Late frost threatens Maine’s hard-hit wild blueberries

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 19, 2026

A late May frost settled upon the blueberry barrens at Smithereen Farm in Pembroke, pooling in the hollows overlooking Cobscook Bay and threatening buds that bloomed during the heat of the recent false spring. A similar vigil is playing out in frostbitten blueberry barrens across Maine, highlighting the vulnerability of one of the state’s signature crops to climate volatility and the growing divide between those who can and cannot afford costly defenses. The volume of Maine’s wild harvest is as volatileas the changing climate. Last year, growers had a 57.5 million pound harvest, a 36% decline. It is a uniquely Maine crisis. The state produces 99% of the nation’s wild blueberries.

The millions at stake for Orrington as another blaze erupts at embattled trash plant

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 18, 2026

A massive fire that broke out Tuesday is the latest setback for the embattled Orrington trash plant. Eagle Point Energy Center has sat idle for years, having been shuttered by foreclosure in 2023. Prior to its closure, the facility burned thousands of tons of waste a year from dozens of communities throughout Penobscot County and beyond. Then Evan Coleman purchased the facility around February 2024. Reopening was significantly pushed back by a 10-day fire in October 2024. At stake is at least $3 million of taxpayer money that Coleman is supposed to pay the town, which owns 25% of the facility. If that money is not paid, Orrington would have to foreclose on the property to recoup its losses.

Maine warns of contaminated fish in midcoast stream

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 18, 2026

Chemical contamination has made it into two more Maine waterways in concentrations great enough to pose danger to people eating the fish they catch. Testing in Sandy Stream in Freedom, Knox and Unity, and in the Sebasticook River in Winslow, found elevated levels of the toxic chemical perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in fish tissue samples, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention. PFOS is one of the many types of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Trump deal scraps two Gulf of Maine wind energy leases

MAINE PUBLIC • June 18, 2026

Energy giant Invenergy will abandon two of its offshore wind power projects in the Gulf of Maine as part of a $765 million deal with the Trump administration to invest in fossil fuel power plants instead. Under the arrangement, Chicago-based Invenergy will give up offshore leases in California, New York and Massachusetts. The lease payments will instead be redirected to building natural gas power plants in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri and a geothermal generation project in the American west. President Donald Trump is openly hostile to offshore wind power and his administration is pro-fossil fuel energy.

Trek Across Maine officials prioritize bicyclist safety

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 18, 2026

The 42nd annual Trek Across Maine, a three-day, 180-mile biking event, will begin and end in New Gloucester. The trek is a major with proceeds going toward lung health education, research and advocacy efforts. Sarah Brown, of the American Lung Association, encouraged riders to obey traffic laws and warned drivers the trek may result in congestion and intermittent delays along the route.

Inside the volunteer effort — and legal challenge — to help protect horseshoe crabs in Maine

MAINE PUBLIC • June 18, 2026

What has twelve legs, ten eyes and one tail? It's not a creature from science fiction — it's the horseshoe crab, a so-called living fossil that some scientists say is now threatened with extinction. That's at the center of a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity alleging the federal government has so far failed to include them for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Downeast, where the Friends of Taunton Bay have been monitoring horseshoe crabs for nearly three decades, the data show a clear trend. "The decline was gentle for awhile, and then somewhat precipitous," says the group's Frank Dorsey. He says they used to find more than 100 a day, but the number dropped by more than half with the arrival of invasive green crabs, which eat horseshoe crabs' eggs and can destroy eelgrass habitat.

Local artists to host plein air painting at Coastal Rivers preserves

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 18, 2026

Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust invites artists and nature lovers of all experience levels to kick off a summer of outdoor creativity with “Painting at Preserves,” a series of free monthly plein air painting and sketching sessions. The first program is from 9-11 a.m. Monday, June 22, at Seal Cove Shore Preserve in South Bristol. Led by local artists Erica Qualey and Joy Vaughan, these sessions offer a unique opportunity to explore, connect and create within the scenic beauty of the Midcoast.

