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Maine woman writes scathing obituary of her US Marine mom after she died aged 65: ‘Ding dong the witch is dead’

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Maine woman writes scathing obituary of her US Marine mom after she died aged 65: ‘Ding dong the witch is dead’


A Maine woman decided to take one last shot at her allegedly abusive mother after her death by writing a brutally candid obituary. 

Following the passing of Florence ‘Flo’ Harrelson, 65, in February, her estranged daughter Christina Novak said she wrote the obituary after only finding out this month that her mother had passed. 

‘(Harrelson) died without family by her side due to burnt bridges and a wake of destruction left in her path,’ Novak wrote on the obituary, published in the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel.

The delay came because Harrelson ‘did not want an obituary or anyone including family to know she died’, Novak wrote, because ‘even in death, she wanted those she terrorized to still be living in fear looking over their shoulders.’

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‘So, this isn’t so much an obituary but more of a public service announcement,’ Novak added. 

Maine resident Christina Novak penned a brutal obituary for her own mother after hearing the news six months after her death, where she said she ‘died without family by her side’ 

Novak alleged that her mother Florence 'Flo' Harrelson (pictured) was abusive to her, and said she had a 'wake of destruction left in her path'

Novak alleged that her mother Florence ‘Flo’ Harrelson (pictured) was abusive to her, and said she had a ‘wake of destruction left in her path’ 

Despite the savage nature of the obituary she wrote about her own mother, Novak insisted to Bangor Daily News that she did not feel angry while writing it, and only felt relieved to get her final thoughts off her chest. 

‘When I wrote it. I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t angry. I was actually sitting with pen and paper and giggling to myself,’ Novak said. 

Novak also proudly shared the obituary to her Facebook page, and accompanied an image of the text with the song, ‘Ding dong, the witch is dead.’ 

She reportedly described her mother as an abusive and manipulative woman, and claimed she was not the only family member to feel relief after her death. 

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In a previous text exchange Novak shared to her Facebook allegedly sent by her mother, Harrelson was seen telling her daughter: ‘I don’t acknowledge mentally challenged, lazy, lying people as grandchildren.’ 

Novak said her mother previously served in the Marines and was a guard in the Maine State Prison, and although she was diagnosed with cancer, she heard Harrelson died from heart failure. 

During her time as a prison guard, Harrelson was sued by an inmate who alleged that she, and other officers, attempted to hire another inmate to assault him. 

The mother and daughter had been estranged for over a decade, and Novak said she only found out about Harrelson’s death six months after it happened. 

She said she decided to write the scathing obituary because she would have wanted to know sooner, primarily because she could have avoided months of being worried her mother might reappear in her life. 

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Despite the brutal nature of the obituary, Novak admitted: 'When I wrote it. I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t angry. I was actually sitting with pen and paper and giggling to myself'

Despite the brutal nature of the obituary, Novak admitted: ‘When I wrote it. I wasn’t mad, I wasn’t angry. I was actually sitting with pen and paper and giggling to myself’ 

After initially starting to write a traditional obituary on her mother’s life, Novak said she struggled to find any positive words and instead detailed her many alleged wrongdoings. 

In the end, however, she decided not to publish a long rebuke, and instead opted for a simpler public service announcement. 

After finishing the four-sentence scolding, Novak said she ran it by several family members, with the only change coming from an older relative fixing her spelling mistakes, reports Bangor Daily News. 

She said the obituary cost her $86.13 – at $1.25-a-word – which she said was more than worth it for the ‘priceless’ entertainment it provided her. 

A second, far more complimentary obituary for Harrelson also emerged online, however the author and authenticity of the obituary are not clear. 

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The second obituary said Harrelson was ‘known for her warm smile and kind heart’, and said she was ‘a pillar of strength and support for many in Maine.’ 

And while Novak said her mother’s reluctance to have an obituary was her attempt at tormenting her family one last time, the second obituary instead argued it ‘speaks volumes about the humble and selfless person she was.’ 

