Early within the twentieth century, America’s cities had been booming. The period of electrification introduced new jobs and alternatives to hubs like New York, Chicago and Boston. Sadly, America’s rural areas didn’t see the advantages of those trendy technological developments; in truth, solely ten p.c of rural households had entry to electrical energy by 1930. It took a long time—and important authorities effort—to assist these rural communities catch up.
A century later, a brand new technological shift is creating related challenges for Maine’s rural communities. Because the web creates immense new financial, academic and social alternatives for these with entry to a high-speed connection, rural areas proceed to be vulnerable to being left behind.
We realized throughout the pandemic how vital web connectivity could be, and the way missing it could possibly compromise our each day lives. Youngsters doing their homework, seniors accessing healthcare and plenty of with the ability to make money working from home—these important actions all rely upon a dependable connection. That’s the reason we have to guarantee each Maine city, even in our most distant areas, has high-speed, reasonably priced web.
There are two important challenges our state should overcome to perform that aim. Luckily, over the previous yr, Congress and President Joe Biden have taken notable steps to handle each.
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First is the precise constructing of web infrastructure, which should run not solely by way of communities from Allagash to Arundel but additionally straight to each home within the state. The most important barrier right here is solely funding; it prices important cash to construct out broadband, particularly in rural communities like Maine’s the place homes are unfold out and the place our rocky coast and tree-covered terrain create challenges.
That’s why final yr, we included the biggest, most complete investments in broadband infrastructure in each the American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation. Between these two historic items of laws, Maine is predicted to obtain over $400 million in federal help for broadband enlargement, which is near the estimated prices to attach the complete state.
This cash is a game-changer, however full connectivity gained’t occur in a single day. Constructing this infrastructure will take time and exhausting work from organizations just like the Maine Connectivity Authority and ConnectME which might be main efforts to deploy high-speed broadband. Thanks to those federal investments and Maine’s extra state funding led by Governor Janet Mills, I’m optimistic that we are going to see each Maine neighborhood related to the web’s prospects within the close to future.
The second situation, and maybe the larger situation in years to return, is value as a result of broadband entry doesn’t do a lot good except you may afford it. For a lot of rural Maine households, some who could already be struggling to place meals on the desk, the present value of web is just too excessive.
This affordability concern was entrance of thoughts once we had been writing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation, which is why we required any recipient of funding from the invoice to supply a low-cost broadband possibility. Within the bipartisan laws, we additionally included $14.2 billion for the brand new Reasonably priced Connectivity Program (ACP). This program modernizes and extends the emergency Covid-19 broadband provisions that had been included within the 2020 bipartisan spending invoice, and it’s a large step in the direction of guaranteeing reasonably priced web entry for all. Particularly, the ACP supplies eligible low-income households with a $30 per 30 days credit score for his or her web prices and help for related gadgets. These credit are being accepted by almost each nationwide web supplier and by dozens of native Maine broadband firms.
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Earlier this yr, Biden took an vital step to appreciate the promise of the ACP by securing commitments from lots of the nation’s largest web suppliers that they would offer this $30 per 30 days high-speed web possibility. Which means that this system’s credit score wouldn’t simply scale back your web invoice—it might totally cowl it altogether, eliminating the barrier to web entry for a lot of.
Nearly 400,000 Maine folks, roughly a 3rd of our state, qualify for the ACP, however just one out of each ten eligible Mainers is enrolled. This program could make an enormous distinction for folk struggling to pay the payments. Should you assume it’s possible you’ll be eligible for ACP cost-savings, you may merely go to GetInternet.gov or name (877) 384-2575 to examine your eligibility. It’s fast and simple, and it may prevent $30 {dollars} a month or provide help to achieve entry to an internet-connected machine.
Collectively, the monumental web investments coming to our state coupled with these important new affordability applications will go a good distance to make sure that all Maine communities have the possibility to thrive within the twenty first century. There’s extra work to do—there all the time is—however we’re headed on the suitable path. Simply as electrification did within the twentieth century, these broadband investments will quickly assist join each American to the infrastructure that powers trendy life, and they’ll assist make sure that folks throughout Maine are in a position to totally interact within the financial system of the longer term.
River otters are members of the weasel family, and are equally comfortable on land or in the water.
They probably are the most fun mammal Maine has, just because they like to play. But their play antics have a more serious purpose too. They teach their young survival skills, and hone their own, that way.
You will see them slide down riverbanks and muddy or snowy hills, wrestle with each other, bellyflop, somersault or juggle rocks while lying on their backs, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
The otters in this video courtesy of Colin Chase have found a fun log to include in their games.
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Otters are social creatures but usually live alone in pairs. Parents raise two or three kits that are born in spring in a den near a river or stream, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website says.
They primarily eat fish, but also shellfish, crayfish and sometimes turtles, snakes, muskrats and small beavers, according to the MDIF&W.
Otters can swim up to a quarter mile under water, and their noses and ears close while they are submerged. They also have a membrane that closes over their eyes so they can see better under water, the Smithsonian said.
They are mostly nocturnal so it’s a treat to see them during the day, playing or hunting for food.
Maine State Police responded to more than 50 crashes and road slide-offs Saturday after southern Maine woke up to some light snowfall.
Police were responding to several crashes on the Maine Turnpike (Interstate 95) and Interstate 295 south of Augusta, state police said in a Facebook message posted around 10 a.m. Saturday.
Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss said that as of early Saturday afternoon, more than 50 crashes had been reported on the turnpike and I-295.
