Maine
As Maine’s farmers struggle through extreme weather, local restaurants feel the pinch – The Boston Globe
Scientists would soon find the culprit: longfin squid followed warmer waters into the Gulf of Maine migrating from farther south, which led to the collapse of the fishery. A decade later, as heating in the Gulf of Maine continues to outpace most bodies of water in the world, the shrimp fishery still hasn’t recovered.
The shrimp were an early sign of how changes in the climate can decimate a food source, affecting a harvest and the restaurants that depend on it.
Increasingly, those signs are hard to ignore. Farmers and fishermen around the state said erratic weather patterns are leading to regular crop failures, loss of infrastructure as roads and farm structures are battered by rain and wind, and more — issues that add costs and stress onto a livelihood that was already costly and stressful.
Restaurant owners — who also face dips in tourism during extended rainy periods, and expensive repairs when extreme heat pushes air conditioners past their limit — said local food is a core tenet of many of Maine’s vaunted restaurants. Losing those sources means losing a piece of what makes their food so special. Shipping food in from other places means sacrificing taste and quality, while also adding new sources of carbon emissions from long-haul deliveries.
“We get a lot of people in the restaurant who believe in the same stuff that we do,” said Jake Stevens, head chef and owner of Leeward in Portland. “They want to eat local food. They want to get organic food. But it does get to a tipping point . . . some people just can’t abide paying, you know, $75 for a pork chop. It’s just untenable.”
Independent restaurants such as Leeward are the fifth-largest employer in the United States, according to a recent report by the James Beard Foundation, and they are among the most vulnerable. More than a quarter fail in their first year of operation, and 59 percent fail in the first three years. While restaurant revenues have largely rebounded from the hit they took during COVID-19, it isn’t expected to last, as a warming climate impacts crop yields and drives higher inflation.
The worst of those impacts are expected in years to come, but already, some are showing up.
At Bumbleroot Organic Farm, an 8-acre plot outside Portland that sells vegetables and flowers to roughly 30 local restaurants, it’s been one challenge after another.
The summer of 2022, it was sweltering temperatures and little rain. Crew had to wake up throughout the night to irrigate fields and save the crops. The following year, the reverse — the rain didn’t quit. One field got so saturated, it never really dried out, causing entire plantings to fail.
“We have to literally be ready for every scenario, because it’s not just wet, it’s heat, it’s extended heat, it’s late frost, it’s early frost,” said Ben Whalen, co-owner of the farm. “The extreme nature of what we’re dealing with, even right now, is crazy.”
Leeward is one of the restaurants that get regular deliveries from Bumbleroot.
“The carrot that was $2 a pound is now $4 a pound because half the crop got washed away,” said Stevens. “That either gets passed on to consumers or we have to make tough decisions and not serve that stuff.”
When it comes to vulnerability and carrots, farmer Seth Kroeck knows the story well. This spring, a major storm dropped 3 inches of rain not long after fields of carrot seeds were planted at Crystal Spring Farm in Brunswick. Thousands of tiny seeds floated up from the quarter-inch of soil they were buried under. In the end, they were only able to harvest about 30 percent of the expected 18,000 pounds of carrots.
It’s not just the carrots. “In two of the last four springs, we’ve had a late enough frost that we’ve lost our entire blueberry crop,” Kroeck said. “Old timers” in Maine’s farming community have told him that no one can recall such frequent and severe losses.
Crop insurance and some business planning has allowed Maine’s farmers to squeak through, “but it’s been a huge challenge,” he said. Increased costs for labor, fuel, and packaging have further hurt their bottom lines.
Similar challenges are playing out in the ocean. In 2023, Maine lobstermen reported the smallest catch since 2009, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. While this year’s official numbers won’t be reported for months, locally, lobstermen report a more typical catch. It’s not yet clear what caused that, though winter temperatures in the Gulf were not as warm as they have been in recent years and lower bait and fuel prices may have led to more consistent fishing. Regardless, researchers expect that as the Gulf of Maine continues to warm, lobster will move north.
