Today is Monday. Temperatures will be in the mid-30s to mid-40s from north to south, with cloudy skies across the state and a chance for snow in the north and rain in the south. Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.
In this March 18, 2020, file photo, Marc Cooper takes a call while directing workers packing toilet paper at the Tissue Plus factory in Bangor. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty / AP Credit: Robert F. Bukaty / AP
Tissue Plus was just ramping up its production of toilet paper, napkins and other paper products in March when the coronavirus pandemic swept across the country, and demand for toilet paper skyrocketed overnight.
Credit: Natalie Williams / BDN Credit: Photo illustration by Natalie Williams / BDN
As educators scrambled to adapt their curriculums to remote learning for the school year, one Maine learning program set a standard for how to write and think about art in the pandemic era — through the eyes of kids.
Brianna Roberge and Eric Hendrickson strike a pose after hiking to Table Rock in Grafton Notch in the fall of 2020. Credit: Courtesy of Brianna Roberge Credit: Courtesy of Brianna Roberge
Throughout Maine and beyond, countless people turned to the outdoors for exercise and entertainment during the COVID-19 pandemic. With large social gatherings forbidden, theaters closed and festivals canceled, people were left with more time for outdoor pursuits. And many tried activities that were entirely new to them such as hiking, mountain biking and kayaking.
In this Oct. 9, 2020, file photo, people line up outside of Theory Wellness before opening to the public for the first day of recreational marijuana sales in Maine in South Portland. Credit: Brianna Soukup / Portland Press Herald via AP Credit: Brianna Soukup / Portland Press Herald via AP
High prices and a lack of supply are driving many Maine cannabis consumers back to the streets, where weed remains much cheaper and plentiful. The state stands to lose millions in cannabis revenue in the coming years before the recreational supply here catches up with demand and retail prices finally begin to drop for consumers.
Commissioner Kirsten Figueroa of the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services is pictured near the State House in Augusta on Sept. 10. Credit: Natalie Williams / BDN
The situation escalates tension between Maine’s largest state employees’ union and the state. The $2.2 trillion relief bill Congress passed in March that Maine used to provide a range of hazard pay to some of its employees expires on Dec. 30. The state committed $157 million of that funding to state personnel costs, a category that includes hazard pay.
Wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, James Holmberg (left) argues with a protester, who only gave the name Tara, in front of the Portland Police Station on Sept. 5 Holmberg, along with a handful of other counter protesters, showed up at the racial justice rally and mostly taunted the protesters. Credit: Troy R. Bennett / BDN
