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How Donald Trump’s ‘day 1’ agenda would hit Maine

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How Donald Trump’s ‘day 1’ agenda would hit Maine


President-elect Donald Trump will return to the Oval Office Monday and has vowed to carry out various “day one” priorities that could affect Maine.

Although the specifics of various pledges are still unclear or subject to changes from the mercurial Republican, the promises that could come to fruition as soon as Trump’s inauguration concludes Monday touch on everything from offshore wind to Jan. 6 rioters, among other issues.

His offshore wind ban is in the works.

Maine has failed to win a massive federal grant for a contentious offshore wind port that Gov. Janet Mills is proposing on Sears Island in Searsport, but that all may not matter if Trump carries through on his vows to halt offshore wind development.

Trump reportedly told U.S. Jeff Van Drew, R-New Jersey, to draft an executive order to halt wind projects. Van Drew told the Associated Press on Wednesday his draft order would halt offshore wind development from Rhode Island to Virginia for six months.

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That could allow Trump’s interior secretary nominee, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, to review how leases and permits were issued. Under questioning from U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, he would not commit Thursday to honoring existing leases but generally said projects that “make sense” and are currently in law would continue.

Time will tell if Maine is included. Outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration already started selling leases for areas in the Gulf of Maine that could power more than 4.5 million homes.

Pardons may be on the table for Jan. 6 rioters from Maine.

Trump has vowed to pardon as soon as next week rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and disrupted Congress as it certified Biden’s 2020 election victory, but he has not been clear on whether he will seek to pardon all of the more than 1,500 people who have been charged, with more than 1,000 sentenced so far, or only pardon non-violent offenders.

Roughly a dozen Mainers have been charged in connection with the deadly riot that featured attacks on law enforcement officers. Four Mainers have been charged with violent offenses, and not every case is resolved.

The most prominent defendant, Matthew Brackley, a former Maine Senate candidate from Waldoboro, is serving a 15-month prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to assaulting police. Kyle Fitzsimmons, of Lebanon, received a seven-year prison sentence in July 2023.

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His Canada tariff plan already has Maine’s attention.

Trump has threatened to immediately slap 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and higher rates on China. A delegation from Prince Edward Island is in Maine and other New England states this week to make the case for free trade.

Neighboring Canada is the state’s top trade partner, with wood products, seafood and mineral fuels among the key products that cross the border. Tariffs have previously played well politically in Maine but have hurt heritage industries at times, including during Trump’s first term.

U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from the rural 2nd District, reintroduced his measure Thursday to create a universal 10 percent tariff. Golden pointed to a Congressional Budget Office analysis that found it would raise $2.2 trillion through 2032. But economists have also warned of higher prices for consumers and slower global growth under Trump’s plan.

“Tariffs can be very complicated, but at the end of the day, this is what it means: If it costs our goods and services 25 percent more to come across the border, they’re going to be costing Americans 25 percent more to consume them,” Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King said.



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Maine

How a data center derailed $240,000 for affordable housing in Wiscasset

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How a data center derailed 0,000 for affordable housing in Wiscasset


On a crisp afternoon in early April 2026, Richard Davis walked to the end of a boat launch on the Back River, a tidal channel that cuts through Midcoast Maine’s rocky coastline. As the tide swept in, Davis, co-founder of a local group called Protect Wiscasset and an area resident, fixed his attention on the […]



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Mother’s Day brings boom in flower sales across Maine

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Mother’s Day brings boom in flower sales across Maine


It wouldn’t be Mother’s Day without a stop at the florist.

According to Fox Business, about 154 million flowers are sold during the week of Mother’s Day. So it’s safe to say it was a busy day for stores like Estabrook’s Maine Garden Center and Nursery.

Plenty of families stopped by to pick out flowers on Sunday, looking to choose the perfect bouquet for their moms.

“I think Mother’s Day is tradition, you know, and so it’s great to see families here. We have a lot of new families that have come today for the first time with their young children and their mother. Watching the young kids and seeing how excited they are—their eyes light up at all the beautiful flowers,” Tom Estabrook, president of Estabrook’s, said.

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Estabrook says Mother’s Day tends to be a great kickoff to the spring season.



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Maine Black Bears Swept By UMass Lowell In A Tight 5-4 Finish

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Maine Black Bears Swept By UMass Lowell In A Tight 5-4 Finish


The Maine Baseball Team was swept by UMass Lowell in the weekend series, losing on Sunday 5-4.

UMaine scored 3 runs in the 5th inning and 1 in the 6th inning to lead 4-1, but the Riverhawks scored 2 runs in the 7th and then pushed across the tying and winning runs in the 9th inning for the win.

Thomas Stabley started for Maine and went 6.1 innings on the mound. He allowed 5 hits and 3 runs, striking out and walking 1. Owen Wheeler pitched 1.2 hitless innings striking out 2. Sebastian Holt pitched the 9th and took the loss, allowing 2 hits and 2 runs, the big hit a 2-run homer to Nicholas Solozano, his 2nd of the day.

Hunter St. Denis homered for Maine, a solo shot, his 9th of the season, in the 6th inning.

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Albert De La Rosa was 2-4. JuJu Stevens , Shane Andrus, Quinn Murphy and Chris Bear each singled.

UMass Lowell is 19-27 while Maine is now 17-30.

The Black Bears will host Merrimack on Tuesday, May 12th in a non-conference game at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on 92.9 The Ticket with the pregame starting at 1:30 p.m. Maine then closes out the regular season at home with a 3-game America East conference matchup with Albany Thursday- Saturday.

Check out photos from the game

Maine-UMass Lowell Baseball May 10

The Maine Black Bears hosted the UMass Lowell Riverhawks on Sunday, May 10th

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Gallery Credit: Chris Popper





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