“It’s the slow change that really is going to be the problem in the long run, right?” said Matt Moretti, co-owner of Bangs Island Mussels in Portland. “It’s the constantly warming, slow crawl up in temperature” and the increased acidification, as the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, which over time can weaken the shells of some ocean species.
Then there are unexpected acute events, triggered by climate change. A few years ago, when Moretti’s team went out to harvest wild mussel spawn, which they use to grow mussels for restaurants, instead of finding ropes covered in spawn, they were met with an ugly surprise: 100,000 pounds of sea squirts, an invasive species that’s becoming more common as the gulf warms.
“We could not capture the muscle seed at the time when we’re supposed to catch it,” Moretti said.
Both at sea and on the land, harvesters aren’t sitting back and waiting for the next crisis. Moretti has begun buying mussel spawn that’s more resilient to warming waters from the Downeast Institute, a marine research laboratory in Beals, Maine. Bangs Island is doing regular ocean monitoring to better understand how changes in the Gulf of Maine may be affecting seafood. They have also diversified, growing oysters and kelp in addition to mussels.
Diversification is key on land, too. At Bumbleroot, low vegetable sales last year could have been devastating had their cut flower sales not buoyed the business.
Meg Chase, whose family owns Chase’s Daily — a restaurant in Belfast — and grows food and flowers on 20 acres of their farm in nearby Freedom, is transitioning to no-till farming, a method that increases the drainage capabilities of fields. She’s also working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, an arm of the US Department of Agriculture, to plan for resiliency and apply for grants.
One thing that’s top of mind: funds for a new farm road. “At this point, we can’t even access our fields at some points, because it’s too wet,” Chase said.
All this stress takes a toll.
Last year, as the fall came to a close, Whalen, of Bumbleroot Organic Farm, gathered his crew together to take their temperature: How was everyone feeling?
Over and over, he heard the same thing. “We put so much energy and effort into growing high-quality food . . . you do all this work, and then yet you get a zero,” he said. “Their souls were just crushed.”
This year, as the farm diversifies its crops and looks for other ways to become more resilient, they’re also seeking out ways to support each other, including a mandatory week of paid vacation during the summer for all year-round workers.
Soon, they’ll repeat last year’s mental health poll. “I think everyone’s gonna be at like, 80 percent,” said Whalen. “That’s a win. That’s a huge win.”
Sabrina Shankman can be reached at sabrina.shankman@globe.com. Follow her @shankman.
Maine
A hard lesson for Democrats in Maine. Plus, we have some news about Ed Markey. – The Boston Globe
Markey comes out and says it: One more and he’s done
By Abdallah Fayyad
Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, who will turn 80 this week, is running for his third full term in the US Senate. His Democratic primary challenger, Rep. Seth Moulton, has tried to make age and generational change the issue in this campaign. But Markey is hoping that this year will be a repeat of 2020, when he handily beat another younger (and now former) member of Congress, Joe Kennedy III.
While Markey has been able to overcome concerns about his age in the past, the reality is that time waits for no one. So on Tuesday, Markey told the Globe Editorial Board that should he win again, his next term in the Senate will be his last.
In that interview, Markey initially dodged questions about his age, arguing that he is energized and perfectly capable of doing the job. But one question on many voters’ minds is whether people in positions of power know when to call it quits. After all, Joe Biden dropped out late in the 2024 presidential race after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump fueled speculation about cognitive decline. Dianne Feinstein, the late California senator, died while serving in office amid controversies surrounding her cognitive health and memory issues. And right now, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell is in the hospital after having been recently found unconscious, and there’s little to no public information about his current condition.
Addressing these concerns about aging elected officials, Markey eventually gave the right answer to the board — one that other politicians facing similar questions about their age or health should take note of. “I would hold myself to the same standard that every elected member should,” he told the editorial board. “If I cannot do the job, I would step down. I believe the commonwealth is more than one person. I would put the needs of the people of Massachusetts first.”
For now, though, he’s running because he believes he’s still capable of doing the job. And that’s the case he has to make to voters between now and Election Day. One last time.
