raindrop. Every year, it kills an estimated 700,000 people by partaking in what scientists grimly call a “blood meal.” It’s the mosquito – and, increasingly, it’s on the move. In the United States, for example, many regions are already seeing an increase in “mosquito days” as temperatures rise.

Column: So you got a moose permit. Now what?

SUN JOURNAL • July 1, 2023

Of the more than 70,000 hunters who applied for the moose permit, only 4,106 permits were drawn. If you were one of the lucky ones, congratulations. You have an opportunity, not only to fill a freezer with the finest wild meat in the world, but to share an exciting hunt with friends and family, and do it during one of Maine’s standout months, September or October. Don’t blow it. Don’t wait until a few days before the hunt and start driving the logging roads with your fingers crossed. ~ V. Paul Reynolds

OSHA delivers latest penalty to Worcester Resources: nearly $24,000 in fines

MAINE MONITOR • July 1, 2023

Worcester Resources has been fined nearly $24,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for two recent reporting violations, the latest in a series of penalties levied against the Washington County business. OSHA fined Worcester $22,101 in April for failing to publicly post a report on work-related injuries and illnesses earlier this year, records show. In addition, OSHA penalized Worcester another $1,878 for failing to submit the injuries information to OSHA in March. The larger fine was considered a “willful” violation, records show. Worcester Resources is best known for its wreath-making business and ties to the nonprofit Wreaths Across America. The Worcester family proposed an ambitious, $1 billion “Flagpole of Freedom” park in Columbia Falls last year, but the project has been on hold.

Opinion: Bipartisan reform advances Maine solar while protecting Maine ratepayers

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 1, 2023

We urge our fellow legislators to protect Maine ratepayers by supporting the bipartisan amendment on L.D. 1347, An Act to Reduce the Cost of Net Energy Billing for Ratepayers. We want community and residential solar development by and for Maine residents. L.D. 1347 is a bipartisan compromise that ensures stable, fixed rates for the small-scale and residential projects net energy billing was originally designed to support. We cannot have a clean energy transition at the expense of Maine people and our most vulnerable populations, which is exactly what the current net energy billing program is asking us to do. ~ Rep. Sophie Warren (D- Scarborough) and Rep. Steve Foster (R-Dexter)

Letter: Extend passenger rail service between Brunswick and Augusta

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 1, 2023

It’s time to prepare to extend passenger rail service up the Lower Road rail corridor from Brunswick to Augusta and connecting Maine’s capital and one of its largest employment centers with Portland, Maine’s largest city, and Boston, New England’s largest city. The first critical step is a long-term commitment to preserve the existing track and expand its use incrementally for passenger and freight use. Some trail interests are intent on tearing up the track for their trail, but that means destroying the ability to use the corridor for its highest and best use: passenger and freight rail use that provides economic and environmental benefits that a trail alone cannot come close to matching. ~ Edward Hanscom
Gardiner

Major Loring development could help revive Aroostook’s railroad

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 1, 2023

A plan to transfer sustainable aviation fuel from Limestone could revive freight rail transport in central Aroostook County. Earlier this year, the Washington D.C.-based DG Fuels announced plans to build a facility at the former Loring Air Force Base. If built, the $4.4 billion facility would turn wood biomass at their Loring facility into aviation fuel for airlines along the East Coast. To transfer that fuel, the Maine Department of Transportation would need to repair 33 miles of inactive railroad stretching from Limestone to Fort Fairfield, Caribou and Presque Isle. If that happened, Loring could better position itself to become a major hub of industry again.

7-year-old Mainer feels the thrill of climbing Katahdin

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 1, 2023

Hiking with his mother, Indira Gowell, and her boyfriend, Warren Gerow, 7-year-old Abel Tomazin relished the thrill of viewing Baxter State Park, and points far and wide, from the top of the state’s highest mountain. Children under 7 are not allowed above the treeline. “Baxter State Park is such a gift to this state,” Gowell said. “I really hope that everyone goes and sees it at some point because it’s just so beautiful. It’s just untouched wilderness.”

Don't Kiss Raccoons

THE SHARK 105.3 • May 30, 2023

Try not to kiss a stranger’s pet raccoon. Auburn officials were forced to hand down this edict last week when a woman entered a Petco with the raccoon hoping to get its nails clipped. Alas, “raccoonicures” are not offered at Petco. But that didn’t stop several other customers from handling the raccoon. And yes, some even decided to kiss the animal. The store’s manager eventually asked the woman to leave, and alerted the Maine Warden Service and Maine Centers for Disease Control. Thankfully, the raccoon tested negative for rabies, but the woman is facing further troubles, as it is illegal to own a raccoon in Maine. So, in case you’re ever at a Petco and someone brings in their pet raccoon, Ask Yourself Before Kissing a Raccoon: Will it take things slow, or want me to move into its garbage can?

