Environment
From the community
Summer Fairy Festival at Merryspring
Children, families, and mythical creatures are invited to Merryspring’s first Summer Fairy Festival on Saturday, June 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. In commemoration of International Fairy Day, this free event will feature a variety of family and fairy-friendly activities and crafts. Guests will be able to build their ...
From the community
Public input needed on Brownfield redevelopment and water infrastructure needs
CARIBOU — A public meeting will be held Wednesday, June 26 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Northern Maine Development Commission office in Caribou, and at video conference sites in Houlton and Fort Kent, to receive input on Brownfield redevelopment and water infrastructure needs. The meeting is being held ...
Machias sewage plant mishap shuts down clam flats
MACHIAS, Maine — A rainstorm and a power failure at the local wastewater treatment plant have shut down shellfish harvesting in the Machias River, according to officials. An overflow of sewage into the Machias River happened Wednesday, June 12, when heavy rains fell across much of Maine. Both officials with ...
University of Maine at Fort Kent, SAD 27 break ground on $4 million biomass project
FORT KENT, Maine — Two educational institutions in the St. John Valley broke ground this week on a $4 million biomass project that will reduce the environmental footprint of both schools while also scaling back energy costs. Officials at the University of Maine at Fort Kent and SAD 27 kicked ...
From the community
Draw, Learn and Print
Old Town – Do you have a favorite plant, animal or place at Hirundo Wildlife Refuge? Would you like to share it with others? Experience the magic of printmaking on June 27 from 10 am-2:30 pm with master printmaker, Kris Sader. Go for walk, draw your favorite plants, animals or ...
From the community
Green Spirituality and Environmental Activism
Lucie Bauer and Frank Mundo of the First Universalist Church in Rockland will present a special talk on the moral impetus behind environmental action, as well as on the formative actions of the Church’s Green Sanctuary, at Merryspring Nature Center on Tuesday, June 18 at 12:00 noon. Bauer and Mundo ...
Bethel voters rescind earlier ban on tar sands oil
By Matthew Daigle, Sun Journal on June 14, 2013, at 11:11 a.m.
BETHEL, Maine – Residents at the annual town meeting Wednesday voted to rescind a resolution stating Bethel’s opposition to allowing tar sands oil to be transported through town via pipeline. The resolution was adopted at a town meeting Jan. 30 and said its purpose was to “protect the health and ...
Maine biomass facilities receive sustainable certification
on June 13, 2013, at 1:12 p.m.
AUGUSTA, Maine — ReEnergy Holdings, owner of four biomass-to-energy facilities in Maine, has achieved certification from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Standard. The label verifies its biomass procurement program to promote land stewardship and responsible forestry practices. ReEnergy, which is based in Latham, N.Y., is the first company devoted to electricity ...
New road signs to help Maine’s endangered turtles
New animal-crossing signs are popping up along the roads of York County, and in place of the typical silhouettes of deer and moose is the shape of a turtle. “Turtles look very much today as they have for 200 million years,” said Phillip deMaynadier, biologist with the Maine Department of ...
Harrison passes resolution opposing piping of tar sands oil through town
HARRISON — Voters approved a resolution expressing their concern and opposition to any form of processed tar sands being piped through the town of Harrison on a 156 to 59 vote, during the annual town election Tuesday. Harrison became the sixth town in Maine, including Bethel and Waterford, to oppose ...
CONTRIBUTORS
Climate denial: Seductive but not morally excusable
By Sharon S. Tisher, Special to the BDN on June 12, 2013, at 1:22 p.m.
There is a distinctive hypocrisy to Dr. Alan Boone’s bold-faced call for scientific integrity in approaching climate change in his June 6 BDN OpEd. The essence of scientific integrity is doing your research, using credible peer-reviewed scientific sources, accurately reporting those sources and carefully analyzing objective data. The overwhelming consensus ...
CONTRIBUTORS
Let’s avoid Monsanto, identify products with GMOs
By Kenneth Horn, Special to the BDN on June 11, 2013, at 11:32 a.m.
A bill to require food producers to label products containing genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, is being offered in the Maine Legislature. This bill, LD 718, has far-reaching implications for making our food supply safe. Many of us check the labels on the foods we buy because we want to ...
Scientists hope to predict tornadoes by using little drones
By Devin Kelly, Los Angeles Times on June 09, 2013, at 8:22 p.m.
With tornadoes, advance warning comes down to minutes. In Moore, Okla., on May 20, it was 16 minutes. In Newcastle, to the southwest, nearest where the deadly mile-wide tornado that killed 24 people first formed, it was five minutes. Tornadoes used to strike without any warning. Since the 1970s, meteorologists ...
From the community
Local Volunteers Help With 8th Annual Streamside Cleanup
As the Bangor Area Storm Water Group (BASWG) winds down the 8th Annual Streamside Cleanup over 350 volunteers came together to clean up the streams in Bangor! On June 1st over 320 volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints picked up trash around Artic Brook, Capehart Brook, ...
Starving puffins indicate trouble at sea
BELFAST, Maine — Maine seabirds – including the iconic Atlantic puffin – may be in trouble. Researchers are concerned about starving chicks and dead birds that washed up this winter off Cape Cod and Scotland. Lately, the razorbill, a species related to puffins, has been demonstrating unusual behavior as well. ...
From the community
Chemical-Free Lawn Care at Merryspring
Rebecca Jacobs of Knox-Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District will lead a talk on chemical-free lawn care at Merryspring Nature Center on Tuesday, June 11 at 12:00 pm. Many pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers commonly used in home lawn-care are toxic, expensive, and dangerous to local watersheds and ecosystems. Jacobs’s presentation ...
From the community
Chemical-Free Lawn Care at Merryspring
Rebecca Jacobs of Knox-Lincoln Soil and Water Conservation District will lead a talk on chemical-free lawn care at Merryspring Nature Center on Tuesday, June 11 at 12:00 pm. Many pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers commonly used in home lawn-care are toxic, expensive, and dangerous to local watersheds and ecosystems. Jacobs’s presentation ...
More pipeline could lower New England gas prices, but should Maine subsidize it?
AUGUSTA, Maine — New England faces the highest natural gas prices in the nation and, as a result, some of the highest electricity costs, especially on peak days in the summer and winter when demand for electricity is high. A bill pending in the Legislature that recently attracted bipartisan support ...
EPA giving Maine communities $3.8 million to assist with brownfield cleanup projects
BOSTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is providing Maine $3.8 million in brownfields grants to aid communities with cleanup, assessment and redevelopment of abandoned or contaminated properties, the agency announced Tuesday. The funding is part of more than $62 million in EPA brownfields investments throughout the country. The grant money ...
DEP increases scrutiny of fire safety at Maine’s proposed wind farms
AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is raising more questions about fire safety standards at wind farms proposed in the state. The increased scrutiny is in part a reaction to a fire in January that destroyed a $4-million turbine at TransCanada’s wind farm on Kibby Mountain in ...
Orono man enters not guilty pleas in Cable kidnapping, murder
Maine House deals final blow to Medicaid expansion
A vote against the budget is a vote for a state shutdown
Susan Collins: Why Congress should reform federal court
LePage fails to surprise on Medicaid expansion
The cost of requiring more renewable power
Report: Patriots’ Aaron Hernandez not ruled out as homicide suspect
American Lung Association retires number of cyclist killed in Trek Across Maine
UMaine basketball assistant coaches pursue new jobs
Pats’ Hernandez questioned in homicide case
Midcoast multibajillionaire knows what her husband is doing before he does it
‘Sopranos’ star James Gandolfini dead at 51