Maine
Northeastern celebrates 215 graduates during commencement ceremony in Portland, Maine
The Class of 2025 included master’s degree recipients from 19 countries, nine U.S. states and 41 cities or towns across Maine.

When Emmanuella Wiafe lost her aunt to breast cancer, it ignited in her a need to understand the disease and “do something.”
“That pain turned to passion and purpose, what I personally call ‘PPA’ — ‘Pain turned into Passion and Ambition,’” said Wiafe, the student speaker at Northeastern University’s Portland campus commencement on Friday.
The Portland campus Class of 2025 included 215 master’s degree recipients who came to study at Northeastern from 19 countries, nine U.S. states and 41 cities or towns across Maine.
Wiafe came to Northeastern with a strong foundation in clinical diagnostics, quickly engaged in cutting-edge breast cancer research, launched the BioPILOT Lab with faculty, and participated in real-world collaborations with biotech startups across Maine.
Wiafe, who earned a master’s degree in biotechnology, said she found a welcoming and empowering community at the Portland campus that helped her grow.
“Beyond the titles and projects, what will always be a part of me is the sense of belonging and support,” she said. “I’ve learned that success isn’t just measured by what we achieve, but by the people who walk with us, challenge us and believe in us along the way.”
She reminded her classmates that the Portland campus shaped them and prepared them to step forward to lead, to build and to transform the lives of other people.
Wiafe will continue working as a research associate at MaineHealth, advancing work in oncology, cardiology and infectious disease, while preparing for a future Ph.D. in cancer biology and drug development.
L.L.Bean CEO Steve Smith, also speaking at Northeastern’s Portland campus, encouraged graduates to keep seeking meaningful experiences and develop new skills throughout their lives.
Smith, the fourth president and CEO of the iconic Maine-based company, used a backpacking analogy to share lessons from his own career journey and emphasize the value of regular reflection for career development.
“May your packs be full, your paths be purposeful and your impact be lasting,” said Smith, who previously held leadership positions at Walmart International, Hannaford and J. Walter Thompson.
Early in his career, Smith said he regularly evaluated the skills and experiences he wanted to gain to make himself better prepared and more resilient. He sought out transferable skills such as project management or public speaking as well as expert-level knowledge in merchandising and general management.
“As I’ve paused, emptied the pack and looked at the contents, I’ve also asked myself where do I want to go next,” Smith said. “And more deeply, I have looked for places where I find joy and motivation — and made sure that I am moving in that direction.”
He deliberately declined some promotions and moved laterally, pursuing roles in merchandising, supply chain and operations, to gain a holistic view of the business and leadership. This, he said, helped him develop qualities like resilience, fortitude, humility, empathy and transparency.
“I used my pack to be sure I was building a diverse, interesting set of skills and experiences that I would be able to use as my career progressed into bigger and more complex roles,” Smith said.
When he found himself in a job that didn’t align with his values, reflection helped him pinpoint the moments that had felt most fulfilling — ultimately leading him to L.L.Bean.
“That reflection led me to my current role that I have at L.L.Bean, where I could join great people in service of a very clear purpose and build the strategy and the culture to achieve our potential — all in line with my values,” Smith said.
As a founding partner of Northeastern’s Roux Institute in 2019, L.L.Bean has supported the university’s Portland campus from the beginning, Smith said, “back when it was still an ambitious idea to reshape Maine’s future.”
“The bold mission of the Roux Institute is no longer just aspirational — it’s alive in all of you, the Class of 2025,” he said.
Smith gave a shout-out to two graduates with L.L.Bean ties — Ganesh Venu Gopal, an L.L.Bean lead data engineer, and Chinonso Victoria, a co-op student. L.L.Bean has enrolled more than 20 employees in Northeastern programs, hired students and partnered with the university on experiential courses in supply chain management.
Smith praised the long-term commitment to Maine shown by David and Barbara Roux and the Harold Alfond Foundation, who partnered with Northeastern in 2020 to launch the institute. He was especially moved to learn that 80% of Roux graduates over the last five years have decided to stay and work in Maine.
“I hope you carry a piece of Maine’s beauty, soul and resilience with you wherever you go,” Smith told the graduates. “But let it remind you to pause, to reflect and to stay grounded in what matters most — things like community, integrity and purpose.”
Abby Bridges, who completed her master’s in analytics from Northeastern last year, welcomed the Class of 2025 to the university’s global alumni network of over 350,000 graduates in nearly 185 countries. Bridges now works as a data analyst and program evaluator at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health.
Two 2025 graduates from the College of Professional Studies — Sampson Boateng and Alexander Campbell Legore — were named to the Laurel and Scroll 100 Society of Distinction.
As a final gift, all Class of 2025 graduates received a scholarship to pursue one of six tuition-free graduate certificates in the future.
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Maine
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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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.
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.
“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.
Maine
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.
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.
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.
Maine
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.
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.
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.
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