Right, Left, and Center: A hard lesson for Democrats in Maine
Entries by Joan Vennochi, Noah Rothman, and Abdallah Fayyad
Yes, another shoe has dropped on Graham Platner’s insurgent campaign for US Senate in Maine, and this was the biggest one yet: allegations of rape by a former girlfriend.
He denies the allegation, but just about all his one-time Democratic supporters – including senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Ed Markey – have called on him to quit the race. If he does so by Monday, the Democrats can pick a replacement candidate to challenge the incumbent Republican, Senator Susan Collins.
Here’s how our three writers view the situation.
– Jim Dao, Globe Opinion editor
Democrats have some soul-searching to do
By Joan Vennochi
It’s over for Graham Platner, the Democratic Senate nominee from Maine. After a woman with whom he once had a romantic relationship accused him of rape, politically speaking, he sleeps with the fishes.
And so does much of the hope that Democrats had of defeating longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins. Because today’s politics feel especially volatile, I am not saying all hope is lost. It’s not impossible – if someone other than Platner is the nominee.
It’s clear now that Platner was an exciting candidate with serious character flaws, and conduct which now includes an allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman while intoxicated.
A May 10 column entitled “The Platner Trap,” by David French of The New York Times was right on target. French said, “I’m seeing Democrats engage in the same process of absurd accommodation and justification that Republicans use to excuse their deep love of Trump.” David Frum was also right when he wrote a month ago that Democrats “have to choose between character and power.”
The counter-argument – What about Trump? – is not the right rallying cry for Democrats. Riding the horse picked by the people rather than the party is a fine idea, unless the horse has a totenkopf tattoo. There was enough information from Platner’s past to suggest he could be hobbled by it, and he was.
Imperfection is human. People deserve second chances. But how a man treats the women in his life is ultimately more important than how much he supports abortion rights and I’m sorry I did not write that instead of this in a recent column.
The big political names that backed Platner, especially powerful women like Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have a lot of soul-searching to do. If they allow ideology to blind them to deep character flaws, they are no better than the MAGA ideologues whom they deplore.
From that perspective, it’s interesting to consider an influential and progressive politician who did not endorse Platner – Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. Asked to respond to Platner-related controversies on June 9, the day of Maine’s Senate primary, Ocasio-Cortez told CNN: “Obviously, there’s a lot in that behavior that’s really challenging – it’s hard to stomach. But at the end of the day, I think it’s a choice.” She added, “If the choice is between that and a senator who’s voted to take healthcare away from millions of Americans, that’s the situation that we have to weigh.”
She did not explicitly say what her choice was, but instead staked out a middle ground that I recognize – neither support nor outright rejection.
At that point, the Platner controversies included a tattoo with Nazi implications that he had covered up; Reddit posts flagged as racist and sexist that had been deleted; and reports from The New York Times about sexual texts he sent to women who were not his wife, followed up by a report about his behavior from three of Platner’s previous romantic partners.
One of those previous romantic partners was Jenny Racicot, who told the Times about a 2021 incident in which Platner arrived at her house drunk after she asked him not to come over. While she said she found his behavior “reckless” and “unsettling,” she didn’t share further details until this week in Politico, when she accused Platner of rape.
He called the allegations false, but said he would “reflect” on what he would do next.
While he reflects, Democrats should also reflect on how embracing him before knowing more about him affects the battle for control of the Senate.
Platner’s legacy will haunt his party
By Noah Rothman
In a way, Democrats were well-served by their reflexive, stubborn refusal to entertain the implications of an early June story in The New York Times alleging that Graham Platner had engaged in “unsettling” behavior with women.
The “unsettling” behavior it uncovered included allegations of physical abuse. One of Platner’s named accusers, Lindsey Fifield, claimed that the Maine Senate candidate put his hands on her more than once, “sometimes hard enough to leave marks,” and even “shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out.”
But the Times also devoted several paragraphs to Fifield’s work as a conservative political operative, and that was all Platner’s supporters needed to rationalize their summary dismissal of her allegations.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said he was “unimpressed” by the charges, all of which struck him as “a lot of nothing.”
