Downeaster pitches fare increases for the first time in five years

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 9, 2023

For the first time in five years, Amtrak’s Downeaster has pitched a plan to raise certain fares by $2 to $10, depending on destinations, accommodations and special offers. The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority proposed the increases in response to inflation and rising costs that have driven up Downeaster’s operating expenses 20% in that period. At the same time, ridership growth has resumed since the pandemic, with marked gains through the summer months.

Letter: Advertising should not dictate Maine’s energy future

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 9, 2023

Why should we trust a utility company ranked at the bottom of the heap by a nationally recognized rating organization? Why trust the same for spending millions for subverting the electoral will of Mainers? Being bombarded by advertising in order to maintain the status quo of foreign influence on Maine politics is not the way to determine what is best for our energy future. Questions 2 and 3 allow Mainers to determine what is best for their energy needs. We don’t need a company that has to sell itself as the only choice. ~ Douglas Yohman, East Waterboro

Letter: Let’s show CMP we’re paying attention

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 9, 2023

How dumb does Central Maine Power think we are? It’s spending millions on ads that try to scare us with dire predictions about how Pine Tree Power wouldn’t work. It’s trying to confuse us with an inflated purchase cost and suggestions that “politicians” would be running the new company. It thinks we don’t remember living through CMP’s multiday power outages and screwed-up billing. So just keep those power outages coming. Or maybe we’re not as dumb as CMP thinks we are. Please vote “yes” on Question 3. ~ Jan Brennan, Kennebunk

Letter: Music and conservation come together Sunday at ‘Voice of the Forest’

FORECASTER • October 9, 2023

The people of Montana owe a debt of gratitude to the people of Maine who raised their voices to stop the Black Ram timber sale in northwest Montana’s Yaak Valley. I can’t think of another time an entire state has stood up to defend a forest thousands of miles away. But Maine has. And it is our privilege to celebrate the defense of Black Ram with music, poetry and kinship Sunday night at Merrill Auditorium with “Climate Aid: The Voice of the Forest.” Tickets are still available at PortTix. I look forward to hosting the evening alongside our guests from across the country: Maggie, Francis, Leslie, Terry Tempest Williams, Bill McKibben and Beth Ann Fennelly. Every person in the Merrill Auditorium will make a difference. See you Sunday. ~ Rick Bass, Troy, Montana

The Maine politicians being paid by CMP and Versant to oppose a takeover

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 9, 2023

Gov. Janet Mills vetoed a bill in 2021 to let voters decide whether to replace Maine’s two major electric utilities with one overseen by an elected board. Central Maine Power Co. and Versant have injected $35 million into their campaign versus roughly $1 million by Our Power to oppose Question 3 on Maine’s ballot, a referendum launched in response to the veto. An array of political veterans from both major parties have stepped in to oppose the initiative on behalf of the utilities. Former Rep. Charlotte Warren (D) has been a public face of CMP’s campaign. Versant’s political group hired former state Sen. Tom Saviello (R). One of the highest-powered partisans on CMP’s team is Jim Mitchell, a former Maine Democratic Party chair. Former Sen. Andre Cushing (R) has worked for Maine Affordable Energy opposing the referendum. David Pomerantz, executive director of a group critical of utilities, said, “The use of intermediaries to pay former legislators indicates that utilities may suspect that voters would be angry if they learned about the utilities’ involvement.”

Freight railroads police themselves and inspect their own tracks. Some say a disaster is inevitable.

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 8, 2023

A five-month Press Herald investigation reveals poorly maintained lines, unreported accidents and secrecy around the hazardous materials transported through Maine. Eight privately owned freight railroads are responsible for the vast majority of Maine’s train traffic. They own and are expected to maintain 965 of the 1,457 miles of tracks in the state. They are charged with policing themselves, conducting their own inspections and filing their own post-accident reports. The Federal Railroad Administration discovered that in the past six years, railroads failed to report three derailments, two accidents and three employee injuries in Maine. Two of the unreported trains that derailed carried hazardous materials. Maine has no oversight or authority over private freight railroads. It’s only a matter of time before a disastrous derailment in Maine.

