String of fires at Acadia National Park were arson, new court docs reveal

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 26, 2025

The National Park Service alleges five arson fires were started by one man on St. Sauveur Mountain in Mount Desert Island in 2023 and 2024. The Trenton man, 31 years old when a search warrant request was filed, called the park service to report fires in April 2023. He used his cellphone and provided his name. He has not been criminally charged. A park ranger interviewed the man a week after the fires, and there were “multiple inconsistencies” in his story. Another fire was set Oct. 1, 2023. The hikers put the fire out then passed a man who “seemed nervous.” Two more arson fires were started in May 2024. A car registered to the Trenton man was at Acadia Mountain Parking at the time of the fire. The man gave the ranger his real name and a fake phone number.

Janet Mills announces pick for Department of Marine Resources commissioner

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 26, 2025

Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday announced her nomination of fisheries scientist Carl Wilson to be commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. Wilson has been with the agency for 26 years and has long served as the lead lobster biologist. He will replace Commissioner Patrick Keliher, who recently announced he will retire on March 14.

Brunswick lawmaker introduces bills to address PFAS-laden firefighting foam

MAINE MORNING STAR • February 26, 2025

After a toxic spill last August, Brunswick Town Council member Sande Updegraph said many residents are still riddled with fears. They are afraid to drink their well water, to bathe, to eat vegetables grown in gardens surrounding their homes. But they also fear people will forget about the devastation or that it may happen again in their community or another. Most of all, Updegraph said, they are afraid no one is listening to them or has their backs. There was a legislative hearing Wednesday on three bills from Rep. Dan Ankeles (D-Brunswick) designed to rid Maine of Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF), which was historically used for firefighting and has been linked to harmful effects to humans and the environment. Updegraph was joined by other Brunswick town council members, as well as members of the firefighting, medical and environmental communities, testifying in support of the bills.

Backyard flocks in Maine at risk of Avian Flu

BETHEL CITIZEN • February 26, 2025

The risk status for avian flu in Maine was elevated to “high” on Feb. 11. While the avian influenza was confirmed in several birds in York and Cumberland Counties, the new risk status was issued statewide by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Infected birds in four other New England states were detected as well. DACF officials are urging commercial and backyard flock owners to maintain strong biosecurity measures to protect their birds from the highly pathogenic disease.

As bird flu spreads, feds might undercut states by firing scientists, removing data

MAINE MORNING STAR • February 26, 2025

As bird flu cases inundate more poultry and dairy farms, state officials worry that the Trump administration’s firings of federal scientists and other actions will undermine efforts to track the virus and protect Americans. Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture rushed to rehire workers who were involved in responding to the outbreak and were fired amid federal workforce cuts.

Opinion: Solar subsidies need to be scaled back

SUN JOURNAL • February 26, 2025

Residential solar is beneficial in meeting our energy goals. However, the development of large solar fields should not come at the expense of ratepayers who don’t have the means to pay the upfront costs of installing solar arrays. That’s why I introduced “An Act to Prohibit Net Energy Billing by Certain Customers.” My bill would allow individuals and small businesses to continue adding power to the grid and be compensated for that power. Large solar developers, however, would not be eligible to participate, as it is these large developments that are causing rates to go up and nearly double for some commercial ratepayers. ~ Sen. Bruce Bickford, Auburn

Maine’s spring expected to be warmer than usual

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 26, 2025

This spring in Maine promises another early mud season as the changing climate brings more days above normal temperatures throughout Maine, new data released Wednesday showed. Spring is getting warmer across the country due to heat-trapping pollution from burning coal, oil and methane gas, according to Climate Central, a nonprofit science and journalism organization. About half of Maine households use fossil fuels for heat.

Historic cleanup of mercury in the Penobscot River is moving ahead

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 26, 2025

Nearly 60 years after industrial mercury pollution began contaminating the Penobscot River, a project to remediate it has taken a step forward. One of the legal entities established to run the multimillion dollar cleanup, Greenfield Penobscot Estuary Mercury Remediation Trust, filed state and federal permit applications last week for a pilot project to cap East Cove in Orrington with several inches of sand. If approved, the results of that multiyear pilot would help determine how the trust remediates at least nine tons of mercury that have remained in the river and its estuary since the late 1960s. The overall remediation is expected to take years.

Lewiston hydropower converter station nears completion

SUN JOURNAL • February 25, 2025

Construction of the large New England Clean Energy Connect hydropower converter station off outer Main Street in Lewiston is in its final phase. The Lewiston City Council recently approved a tax increment financing district for the project, which is estimated to produce $1.4 million in revenue annually.

Mounted bear missing from stolen trailer found in Searsport

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 25, 2025

A Searsport man was arrested over the weekend on charges of stealing a camper trailer and two sheds. But police were not able to find a mounted black bear that had reportedly been in the camper before it was allegedly stolen in 2024. 

Portland Jetport’s parking expansion plan lands in court

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 25, 2025

A controversial plan to expand surface parking at Portland International Jetport has landed in court less than one month after the city’s planning board approved the $8 million project. The Stroudwater Neighborhood Association filed an appeal Monday in Cumberland County Superior Court asking a judge to reverse the Jan. 28 approval of a plan to add 265 long-term surface parking spaces near the existing parking garage. The association believes the board failed to fully consider or require the city-owned airport to provide relevant information about the project’s wetlands impacts and compliance with sustainability goals outlined in the jetport’s 2018 master plan.

