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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Right until they closed the road, it was working.”
— Kirk Linder, co-owner of Hey Sailor! In Searsport. He and Charlie Zorich opened the restaurant just before a major reconstruction of Route 1 that detoured traffic around the town’s main drag for several years. The road project is done, but many businesses are still reeling from the disruption.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
Maine hasn’t changed its syringe access rules despite a growing HIV outbreak. Needle exchanges are effective in preventing the spread of HIV and other infections, but they can be politically unpopular.
Maine municipalities are suing chemical companies over PFAS contamination. The lawsuits have added to the thousands nationwide against 3M, DuPont and 18 more companies that made PFAS or sold products containing it.
Penobscot County officials sent an urgent request for funding to Gov. Janet Mills. The letter asks for $8 million from the state’s rainy-day fund to cover county expenses.
The Route 1 reconstruction in Searsport is over, but businesses are still feeling it. In the early 2020s, the village was on an upswing, but the multiyear detour haunts merchants.
A Bucksport official says two medical marijuana grow houses don’t have licenses. The situation illustrates how regulatory oversight of Maine’s marijuana market has evolved but still faces snags.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE
- Envelope containing white powder sent to Maine Republican Party headquarters
- Maine leaders pitch solutions to enhance grid as electricity prices soar
- Maine considers how to untether itself from federal vaccine rollbacks
- Maine hospitals raise alarms about tax changes and funding cuts in Janet Mills’ proposed budget
- New affordable housing for older adults arrives in Farmington
- Janet Mills nominates a top federal prosecutor to be a Maine judge
- Solar companies lose bid to restore Maine incentives
- Maine National Guard names its 1st female major general
- Homeowner discovered immediate issues in newly built Hampden house, lawsuit says
- Man allegedly tried to fight customers outside Brewer business
- HIV outbreak in Penobscot County reaches 38 cases
- Arson and tax liens plague shuttered Aroostook diner
- DEA agents search 2 Down East pharmacies
- Waldo County commissioners to send 2 different proposals to budget panel
- Police seize guns from Rhode Island shooter’s Maine home and storage unit
- Home from ICE detention, a father thanks his Maine church for supporting his family
- A heartbreaking tournament loss last year made Maddie Provost want to win even more
- How an unconventional 4-point play changed the course of a Maine basketball game
- These northern Maine basketball finals are full of central Maine teams
- Foxcroft sophomore takes over in the 2nd half despite early foul trouble
- This dominant post player from northern Maine has expanded her game
- Maine regional championship basketball game times moved up due to weather
- Another Fort Kent-Mattanawcook barnburner ends with comeback win for Warriors
- Down East school sending girls and boys to regional basketball final for 1st time in 30 years
MAINE IN PICTURES
FROM THE OPINION PAGES
“I sit here in midwinter and wonder if firewood will be available five years from now.”
Opinion: Human warmth — and firewood — can improve our national security
LIFE IN MAINE
Go behind the scenes with Maine’s high school sports mascots.
A 207-mile ultramarathon is coming to northern Maine.
A fishing trip with a country music singer took Outdoors contributor Kevin McKay by surprise.