Maine
Plan to dock Maine ferries on the mainland worries island officials
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The Maine State Ferry Service is coming under fire for proposing a change in where its boats dock at night, even as it has made progress at resolving other sources of frustration for the island communities that it serves: namely, the staffing shortages and mechanical breakdowns that contributed to many trip cancellations this year.
Since the ferry service’s inception in the 1950s, many of its boats have spent the night at their respective islands’ ports off the midcoast and Hancock County, which has helped islanders with medical emergencies get quickly transported to hospitals on the mainland.
But as part of a broader set of changes that are planned in the coming years, the Maine Department of Transportation has raised the possibility of docking all of its ferries overnight on the mainland and instead providing funds for new emergency boats to serve the islands at night.
While the ferry service has not made any final decisions, it says that such a change would help it to cut costs, operate more reliably and attract more workers, who wouldn’t have to spend the nights away from their mainland homes.
However, union officials and residents of some island communities are concerned by the concept, arguing that it could create new barriers to emergency medical care and potentially deter workers from joining the service. Officials from Islesboro and North Haven have sent letters to the service sharing their frustration.
“We have grave reservations as to the process and the substance of this scheme. Substantively, this proposal makes many major changes to the current policies that raise significant and important public safety issues,” Islesboro Town Manager Janet Anderson said in her letter. “Frankly, we expect better than this type of treatment from the executive branch of our state government and find this very disappointing.”
Beyond the debate over where the ferries should dock at night, it has already been a busy year for the service.
It continues to update its fleet, after maintenance issues on some of its older ferries contributed to trip cancellations in the last year. That has included the addition of a new boat on the Matinicus route and plans for a hybrid-electric ferry that will join the fleet next spring. Maine is also closing bids this month for a ferry capable of fully electric operations to take over the Islesboro route in the next three to five years, according to William Geary, the director of the Maine State Ferry Service.
“Last year, unfortunately, we had three vessels out at one time, but we put the money in to make sure that we have safe, reliable ferries for our passengers,” Geary said.
To remedy the shortage of ferry workers, Maine DOT enacted fare increases that have helped it hike wages and hired an out-of-state staffing contractor, Seaward Services, to boost personnel in the interim. While the first Seaward contract was awarded on an emergency basis, the agency issued a request for proposals before hiring the company again for 2025, Geary said.
However, the hiring of Seaward has created some ongoing friction with the ferry service’s regular employees, who fear that it could put the service on the path toward privatization.
On Dec. 2, the union that represents them, the Maine Service Employees Association, sent a letter co-signed by 51 lawmakers asking the state attorney general to scrutinize Maine DOT’s contracting out of ferry labor in recent years.
But Geary pushed back on those concerns. He said that the service has filled seven regular positions since it entered the first contract with Seaward earlier this year, and it hasn’t needed to use any of the contractor’s workers since Dec. 9.
Various pay increases have helped the service to bring in more employees, including raises in January and July for all state workers, and higher overtime rates for captains and crew members.
However, with at least five vacancies remaining in the service’s ranks, Geary said that Seaward has helped to improve the service’s reliability, completing 97.5 percent of scheduled trips outside weather cancellations, and that the contractor will continue to be an important backstop.
“This is not, at all, a step towards privatizing the ferry service,” Geary said. “This is what was being asked of us, if not demanded from us, from the islanders to get the boats running.”
Geary also asserted that the proposal to eventually dock ferries on the mainland could help attract new ferry workers. Those workers must now stay in the crew quarters on the islands while they’re working, separating them from home and families for a week at a time, while also forcing the service to pay for the costs of those quarters.
But that proposal could become another flashpoint.
Anderson, the Islesboro town manager, raised specific concerns about it in her letter to Maine DOT Commissioner Bruce van Note.
Besides criticizing what she viewed as a lack of a communication from the agency, she argued that it can sometimes be important for island residents requiring emergency medical attention to receive constant care on their way to the hospital, which ambulance crews can provide on a ferry ride back to the mainland, but which would be harder to offer if island taxis or Life Flight helicopters have to play more of a role.
Geary suggested that emergency vessels could berth at the islands overnight instead of the ferries, but Anderson said in the letter that an island-wide EMS system could cost some $7.5 million to start and operate, including $5 million to purchase a vessel.
Peter Drury, a former ferry captain who lives on Vinalhaven and is involved with the union representing ferry workers, challenged the notion that berthing ferries on the mainland could help attract new staff. He noted that many service employees live far from the ferry terminals and suggested that some of them would be reluctant to move closer if their crew accommodations on the islands were eliminated.
“I think that the department is just failing to acknowledge the realities of what their employee pool looks like, and they just do not understand how mariners approach their occupation,” Drury said.
