Meet the new face of Growing to Give charitable farm

TIMES RECORD • November 19, 2024

Growing to Give Farm Director Theda Lyden hands over leadership to Lindsay Wasko, who will carry on the mission of cultivating fresh produce for those in need. Recently, the group has attracted attention for its commitment to regenerative agriculture and its role in combatting food insecurity. This August, it exceeded over 100,000 pounds of donated produce — nearly 83,333 meals. n less than a decade, the organization at Scatter Good Farm has grown and distributed 86 varieties of vegetables across seven counties, all while using climate-friendly farming methods and supporting vulnerable communities.

Maine film ‘A Peace of Forest’ brings the natural world to the screen

TIMES RECORD • November 19, 2024

Johnson Hall Opera House in Gardiner will present its first feature-length film screening since 1956 on Saturday, Nov. 23, with “A Peace of Forest.” The filmmakers and producers, Lee Ann and Thomas Szelog, will host a Q&A with the audience immediately following the 7 p.m. movie. Created in Whitefield, “A Peace of Forest” is an 87-minute film described by audience members as, “The most beautiful film I have ever seen, exhibiting our natural world,” and “This film is a gift; it is so rich.” Touted as a quiet film, “A Peace of Forest” is a one-of-a-kind cinematic adventure, allowing viewers to experience a wild, peaceful and mysterious world that is filled with complex relationships and ways of wonder.

Maine Compass: A loon miracle on China Lake

CENTRAL MAINE • November 19, 2024

This past summer I witnessed an unusual occurrence on China Lake. In mid-May, a baby loon seen swimming along with its parents. This “loonlet” and its parents were defying the odds. For loons to build their nest right on the waters’ edge in a populated area — and for the chick to survive — is amazing. During the Fourth of July fireworks boaters crowded into the area to watch the fireworks display. One of the leading causes of loon-chick deaths is boat strikes, but the loon family survived. Bass tournaments begin at the boat landing, and I cringed every time the bass boats took off, speeding down the lake to claim their fishing spots. But the loons paddled on. One neighbor told me they watched an eagle try to make the baby loon its lunch. Fortunately, by this time the baby was able to dive. Now, having seen the challenges this young loon faced, I have new appreciation for every loon I see. ~ Bill Powell

How a Maine botanical garden hangs 66 miles of holiday lights every fall

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 19, 2024

A decade ago, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens realized that it could take advantage of the natural lull in its calendar and keep its workers on through the winter. It began an annual holiday light display that’s now the biggest in Maine and one of the most well-regarded in the nation. The Gardens Aglow light display recently began its 10th year, with about a mile of paths leading visitors through gardens with 750,000 LED holiday lights. If laid out end-to-end, the lights would stretch 66 miles in total. The team has begun to think less about making it bigger each year, and more about making it sustainable for the environment and the workers.

31,000 acres returned to Penobscot Nation promise conservation without land-use restrictions

MAINE MORNING STAR • November 19, 2024

The nonprofit Trust for Public Land is set to return 31,000 acres purchased from a timber investor in Maine to Penobscot tribal management. It will be the largest return of its kind to an Indigenous tribe in U.S. history, without any easements or other restrictions. More than 420,000 acres have been returned nationally to tribal management over the past 20 years.

Opinion: Maine is courting disaster by not addressing its electrical grid

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 19, 2024

Maine is making substantial progress toward reducing carbon emissions through the strategy of becoming reliant on a single source of energy: electricity – and distributing that electricity from the main energy corridors to homes and business through a highly vulnerable network of wooden poles located right next to our roads. In the past 10 years the amount of weight being carried by these poles in many parts of the greater Portland area has increased by close to 50%. This 170-year-old technology is no longer capable of providing Maine with secure and resilient energy. If every federal and/or state-funded transportation project included matching funds and technical assistance for grid relocation and redesign, Maine could, project by project, ensure that we are able to rely upon electricity when it becomes the only game in town. ~ Peter Ryner, research faculty member, University of Michigan, and planning director, University of Southern Maine’s Coastal Zone Laboratory

Opinion: Stand up for the environment – and for your children

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 19, 2024

Trump’s anti-climate policy declares war on our children, who will bear the brunt of accelerated climate change. Why would the Republican Party turn its back on climate progress? Because they are beholden to the fossil fuel industry, which has been paying billions of dollars for decades to politicians and political media to spread the lie that climate change is either a hoax or not a big deal. Sen. Collins has previously sponsored legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but she also accepts donations from the fossil fuel industry. We ask her now to step up and be the climate hero that our children need. Someone has to lead the Republican Party out of the wilderness. They have to start representing our families, not multinational corporations. ~ Richard Thomas, Waterville

Report finds that America is catching and eating a little less fish

ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 18, 2024

The volume and value of America’s commercial fishing industry both fell according to newly released federal figures, though members of the industry said the decline was to be expected following a recent spike in supply. The catch at U.S. ports in the 50 states fell 2.6% to 8.4 billion pounds in 2022, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s “Fisheries of the United States” report, which the agency released this month. The same report said the catch was worth $5.9 billion at the docks in 2022, the most recent year with available statistics, and that was a drop of 11%.

Auburn council supports new slate of watershed protections

SUN JOURNAL • November 18, 2024

The City Council on Monday supported a series of changes to the Lake Auburn watershed ordinance focused on limiting the impacts from farming and other related uses on water quality. While previous changes focused on limiting development, updated septic standards and a process for conducting septic inspections, the new slate of changes focuses on how agricultural uses could impact the lake.

