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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I’ve never listed a property and had people personally attack me for it.”
— Doug Burpee, real estate agent for the Spring Fountain Motel in Bucksport, which recently sold despite connections to past crimes, clashes with town government, a pair of lawsuits and a reputation for poor living conditions and general disrepair.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
Rumors of a wealthy landowner are swirling after hiking land near Moosehead Lake was closed. “There’s all kinds of gossip out there, saying it’s everyone from the sultan of Egypt to ‘insert your billionaire of choice here,’” said Joe Babbitt, the Select Board chair in Beaver Cove.
A Maine family lost Social Security benefits after a clerical mistake. The case offers a preview of the pitfalls that could result from the Trump administration’s plans to downsize the agency.
High school athletes headlined a long day of testimony on Maine transgender laws. Public comments ran late into the night and largely focused on bills seeking to ban transgender girls from competing in sports aligned with their gender identity.
Old Town’s budget problems are only getting worse. The city expects to cut 17 positions and still see a double-digit tax hike after the closure of the ND Paper mill.
A promising Maine PFAS removal project is on hold. Announced with fanfare in 2022, the project was billed as a first-of-its-kind system in Maine able to remove PFAS from wastewater inexpensively.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE
- Susan Collins presses Trump officials on illegal marijuana grow houses
- Bangor recovery nonprofit seeks funding after losing key state award
- Former Bangor-area man pleads guilty to trying to hide $1M in bankruptcy case
- Presque Isle wants more Aroostook towns to support homeless shelter
- 3rd person sent to prison for 2017 murder of Down East man
- ‘Unsellable’ Bucksport motel with troubled past has sold
- Bar Harbor makes rare denial of restaurant’s live music permit
- Video shows moments before Maine town officials got into fight during budget talks
- FBI investigating alleged theft involving the manager of a Boothbay dump
- Donald Trump’s administration gives $8M to center serving Lewiston shooting survivors
- 2 Maine women arrested after police stop them in car with handwritten plate
- Flames consume tractor-trailer after Maine crash
- Wells residents debate police agreement with ICE in heated public meeting
- Freshmen have been winning awards and helping win games for UMaine softball
- A 4th UMaine hockey defenseman has entered the transfer portal
MAINE IN PICTURES
FROM THE OPINION PAGES
“Our ancestors crossed mountains and oceans, built settled communities, and somehow didn’t collapse into piles of desiccated bones without the aid of a double-insulated, vacuum-sealed jug.”
Opinion: How hydration flasks became the unofficial mascot of American overkill
LIFE IN MAINE
Ten popular birding walks are coming up in the Bangor area. To become an experienced birder, “you can just get out there, do it, make every mistake in the book and learn slowly. Or you can borrow experience from someone else and speed things up a little,” Bob Duchesne writes.
The waiting list for UMaine hockey season tickets is nearly 1,700 people long. Being on such a long list isn’t pointless and actually comes with perks.