Jay data center on hold indefinitely as company backs out, despite veto of statewide ban

MAINE MORNING STAR • June 18, 2026

Plans for a data center at the former paper mill in Jay are on hold after the data center company pulled out of the project — just two months after Gov. Janet Mills cited the project as her reason for vetoing a statewide data center moratorium. Town officials posted on Facebook that the company that owns the mill, JGT2, notified the town that Sentinel Data Centers would not be moving forward with the project. Rep. Melanie Sachs (D-Freeport), who sponsored the moratorium bill, said she never saw evidence to back up the promises made by developers for jobs and other benefits to the area. Sachs said the benefits of the project seemed “overstated at best,” and now residents across the state are left without the protections of a statewide moratorium.

Opinion: Annulment of EPA ‘endangerment findings’ cripples Clean Air Act

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 18, 2026

The Clean Air Act is clear. It values the environment that supports all life on Earth. But regulations limiting an air pollutant may not be imposed on a corporation unless/until EPA scientists determine that a pollutant “endangers” the environment and/or human life. President Trump in an executive order directed the head of the EPA, Lee Zeldin, to reexamine the “endangerment” rationale of the EPA with an eye to rescinding it. On Feb. 12, 2026, Trump and Zeldin (with no scientific background) announced that they were erasing the EPA’s 2009 scientific finding that six greenhouse gases “endanger” human health and the environment, thus crippling the Clean Air Act. This is unprincipled and legally unsupportable. It ignores a 2007 Supreme Court holding. State governments and national environmental organizations have appealed. ~ Orlando Delogu, Portland

Maine moves to expand deer hunting season along the coast

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 18, 2026

The state is considering adding expanded archery season for deer hunting to towns along the coast and some Maine islands. A new proposal would apply to the midcoast and Hancock County, including the islands of Verona and Deer Isle-Stonington. The expanded season starts in mid-September and ends in mid-December, bracketing regular archery season, which lasts through the month of October. The push comes as deer populations have grown along the coast, in some places eating young trees and vegetation before they can regrow and causing problems for people such as car crashes, tick-borne diseases and extensive crop damage. 

West Marine stores in Maine among 59 to close nationwide

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 17, 2026

West Marine stores in Portland and Southwest Harbor are among 59 that the national chain plans to close. The Florida-based retailer of boating, fishing and watersports equipment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May.

King among lawmakers demanding info on Trump use of national park fees to pay for D.C. repairs

MAINE MORNING STAR • June 17, 2026

U.S. House and Senate Democrats are demanding transparency from the Interior Department after media reports revealed the Trump administration redirected roughly $90 million in national parks fees to help fund renovations and upcoming celebratory displays in Washington, D.C. The administration’s use of fee revenues to pay for fountain repairs, statue upgrades and fireworks shows in preparation for America’s 250th birthday on July 4 diverts money from national parks in desperate need of billions of dollars in maintenance, lawmakers wrote in two separate early-June letters to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. Joining in signing the Senate letter was Angus King (I-ME).

South Portland authorizes $58.5M in bonds for wastewater upgrades

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 17, 2026

South Portland’s Pearl Street Pump Station will officially get a facelift. The South Portland City Council unanimously approved the issuance of up to $58.5 million dollars in sewage revenue bonds for upgrades to the pump station and new wastewater treatment infrastructure at its meeting on Tuesday. 

Boston appeals court tosses Trump memo on offshore wind, letting federal permitting continue

MAINE MORNING STAR • June 17, 2026

The Trump administration is running out of legal paths to block offshore wind development, after the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed its appeal seeking to overturn a federal judge’s ruling. The lawsuit hinges on a first-day memo issued by the Trump administration in January 2025, indefinitely pausing federal reviews and approvals for offshore wind projects. Many of the projects in the pipeline had been in the works for years, with developers making substantial financial investments, and state officials and energy regulators shaping environmental and economic forecasts around the massive projects. A separate lawsuit filed in D.C. federal court in June by seven states, including Rhode Island and Maine, also takes aim at the Trump administration’s tactics to suppress offshore wind projects. The complaint challenges the deal under which the Trump administration offered $1 billion to French company TotalEnergies to walk away from two offshore wind projects it had planned.