‘She never sought recognition or praise for her good deeds, always putting others before herself. Her legacy will live on in the countless lives she touched and the memories she created with her loved ones,’ the tribute concluded.  



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This Classic New England-Style Cottage in Maine Has 200 Feet of Atlantic Ocean Frontage

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This Classic New England-Style Cottage in Maine Has 200 Feet of Atlantic Ocean Frontage


A waterfront home with open ocean views on the coast of Maine came to market Tuesday asking $4 million. 

Built in 1978, the three-bedroom cottage is at the southern point of Cape Elizabeth, less than 10 miles from downtown Portland. The 1.1-acre property on Sunny Bank Road features 200 feet of south-facing water frontage on the wide open Atlantic. 

It is bordered by a rocky sea wall that’s about 28 feet high, according to listing agent Sam Michaud Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty

“The views are like a Monet painting,” he said via email. “The water sparkles and the waves are endless.”

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MORE: Laid-Back Costa Rica Is Getting a $7 Million Mega-Penthouse

The 3,364-square-foot home was built in classic New England style, with shingle siding, a single sloped roofline and large windows—complemented by white-washed walls, exposed-beam ceilings and wide-plank flooring on the interiors. 

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The main common area features cathedral ceilings with a step-down between the living and dining room, and a partial wall divides the dining room from the kitchen. There is also a wood-paneled family room off the kitchen, a gym and a covered porch. 

The sellers purchased the property in 2010 for $1.562 million, according to property records accessed through PropertyShark. They could not immediately be reached for comment. 

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“I have received quite a few inquiries since hitting the market two days ago,” Michaud said. “Buyers understand that this is a golden opportunity to own over an acre with 200 feet of bold oceanfront in Cape Elizabeth.”

MORE: Iranian Strikes on Dubai Put the City’s Roaring Real Estate Market to the Test

There are currently just seven three-bedroom homes available for sale in Cape Elizabeth and fewer than five waterfront properties, according to Sotheby’s and Zillow data. It is also the most expensive listing in the town, with another waterfront property on a tiny lot just south of Portland coming in a close second, according to Zillow. 

Michaud sold the former Cape Elizabeth home of Bette Davis this past summer for $13.4 million, the priciest sale on the cape in at least a decade—and even those views can’t compare. They’re “just magical,” he said. 



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NECEC conservation plan will not protect Maine’s mature forests | Opinion

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NECEC conservation plan will not protect Maine’s mature forests | Opinion


Robert Bryan is a licensed forester from Harpswell and author or co-author of numerous publications on managing forests for wildlife. Paul Larrivee is a licensed forester from New Gloucester who manages both private and public lands, and a former Maine Forest Service forester.

In November 2025, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a conservation plan and forest management plan as mitigation for impacts from the NECEC transmission corridor that runs from the Quebec border 53 miles to central Maine.

As professional foresters, we were astonished by the lack of scientific credibility in the definition of “mature forest habitat” that was approved by DEP, and the business-as-usual commercial forestry proposed for over 80% of the conservation area.

The DEP’s approval requires NECEC to establish and protect 50,000 acres to be managed for mature-forest wildlife species and wildlife travel corridors along riparian areas and between mature forest habitats. The conservation plan will establish an area adjacent to the new transmission corridor to be protected under a conservation easement held by the state. Under this plan, 50% of the area will be managed as mature forest habitat.

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Under the forest management plan, a typical even-aged stand will qualify as “mature forest habitat” once 50 feet tall, which is only about 50 years old. These stands will lack large trees that provide wildlife denning and nesting sites, multiple vegetation layers that mature-forest birds use for nesting and feeding habitats and large decaying trees and downed logs that provide habitat for insects, fungi and small mammals, which in turn benefit larger predators.

