News
"It's tradition" — Maine Christmas tree farmers say sales are up, and so is demand for real trees
23+ hour, 17+ min ago (934+ words) Maine's small Christmas Tree growers say their sales are up this season, despite an exceptionally wet spring, a severe drought, and tariffs that have made it a tough year for many farmers. Nora Saks visited a tree grower near Skowhegan,…...
Hormone therapy has thrust menopause into the spotlight. Maine women and providers say it's about time
4+ day, 12+ hour ago (719+ words) It's a cold November evening, but in the Downeast town of Milbridge, a small group of women have ventured out to a menopause support group. They're here to share things they don't always feel they can elsewhere. "It was just…...
Maine timber companies to access revamped $32 million federal grant
5+ day, 1+ hour ago (355+ words) Maine timber companies are in line to receive substantial incentives to manage forests and grow healthier, more valuable trees. A $32 million award to the New England Forestry Foundation was recently finalized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The funding package, through…...
Regulators expand Maine's low-income electric program
1+ week, 47+ min ago (269+ words) The Maine Public Utilities Commission has approved a significant expansion to the state's low income assistance program (LIAP) for electric customers. "I think this is a very significant step forward in making this program work more efficiently, and expanding it,…...
Maine rolls out 'scorecards' for lake health
1+ week, 2+ day ago (247+ words) Maine's lakes and ponds are a treasured cultural and economic resource. And now for the first time, the state has issued online "scorecards" that show individual water bodies' environmental conditions. Monitors have been collecting data on water quality and other…...
Maine lawmakers hear from forest products industries on the impacts of tariffs on Canadian imports
1+ week, 5+ day ago (258+ words) The effect of 10% tariffs on Canadian wood imports was the subject of a public hearing before the state's Maine-Canadian Legislative Advisory Commission Wednesday. Dana Doran is executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast who says his members…...
Proposed ballot initiative seeks to repeal Maine's recreational marijuana sales law
2+ week, 29+ min ago (206+ words) A new referendum campaign aims to once again make it illegal to sell recreational marijuana in Maine. It's been nine years since Maine residents narrowly voted to legalize recreational marijuana. Since then, a robust cannabis industry has sprung up across…...
Presence of invasive sea squirts increasing as Gulf of Maine warms
2+ week, 3+ day ago (826+ words) Squishy, blobby and alien-looking, some varieties of sea squirts " so called because they squirt water when they're disturbed " have been in Maine for hundreds of years. But with the Gulf of Maine warming rapidly due to climate change, it has…...
Portland is considering a 30-story tower. Will it pave the way for more in Maine's largest city?
2+ week, 3+ day ago (770+ words) Blink, and you might miss it. It's a small surface parking lot nestled between the small brick structures in Portland's historic Old Port and the taller office buildings downtown. It's almost hard to believe that a 30-story tower might be…...
Maine could lose $13 million in federal funds in the latest skirmish over SNAP
2+ week, 5+ day ago (751+ words) The Trump administration is once again threatening to reduce federal food assistance funding to some left-leaning states " including Maine " as part of the latest salvo in a monthslong fight over access to personal data on food stamp recipients. The dispute…...