Orrington trash plant fire causing unhealthy particle pollution in Greater Bangor

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 17, 2026

The trash plant fire in Orrington is causing unhealthy particle pollution in Greater Bangor. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has issued an air quality alert for the region, saying that emissions from the fire are producing very high levels of particle pollution. People should take extra caution outdoors if they encounter reduced visibility or the smell of smoke.

Fire still smoldering at Orrington trash incinerator

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 17, 2026

A massive fire that broke out at the Orrington trash incinerator Tuesday night was still smoldering Wednesday morning. The blaze erupted in the southern end of the Eagle Point Energy Center, which is located along the shores of the Penobscot River. Char marks and burnt holes were visible throughout parts of the facility as black smoke continued to billow out of the facility. It’s unclear what the scale of the damage to the trash plant is, but it’s likely to be a massive blow to EPEC, which was planning to reopen this fall to resume burning trash for towns in Greater Bangor and beyond. Evan Coleman bought the facility in February 2024, and the town of Orrington is a 25% owner of the plant.

Unity Environmental University sells property in $6M deal

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 17, 2026

Unity Environmental University is selling its campus in a $6 million purchase agreement. After closing costs and transaction expenses, the university said it expects approximately $3.23 million in net proceeds. The university first put its campus in Unity on the market in 2023. The sale comes after years of consolidation, when the university moved in-person instruction to its campus at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester while expanding its remote learning options. Unity struggled with enrollment following the COVID-19 pandemic, and opted to sell the property when “demand did not return at levels sufficient to support continued operation there.” The buyer, which has not yet been publicly identified, plans to use the property for “upscale summer camp programming and outdoor experiential offerings.”

Drought fails to dull tick harms to young moose

MAINE PUBLIC • June 17, 2026

Winter ticks took a heavy toll on young moose again this year despite hopes that a fall drought would help kill off some of the parasites. Lee Kantar, a moose biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife collared moose calves had a 72% mortality rate this year because of high numbers of winter ticks. Tens of thousands of ticks can attach to a single moose. The parasites only prey on a single host through their life cycle and their feeding can be deadly to young moose and reduce fertility in adult females.

Maine awarded $16 million in federal funding to bolster development in rural communities

MAINE MORNING STAR • June 16, 2026

More than $16 million dollars in federal funding has been awarded to economic development projects across rural Maine, state officials announced on Tuesday. The funding comes from the Northern Border Regional Commission, a federal-state partnership established in 2008 to alleviate economic distress and encourage job creation in northeast border states, and the projects include a wide range of initiatives. The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry was awarded $1 million to construct a pedestrian and snowmobile bridge over the Sandy River, extending the 14-mile Whistle Stop Trail into downtown Farmington. $2.5 million goes to Main Street Skowhegan to continue construction of a riverfront promenade that connects the Kennebec River to downtown, enabling access to trails and the river’s whitewater rapids.

Maine ranks 14th in national report on life satisfaction

MAINE MORNING STAR • June 16, 2026

A report found Maine 14th out of all states on a number of factors that impact life satisfaction, ranking high on the environment and civil liberties but low on measures such as children and families, economic output and mental health. Maine received the top ranking for net greenhouse gas emissions and ranked third for air quality. Maine also ranked first for civil liberties, which the report calculated based on the rate of press freedom violations, such as assaults of reporters and restricting coverage, per 1 million residents. On the other hand, Maine ranked low for fatal overdoses (43rd) and youth depression (42nd). Maine’s lowest rank of 44th was for economic output, which is based on real gross domestic product.