Drag queens help break barriers at state ice fishing event

SUN JOURNAL • February 26, 2025

For the second year that the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife asked Ophelia Johnson and Letta the Queen, drag queens from Topsham and Portland, to lead activities at the Winter Extravaganza at Range Pond State Park, where activities included free ice-fishing instruction, snowmobiling practice, guided hikes, and knot-tying and cooking demonstrations. Outreach Director Emily MacCabe said that queer people, especially drag queens, are rarely seen participating in traditionally male-dominated outdoor sports like ice fishing. “When you think of the outdoors, and in specific to ice fishing, you think of the boys’ club,” Johnson said. “It’s very much that kind of ingrained misogyny, whereas events like this help to show that it’s not just the guys that can go out and do that, it’s anybody.”

Recreation and preservation butt heads in East Brunswick

TIMES RECORD • February 24, 2025

After years of workshopping, a plan is taking shape for a vast stretch of land in Brunswick, but opinions vary on how much, if anything, should be done to develop the land for recreation. The 230-acre swath, has the potential to include a playground, playing fields, trails and a fishing/swimming area. While the possible use of the land is long-awaited, its location between the Androscoggin and New Meadows rivers hosts a trove of wildlife habitats. Residents have opposed proposed ballfields, expressed mixed views about swimming (concerned about water quality and the scope of development) and voiced skepticism about the impact on the nearby aquifer, pedestrian safety on Old Bath Road and the cost of the endeavor.

MDI man gets jail sentence for hunting violations

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 25, 2025

A Mount Desert Island man accused of more than 60 hunting violations is spending 30 days in jail after reaching a plea deal with state officials. Benjamin Hamor, 51, of Mount Desert, also was ordered to pay more than $11,000 in fines and related charges, according to court documents. Hamor was charged with nearly 50 misdemeanors and more than a dozen civil violations after going on a spree of hunting crimes in the fall of 2020. Jeffrey Toothaker, Hamor’s defense attorney, said he potentially could have faced more than $50,000 in fines for his illegal hunting spree. Toothaker said, “It could have been a lot worse.”

Construction is starting soon on downtown Bangor’s new Wabanaki Center

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • February 25, 2025

A Bangor nonprofit aims to launch construction of a $6.5 million downtown Wabanaki Cultural Center this spring. Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness will convert the first floor and mezzanine of 16 Central St. in downtown Bangor into a cultural center that caters to local youth and shares Indigenous culture with the region. The space will also be decorated with artistic representations of Maine’s natural resources, including a river, ocean and Katahdin, with information on the significance of each in Indigenous culture.

Rumford moose roaming Rumford streets this winter

RUMFORD FALLS TIMES • February 24, 2025

A young male moose continued his monthslong wandering of the streets Monday, attracting attention, prompting a poem and a possible name of Edmund Moosky, after the town’s native son and U.S. senator, Edmund Muskie. Town Manager George O’Keefe said, “I think he is, at some point, going to be relocated by (the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife)”, or he might relocate himself to a more amendable corner of forest.” Police officers have written a poem about him which begins “In Rumford, Maine, there’s a moose on the loose, Sipping some juice with the Androscoggin goose.”

South Portland will give voters a choice: natural grass, synthetic turf or neither

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 24, 2025

After approving a substitute motion Monday night, South Portland's school district now plans to give voters a choice between a $4.3 million natural grass athletic complex, a $5.1 million version with a synthetic field, or to oppose both options.

Are taller seawalls the answer to rising seas and storm surge?

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • February 24, 2025

In response to last year’s winter storms, Maine allowed coastal landowners to rebuild docks, wharves, and piers higher to prepare for future storms and sea level rise. Now, Rep. Bob Foley, R-Wells, wants landowners or municipalities to be able to raise seawalls by up to 2 feet, even if they are located in one of Maine’s protected coastal sand dune systems, to safeguard buildings and public infrastructure from rising seas and storms. But opponents argue that seawalls meant to keep out rising waters can cause sediment erosion at their base, deflect water and damage neighboring properties, the sand dune system that provides natural flood protection and wildlife habitat, and the state’s 35 miles of sandy beaches.

Hiring freeze is lifted for seasonal staff at Acadia National Park

MAINE PUBLIC • February 24, 2025

Layoffs and a federal hiring freeze for national parks across the country have cast confusion over Acadia National Park's approaching summer season. On Friday, eight full time employees responsible for fee collection and trail maintenance were laid off. And 35 seasonal employees who had received job offers for this coming summer had their offers rescinded. But now, the hiring freeze on seasonal employees has been revoked. Eric Stiles, President of Friends of Acadia, said Acadia National Park brings in $12 million annually in entrance fees. The park's presence brings in $685 million, and supports some 6,600 associated jobs in Downeast Maine. "It's really important. There's a lot at stake here, and we have to be careful that in our efforts to reshape government, that we don't cook the golden goose,” Stiles said. Stiles said it's currently unclear if the laid off employees will get their jobs back, or how long it will take to staff seasonal jobs.

Lewiston looks to public for Sunnyside Park revamp ideas

SUN JOURNAL • February 24, 2025

Sunnyside Park on Winter Street has been considered a neighborhood asset for years, but its aging amenities are largely maintained by local volunteers. On Tuesday, the city and engineering firm Gorrill Palmer will host a “spark session” to glean ideas about how to improve the park. Should the city bring back an ice rink, install new playground equipment or add more gardens?