Maine

Maine Monitor joins MINC as strategic partner

Published

11 months ago

January 13, 2025

Maine Monitor joins MINC as strategic partner

The Maine Independent News Collaborative is delighted to announce that the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, the nonprofit publisher of The Maine Monitor, is now a strategic partner of MINC and will work collaboratively with MINC and its partner news organizations.

MCPIR will bring its experience in investigative reporting, philanthropic fundraising, and audience engagement, in particular, to support the MINC newsrooms and to work with MINC partners and other independent newsrooms throughout Maine to support strong and sustainable journalism for Maine.

“We look forward to exploring collaborative news reporting projects, sharing knowledge, and supporting joint outreach and events,” said MCPIR Executive Director Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm. “In particular, we want to share our experience as a nonprofit to help Maine news organizations consider new ways to share their reporting and to seek philanthropic support for their important local journalism.”

“The addition of MCPIR and The Maine Monitor as a strategic partner of MINC to secure local news for Maine is an important move towards greater collaboration between news organizations throughout Maine — and towards a stronger news future for Maine,” Jo Easton, MINC steering committee member and Bangor Daily News Director of Development noted. “We are excited to expand MINC and look forward to building new partnerships and growing the impact of our work by addressing unmet news and information needs, investing in infrastructure of independent community news sources, and leveraging the collective to lower costs.”

The Maine Monitor is the nonpartisan, independent publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN: 27-2623867), dedicated to delivering high-quality, nonpartisan investigative and explanatory journalism to inform Mainers about issues impacting our state and empower them to be engaged citizens. MCPIR is governed by an independent Maine-based board of directors with fiscal and strategic oversight responsibilities.

The Maine Independent News Collaborative was founded in 2023 by founding partners the Bangor Daily News, Eastern Maine Development Corporation and Unity Foundation. MINC is a collaborative journalism support organization representing 1.5 million readers comprising five local news organizations with common values: Amjambo Africa, the BDN, The Lincoln County News, Penobscot Bay Press and The Quoddy Tides. The project is fiscally sponsored by EMDC.

Learn more about MINC at maineindependentnewscollaborative.org.

The Maine Monitor

The Maine Monitor is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting. Our team of investigative journalists use data- and document-based reporting to produce stories that have an impact.

Content labeled as “By The Maine Monitor” are written by staff editors and are reserved for newsroom announcements (e.g. stories about accolades earned or welcoming new hires). This content is reviewed and approved by another editor.

Need to reach an editor about this content? Email contact@themainemonitor.org

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Maine

Woman dies after crashing into stopped tractor-trailer on Maine Turnpike

Published

7 hours ago

December 9, 2025

Press Room

Woman dies after crashing into stopped tractor-trailer on Maine Turnpike

YORK, Maine (WGME) — Police say an 81-year-old woman died after crashing into a tractor-trailer that had stopped in the breakdown lane on the Maine Turnpike in York.

Maine State Police say 81-year-old Janice Goldsmith of Massachusetts was driving on the Maine Turnpike in York around 3:15 p.m. on Monday when she crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer that was stopped in the breakdown lane.

Goldsmith died at the scene.

According to police, the tractor-trailer had stopped in the breakdown lane due to a mechanical malfunction, and the driver had placed reflective warning triangles in the breakdown lane as required.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

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Maine

‘Just b——-‘: Rep. Pingree says she was lied to about ICE facility in Scarborough

Published

19 hours ago

December 9, 2025

Press Room

‘Just b——-‘: Rep. Pingree says she was lied to about ICE facility in Scarborough

PORTLAND (WGME) – Congresswoman Chellie Pingree says what she was told about an ICE facility in Maine is “B.S.”

Pingree says she and her staff got to tour the ICE facility in Scarborough Monday.

She says there was one person being detained while she was there.

The facility has three holding cells, and she says she was told there have never been more than five people inside.

Pingree and an attorney raised concerns about detainees being denied their Constitutional rights to have an attorney present.

“We checked out that office,” Pingree said. “We were told there were space limitations of bringing attorneys, so that’s just b——-, there’s plenty of room in there, you can bring in an attorney or the attorney can stand in the doorway.”

“In my particular case, my client was enrolling in an alternative, was forced to enroll in an alternatives to detention program, where he would have his whereabouts monitored,” Melissa Brennan of ILAP said. “He didn’t even understand what he was signing, and I think what’s most important is that people are deprived of that opportunity to consult with someone, to have that reassurance of having your legal counsel next to you.”

Pingree says she was told no one is held at the detention center overnight.

She says she didn’t see anything inside that was out of line for a facility like this.

CBS13 reached out to ICE for comment late Monday afternoon on Pingree’s visit, and we are waiting to hear back.

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Maine

Penobscot County’s first case of bird flu confirmed

Published

1 day ago

December 8, 2025

Press Room

Penobscot County’s first case of bird flu confirmed

A strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has been detected in a flock of backyard birds in Penobscot County this month for the first time since it appeared in Maine almost four years ago.

The case of H5N1 was confirmed on Dec. 1, according to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, which reports cases by county and does not specify towns. Federal disease tracking data show the new case affected 90 birds and is one of the few known cases in eastern or northern Maine. Two flocks were affected in Hancock County in 2023, following two in Washington County the year before.

It’s only the third known detection in a backyard flock in Maine this year; the first two, in Cumberland County, were confirmed in February and affected about 110 birds. Statewide, health officials have raised the current risk level to high in response this month as the wild birds that typically spread the disease are migrating.

That risk level reflects the likelihood of birds getting sick, not people, according to Jim Britt, spokesperson for the state agriculture department. Commercial flocks haven’t been affected. The disease has been detected in numerous wild birds around Maine this year, primarily in southern and coastal counties.

While people can get bird flu, this strain isn’t considered a big public health risk, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said. Human cases have come from exposure to birds and dairy cattle, according to the CDC, but there are no confirmed U.S. cases of people spreading it to each other.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is generally spread to poultry through the droppings of wild birds or exposure to them. It was first found in Maine in 2022, and has been detected in a handful of flocks annually after numerous cases that year.

Signs of infection in poultry include low energy and appetite, soft or misshapen eggs, swelling around the head, purple wattles, combs or legs, coughing and sneezing, nasal discharge or sudden death.

To limit risk to their flocks, poultry owners can protect them from contact with wild waterfowl by providing indoor shelter and covering outdoor areas. Sick and dying birds can be reported to the state online.

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