Neighbors criticize proposed housing development at controversial Brunswick logging site

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 11, 2025

Roughly a year after a highly criticized clearcutting operation on 24 acres off Woodside Road in Brunswick, the property’s owner has submitted plans to build a housing development. Neighbors are pushing back, saying the housing project would encroach on their natural resources, safety and privacy. The proposed development features 122 three-story townhome units. Each townhome would have its own driveway and garage. An additional 80 parking spaces are included in the site design for guest and overflow parking. The property is adjacent to Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust’s Crystal Springs Farm trails.

Nah, we changed our minds: EPA restores $1.6M UMaine PFAS grant

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 11, 2025

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reinstated a $1.6 million grant to the University of Maine to research and reduce the effect of forever chemicals on farms one month after canceling it for being inconsistent with EPA funding priorities.

Camden voters approve dam removal

MIDCOAST VILLAGER • June 11, 2025

After years of study, heated debate and controversy, Camden’s townspeople spoke at the polls Tuesday, voting to allow the removal of the historic Montgomery Dam. Residents favored question seven on the town meeting warrant by a vote of 1,391 to 995. The question asked if the town would authorize the removal of the dam “to return the river to a free-flowing river…” Advocates of removing the dam support restoration projects in the river to make possible fish passage for species including alewives. Those opposed to the removal have cited the scenic beauty of the waterfall and reflecting pond created by the dam.

All roads and trails are now open in Baxter State Park

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 11, 2025

You now have full access to Baxter State Park. The park announced Wednesday that all trails and roads within its boundaries are open. Baxter State Park recommends that Katahdin hikers pack a map, compass, headlamp or flashlight (and extra batteries), first aid kit, extra food and water, extra clothing, knife, sunscreen, firestarter, whistle, parachute cord, and more. Katahdin’s weather can quickly change, and hikers should be prepared to encounter strong winds and chilly temperatures near the summit, even in summer.

Opinion: Additional parking spot does little for Willard Beach access

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 11, 2025

The South Portland City Council’s recent decision to install a designated handicapped parking space at the end of Deake Street — intended to provide a lookout for individuals with limited mobility — feels more ironic than inclusive, given the city’s ongoing neglect of the public access point and infrastructure at Willard Beach itself. Meanwhile, Willard Beach is facing far more pressing and widespread issues that directly affect community safety and accessibility. Hazardous conditions — broken stairs, a playground in visible disrepair and crumbling infrastructure — have been documented and repeatedly brought to the city’s attention. Yet these dangers remain unaddressed. ~ Lauren Shapiro, South Portland

Kennebunk voters toss Pay As You Throw system

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 11, 2025

Kennebunk voters decided Tuesday to get rid of Pay As You Throw, the system that requires residents to purchase town-specific trash bags to dispose of waste. The vote was 1,408 in favor and 1,078 against. In March, the Kennebunk Select Board approved a contract extension with Casella Waste Systems, allowing the company to continue curbside collections for the town. With the decision by Kennebunk voters to remove the pay-as-you-throw program, the net budget increases by $669,527.

Efforts to bolster Wabanaki, African American studies pass chambers, await funding

MAINE MORNING STAR • June 11, 2025

Initiatives to ensure the already required teaching of Wabanaki and African American studies in Maine schools passed both chambers of the Legislature this week, in an effort to bolster learning that proponents say would benefit all students in the state. But nothing is certain to become law until the end-of-session scuffles, the downfall of a similar effort last year, play out. 

Dover-Foxcroft voters overwhelmingly reject spending $9M to repair historic dam

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 10, 2025

Dover-Foxcroft residents overwhelmingly voted not to invest millions to repair the Mayo Mill Dam. Residents voted down an article that would have authorized the Select Board to borrow up to $9 million plus interest for the retention and repair of the downtown Piscataquis River structure. The article was voted down by a more than 2-to-1 margin. With the majority of citizens voting not to pay for dam repairs, the Select Board is authorized to remove the Mayo Mill Dam. The town will not use local tax money to remove the dam, instead entering into an agreement with outside parties for the removal of the dam and developing a plan for a restored riverfront.

The best Maine river for an overnight paddling trip

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 10, 2025

Forget the St. John, Allagash or St. Croix rivers. As far as I’m concerned, the Machias River is the best tripping river in Maine — maybe even in all of the northeastern United States. A free-flowing river with a large watershed, it begins in the lakes region of northern Washington County. From Fifth Machias Lake, it meanders and tumbles for 80 miles to the sea in the coastal community of Machias. Meaning “bad run of water” or “bad little falls” in Passamaquoddy, the Machias has virtually everything for the adventurous paddler. Narrow, scenic whitewater streams connect five small- to medium-sized lakes in the upper reaches.

DOJ tells Trump he can wipe out national monuments

E&E NEWS • June 10, 2025

A key legal adviser to the White House said that President Donald Trump has the authority to abolish national monuments created by prior presidents. Lanora Pettit, who helms the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), overturned a nearly 90-year-old precedent governing national monuments in a new legal opinion published Tuesday. The opinion declares that the Antiquities Act of 1906 not only allows presidents to create national monuments from federal lands, but also says they can declare that existing monuments “either never were or no longer are deserving of the Act’s protections.” Justin Pidot, a law professor at the University of Arizona who previously worked at White House’s Council on Environmental Quality, said the OLC opinion marks a “radical shift.” “This will go down as one of the most significant rollbacks in conservation in history,” Pidot said. Pettit’s interpretation of the Antiquities Act would effectively reduce protections for monuments to just the length of a presidential term, he said.

