Massive solar farm proposal alarms tiny Aroostook town

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 31, 2025

A solar developer faced community blowback during an informational session this week on a proposed 5,000-acre solar farm in the tiny northern Maine town of Hersey. “Just tell me now if this is something you want,” said Next Phase Energy Services President Dave Fowler during the meeting with Hersey residents. They responded that they don’t want the project, which could potentially become the state’s largest utility-scale solar project both by acreage and power generation.

Plans are underway for a bio-fuel plant to open in Millinocket

MAINE PUBLIC • January 31, 2025

A national biofuels company says it plans to site a new plant at the former Great Northern Paper mill in Millinocket. Castlerock Biofuels will convert logging residue from local forestry operations to into 20 million gallons of bio-oil per year, says company CEO John Murphy. Murphy says bio-crude from wood produces much lower emissions than traditional heating oil. He says the plant processing the wood will be powered by electricity from the nearby hydropower dam in Brookfield. The facility is expected to be operational by 2027. And according to Our Katahdin, a community development nonprofit, the new project should create 150 construction jobs, and once up and running, 80 full-time jobs in the area.

Jetport tree removal under scrutiny by South Portland officials

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 31, 2025

City officials are scrutinizing ongoing tree removal at Calvary Cemetery that’s intended to clear the runway approach to Portland International Jetport. The selective tree removal is required under Federal Aviation Administration regulations and has been approved by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which owns the cemetery. South Portland Planning Director Milan Nevajda said Friday that city officials are reviewing the tree project to ensure the jetport hasn’t exceeded FAA requirements or a city permit issued several years ago.

Appeals court reinstates lobster fishing limits to preserve right whales

MAINE MORNING STAR • January 31, 2025

Conservation groups are praising a recent decision to reinstate protections for endangered North Atlantic right whales in a particularly precarious stretch of ocean off the coast of New England. The First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston decided Thursday to restrict lobster fishing, which in turn restores protections for endangered right whales. That decision overturned a district court verdict by reinstating a 2024 National Marine Fisheries Service rule that cordoned off a 200 square mile area of federal waters between February and April, when right whales are present.

New bills could allow towns to come together and take over abandoned dams

MAINE MONITOR • January 31, 2025

A coalition of lawmakers in Hancock County are working on a slate of bills that could allow Maine towns to band together and take ownership of abandoned dams. The timing of the legislation is pertinent. The owner of the former Verso Paper Mill in Bucksport, AIM Development USA, is in the process of forfeiting ownership of three dams in the Bucksport area, where hundreds of residents reside on the dams’ lakes and pond. If the Maine Department of Environmental Protection allows AIM to carry out forfeiture, it would result in the supervised dewatering of Toddy Pond, Silver Lake and Alamoosook Lake, turning lake water into mudflats, depriving Bucksport of its drinking water source and threatening the operations of a gas-fired power plant.

2 people rescue themselves after falling through ice on Moosehead Lake

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 31, 2025

John Soares and Matthew Soares of New Jersey were fishing around the Moody Islands but decided to go to the back side of Sugar Island to get out of the wind. John, who was driving the snowmobile, saw a pressure ridge between the point and the island and slowed down, remembering being told not to go near visible marker buoys on their sled. Just then, as they moved slowly, the sled broke through the ice. He hit the throttle to try to get out of it, but the sled sank. John got out of the cold water quickly. His passenger Matthew, who was fully in the water, panicked at first but managed to get out too. The men walked to the tree line and called 911.

Why midcoast towns are blocking dollar store development

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 31, 2025

A nearly unanimous vote at a town meeting in the Knox County town of Washington on Wednesday night for a six-month moratorium on the development of any major non-residential projects. The move was meant to block a proposal to build a Dollar General in the town — a development that residents feared would threaten their locally owned alternative. Washington is part of a growing group of midcoast communities that have sought to limit their development. Lincolnville recently renewed a moratorium against big retailers for a second time, after a big project was proposed, and in 2016, Thomaston voted a similar way. Belfast has long limited the development of box stores after a Wal-Mart was proposed in 2001. Washington officials plan to consider rules changes that would permanently restrict large, non-residential retail developments.

Letter: Don’t let MainePERS get away with fossil fuels

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 31, 2025

The state’s retirement system has only one year left of the five years the law, L.D. 99, has given it to divest from fossil fuel company investments. It has done very little so far to meet this legal mandate. Aside from the obvious harm to the Earth, fossil fuels are becoming a less profitable investment. MainePERS should understand that many people are watching and waiting for it to meet its obligation. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to not let this truly important issue slide. ~ Marian Flaherty, Waterville

Letter: Inhumane killing of coyotes must be stopped

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 31, 2025

Coming from a hunting family, any animal killed was used to the fullest extent possible with little to no waste. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said when it comes to coyote killing contests, which allow unlimited numbers of coyotes to be killed for prizes. There is no credible science that supports this as a management tool. Aside from not adhering to fair chase principles or ethical hunting, killing large numbers of coyotes interferes with the important role they play in maintaining Maine’s ecosystems and biodiversity. Contact state representatives and senators to request their support for “An Act to Prohibit Coyote Killing Contests” here in Maine. ~ Tammy Cloutier, Kennebunk

Northern Maine group wants to make the 1st ever international ice carousel

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 31, 2025

The Northern Maine Ice Busters, a St. John Valley group that holds the current world record for building the largest ice carousel, is setting its sight on two new records. At an event in March, it hopes to create the first ice carousel with an international boundary running directly through the middle, and the largest one on a river. An ice carousel is a piece of ice cut into a perfect circle over a body of water and designed to spin in a circle. In order for a carousel to qualify for world record status, it needs to spin one entire revolution. They will probably cut the circle on Friday and spin it on Saturday and Sunday.

