PORTLAND (WGME) — A legal battle between the University of New England and the City of Biddeford is now headed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

UNE is suing the city after leaders approved a 180-day moratorium on university development earlier this year.

“Litigation wasn’t our first choice,” UNE VP for Legal Affairs Ron Schneider said.

UNE is suing the city for disrupting approved projects through a development moratorium the city established in January.

Schneider says while they believe there is no straightforward reason for the moratoria, they think it was sparked by the university’s push to replace an existing pier with a new one along the Saco River.

“The full year-round permanent pier will allow students to engage in research and work on the water year-round,” Schneider said.

The project first initiated in 2009 is still being debated by city leaders. According to the city’s website, the project violates a long-standing permit that requires new developments to “retain and maintain a 250-foot-wide vegetative buffer along the entire shoreline,” the pier’s proposed access road would violate that permit.

However, the project has already been approved by the city planning board.

“Now politics seems to have taken over,” Schneider said.

The city held a meeting just for public comment on the pier in October, with many opposed to the location of it, and at least one other saying it could affect boat moorings.

“There are at least seven that have to move so UNE can even use this pier,” Sean Tibbets, who has a mooring near the UNE pier, said.

A legal battle between the University of New England and the City of Biddeford is now headed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. (WGME)

Meanwhile, the university disagrees.

“In many respects, it’s a false narrative,” Schneider said. “A narrative that says, ‘This pier is going to go out into the federal channel, into the middle of the river,’ and it’s not.”

The City of Biddeford says it does not comment on ongoing litigation. When CBS13 asked UNE if they think this has affected their relationship with the city, they said with city leaders, but not the city itself.

Blueberries have grown wild in Maine for 10,000 years. These aren’t your typical grocery store blueberries. They’re smaller, sweeter, and healthier. They’re the backbone of a valuable industry in Maine, especially for Indigenous groups who’ve returned for generations to hand-harvest the fields. But in 2025, wild blueberry farmers in Maine experienced one of the worst seasons this decade, losing $28 million. So what happened? And how are farmers, processors, and scientists racing to save their ancestral wild blueberry?

SANFORD, Maine (WGME) — While some may see Monday as the unofficial start to summer, Maine leaders are using Memorial Day to honor those who served and sacrificed for our country.

There are more than 1,200 burials at the Southern Maine Veterans Cemetery. Veterans here Monday say each one of these gravestones not only represent an American who fought for this country, but someone who never asked anything in return for their sacrifice.

“Memorial Day is unlike any other day. Memorial Day is a national day of recognition,” U.S. Navy veteran Captain James Mentor said.

“I am visiting Jeffery Travis,” Ruthel LeTournaeu said. “He was my significant other. It’s kinda peaceful actually, I try to make it easy.”

Among the many Monday checking in on their relatives was Senator Susan Collins reminding Mainers what Memorial Day truly means.

“As we come together today, as we look at the rows of headstones, the flowers, and the flags, we see our history,” Collins said.

Other Maine leaders paying their respects to fallen veterans as well, including Senator Angus King.

“Celebrate Memorial Day have a great time with friends and family, but stop for a minute to remember the sacrifices of those who made it all possible,” King said.

While some may see Monday as the unofficial start to summer, Maine leaders are using Memorial Day to honor those who served. (WGME)

Governor Mills honoring veterans in Gouldsboro Monday writing to CBS 13: “We thank the men and women whose lives were lost in combat in the past, and we pray for the prompt return of those now serving in foreign lands.”

It’s been a somber few weeks in Maine with the passing of two Mainers: Maine game warden Joshua Tibbetts, who died in a plane crash, and Morrill firefighter Andrew Cross, who lost his life battling an intense blaze in Searsmont.

Senator Collins also in Searsmont, marching in a Memorial Day parade where firefighter Cross was honored.