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What we're reading
— Collins and a bipartisan group of 14 other senators released their plan to overhaul the Electoral College count that former President Donald Trump exploited ahead of the Capitol riots of Jan.6, 2021. A guide.
— Ticks, the persistence of mercury in fish and PFAS are risk harming Maine's outdoor reputation, guides say.
— Legendary Maine author Stephen King was pranked by a Russian comedy duo into thinking he was speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the latest in a similar series of hoaxes by the duo.
— Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, joined Republicans in calling on the Pentagon to stop efforts to root out extremism in its ranks, citing a scant number of examples discovered.
— A huge subdivision on a man-made lake was Maine's hottest housing market in June, although home sales declined again statewide as interest rates rise. |
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News and notes
Corridor foes and backers argued their cases before a state board on Wednesday.
— At issue is a 2020 appeal by opponents of the Central Maine Power Co. corridor of a permit granted by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection but suspended last year after voters rejected the project. Wednesday's newsletter explained the strange circumstances.
— Corridor opponents urged the Board of Environmental Protection to examine the events since the appeal, including the referendum and court cases on the project. CMP and allies argued the board has been right to not take later events into account and should preserve their right to the permit.
— The hearing reconvened today at 9 a.m. Watch it.
An outgoing lawmaker called for another public session on an investigation of the child welfare system.
— Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, said the Legislature's oversight committee should hold a public forum on its yearlong probe of the system, prompted by a rash of child deaths and persistent issues flagged by a state ombudsman.
— The administration of Gov. Janet Mills has touted progress on the issue. Lawmakers directed millions more for caseworkers in the last state budget and gave the ombudsman more authority. Lawmakers have been frustrated by the state's responses at times, though leading Democrats have responded to criticism by saying the state should be given time to implement new initiatives.
— "We need to find out what’s really going on in that office and why so many children are dying," Diamond said in a statement after a Wednesday public comment period in front of the watchdog panel. "Inviting the people who know the system to speak is the only way we’re going to find out.” |
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| Students from the Bangor Area Motorcycle School practice as part of the school's two-day basic skills course at the school's location in the former Sears parking lot at the Bangor Mall on Wednesday. (BDN photo by Sawyer Loftus) |
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| ❌ Correction: Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is cutting ribbons this week on a new automatic voter registration system at Bureau of Motor Vehicles locations. An item in Wednesday's newsletter named the wrong system. |
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