Congressman Ro Khanna said the charges didn’t amount to “evidence of violence,” and he deferred to the judgment of Maine’s Democratic primary voters, to whom the charges probably “didn’t come as a surprise.” After all, “he came back broken in a dark place” from his combat tours in Iraq – as if sexual assault were common among veterans.
“President Trump set a new standard,” Senator Mark Warner declared with mock resignation. “Whether that low standard is what we ought to proceed with is going to be, again, in the hands of the voters.”
Platner’s second accuser, Jenny Racicot, might not have told her Graham Platner story if Democrats had not taken the Times’s bait. She described in vague terms her ordeal to the Times’s reporters, but Racicot told Politico she “felt compelled to go public” because “the reaction to the Times story struck her as egregiously partisan. “My part of the story was just a read-over,” Racicot said. “And the story was Lyndsey, and the accusations of her being politically motivated.”
And Racicot’s story is harrowing. She alleges what she described as “rape” – a graphic episode in which Platner drunkenly forced himself on Racicot and had sex with her against her will. Suddenly, even Platner’s defenders – including even the morally compromised Hassan Piker – were willing to entertain the possibility that Platner’s accusers were telling the truth.
Their about-face was less a reaction to the details of Racicot’s assault than they were to her politics. “One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,” Racicot confessed.
Democrats may get lucky. They have a week to figure out how to cajole Platner out of the race and replace his name on the ballot before the state’s deadline expires. But even if the party can salvage its fortunes in Maine, the party’s dalliance with Platner will leave a legacy that will haunt the party.
They don’t believe all women. They believe women with the right politics.
Democrats had Platner, but Republicans still have Trump
By Abdallah Fayyad
It’s the end of the road for Graham Platner’s campaign. The insurgent Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine has been in scandal after scandal. And though he had so far been able to overcome negative stories about him in the past — in part because of his anti-establishment cred that propelled him to win the Democratic primary against the incumbent Democratic governor, Janet Mills — the latest allegation is a bridge too far: A woman has now accused Platner of rape.
In a story in Politico, Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old woman in Maine who had dated the Senate candidate years ago, says that in 2021, Platner came into her house and forced himself on her despite her objections. “I had been telling him these words, like: ‘No, don’t,’” she told Politico. “And, the look on his face and realizing what was happening, I just realized that, like, I am in a situation where there’s no consent here.” Platner’s campaign denied the allegation.
Since the story dropped, Platner’s supporters in Washington, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have rescinded their endorsements of him and called on him to drop out of the race. And that’s exactly what Platner should do. This is a disturbing and credible allegation, and even if his supporters believe that his policy positions are better suited for Maine and the country than Republican Senator Susan Collins’s, there is no excuse for this kind of behavior. He has until July 13 to withdraw his name from the ballot, and the Democratic Party can nominate a new candidate by July 27.
The question now is whether Platner has completely sabotaged Democrats’ potential to finally unseat Collins. If he stays on the ballot, he’s all but guaranteed to lose. And if he drops out, Democrats will need to find a candidate that can quickly build a grassroots campaign that voters can still get excited about.
I wouldn’t count out the possibility that Democrats can come back from this. There are potential candidates that are being recruited or have already expressed interest in replacing Platner. Some are also promising. Former state Senate president Troy Jackson and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows both recently ran in the Democratic primaries for governor. And though they ultimately lost, they could quickly reignite their campaigns.
The reality is that Collins faces an unfriendly political environment. These midterms will be a referendum on President Trump and his policies, which have proven to be deeply unpopular. While the Democratic Party has its fair share of problems with voters across the country, Democratic voters are energized and want to see a check on Trump’s power.
If Democrats are able to pick the right candidate to replace Platner — ideally someone who has similar policy positions so that Democratic primary voters don’t feel entirely robbed of their choice — then they could still unseat Collins. But before any of that happens, Platner needs to drop out.