While Geary acknowledged that workers would have to relocate if the change happens, he thinks it would help to attract more employees who would want to be home with their families every night.
On a larger level, he noted that medical care is not the ferry service’s core mission, but he said the agency will give the concept more consideration before it makes any final decisions.
Jules Walkup is a Report for America corps member. Additional support for this reporting is provided by BDN readers.
Outdoors
The BDN outdoors section brings readers into the woods, waters and wild places of Maine. It features stories on hunting, fishing, wildlife, conservation and recreation, told by people who live these experiences. This section emphasizes hands-on knowledge, field reports, issues, trends and the traditions that define life outside in Maine. Read more Outdoors stories here.
The weeks after ice-out are prime time for trout and salmon fishing in Maine.
While many anglers rely on live smelts, tandem streamer flies or classic lures like DB Smelts and Mooselook Wobblers, several Maine companies are producing lures that catch plenty of fish of their own.
I reached out to four Maine lure makers and asked them to send me their best catches from the last month, along with the lure that caught them.
Here’s what they sent.
Pine State Sports Supply
Owned by Justin Blouin and based in Lisbon, Pine State Sports Supply was founded in 2023. The company offers several styles of spoons and plugs designed to imitate smelt, dace, shiners, alewives and other baitfish. All trolling spoons are made by hand.
The Harry Lure
The Harry Lure is owned by Adam Bergeron. Founded by Harry Ellison, the lure was developed on New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee. Bergeron moved the company to Kennebunk and began stamping lures there in March 2024. Unlike traditional concave spoons, the flat lure is designed to swing side to side and flash light as it moves through the water.
Northeast Troller
Founded by Christian Carlson in 2016, Northeast Troller produces custom trolling and casting spoons from its shop in Thorndike. Carlson, who is also a taxidermist, began making spoons as a passion project and thank-you gift for his clients. The spoons are CAD-designed, painted and assembled in Thorndike, and tested on the water before production.
Dream Catcher Lures
Dream Catcher Lures are made by Jesse Dicker in Lincoln. Established in 2020, the company produces a variety of lures for salmon, lake trout and other species.
Its lineup includes a smelt series, trout casting and trolling spoons, dodgers, jerkbaits, bass poppers, jigs and worm-bait rigs.
Earlier this spring, Registered Maine Guides Jake Rackliff and Adam Bergeron landed a 10-pound rainbow trout on a Dream Catcher Lures Solid Pink UV.
WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s no shortage of competitive, high-stakes races and candidates with famous last names in Maine’s state primary on Tuesday.
Primaries for U.S. Senate and U.S. House will set the stage for a midterm general election in which Maine is expected to play a critical role in deciding control of both chambers. Maine voters will also have the opportunity in November to demonstrate the state’s fiercely independent streak when it comes to electing a new governor.
READ MORE: Amid controversial Senate campaigns, Paxton and Platner visit Washington to shore up support
The races feature the son of a U.S. senator, the daughter of a congresswoman, the brother of a former governor and the nephew and cousin of two presidents.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins is unopposed for renomination to a sixth term, which would put her on track to become the chamber’s longest-serving member from Maine.
Collins, the only Senate Republican to represent a state that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris carried in 2024, is a pivotal figure in the effort to win control of the chamber in November. The 51% of the vote she received in her 2020 election bid was her poorest showing since the 49% she received in her first successful run in 1996. She is frequently at the top of Democrats’ list of incumbents to oust, but her Democratic opponents have never surpassed the 44% mark in her five previous races.
READ MORE: Platner’s wife calls reports about Senate candidate’s explicit texts with women ‘shameful’
Graham Platner is the leading contender for the Democratic nomination to challenge Collins. He’s a Marine and U.S. Army veteran who took up oyster farming following combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Platner originally faced a competitive primary against Gov. Janet Mills, the preferred candidate among some national Democratic leaders, but the second-term governor dropped out of the race in April citing fundraising challenges.
Platner has two remaining primary opponents, one of them a write-in candidate. Mills is still on the ballot, despite suspending her campaign.
As of May 20, Platner led all candidates, including Collins, in fundraising for the cycle, although Collins sat atop a larger war chest.
WATCH: Dissecting what the latest primary races mean for November elections
He received key early backing from Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who reiterated his support despite recent allegations that Platner had sent sexually explicit text messages to several women while married. Platner was embroiled in another controversy earlier in the campaign regarding a tattoo he once had that was recognized as a Nazi symbol.
In the 2nd Congressional District, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden announced in November that he would not seek a fifth term in a district Trump won in 2024, along with its one electoral vote. Maine is one of two states that allocates some of its presidential electoral votes by congressional district.
The Democratic field to replace Golden includes former congressional aide Jordan Wood, state Auditor Matt Dunlap and state Sen. Joe Baldacci, brother of Democratic former Gov. John Baldacci.
