Earlier this month, Maine was firmly on track to become the first state to institute a moratorium on AI data centers.

The state’s Democrat-controlled legislature officially passed a bill that would ban data centers that carry a load of 20 megawatts or more until November 1, 2027, and create a 13-member council to evaluate the impact of data centers. The bill had moved on to Governor Janet Mills for approval.

But this weekend, Mills vetoed the bill, and Maine joined a growing list of states that have tried and failed to instate a data center moratorium.

Mills’ opposition to the moratorium stems from a single data center project planned in a small town in Franklin County.

“A moratorium is appropriate given the impacts of massive data centers in other states on the environment and on electricity rates,” Mills wrote in a letter announcing her veto decision. “But the final version of this bill fails to allow for a specific project in the Town of Jay that enjoys strong local support from its host community and region.”

The Town of Jay had been reeling from the job loss following the 2023 closure of a mill, and according to Mills, had been looking forward to the hundreds of temporary construction jobs and the several permanent positions that would be created by the data center that is planned for construction on the site of the old mill. Mills said that officials from the Town of Jay, Franklin County Commissioners and the regional Chamber of Commerce all sent letters to her expressing support for the data center project and asking for an exemption.

“I supported the exemption and would have signed this bill if it had included it,” Mills said.

Although she vetoed the bill, Mills announced that she would sign a separate bill that would block data center projects from participating in some state tax incentive programs and would still establish a council that would “examine and plan for the potential impacts of large-scale data centers in Maine.”

If it had passed, the Maine bill would have been the first significant regulatory outcome in the U.S. of rising public dissent against AI and the unprecedented data center buildout it has led to. Artificial intelligence has become a concept particularly unpopular in the public eye, in large part due to its negative impact on mental health, war, the environment, and the job market.

On top of that, local activists around the country are also staunchly against data center projects, worried about the soaring utility bills, water shortages, air pollution and increased local temperature often associated with the mega structures. In some instances, the opposition has even turned violent, like in Indianapolis, where a shooting took place at the home of a local politician who is in favor of a controversial local data center project. Just a few days after the Indianapolis incident, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home in San Francisco was hit with a molotov cocktail.

A big tenet of the anti-AI data center push calls for moratoriums on new project developments to give researchers and policymakers time to catch up to the rapidly evolving technology and understand its true impact on local communities, human health, the economy, and the environment. Moratorium supporters claim that with a clearer understanding of AI’s impact, governments can introduce adequate guardrails to ensure the responsible development of these AI data centers.

Mills’ decision in Maine could soon be judged at the ballot box. The governor is running for the Democratic Senate seat in the upcoming Maine primaries, and is currently trailing her opponent Graham Platner in polls. Platner had recently told the press that he thinks Mills should sign the bill into law.

A search is underway after a report that a crew member of the C/S Norwegian Breakaway was seen falling from the Boston-bound cruise ship, U.S. Coast Guard officials said Sunday.

The Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England received a report from the C/S Norwegian Breakaway regarding a crew member who had fallen overboard about 12 miles east of Wellfleet. The C/S returned to the last known place of the person and deployed their rescue boat and life rings.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter arrived on scene at around 1 a.m. to assist the search along with a crew from the Coast Guard Station Provincetown, officials confirm.

Officials are currently still conducting an aerial search as of SUnday morning along with the Station Provincetown Crew.

BOSTON – According to a release from the Massachusetts Department of Justice, six individuals have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for their alleged roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy that involved shipments of packages containing kilograms of cocaine and fentanyl from California for further distribution in Massachusetts:

1. Edwal Vargas, a/k/a “Max,” 34, of Swampscott, Mass., was indicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances; one count of money laundering conspiracy; and one count of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine;
2. Yanivel Gomez, a/k/a “Ashley,” 31, of Peabody, Mass., was indicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of money laundering conspiracy;
3. George Salvatore Landingham, 33, of North Andover, Mass., was indicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine;
4. Stephanie Tejeda, 33, of Hudson, N.H., was indicted on one count of money laundering conspiracy;
5. Tyrone Shepherd, 41, of Chestnut Hill, Mass., was indicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances; and
6. Gustavo Tavares, 44, of Studio City, Calif., was indicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances; and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

According to the charging documents, more than 260 UPS packages were shipped from California to various addresses in Massachusetts by members of the conspiracy. It is alleged that several of those packages were seized during the investigation and found to contain approximately 12 kilograms of cocaine and a kilogram of fentanyl.

The charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances provides for a sentence of at least 10 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million. The charge of money laundering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000. The charge of possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 50 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine provides for a sentence of at least 10 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $10 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah Foley; Jarod Forget, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New England Field Division; and Jason Buckley, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney K. Nathaniel Yeager of the Narcotics & Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.

This case was investigated and prosecuted by the Boston Homeland Security Task Force as part of Operation Take Back America.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.