Projects

Chasing Maine: The Rocketeers
Brunswick-based bluShift Aerospace battles winter weather as it looks to make a first-ever rocket launch at Loring Air Force Base in Limestone.

Temporary public defense director selected amid major reform, barebone budget
On the same day the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services selected a new interim director, Gov. Janet Mills’ $8.4 billion budget excluded funds for public defense reforms that lawmakers say are needed.

Chasing Maine: The Road Warriors
Snowstorms are a way of life in Maine. Clearing the streets before dawn requires a massive effort. Hop on board with Portland’s plow team road warriors to see how it’s done.

Maine’s public defense agency acknowledges it didn’t enforce rules on attorney qualifications
The Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services is nearing a vote on a sweeping overhaul of requirements for attorneys who represent the poor. Members were stunned to learn existing rules for protective custody cases have not been enforced for nearly a decade.

Together, to the compassionate end
A pastor and his wife, both suffering from COVID-19, were together through the final moments of a half-century marriage because of the efforts of a loving doctor and a do-what-it-takes Houlton hospital.

Budget Breakdown: Public defense initiatives miss governor’s biennium budget
Once seen as a critical first hurdle to clear, the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services is now pivoting to building confidence in a fraught system as Gov. Janet Mills bypasses adding new funds for defense reforms to her biennium budget proposal.

Chasing Maine: The Holiday Lights
The Norton family’s dazzling Christmas light show draws a nightly throng of sightseers to their Wells home. But there’s more than spectacle at the heart of Norton Lights – since 2009, the displays have collected more than $90,000 in donations for Make-A-Wish Maine.

Public Health Notebook: Vaccines arrive in Maine, but the battle against COVID-19 remains far from over
The director of the state’s CDC warns that there’s no fairytale ending, that the pandemic won’t simply be flipped off like a light switch.

Chasing Maine: The Boneyard Hunter
Photographer C E Morse, whose work has been exhibited across the United States and internationally, demonstrates how he finds and creates his abstract compositions in a shooting session at an auto salvage yard in Oxford.

Environmental Notebook: As sea levels rise, so do concerns
As Nor’easter season commences, scientists warn an increase in sea level of 1.5 to 1.6 feet by 2050 would result in the loss of 40 percent of Maine’s beaches.
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