DOJ finds Trump can abolish areas protected as national monuments

WASHINGTON POST • June 10, 2025

Trump administration officials have concluded that President Donald Trump has the authority to entirely abolish protected areas set aside as national monuments by past presidents, according to a legal opinion released Tuesday by the Department of Justice. The document, which reverses a legal opinion issued in 1938, could be laying the groundwork for Trump to abolish or dramatically shrink national monuments, which confer federal protections to millions of acres of federal land. “It signals that the president is prepared to do something dramatic and at a scale that we’ve never seen before with respect to national monuments, which encompass many of our most cherished public lands,” said Justin Pidot, a professor at the University of Arizona’s College of Law and a former Biden administration official.

Hannah Pingree announces run for Maine governor

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 10, 2025

Hannah Pingree is running for governor, adding her name to a list of well-known candidates battling it for the Democratic nomination in 2026. Pingree said her campaign will focus on expanding access to affordable housing and health care, addressing the rising cost of living and building strong communities. She said she is “committed to growing the economy, creating good-paying jobs in every region and strengthening Maine’s workforce for the future,” as well as protecting  working waterfronts, farms and forests from the impacts of climate change.

Opinion: Maine’s fishermen tangled up in Medicaid cuts

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 10, 2025

The GOP megabill affects millions of Americans receiving Medicaid. With harsher requirements and more verifications, it would put health insurance to over 400,000 individuals in Maine in jeopardy. Among the groups in danger in Maine are fishing industry workers who rely on Medicaid. These are physically demanding jobs with high risks for physical and mental health implications. Among the nearly 33,000 workers in Maine’s fishing industry, rates of those with no health care coverage is 8.7% higher than the general population. Voice your support to preserve federal- and state-funded health care. ~ Marissa Williams, USM graduate in psychology, and Kristen Gleason, associate professor of psychology, University of Southern Maine

UMaine professor wins $1M grant to take a new look at old plants

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 9, 2025

A University of Maine professor has won a $1 million National Science Foundation award to develop faster, cheaper ways to study plants by developing technology to analyze the 390 million specimens already stored in archived collections around the world. Jose “Dudu” Meireles, an assistant professor of plant evolution and systematics, will use the grant to develop an open source computer model that will use genetic analysis and reflective light to study already collected plants, saving field and lab time and money and protecting rare plants from destruction. He believes it will eventually enable scientists to triple the amount of data collected from plants in a year.

As hurricane season begins, many worry over cuts to FEMA and National Weather Service

MAINE PUBLIC • May 9, 2025

The National Weather Service is predicting a particularly active hurricane season in the Atlantic region this year. This comes as the Trump administration has cut hundreds of positions within the federal emergency management agency and billions of dollars in funding. With federal cuts to funding and personnel at the National Weather Service, many who rely on its forecasts are saying they are worried that storm warnings will become less accurate. But Vanessa Sperrey of the Maine Emergency Management Agency said the state is prepared to address storms and natural disasters.

Hikers found on Katahdin died from exposure, family says

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 9, 2025

The two hikers whose bodies were found on Katahdin last week died from exposure during bad weather, a family member has said. Tim Keiderling was found dead Tuesday afternoon by a Maine Warden Service K9 search team on the Tablelands region near the summit of Katahdin. Esther Keiderling was found dead around 1 p.m. Wednesday in a boulder area between the Cathedral and Saddle Trails off the Tablelands. The pair of hikers had attempted to climb Katahdin on Sunday, May 31. Family members became concerned when they did not make contact by the evening, and park rangers initiated a search for the hikers on Monday, June 1. According to Heinrich Arnold, Tim Keiderling’s brother-in-law, the pair of hikers faced extreme conditions and died of exposure to the elements.

Canadian wildfires prompt another air quality alert for coastal Maine

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 9, 2025

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection says smoke from Canadian wildfires is again impacting air quality in Maine. Ground-level pollution concentrations in southwest coastal Maine were in the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” level Sunday and have continued in that range into Monday. The elevated level is most likely to impact children, older adults, and people with respiratory or heart disease.

Republicans in Congress axed the ‘green new scam,’ but it’s a red state boon

MAINE MORNING STAR • June 9, 2025

Clean energy manufacturers and advocates say they’re perplexed how the repeal of tax credits in President Donald Trump’s “one big beautiful bill” will keep their domestic production lines humming across the United States, particularly in states that elected him to the Oval Office. While some Republicans have labeled the billions in tax credits a “green new scam,” statistics show the jobs and benefits would boost predominantly GOP-leaning states and congressional districts.

Federal cuts may hurt Maine’s ability to meet climate goals, scientists say

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 9, 2025

Scientists and fishermen are eager to learn more about a sudden cooling in the deep waters of the Gulf of Maine, a new mystery in a body of water as well known in global science circles for its rapid warming as it is among foodies for its lobsters, oysters and scallops. That will be hard to do under a proposed federal budget that cuts funds for a national ocean monitoring system. Scientists are worried, both about the coming changes in climate and their ability to study them. Federal budget and staffing cuts may prevent Maine from achieving its climate goals.