Smoke from Canadian wildfires will drift over Maine this weekend, pushing air quality into the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” range in some areas, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

On Saturday, smoke from the fires is expected to continue moving into the state, with hourly monitored values of particle pollution in the USG (unhealthy for sensitive groups) range in northern Maine.

With only light winds in the forecast, the smoke is expected to linger in the region, according to a statement from the DEP.

The rest of the state is projected to remain in the moderate air quality range for particle pollution. Meanwhile, ozone levels are expected to reach the moderate range in the southwest and midcoast regions and remain in the good range for the rest of Maine.

For Sunday, air quality forecasters do not expect wildfire smoke to move out of the state, with northern and western Maine expected to remain in the USG range. The rest of the state is expected to stay in the moderate range.

On Monday, winds may push smoke out of Maine, but another plume from Labrador could affect air quality.

At elevated levels of particle pollution, children, the elderly and individuals with respiratory or heart diseases such as asthma, bronchitis or COPD can experience reduced lung function and irritation.

Healthy adults who exert themselves outdoors may also experience symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation or mild chest pain.

During periods of elevated particle pollution levels, experts recommend avoiding strenuous outdoor activity, closing windows, and circulating indoor air with a fan or air conditioner.

OLD TOWN, Maine (WABI) – Governor Janet Mills proclaimed June as Maine Dairy Month. Today she, along with dairy farmers, students and others began the month with a milk toast at the University of Maine’s Witter Farm.

The gathering brought together dairy businesses, students and researchers at UMaine’s Witter Farm to celebrate and recognize the impact of the industry on the state of Maine.

Also stressing the importance of keeping the industry strong for generations to come.

“That’s vital,” answered UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy. “We’ve got to be able to work through 4-H, we have some students here who are still in high school and all the way up through our graduate programs where we’re able to really understand how to modernize, improve efficiency and keeping that farming industry going.”

The 4-H program through U-Maine looks to teach young students about certain fields through hands-on education.

Mariah Johnson is a current 4-H member of Franklin County. She will be attending UMaine-Farmington in the fall on a pre-vet track.

“I’ve grown up on a farm my entire life so being around the animals and caring for the animals, I just want to be able to be one step ahead and be able to care for them on a deeper level,” commented Johnson.

Johnson says there really aren’t a lot of younger Mainers looking to make a career in the farming field and she sees it firsthand with 4-H.

“It’s very sad seeing that there isn’t as many kids going in as they’re coming out and I think that’s the same with the farm and America’s growing faster and the farms are decreasing and I really think we need to get that next generation into so that we can have a future for ag,” added Johnson.

Mills spoke at the ceremony. Praising the farm for it’s robotic milking system and stressing just how critical new ideas are for improving farming and holding on to the industry.

“Open space is part of our heritage, part of our economy, part of our sense of place here in Maine. So every kind of innovation that keeps this land open and in-use and productive is valuable to us and to generations to come,” said Mills.

Witter Farm and the robotic milking machine is open for tours. Click here for more information.

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One of three summer cottages on a Maine island is for sale, and for the price of the home, you get shared access to a beach, tennis court, two docks and an old-fashioned bowling alley, too.

The property for sale is on Mouse Island, a mile south from Boothbay Harbor. It was listed Monday at $1.6 million, and has already attracted plenty of interest from out-of-state buyers, said listing agent Karen Roberts.

For decades, the 16-acre island was known as the home of The Samoset Hotel, which was built by a group of Skowhegan men in 1877 and could sleep 125 people, according to the Boothbay Register.

“​​People used to go by steamboat up from Boston to stay,” said Roberts, an agent with Tindal & Callahan Real Estate of Boothbay Harbor. “There’s some real history to the island itself.”

The hotel burned down in 1913. After that, the whole island was put up for sale and bought by private citizens including famous liberal Protestant minister Harry Emerson Fosdick, who used to write his sermons there, Roberts said.

“It is far enough from the mainland so that we can live an entirely unsophisticated life,” Fosdick once wrote of the island, according to the Wiscasset Newspaper. “That is to say; a man can put on a flannel shirt in the morning and go to bed in it at night if he feels like it.”

In 1924, three cottages were built on the island, according to the Register. A couple of the people who own those properties today are descended from those who built the cottages, but the owners of the one for sale were not, Roberts said.

The home for sale, which has not been winterized, presents a rare opportunity to own an island along with two other homeowners. All islanders share amenities including a rustic bowling alley built around the same time as the Samoset Hotel, Roberts said. A full-time caretaker lives on the island to maintain those amenities and ferry homeowners to Boothbay Harbor, she said.

Inside the home, there are five bedrooms, four bathrooms and features like a stone fireplace, warm wood interiors and a remodeled kitchen, according to its online listing. The island also includes walking trails, golf cart paths, and two solitary cabins which any of the owners can make use of.

Roberts’ phone has been ringing. She has been fielding questions from brokers representing out-of-state buyers charmed by the cottage’s history, location and amenities.

“It’s like going back in time. It’s just beautiful. But you’re a 15- to 20-minute boat ride from downtown Boothbay Harbor, so it’s very convenient and in a great location,” Roberts said. “You’re in your own little world out there.”