Another major concern is that contrary to the earlier DEP order, the final approval allows standard sustainable forestry operations on the 84% of the forest located outside the stream buffers and special habitats. These stands may be harvested as soon as they achieve the “mature forest habitat” definition, as long as 50% of the conserved land is maintained as “mature.”

After the mature forest goal is reached, clearcutting or other heavy harvesting could occur on thousands of acres every 10 years. Because the landowner — Weyerhaeuser — owns several hundred thousand acres in the vicinity, any reductions in harvesting within the conservation area can simply be offset by cutting more heavily nearby. As a result, the net
mature-forest benefit of the conservation area will be close to zero.

Third, because some mature stands will be cut before the 50% mature forest goal is reached, it will take 40 years — longer than necessary — to reach the goal.

In the near future the Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) will consider an appeal from environmental organizations of the plan approval. To ensure that ecologically mature forest develops in a manner that meets the intent of the DEP/BEP orders, several things need to change.

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First and most important, to ensure that characteristics of mature forest habitat have time to develop it is critical that the definition include clear requirements for the minimum number of large-diameter (hence more mature) trees, adjusted by forest type. At least half the stocking of an area of mature forest habitat should be in trees at least 10 inches in diameter, and at least 20% of stands beyond the riparian buffers should have half the stocking in trees greater than or equal to 16 inches in diameter.

Current research as well as guidelines for defining ecologically mature forests, such as those in Maine Audubon’s Forestry for Maine Birds, should be followed.

Second, limits should be placed on the size and distribution of clearcut or “shelterwood” harvest patches so that even-aged harvests are similar in size to those created by typical natural forest disturbance patterns. These changes will help ensure that the mature-forest block and connectivity requirements of the orders are met.

Third, because the forest impacts have already occurred, no cutting should be allowed in the few stands that meet or exceed the DEP-approved definition — which needs to be revised as described above — until the 50% or greater mature-forest goal is reached.

If allowed to stand, the definitions and management described in the forest management plan would set a terrible precedent for conserving mature forests in Maine. The BEP should uphold the appeal and establish standards for truly mature forest habitat.

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Rage Room in Portland, Maine, Developing ‘Scream Room’ Addition

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Rage Room in Portland, Maine, Developing ‘Scream Room’ Addition


For a lot of people throughout Maine, there’s some built up frustration that they’ve just been keeping inside.

That frustration can come in a lot of different forms. From finances to relationships to the world around you.

So it makes plenty of sense that a rage room opened in Portland, Maine, where people can let some of that frustration out.

It’s called Mayhem and people have been piling in to smash, crush and do dastardly things to inanimate objects that had no idea what was coming.

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But Mayhem has realized not everyone is down with swinging a sledgehammer. So they’ve decided to cook up something new.

Mayhem Creating ‘Scream Room’ at Their Space in Portland, Maine

Perhaps the thought of swinging a baseball bat and destroying a glass vase brings you joy. The thought of how sore your body will be after that moment makes you less excited.

Mayhem Portland has heard you loud and clear and is developing a new way to get the rage out. By just screaming.

Mayhem is working on opening their very first scream room. It’s exactly what you think it is, a safe place to spend some time just screaming all of the frustration out.

There isn’t an official opening date set yet but it’s coming soon along with pricing.

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Mayhem in Portland, Maine, Will Still Offer Rage Rooms and Paint Splatter

While a scream room is on the way, you can still experience a good time at Mayhem with one of their rage rooms or a paint splatter room.

Both can be experienced in either 20-minute or 30-minute sessions.

All the details including some age and attire requirements can be found here.

TripAdvisor’s Top 10 Things to do in Portland, Maine

Looking for fun things to do in Portland, ME? Here is what the reviewers on TripAdvisor say are the 10 best attractions.

This list was updated in March of 2026

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Gallery Credit: Chris Sedenka

Top 15 of The Most Powerful People in Maine

Ever wonder who the most powerful players are in Maine? I’ve got a list!

Gallery Credit: Getty Images





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