Court deals another setback to contentious midcoast park

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 11, 2024

The years-long effort to build a waterfront park in Boothbay Harbor will drag on even longer after a court recently ruled that the town’s planning board must reconsider two key approvals it originally gave to the project. As it’s currently planned, the contested Eastside Waterfront Park on Atlantic Avenue would feature a pavilion, a concrete splash pad for kids, grassy space and a working wharf for lobstermen, among other amenities. However, after backers of the park first began pursuing it in 2019, they’ve gotten mired in permitting and legal disputes with the owners of a neighboring property, marking yet another lengthy and contentious struggle over a development project on Maine’s coast.

Another threat to bees: Climate change-fueled rising temperatures

WASHINGTON POST • May 11, 2024

Warming temperatures could be responsible for a worldwide bumblebee decline, a new analysis finds – and the damage may rise as temperatures soar because of climate change. When things get too hot, bumblebees use their wings as fans. But the insects’ best attempts to cool off could fail as air and soil temperatures rise, the researchers write, warning that 'heat stress may be lethal even if slightly elevated above optimum.'

Mainers surprised, delighted by unusually strong northern lights show

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 11, 2024

An unusually strong solar storm lit up the skies Friday night into Saturday morning, creating a stunning display of color and movement that was visible across the Northern Hemisphere. The last time a geomagnetic – or solar – storm this strong was visible on Earth was in 2003, said Edward Herrick-Gleason, manager of the Southworth Planetarium at the University of Southern Maine.

How I found 100 spotted salamanders in one night

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 11, 2024

Each spring, after the ice melts and the ground thaws, Maine’s spotted salamanders emerge with a goal in mind: to reproduce. To do that successfully, they travel to woodland waters called vernal pools, which lack predatory fish because they dry up in late summer or fall. There they mingle and lay eggs, then depart, shuffling off through the leaf litter. This migration, called Maine’s Big Night, is predictable. Salamanders need rain to stay hydrated, and they wait until the temperature is above 40 degrees or so. Usually, it occurs at the beginning of April, and it lasts for a few nights. I was expecting to find a few salamanders. Conditions were just right for spring migration. But what I didn’t anticipate was finding more than 100 of them — all in one place.

How to use the sun for natural pest and weed control

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 11, 2024

Tarping is an ultra-simple gardening technique in which gardens or bare patches of earth are covered with plastic sheeting to raise soil temperatures and alter moisture and light levels. Surprisingly, clear plastic sheeting is better at capturing solar energy and raising soil temperatures, while dark tarps are ideal for blocking out light. Prepare your garden space by cutting down tall plants, water the area deeply until the top 6 inches of earth are damp, lay down your plastic sheeting, leave it in place for four to six weeks, then remove the plastic from your garden. If any dead weeds remain, rake them away and start planting.

Dresden Planning Board accused of violating town policy in approving quarry site

KENNEBEC JOURNAL • May 10, 2024

The Dresden Board of Appeals will continue deliberations next week over whether the town’s Planning Board wrongfully approved a quarry application in the rural living district in town. Two appeals over the matter were heard by the Board of Appeals Thursday night. “The major point we want to bring is the issue of compatibility for heavy industrial use in the rural living district.”

Go back in time by hiking along this old Bar Harbor railway

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 10, 2024

Originally built by Maine Central Railroad in the 1880s, the railway used to carry passengers to McNeil Point in Hancock, where they would board steamer ferries to cross Frenchman Bay to Bar Harbor. In 1931, the railway from Ellsworth to Hancock was discontinued. But you can still ride a train on a 13-mile section of the restored railroad, starting at the rail yard and boarding platform on Washington Junction Road in Hancock. Known as the Downeast Scenic Railroad, the experience is like stepping back in time. Or you can walk along a three-mile stretch of the former railway on the Old Pond Railway Trail.

Solar energy alone powered about 11,000 Fort Kent homes and businesses for a brief period last week

MAINE PUBLIC • May 10, 2024

For about 12 hours total last week, about 11,400 homes and businesses in the Fort Kent region were powered entirely by solar energy. This occurred over a four-hour period last Wednesday afternoon and twice more on the following days. Versant Power spokesperson Judy Long said this is a first for the utility, and it may be among the first instances in Maine where a region has operated for a period of time using only solar energy. Northern Maine has become a hotbed for solar development.

Crashed trailer carrying 15 million bees won’t endanger Maine’s blueberry crop, expert says

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 10, 2024

The crash of a tractor-trailer carrying 15 million bees in Clinton Thursday evening likely won’t hamper Maine’s blueberry harvest this year, according to a local bee expert. The single truck could inhibit a small grower that may only place one order of bees annually, said Peter Cowin, the founder and former president of the Penobscot County Beekeepers Association. But, for a large blueberry producer such as Wyman’s, one damaged truck likely won’t hurt the company’s harvest. “In terms of state crop pollination, this truck is likely a drop in the bucket,” Cowin said. While 15 million may seem like an unimaginable number of bees, Cowin said the truck is actually a fraction of the 3 billion out-of-state bees Maine receives each year to pollinate crops.