Maine lobstermen see Trump’s 2nd term as ‘big bright spot’ for industry

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 18, 2024

Commercial Maine fishermen, who have largely supported Donald Trump since he first ran for president in 2015, have high hopes for his upcoming second administration. Many fishermen hope Trump will address are plans for offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine, which they argue would economically harm their fisheries and cause environmental damage to marine habitat. Some fishermen also hope that Trump will put other federal restrictions on the chopping block, including mandates to use whale-safe fishing gear. During his first term, after he imposed tariffs on China in 2018, it responded with a retaliatory 25 percent tariff on American lobster, which cut Maine’s exports by millions of pounds. Trump has pledged to impose tariffs on China again when he is sworn back into office.

Portland City Council votes to establish climate action fund

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • November 18, 2024

Portland will soon have a pool of money dedicated to paying for projects that reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses released by the city. The Portland City Council voted Monday night to establish a municipal climate action fund, which was recommended by city staff and the council’s finance and sustainability and transportation committees. This pot of money can only be used for its designated purpose – to cut down the city’s carbon emissions.

Lisbon Water Department identifies private service lines containing lead

SUN JOURNAL • November 18, 2024

The Lisbon Water Department, considered a large system by state standards, recently released its Lead Service Line Inventory that identified 630 service lines of concern due to lead exposure, most of them privately owned. The service stopped installing lead pipes about 100 years ago but owners were still allowed to use whatever piping materials they wanted for their homes.

Tourism to Maine dipped 9% this past summer, report shows

MAINE PUBLIC • November 18, 2024

The number of tourists visiting Maine this past summer dipped by about 9% compared to the previous year. Recent data from the Maine Office of Tourism show that direct spending between May and August barely dipped by 0.4%. In addition, fewer visitors stayed with friends or family or in second homes this past summer and stayed fewer days in Maine, according to the report. Becky Jacobson, executive director of Hospitality Maine, said visitation appears to be settling back down to 2019 levels from before the pandemic.

Sugarloaf Mountain looks for earlier start to seasons with additional snowmaking upgrades

SUN JOURNAL • November 18, 2024

Sugarloaf Mountain has an ambitious outlook for the upcoming ski season, still planning on opening this weekend ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, weather conditions permitting. Enhancements to Sugarloaf’s snowmaking capabilities include the addition of over 1,100 snowmaking tower guns and fan guns over a five-year period. The installation of a new 20-inch water main line this summer replaces an old 14-inch line along West Mountain Trail. The resort says the bigger diameter water line increases its capacity to move water volume by 10% and is already making a big difference. Snowmaking has now been extended to the Twitcher Trail for the first time, a new trail that is part of the expansion.

Maine congressional delegation welcomes release of supplemental work visas

MAINE PUBLIC • November 18, 2024

Maine's congressional delegation is welcoming a federal decision to release additional temporary work visas. The Department of Homeland Security announced Friday it would release an additional 64,716 H-2B visas for fiscal year 2025. That's on top of the baseline 66,000 visas mandated by Congress. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King said the decision will provide relief for Maine businesses struggling with a tight labor market. Dozens of Maine businesses, including many in the tourism sector, rely on the foreign guest worker program to staff seasonal, non-agricultural positions. According to federal data, more than 27,000 workers were approved for Maine-based employers in 2024.

Boil water notice issued for more than a dozen Bangor properties

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 18, 2024

A broken water main led the Bangor Water District on Monday to issue a boil water notice for properties near the break. The district said Monday morning it had begun repairing the water main break on 1st Street between Union and Cedar streets in Bangor.

Budworms ravaged Maine’s forests for years. They’re starting to come back.

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 18, 2024

A spruce budworm outbreak has plagued Maine’s northern borders for nearly two decades, with the tree-killing moths making sporadic incursions from Quebec but never reaching numbers that suggest a repeat of the outbreak that ravaged the state a half-century ago. This summer, though, state entomologist Michael Parisio’s heart sank as he surveyed the northwestern woods of Aroostook County by plane. A 3,000-acre hot spot of partially denuded spruce-fir forest suggested the once-a-generation outbreak everyone had feared might have begun. University of Maine modeling shows that more than 178,000 acres are on the verge of defoliation.

Organic carrots have been recalled due to potential E. Coli contamination

MAINE PUBLIC • November 18, 2024

Organic carrots sold at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Shaw's, Target, and Walmart have been recalled by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention due to potential E. coli contamination. One death and 15 hospitalizations across 18 states have been linked to the whole and baby carrots produced by California-based Grimmway Farms. The Centers for Disease Control said th actual number of infected individuals is likely much higher than reported. No cases have been reported in Maine.

Feds recognize Wabanaki name for Yarmouth waterfall on Royal River

FORECASTER • November 18, 2024

The Yarmouth Community Alliance for Racial Equity reached out to the U.S. Board of Geographic Names to rename the waterfall to its earliest name, Pumgustuck. The name will soon appear on federal maps. Ron Siviski, a member of the Maliseet First Nation, said recognizing the name Pumgustuck “speaks to respect and sparks curiosity” about Indigenous histories, writing Wabanaki knowledge back into the spaces where it had often been erased.

Maine CDC study shines new light on how PFAS moves from soil to livestock feed

MAINE PUBLIC • November 18, 2024

A new study led by the Maine Center for Disease Control sheds some light on how harmful PFAS chemicals move from the soil into crops used as livestock feed. Researchers hope it will help farmers manage grazing to reduce the risk of contamination. One of the key findings is that as farmers made multiple cuts of hay or grass during a single season, PFAS levels in those crops tended to be higher in the second or third cuts. Tom Simones, assistant state toxicologist at the CDC and lead author of the study, said beef farmers could feed their cattle first cut hay to lower the risk of contamination.