In case you missed it: Boston calls out Philly (and not just for stealing Jaylen Brown)
By Rami Abou-Sabe
Elsewhere in New England, this weekend was spent commemorating America’s 250th. As usual, the team at Globe Ideas took a unique approach, recontextualizing the anniversary through the lens of lesser-known stories and historical figures. In “America at 250: An unexpected history‚” seven writers explore the stories behind the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers, and Boston’s role in all of it.
Abdallah Fayyad takes a look at James Wilson, “the Founding Father you’ve probably never heard of,” who hated the Senate and didn’t believe in the Electoral College. Harvard professor Danielle Allen shines a light on a British Duke whose role in the Revolution often goes unrecognized. And historian Ted Widmer pulls together a hilarious argument that Boston, not Philadelphia, should actually get credit for the Declaration of Independence.
By the way… if you’re not already following us on TikTok, be sure to check out Ted’s video, which, unsurprisingly, is really riling up our neighbors down in Philly.
In the mood for a podcast instead? On “Say More,” host Anna Kusmer talks to Yale historian Beverly Gage about liberals’ patriotism problem. “Whether or not people on the left like patriotism, it exists, and it’s a powerful, powerful force,” Gage tells Kusmer. What do you think? Do liberals have a patriotism problem? The transcript of the “Say More” episode has spurred a ton of debate in the comments. Take a look for yourself and join the conversation.
This is an excerpt from Globe Opinion’s weekly politics newsletter Right, Left, and Center. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Wednesday.
Abdallah Fayyad can be reached at abdallah.fayyad@globe.com. Follow him @abdallah_fayyad. Joan Vennochi is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at joan.vennochi@globe.com. Follow her @joan_vennochi. Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review and a regular contributor to Globe Opinion.
A nearly $7 million home on the coast of Kennebunk topped out as the most expensive home to sell in Maine last month.
We assembled a list of the top 10 most expensive residential properties in Maine that changed hands in June. The information comes from state transfer tax documents that are available to the public online.
While Maine’s most expensive residential property sales last month all surpassed $3 million and averaged nearly $5 million, they are not as pricey as some of the commercial real estate transactions from the same time frame.
The Press Hotel in downtown Portland, for example, sold for just under $58 million, making it the state’s most expansive property sale from last month.
— Scott Edmunds, Trustee of The Oyster Shell Real, bought 7 Shoreline Way in Kennebunk from Evergreen/Kennebunk Realty LLC for $6.9 million on June 30.
— Rebecca and Eric Deschambault bought 49 Rising Tide Lane in Freeport from Daniel and Lauren Mills for $6.7 million on June 1.
— Sea Rose Holdings LLC bought 488 Main St. in Ogunquit from John Brennan for $6.3 million on June 30.
— Set Family Investments LLC bought 9 Starboard Lane in York from The Richard Jackson Sr. 2023 Trust for $5.2 million on June 8.
— Suzanne and Christopher Hendriksen bought 904 Kings Highway in Kennebunkport from The Anchorage LLC for $4.5 million on June 15.
— The 149 Lighthouse Road Trust bought 149 Lighthouse Road in Bridgton from The William P. Boardman Irrevocable Trust for $4.2 million on June 30.
— Kevin Devaney and Melissa Croatti bought 7 Nubble Point in York from Jennifer and Andrew Amorosi for $3.5 million on June 18.
— Melanie and David Cox bought 909 Princes Point Road in Yarmouth from Thomas Harden for $3.4 million on June 18.
— The BH Family Trust bought 75 Scenic View Drive in Naples from the Denis R. Landrey and Cathleen Landry Revocable Trust for $3.4 million on June 26.
— April and Joshua Lafrance and Gail Marie Sasseville bought 93 Governors Point Road in Harpswell from Donna B. Barmore for $3.1 million on June 17.
Maine
Leslie Marshall urges Democrat Graham Plattner to exit Maine Senate race amid allegations | Fox News Video
Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall shares her personal experience as a rape survivor, stating her belief in women as Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner faces allegations.
Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall expresses her belief in women as Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner faces rape accusations. Marshall criticizes the Democratic Party for applying a ‘political litmus test’ to sexual assault allegations, emphasizing that physical abuse should not be overlooked based on political affiliation or timing.
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