Bike-to-school movement is rolling again in Portland and elsewhere

MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 8, 2023

In 1969, around 50% of kids ages 5-14 walked or biked to school, according to the National Center for Safe Routes to School. In 2017, only 10% of kids ages 5-17 cycled or walked to school. But biking to school seems to be back in vogue. Students in communities around Maine and the nation are commuting by both e-bike and standard bicycle, often accompanied by parents on their own bikes. It’s an organic movement happening with individuals or families, and sometimes with big groups of neighbors creating bicycle caravans.

Letter: Question 2 will send us down the right path

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 7, 2023

We need the Republican Party to help solve the climate crisis because only a bipartisan solution can be enacted quickly, without danger of being undone after the next election. We saw climate change with our own eyes this summer, and yet the Republican Party now plans to reverse the progress President Biden has made on greenhouse gas emissions. To free the Republican Party from fossil fuel control, we would have to take away the industry’s biggest weapon, its unlimited campaign donations. And we can do that in November. Maine’s Question 2 would give Maine the power to limit the campaign donations of both corporations and foreign countries. Maybe we could finally have a government for the people, not for Big Money. ~ Richard Thomas, Waterville

Letter: Mainers rightly fed up with existing utilities

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 7, 2023

Foreign-owned power companies are investing millions of dollars in the attack on Pine Tree Power. Last year their millions in profit went to big executive salaries and out-of-country investors, while Central Maine Power was again rated the worst power company in the eastern U.S. These companies have a near-monopoly over our electrical service and are accountable primarily to their investors. Mainers are rightly fed up. Pine Tree Power would be all about what’s best for Mainers, not for wealthy investors just out to make big money off our hardworking people. Vote “yes” on Question 3. ~ James Bilancia, Brewer

Moose hunters will hit the woods starting Monday for second round

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 7, 2023

There will be more hunters in the woods starting Monday when the second week of moose season begins. The Oct. 9-14 week has the largest number of permit holders at 1,595, who will join game bird, bear and archery deer hunters already in Maine’s woods. There are 4,106 total permits for the three regular moose season weeks, plus the adaptive hunt days. The success of September’s hunters should be an inspiration to the next group hitting the woods on Monday. Hunters filled 776 of the total 1,050 tags designated for the Sept. 25-30 hunt.

Why 200 geologists are exploring Aroostook’s mineral deposits

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 7, 2023

Nearly 200 geologists are convening at the University of Maine at Presque Isle this weekend. Those attending the 114th annual New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference will be out exploring geologic treasures in the rocks and mountains of northern Maine and western New Brunswick, Canada. Some of The County’s formations and features aren’t found in other places. Aroostook County has four of Maine’s 10 most significant mineral deposits, according to the Maine Geological Survey.

Letter: Maine beaches should not be hostile environments

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 7, 2023

On Labor Day weekend, a woman was recorded approaching a group of young children playing paddle ball on Moody Beach in Wells, angrily ordering them to leave, and threatening to call the police if they refused. We, the public, are packed onto 1 percent of Moody Beach while the rest lies virtually empty. Is this the legacy Maine wants to leave to its children? It’s time for both the town of Wells and the state of Maine to publicly take a stand and overturn what I believe was an erroneous and unconstitutional 1989 ruling, which turned Maine beaches into hostile environments. ~ Jeannie Connerney, Free Moody Beach, Wells

Letter: Vote yes on Question 2

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 7, 2023

As polarized as Americans seem to be at this time, there is an issue that we agree on: Approximately 80 percent of those polled, regardless of political affiliation, agree that we should prohibit spending by foreign governments and corporations controlled by foreign governments in our elections. If you are a Mainer who is convinced that big money has too much influence in our elections, I urge you to vote yes on ballot Question 2 in November. ~ Bonnie Sammons, Belgrade