Column: You can find these entertaining birds in the North Maine Woods

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 31, 2025

Canada jays are smart enough to go to college, except that they never leave the northern forest. They are among the most entertaining of Maine birds. you don’t have to find them. They find you. While many birds view humans with suspicion, Canada jays see us as an opportunity. They deserve their nickname of “camp robbers,” coming right down to the picnic table to boldly snatch a morsel. Their coastal range in Maine extends westward as far as Sunkhaze Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Milford. Maybe that’s changing, though. I’m getting a little worried about my local Canada jays. I don’t see them as often as I used to. Or maybe they’ve just gotten bored with me, saying, “Oh, it’s just Bob again.” ~ Bob Duchesne

Brunswick waste digester proposal sparks debate

TIMES RECORD • January 30, 2025

Renewable gas developer Viridi is considering bringing in a major utility facility to Brunswick Landing, now a hotspot for contentious environmental issues. The anaerobic digester facility would bring a renewable energy source to the region — a step toward the town staying on track with its emissions goals. But Brunswick residents are concerned that the facility’s presence will add to myriad issues, such as PFAS contamination, already present in the neighborhood.

Massachusetts man killed in Jackman snowmobile crash

MORNING SENTINEL • January 30, 2025

Jamie Rooney, 52, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was riding his Ski-Doo snowmobile with a friend on the snowmobile trail ITS 89 when he traveled into Hastings Road and struck an EJ Carrier box cargo truck, driven by Katheryn Clark, 22, of Jackman shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday.

Nordic Aquafarms to pay Midcoast environmental group $125K

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 30, 2025

Nordic Aquafarms has agreed to pay $125,000 to an activist group that fought the company’s recently abandoned plan to build a large aquaculture project in Belfast. The Norwegian company had for years attempted to build a $500 million facility, which would have been one of the largest inland salmon farms in the world. The company announced this month that it would be abandoning the project, citing legal challenges. Nordic Aquafarms falsely accused Upstream Watch of interfering with its right to use the adjacent intertidal land, the environmental group said in its announcement Thursday. “Nordic in fact, never had title, right or interest to that intertidal land, as determined by the Maine Supreme Court,” Upstream Watch said. Nordic Farms agreed to pay $125,000 and interest within two years, or upon the sale of any of its property in Belfast.

Maine’s backyard beehives see highest survival rate in 8 years

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 30, 2025

Maine beekeepers reported the lowest rates of hives lost last year since the state’s apiary program began surveying them in 2016. Honeybee hives regularly die off from a number of threats including parasitic disease-spreading mites, pesticides, starvation and unpredictable weather conditions. But Maine data has shown that trend dropping, which an expert thinks might be due to education efforts. Along with producing local honey, honeybees pollinate about 80 percent of all flowering plants and most of the fruit and vegetable plants people rely on.

Trump tariffs may roil Maine energy prices, and lobster, lumber markets

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 30, 2025

Tariffs that are central to President Donald Trump’s economic policies could destabilize markets for many Maine products from lumber to lobsters to electricity. The president has said he will impose tariffs of 25% of the value of a product imported from Mexico and Canada beginning Saturday. Essentially a tax, a tariff could lead to higher prices because businesses typically pass the cost onto consumers, fueling inflation. And they drive other countries to respond with a tax on U.S. goods. Tariffs on products from Canada, which is Maine’s biggest trading partner, would send powerful ripples across the state’s economy. Maine brought in $4.4 billion of goods – fuels, oil, electricity, wood pulp and more – from its neighbor in 2024. A 25% tariff will cost Maine electricity ratepayers $8 million to $10 million a year.

Maine Republican legislators write Trump asking for further action to stop offshore wind

MAINE MORNING STAR • January 30, 2025

Maine Republican legislators wrote a letter to President Donald Trump thanking him for his recent action on offshore wind and asking him to take it a step further.  The letter sent Thursday was authored by Rep. Reagan Paul (R-Winterport). Offshore wind was a key issue for Paul in her reelection campaign last year. “Common sense, economics and environmental concerns are against the offshore wind projects proposed by Democrats for the Gulf of Maine,” Paul said Thursday. She went on to say that she and her Republican legislative colleagues “are asking his administration to finish the job before irrevocable harm is inflicted on marine wildlife, coastal communities and our quality of life.”  

So far, Portland has seen less snowfall than any winter in the last decade

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 30, 2025

Meteorologist Jerry Combs said only 16.6 inches of snow have fallen in Portland since Oct. 1. During the same time frame in 2015, the center recorded 53.3 inches of snowfall. Snow for Portlanders has long been an important conduit for activities like skiing and sledding, that make the long winters fun. The National Weather Service is predicting 2 to 3 more inches of snow may fall on Friday evening followed by a couple of more inches on Sunday afternoon. Combs said this pattern of a few inches of snow falling every few days is likely to continue over the next week or so, but he said there are no major storms on the horizon.

Insurance claim will only cover a fraction of the Brunswick spill costs

TIMES RECORD • January 30, 2025

The entity on the hook for the disastrous toxic foam spill in Brunswick last August, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, reported that it received a $250,000 payout after the incident, covering just a fraction of the costs it has racked up. The payout makes a mere dent in the $781,000 cleanup bill the authority had accrued as of Dec. 31, 2024. An airport insurance policy through the Maine Risk Management Bureau underwritten by Chubb Insurance — was denied due to a PFAS-exclusion clause. A second policy claim with Acadia Insurance was denied for the same clause.