The winner will face former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who is unopposed for the nomination.
Wood has far outraised the field, including LePage, in campaign contributions, although LePage had the most money in the bank as of May 20.
In the gubernatorial primaries, state Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former state Senate President Troy Jackson, renewable energy company co-founder Angus King III, former state House Speaker Hannah Pingree and former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Deputy Director Nirav Shah all seek the Democratic nomination.
The Republican field includes former healthcare CEO Jonathan Bush, former U.S. State Department official Bobby Charles, former state Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason and businessman Ben Midgley.
King is the son of independent U.S. Sen. Angus King. Pingree is the daughter of Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree. Bush is related to Republican former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
The governor’s office in Maine frequently changes party hands. The state hasn’t elected consecutive governors from the same party in 74 years.
Maine is divided into 16 counties, but elections are run by the state’s hundreds of cities and towns, a practice common in New England. Portland is by far Maine’s most populous city and forms the heart of the state’s Democratic base. The two congressional districts largely track with the state’s political demographics. The 1st Congressional District along the Southern Maine Coast is heavily Democratic, while the massive 2nd District to the north includes the bulk of the smaller, more rural areas where Trump performed best.
The state uses a ranked-choice voting system in which voters rank the candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first-place votes, the last-place candidate is dropped, and votes cast for that candidate are reallocated among the rest of the field according to the preferences of the dropped candidate’s voters. This process repeats until one candidate emerges with a majority of votes.
Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied.
When do polls close?
Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.
What’s on the ballot?
The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, state Senate and state House.
Who gets to vote?
Registered party members may vote only in their own party’s primary. In other words, Democrats can’t vote in the Republican primary or vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters may participate in either primary.
How many voters are there?
As of January, there were about 354,000 registered Democrats, about 309,000 registered Republicans and about 334,000 voters with no party affiliation.
How many people actually vote?
About 69,000 Democratic primary votes and about 60,000 Republican primary votes were cast in the gubernatorial primaries in 2022, when both nominees ran unopposed.
How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?
About 26% of the Democratic primary vote and about 12% of the Republican primary vote in the 2022 primaries for governor was cast before primary day.
As of Thursday, about 56,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election, about 33,000 from Democrats, about 13,000 from Republicans and about 10,000 from voters not affiliated with any party.
When are early and absentee votes released?
In the 2024 general election, the state’s most populous cities and towns tended to release results from all types of voting together at the beginning of the night.
How long does vote-counting usually take?
In the 2024 general election, the AP first reported results at 8:44 p.m. ET, or 44 minutes after polls closed. About 50% of the total vote had been counted by 12:54 a.m. ET, and counting stopped for the night at 4:11 a.m. ET. By 3:13 p.m. ET the day after Election Day, about 90% of the vote had been counted.
When will the AP declare a winner?
The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
How do recounts work?
Under a 2025 law, recounts in Maine are automatic if the vote is tied. A candidate for statewide or multicounty office may request and pay for a recount, although the charges are waived if the vote margin is not more than 1% of the total votes cast or not more than 1,000 votes, whichever is less. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Are we there yet?
As of Tuesday, there will be 147 days until the 2026 midterm elections.
— Robert Yoon, Associated Press
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PORTLAND (WGME) — Monday will be setting up to bring lots of sunshine with temperatures in the 70s and 80s across Maine.
Showers, thunderstorms, and rising humidity levels begin as early as Wednesday.
Planner for Monday, June 8th. (WGME)
The UV index will be very high at a 9.
Allergies continue to run moderate-to-high.
Birch, oak, and maples trees are the current allergens.
Temperature trend ahead this week. (WGME)
80s will be very common for the rest of the week, including the upcoming weekend.
Dew points ahead this week. (WGME)
Dew points will run near 60 at the coastline, indicating a sticky feel to the air.
Humidity will be on the rise, with dew points near 70 degrees by Thursday.
Rain chances ahead this week. (WGME)
Wet and stormy weather enters the forecast beginning Wednesday with afternoon and evening showers and storms.
More PM showers and storms will repeat on Thursday and Friday.
Wednesday evening. (WGME)
After bright spots in the morning on Wednesday, showers and storms will pop up by the late afternoon through the evening.
Thursday chance for showers and thunderstorms. (WGME)
A frontal passage will arrive midweek, bringing showers and storms to the area for the rest of the week. This will mostly occur in the afternoon.
Thursday and Friday will run warm, even hot, with temps in the 80s and low 90s inland.
As of Monday, there is a chance that Saturday starts with showers, but stay tuned for more updates throughout the week.
Do you have any weather questions? Email our Weather Authority team at weather@wgme.com. We’d love to hear from you!
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