A version of this story first appeared in the Morning Update newsletter. Sign up here to receive the Morning Update and other BDN newsletters directly in your inbox.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We’re a little more respectable than we were before, and that’s a good thing.”
— Ewen Allison of Castle Hill speaking after residents of the Aroostook County town voted to lift a ban on schools, hospitals and libraries. Allison started the campaign to change the land-use policy, which was reportedly a byproduct of the town being zoned only for residential, agricultural and forest use.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
Janet Mills’ attack on Graham Platner put Maine women at the center of their Senate race. That report comes from the BDN’s new politics reporter, Benjamin Kail, who will be covering races in the 2026 election.
Maine’s county races are even less competitive than four years ago, amid budget crises. Of 23 commission seats with partisan elections this year, only four will be contested by both parties.
Maine’s courts are pushing for more cybersecurity as they move their records online. Just six of the state’s 16 counties have their court dockets online, but the state hopes to finish the transition by early next year.
The new Penobscot County Jail could cost up to $84 million. The building would have 258 beds and be located in Hampden instead of Bangor.
Here’s how six northern Maine schools will use a $1 million USDA grant. The funding is centered on schools in the Southern Aroostook Area Regional Service Center.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE
- Maine referendum to ban trans athletes from girls sports teams qualifies for ballot
- Bobby Charles deletes website with false information about his Republican gubernatorial rival
- Bankruptcy delays auction of sprawling Kennebunkport glampground
- Maine could help convert empty schools into housing. But it’s tricky.
- As religious tensions rise, synagogues and other houses of worship in Maine look to beef up security
- ‘Very thin’ evidence that grandmother was involved in slaying of Bangor boy, lawyer says
- Bangor’s 1st female mayor dies at 93
- Northern Maine town lifts ban on schools, hospitals and libraries
- Presque Isle school board votes to close Zippel Elementary
- Peroxide leak reported at Woodland Pulp mill
- Hancock County probate judge turns himself in at jail for overdue child support
- Ellsworth to spend $750K to rebuild school track and field
- Ellsworth takes composter to court over bad stench
- Belfast City Park snack stand will reopen with empanadas and fresh juice this summer
- Maine bomb squad destroys grenade found near dumpster
- UMaine women’s basketball had good season, but its future is uncertain
MAINE IN PICTURES
FROM THE OPINION PAGES
“Throughout the state’s history, major questions of tribal rights have often been deferred by offering smaller policy adjustments that avoid addressing sovereignty directly.”
Opinion: Tax exemptions and economic policy is not sovereignty
LIFE IN MAINE
Revisit last winter’s record-breaking trout caught on Moosehead Lake.
Lil Wayne is returning to the Bangor waterfront this summer.