Letter: Oppose a wind port on Sears Island

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 10, 2024

I strongly oppose the decision by Gov. Janet Mills and the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) to locate a wind port on Sears Island in Waldo County. This is wrongly being touted as the least environmentally harmful location for a port. Placing a port on Sears Island could destroy upwards of 100 acres of woodland, a sand dune habitat, and be very harmful to the thousands of migrant birds that pass through the island. Mack Point is already highly industrialized and offers little benefit to birds and other wildlife. Claiming that Sears Island is the least environmentally harmful is simply inaccurate. I urge you to contact your state legislators and ask them to oppose a port on Sears Island. ~ John Wyatt, Winterport

U.S. pledges money and other aid to help track and contain bird flu on dairy farms

ASSOCIATED PRESS • May 10, 2024

U.S. health and agriculture officials pledged new spending and other efforts Friday to help track and contain an outbreak of bird flu in the nation’s dairy cows. The new funds include $101 million to continue work to prevent, test, track and treat animals and humans potentially affected by the virus known as Type A H5N1.

Diversity & density: How can we embrace climate migration?

MAINE MONITOR • May 10, 2024

At ClimateWork Maine’s 2024 summit in Augusta on Thursday, experts on everything from the grid to climate migration returned again and again to the same basic appeal: Change is inevitable. Embrace it, and shape it. A panelist urged Mainers who may worry about climate change but eschew affordable housing in their communities to link the two issues in their minds.

Truck carrying 15 million bees rolls over on I-95 in Clinton

MORNING SENTINEL • May 10, 2024

A tractor-trailer truck carrying 15 million bees rolled over Thursday evening on Interstate 95, leaving the driver of the truck injured but the bees largely unharmed and contained. The truck was heading north to Washington County when it crashed around 7 p.m. near mile marker 141. The bees were on their way to be delivered to pollinate blueberry fields in the Down East county. The bees made it to their final destination.

Lawmakers fail to override vetoes of farmworker minimum wage, landfill leachate standards

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 10, 2024

Maine lawmakers fell short in several attempts Friday to overturn Gov. Janet Mills’ vetoes of bills passed by the Legislature, including one that would have set a new minimum wage for farmworkers. Mills’ veto of the farmworkers’ minimum wage bill prompted strong pushback from labor advocates. The House also failed to override vetoes of bills that would set higher water quality standards for leachate at state-owned landfills and create a new legal framework governing labor relations in Maine’s agricultural sector.

Bar Harbor businesses ask court to halt enforcement of cruise ship ordinance

MAINE PUBLIC • May 9, 2024

A group of Bar Harbor businesses is asking a federal court to suspend the town's limit on cruise ship passengers until a legal dispute is resolved. The Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods first sued the town over the 1,000 person daily cap in federal court. A U.S. District judge sided largely with the town, but opponents said the decision means the ordinance is not enforceable as written. Eben Salvatore, a member of the association, said the limits have already had a detrimental effect on the 2025 cruise season, with a significant decline in ships planning to come to Bar Harbor. "Those are all really, really bad things for businesses, for taxpayers, for their families, for employees, etc," he said.

With recent storms and heavy rain, loggers say working conditions have never been more difficult

MAINE PUBLIC • May 9, 2024

Loggers said their operating conditions have never been more difficult, with recent storms, heavy rain and mild conditions over the last 18 months. A survey found that 50 Maine harvesters and haulers lost at least $2.6 million in income from the Dec. 18 storm. And Dana Doran, director of Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, said most Maine loggers worked just four weeks this winter. "Most of them had to shut down by the last week of February for the winter, so it's just been a rollercoaster of a ride for all of them, starting with that Dec. 18 storm, but really going back to the winter of 2022-2023, because we never had frozen ground then, either," he said.

Tour of Mack Point Proposed Wind Terminal, June 11

MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • May 9, 2024

In light of Governor Janet Mills' February 2024 announcement for a new port facility on Sears Island to support Maine's floating offshore wind industry, Sprague proposes Mack Point as an ideal alternative. Mack Point utilizes existing infrastructure, preserves the natural habitat on Sears Island, and aligns with Maine's renewable energy goals. Sprague's alternative plan illustrates a sustainable approach to modern energy challenges while respecting the region's ecological and historical significance. Tours of the Mack Point Terminal, June 11, 8:45-10 AM and 1:45-3 pm. RSVP to Chris Goddard, chris@cgpublicrelations.com with your choice of tour.

Mount Desert rejects limits on vacation rentals

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 9, 2024

 Approximately 220 people attended Mount Desert’s annual town meeting Tuesday night, and by a vote of 134 to 72, voters rejected legislation to license short-term rentals, seasonal rentals and vacation rentals. Short-term rentals, seasonal vacation rentals and Vacation rentals all would have needed to get a license, which would have been renewable every year. One of the first speakers against the ordinance said, “My family has been here for centuries.” She has rented her house both short term and long term, and she feels “that it’s nobody’s business except for mine what I do with my property. It’s a legal activity.”

Letter: Let’s demonstrate for the planet

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 9, 2024

While many innocents are being lost in Gaza and Israel, legions more are dying, and will die as a result of increasing greenhouse gases and global warming. Whole species will become extinct, and whole ecosystems disrupted. So where is the rage? Where are the massive demonstrations for the future of Earth? For civilization? There is a way forward. Our leaders can pass legislation called Carbon Fee and Dividend that will require companies that profit from the sale of fossil fuels pay for the damage they are inflicting. Other countries have successfully implemented this policy. We can, too. ~ Barbara Bowling, Oakland