Maine solar farm opens as lawmakers eye curtailing others like it

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 30, 2023

A 1-megawatt solar farm that will provide electricity to 15 local businesses opened in Norway on Wednesday, a day after lawmakers debated whether to scale back the incentives that led to it. New York-based UGE International owns the solar farm, which is built atop a former landfill owned by the western Maine town. The project is part of Maine’s net energy billing program, which was the main reason for the latest round of sharp rate hikes at Central Maine Power and Versant Power.

Porter woman punches black bear; bear bites back

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 30, 2023

A 64-year-old Porter woman was taken to the hospital Friday after she punched a black bear in the nose and the bear bit back. Lynn Kelly was trying to save her dog from the chasing bear when the confrontation occurred. “Kelly confronted the bear head-on, and when the bear stood up, she stood up as tall as she could, then punched the bear in the nose, whereupon the bear bit her in the right hand, puncturing her wrist.” A 2018 count estimated there were at least 35,000 black bears in Maine. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife advises “if you do see a bear, keep your distance, and do not corner or agitate the bear.”

Yamaha to end its snowmobile business

WCSH-TV6 • June 28, 2023

Yamaha Motor announced it will end its snowmobile business after 55 years in the industry. The company will end the sale of its snowmobiles in North America through the 2025 model year, according to a release. Yamaha cited difficulty continuing a "sustainable business" in the snowmobile market. The company said it would instead focus on its other business activities and growing new markets. 

Helping ugly Maine produce become something delicious and beautiful

WMTW-TV8 • June 30, 2023

Not all produce looks great, but a company in Brunswick doesn't care. It is making a brand of vegetable spreads that are colorful, tasty and appetizing. Even the makers admit that the main ingredients in this line of "Harvest Maine Vegetable Spreads" started out ugly. Some of the vegetables may have a blemish and odd shape or be miscolored or, for some other reason, be deemed not fit for normal sale. For Harvest Maine, as long as it is healthy on the inside, they will use it. For now, they plan to focus on their three flavors of spreads but in the future plan to expand into other products that still work with their ugly vegetables.

Bangor police euthanize deer impaled on Stephen King’s fence

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 30, 2023

A deer impaled itself on a metal fence outside Stephen King’s house on West Broadway in Bangor Thursday night, according to the Bangor Police Department. An officer arrived shortly before 8 p.m. and found the deer alive, but bleeding and suffering, so he shot the animal, the police report reads. Officers were able to pull the deer off the fence and Bangor Public Works disposed of the deer. 

Maine Audubon sponsors Brush with Nature Artists and Maker Days

MAINE AUDUBON • June 30, 2023

Maine artists will each create one new work inspired by Maine Audubon’s sanctuaries, mission, or conservation work that will be for sale in the Gilsland Farm Gallery in October. You can join the featured artists at The Brush with Nature Maker Days at our centers:

Saturday, July 29, 10 am-4 pm, Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center, Scarborough
Saturday, August 12, 10 am-2 pm, Fields Pond Audubon Center, Holden
Saturday, August 19, 10 am-2 pm, Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, Falmouth

Brush with Nature Maker Days are designed to be casual, drop-in, and fun for all ages. Be inspired by our featured artists as they create and the beauty of nature in our sanctuaries. Bring your own materials or use some of ours. 

LWCF Coalition Celebrates Protection of 3M Acres

RV BUSINESS • June 30, 2023

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a $188 million investment through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to conserve some of the most economically and ecologically significant forestlands across the nation. The completion of the Quill Hill to Perham Stream project in Western Maine was supported by an allocation of nearly $7.3 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund through the Forest Legacy Program. Over its 33 year history, the LWCF-funded FLP has provided more than $82 million to Maine, protecting over 750,000 acres. Quill Hill to Perham Stream is the project that boosts the Forest Legacy Program to the historic milestone of 3 million acres protected throughout the US since the program began in 1990. Over $1.1 billion in state, local, and private dollars has been almost equally matched from LWCF to make this achievement possible.

Electricity rates for most CMP, Versant customers to drop next month

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 30, 2023

The Maine Public Utilities Commission on Friday approved a reduction in the “standard offer” supply rates paid by residential, small- and medium-size customers of Central Maine Power and Versant Power’s Bangor Hydro District. The reduction of 1 cent per kilowatt-hour will result in a monthly savings of about $5.50 for an average residential customer of either utility, using 550 kWh of electricity per month. The rate cut goes into effect July 15. The rate cut partially offsets increases that are due to go into effect on Saturday.

Birds, bugs, flowers and sweet smells make the Belfast Rail Trail worth a summer stroll

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 30, 2023

The Belfast Rail Trail, which opened in 2016, is rich in history. Along the trail there are interpretive displays with historic photos and information about the area. I stopped to read each one, imagining what it must have been like when the Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad ran trains along the same route. But I have to admit, I was even more delighted, and surprised, by the nature I experienced on the trail. ~ Aislinn Sarnacki