Whales and dolphins in American waters are losing food and habitat to climate change, U.S. study says

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 6, 2023

A first-of-its-kind assessment says whales, dolphins and seals living in U.S. waters face major threats from the warming ocean temperatures, rising sea levels and decreasing sea ice associated with climate change. 72% of the stocks were highly or very highly vulnerable to climate change. The warming ocean primarily harms marine mammals by altering their ability to find food and reducing their amount of suitable habitat. However, changes in ocean temperature and chemistry also can change sound transmission. That can affect the sonar-like echolocation marine mammals such as dolphins use to communicate and hunt.

Gulf of Maine logged its 8th hottest summer on record

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 6, 2023

The average surface temperature of the Gulf of Maine this summer was 61.01 degrees, 1.91 degrees above the 30-year seasonal average, making it the eighth hottest summer since satellite data has been collected, according to a new report from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. But conditions in the Gulf this summer were unusually cool when compared to recent years, the institute concluded. The three previous summers had been noteworthy for their extended marine heatwaves, part of a long-term trend of unseasonably warm summer and fall temperatures since 2012. A report by the institute found 2022 consistent with the long-term warming trend driven primarily by human-caused climate change, although the authors noted individual years could be influenced by large-scale patterns of natural variability.

Oxbow woman kills monster bear

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 6, 2023

The only other big game animal Mariah Carroll had ever shot was a zebra in Africa almost a year and a half ago. But on Friday, Carroll, 27, of Oxbow dropped a 510-pound black bear at approximately 9 a.m. Carroll said she likes to eat bear meat and would like to use the hide for a bear rug.

Meet the BDN’s new outdoors editor

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • October 5, 2023

Julie Harris is our newest outdoors editor, the latest steward of a beat that has been central to Maine culture and the Bangor Daily News. With her new role, Julie becomes the first female editor of a section that has exclusively been led by men. As hunting sees a dramatic, and much needed, surge of participation from women, she brings a valuable perspective to a pastime that is changing for the better. Julie will not only bring a deep background as a journalist, but also practical experience and connections forged by decades of exploring Maine’s natural wonders.

Baileyville mill workers intend to strike

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • October 6, 2023

About 90 workers at the Woodland pulp mill in Baileyville intend to strike at midnight Saturday saying management has not been bargaining in good faith. Unions representing machinists, millwrights and plant operators voted to strike following months of negotiations on a new contract, according to statement from the Maine AFL-CIO released Friday. Workers say management is trying to change job classifications that would endanger job security.

Company planning to purchase Jay paper mill hopes to close on the deal by Dec. 31

SUN JOURNAL • October 6, 2023

JGT2 Redevelopment LLC, which plans to buy the defunct Pixelle Specialty Solutions paper mill on Riley Road, its properties and the 1,000 acres it sits on, is hoping to close on the property by the end of the year. The pulp and paper mill formally ceased operations in March. The remaining industrial equipment is being decommissioned. The cogeneration facility is idled but remains operational. There are no current plans to continue manufacturing paper at the mill. JGT2 Redevelopment plans to redevelop the mill and cogeneration facility to other industrial uses. It proposes to restart the cogeneration plant to produce power to sell to the grid while redeveloping the properties associated with the former mill.

Contaminated farm in Unity to become PFAS research site

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • October 6, 2023

Maine Farmland Trust has purchased a highly contaminated organic vegetable farm in Unity with plans to turn the 45-acre property into an outdoor lab for researchers studying the impact of forever chemicals on agricultural production. The farming advocacy group bought Songbird Farm last month for an undisclosed sum from Adam Nordell and Johanna Davis, who had been farming the property for seven years when they discovered in 2021 that their soil, well water, and even their blood had high levels of PFAS chemicals.