Camden may regulate herbicides after family illegally used them

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 16, 2024

Camden residents will soon consider new restrictions on the use of pesticides and herbicides after a local outcry following the illegal use of herbicides by wealthy property owners who applied them to their trees. The proposed rule would require commercial users of those products to notify neighbors before they are applied and to provide an annual report documenting their local usage. Support for the measure has grown after the 2021 case, in which Arthur and Amelia Bond illegally applied the herbicides to trees owned by them and a neighbor in their oceanfront neighborhood. The couple was subsequently required to pay more than $200,000 in fines and fees, and local officials have also found traces of the herbicide at a nearby beachfront park.

New rule change says anglers can only use artificial lures or flies on rivers, streams, and brooks

MAINE PUBLIC • August 16, 2024

An annual rule change is now in effect for river, stream and brook fishing in Maine. Between now and September 30, anglers can only use artificial lures or flies on rivers, streams, and brooks. The change is to protect landlocked salmon and brook trout as they prepare to spawn, as live bait hooks can injure the fish that are caught and released. Bag limits are now reduced to one brook trout and one landlocked salmon per day per angler to protect the fisheries and provide opportunities for anglers.

Opinion: Maine’s new packaging disposal law can be a boon for municipalities and our environment

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 16, 2024

In 2021, Maine took a pioneering step by becoming the first state in the nation to pass an extended producer responsibility for packaging law. It is designed to hold manufacturers accountable for the packaging waste they create. This principle is simple yet transformative: Those who produce waste should bear the cost of its management. We know extended producer responsibility for packaging will work. It’s a proven solution that dozens of places across the world use to successfully cut down on wasteful packaging and increase recycling rates. We encourage Mainers who want to support this new law to submit comments to the Board of Environmental Protection before the Aug. 26 deadline. ~ Senators Nicole Grohoski and Rick Bennett

Community Compass: Lake George Regional Park should unite communities, not divide

CENTRAL MAINE • August 16, 2024

I’ve observed, with mixed emotions, the impact of an incident that occurred on Lake George Regional Park’s east access road in June 2023.That incident led to the recent unprecedented dismissal of five volunteers, serving with distinction, on the park’s governing board. The original process by which Louise and Bill Townsend, some of their friends and neighbors, and representatives from the state established Lake George Regional Park created rather than divided the community. The park’s founders modeled a way for individuals to build community, consensus and cooperation. The town officials and citizens of both Canaan and Skowhegan have a vested interest in following their example. ~ Lorraine Harriman

Letter: Rep. Golden’s negativity on EVs shows poor judgment

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 16, 2024

Rep. Jared Golden’s negativity about electric vehicles and positivity about oil and gas seems out of place and ill-advised. Pollution and global warming affect everyone. Tailpipe emissions are a major contributor to global warming and air pollution. Also, every gas station has at least one large tank. Some of them leak, and all of them require trucks delivering fuel. This activity involves accidents, spills and all that goes with maintaining and operating fleets of fuel trucks. Surely, distribution of electricity is cleaner and cheaper. Protecting the world we all live in is not a partisan issue, it is a human issue. ~ Leo Carter, Yarmouth

Critics want Maine PUC to reject CMP’s request to waive review of corporate takeover

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 16, 2024

Central Maine Power’s parent company is Spanish energy giant Iberdrola. The company wants to buy the remaining 18.4% of shares of Avangrid Inc., making it privately held. CMP has asked the Maine Public Utilities Commission to waive a state law requiring a review of the transaction. It said the deal would have no impact on the electricity supplier’s roughly 636,000 Maine customers. But the Office of the Public Advocate and the Natural Resources Council of Maine have asked the commission to not grant an exemption. They say the takeover would harm ratepayers by limiting the information available to them about Avangrid’s finances, investments and oversight.

Letter: A thought solar power

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 16, 2024

I have solar and I’ve had it for years but no big company will ever come to the western mountains/rural areas. They just say, “Oh, I don’t go there.” And, if people buy all the equipment, as I do, electricians commonly say “Oh, I don’t do solar.” Electricians can do solar. We need to encourage companies to help the folks in the western mountains/northern reaches get access to solar. ~ Jean Antonucci, Portland

Column: 3 simple ways to sort out shorebirds for identification

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 16, 2024

Approximately 30 shorebird species pop up somewhere in our state every year, and they can look annoyingly similar. No wonder some frustrated birders just tear out the shorebird pages from the field guide and give up. To better identify a shorebird, don’t identify it. First, assess what you’re looking at, and make a judgment about size, shape and location. Sort it into a pile with similar shorebirds. Then, instead of sorting through 30 birds, you’re only picking it out of half a dozen or so. To tell apart all the similar-looking shorebirds, there are plenty of field guides available. ~ Bob Duchesne

Maine fields produce mysterious white blueberries

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 16, 2024

As the wild blueberry harvest rolls in across Maine, pickers and customers may find rare surprises in their pint boxes: small white or pink berries that look unripe but don’t taste like it. These unusual berries are the result of the genetic diversity in the state’s vast wild blueberry fields. Most bear fruit in shades of blue, with variations of light and dark. Light purple, pink or white berries lack the pigment that gives most berries their color, similar to albinism.

Feds announce funding push for ropeless fishing gear that spares rare whales

ASSOCIATED PRESS • August 15, 2024

Federal fishing managers are promoting the use of ropeless gear in the lobster and crab fishing industries because of the plight of North Atlantic right whales. The whales number less than 360, and they face existential threats from entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with large ships. The federal government is committing nearly $10 million to saving right whales, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Tuesday. Nearly $7 million of that will support the development of ropeless gear by providing funds to fishing industry members to assess and provide feedback on the technology.