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“The Turnpike has seen 24 crashes and slide offs primarily between Kittery and Falmouth with a higher concentration in Saco,” Moss wrote in an email. “The interstate has seen about 30 crashes and slide offs also in the Falmouth area but now in Lincoln and heading north.”
Moss said no injuries have been reported in any of the crashes.
“So far it appears visibility and driving too fast for road conditions are the causation factors,” Moss said.
State police reminded drivers to take caution, especially during snowy conditions, in the Facebook post.
“Please drive with extra care and give yourself plenty of space between you and the other vehicles on the roadway,” the post said. “Give the MDOT and Turnpike plows extra consideration and space to do their jobs to clear the roadway. Drive slow, plan for the extra time to get to your destination and be safe.”
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New rules that went into effect in August changing who pays real estate commissions have resulted in more paperwork and some anxiety for home buyers and sellers but have had little, if any, impact on home prices in the state’s hot real estate market.
The changes, which stem from a settlement in a lawsuit accusing real estate agents of conspiring to keep their commissions high, altered the way commission fees are set nationally.
For decades, most home sales in the United States have included a commission fee, typically between 5 and 6 percent of the sale price.
The typical Maine home went for around $400,000 this fall. A 5 to 6 percent commission on a $400,000 home would be between $20,000 and $24,000, split between the agents for the buyer and the seller.
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Before the changes in August, the split for each agent was predetermined by the seller, who paid the fee for both agents. That usually resulted in fees being baked into the list price of a home.
In some states (although not in Maine) agents were able to search the multiple listing service, a catalogue of homes for sale, by the commission split, which critics said incentivized agents to steer clients toward more expensive properties with higher commissions.
Now, fees are negotiated sale-by-sale. Buyers and sellers are now each responsible for paying their own agents, meaning a buyer may have to come with more cash up front if a seller doesn’t want to pay the commission fee for a buyer’s agent. Sellers are also no longer allowed to include commission fees in their listings.
Tacy Ridlon, a listing agent with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate The Masiello Group in Ellsworth, who has been in real estate for 32 years, said it is a bit jarring to have a conversation with buyers about whether they are willing to pay part of their agent’s commission.
Once the commission is established and the agreement signed, she said, the buyer’s agent then approaches the seller’s agent to see what part of their commission the seller is willing to cover, if any.
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Ridlon said 3 percent for the buyer’s agent is a typical starting point.
“We have to start high. If the seller is willing to offer 2 percent for the buyer’s agent, then our buyer only has to pay one percent… If the seller is not offering anything, then we ask the buyer to pay a certain amount. Some can pay and some can’t. For some it’s very difficult because they don’t have a lot of money to play around with.”
The change has resulted in some confusion for many buyers and even some agents around the country, as rules differ from state-to-state. Photo by Kate Cough.
Some agents said they found the changes minimal; others find the paperwork and negotiating with buyers daunting. One agency owner said the ruling has done little to bring prices down.
“This ruling has done nothing to save buyers or sellers any money,” said Billy Milliken, a designated broker and owner of Bold Coast Properties, LLC, in Jonesport. “If anything, it’s made the cost of buying a home even more expensive.”
Milliken said his sellers have had no problem agreeing to pay both buyers’ and sellers’ commissions. The cost has been embedded in the price of the property.
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“The real loser is first time home buyers who are not educated in buying a home and also have limited cash resources,” said Milliken. “It puts them at a disadvantage.”
The change has resulted in some confusion for many buyers and even some agents around the country, as rules differ from state-to-state.
People are slowly getting used to the changes, said Monet Yarnell, president of the Midcoast Board of Realtors, who owns her own agency, Sell 207 in Belfast, adding that Maine’s real estate practices were already more transparent than many other areas of the country.
“I think it was a little confusing in the beginning, more doom and gloom,” said Yarnell. But sellers are still incentivized to offer something to the buyers’ agents, she said. And the changes have increased the level of communication between agents and their clients.
“It’s more how the money flows rather than the actual dollars.”
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Ridlon, in Ellsworth, said she has been fortunate that most sellers have offered some compensation toward the buyer’s agent commission. “I have not had a buyer who can’t do the 3 percent.”
Ridlon had one seller who was not willing to pay any part of the buyer’s agent’s commission. The property had a lot of showings, but many of the buyers asked for closing costs to be covered or for concessions in lieu of picking up part of the commission.
“That didn’t really work for my seller either,” she said. “Then he relented and said he would pay one percent.”
The property sold.
Debbie Walter sold her condominium in Stockton Springs via Yarnell and then bought another condominium in New London, N.H., with another real estate agent.
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“We’re kind of guinea pigs,” said Walter. “We were very concerned about that whole piece, both as sellers and buyers.”
Fearful the sale of their house might not proceed smoothly the couple readily agreed to pay a 3 percent commission for the buyer’s agent.
When they made their offer to buy the condominium in N.H., they offered as buyers to cover their buyer’s agent’s commission as well. But the seller in that case took an equally cautious approach and offered to cover 2.5 percent of the buyer’s agent’s commission, which Walters’ agent accepted.
“It was very stressful,” Walter said. Offering to cover their buyer’s agent’s commission, she said, created “one less headache for the whole closing procedure.”
Tom McKee, president of the Maine Realtors Association, said the settlement and new rules have had little impact.
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“It hasn’t changed anything for me,” said McKee, who is with Keller Williams in Portland. Now that the commission split is no longer listed in the M.L.S., said McKee, “there are just more questions in the transaction.”
McKee said there is no set percentage, that everything is negotiable.
“If we do our job right and are meeting with the client first, they already understand.”
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