Interior secretary visits Maine site that could become Frances Perkins monument

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 15, 2024

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland visited the midcoast town of Newcastle on Thursday to meet with local officials about the possibility of turning the Frances Perkins Homestead into a national monument. The area is the former home of Frances Perkins, the first female Cabinet member and a crusader for workers’ rights in the early to mid 1900s. National monument status would help the Frances Perkins Center share her story with more people. The designation would turn the homestead into federal property and make it eligible for congressional funds. The national attention would also help bring more economic assistance to preserve the land. Anyone who would like to show support for the designation can sign the organization’s petition.

Interior Secretary considers creating national monument honoring Frances Perkins

MAINE PUBLIC • August 15, 2024

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is in Maine Thursday to consider whether to create a new national monument honoring Frances Perkins. Perkins served as the nation's first female Cabinet member from 1933 to 1945. As labor secretary under President Franklin Roosevelt, Perkins helped to design many of the "New Deal" reforms. Those include the creation of Social Security and the establishment of a federal minimum wage and a 40-hour work week. The Perkins family homestead in Newcastle is already on the national register of historic places. But Haaland is meeting with representatives of the Frances Perkins Center and elected officials to discuss elevating the homestead to national monument status. This weekend, Haaland plans to visit Maine's only other national monument: Katahdin Woods and Waters, to formally open a visitor's center.

Maine Street tree removal sparks outcry amid Brunswick sidewalk overhaul

TIMES RECORD • August 15, 2024

Crews removed a mature tree along Maine Street in Brunswick on Tuesday, sparking an outcry against tree-chopping in the midst of the town's sidewalk project. Beginning in May 2024, Brunswick launched its Streetscape Project on the west side of the road. The initiative aims to overhaul 5,000 square yards of aging pathways lining Maine Street and add in features like benches, new tree pits and more. The project sparked an uproar as residents realized more of the original trees were coming down than anticipated. Now some residents are wondering what can be done to preserve what's left.

Letter: We need offshore wind to help address climate change

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 15, 2024

As a new Mainer originally from the Philippines, I have seen and experienced for myself ever worsening weather patterns. Where we live in the Philippines, there has been an obvious increase in the intensity of heat, frequency and severity of storms, and depth of flooding. These weather disturbances are going to lead to more power outages, so we are in desperate need of new forms of power production. This is why I support offshore wind turbines. They would not only benefit businesses and people around Maine but also create new employment opportunities to build and maintain the offshore wind sites. Let’s get our voices heard by contacting our representatives about coastal wind turbines. ~ Miguel Amador, Brunswick

Pingree urges Biden to give the fashion industry a voice in climate policy discussions

MAINE MORNING STAR • August 15, 2024

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and her slow fashion caucus sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to include the fashion industry in his new White House Task Force on Climate and Trade. In the letter, Pingree, a Democrat, and the rest of the caucus highlighted the environmental challenges the fashion and textile industries pose, calling them a “fundamental missing piece” to addressing the climate crisis. The six representatives who signed the letter said they want to see members from the fashion and textile industries added to the president’s task force to ensure their voices and policy recommendations are part of those climate conversations.

Healthy herd gives promise to thousands with antlerless deer permits

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 15, 2024

Maine’s deer herd is healthy and is one of the largest the state’s ever had. The estimate is 360,000. A mild winter and a drier spring than last year means a higher survival rate. Maine’s deer herd is healthy and is one of the largest the state’s ever had, according to a deer biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. A mild winter and a drier spring than last year means a higher survival rate.

Regulators will have another 30 days to decide if public benefits from Old Town landfill expansion

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 15, 2024

Regulators will have more time to determine whether the public will benefit from expanding the state-owned landfill in Old Town. The deadline for completing the review of Casella Waste Systems’ proposal to expand Juniper Ridge Landfill was Aug. 23. But regulators now have until Sept. 23, with a deadline for the public to submit comments set for Sept. 5, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. That’s to give staff more time to “thoroughly” review Casella’s application and supporting documents, receive and review public comments, and give the public time to review information.

Who was Frances Perkins, whose Maine homestead may become a national monument?

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 15, 2024

Federal officials are scheduled to visit the Frances Perkins Homestead in Newcastle on Thursday following requests to designate the property as a national monument. The Washington Post reported that President Joe Biden is planning to sign an executive order declaring the homestead as a national monument, although U.S. Department of Interior officials haven’t confirmed that. Though the homestead has been open to the public for years and was named a National Historic Landmark in 2014, the monument designation would mean the family homestead of the pioneering worker-rights advocate will gain a national spotlight. Perkins was the first-ever woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. She was instrumental in crafting much of the legislation that was part of Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Falmouth hiker rescued from a Redington Mountain trail in northern Franklin County

SUN JOURNAL • August 15, 2024

A 71-year-old man was rescued Wednesday after he collapsed while hiking down a trail after reaching the top of Redington Mountain, a 4,010 foot mountain. Maine game wardens, members of the Maine Forest Service, and the Carrabassett Valley and Eustis fire departments rescued Gerard Jalbert,  71, of Falmouth. Jalbert was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland. He remained at the hospital Thursday in stable condition.

Maine wants your opinion on protecting farmland from solar farms

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 15, 2024

Five years ago, Maine made it easier to build ground-based solar projects, which have multiplied across the state. Some are concerned about the number of projects on Maine’s limited amount of land suited for farming, which is already disappearing to development. The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry has proposed changes to the permitting process that could discourage solar energy development on valuable farmland. Public comment on the draft is open through the end of August.