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.
Good morning, and happy Monday.
We’re just the messengers, so hold your fire. Tonight the sun will be setting 47 minutes earlier than it did on the Fourth of July — and if you look closely, you’ll see a tinge of red or yellow in the trees.
Summer is delivering much-needed rain today — with the most rain expected north of Bangor, up to half an inch. Given that a good chunk of Maine is experiencing a drought, we’ll take it!
The highs today will peak in the upper 60s, with gusty winds and excessive humidity.
But it’s smooth sailing after today, with mostly sunny skies and highs in the high 70s to low 80s straight through the weekend.
Inside a small town ripped apart by social media
In small towns across the country, people set up Facebook groups to help reunite lost pets with their owners, to talk about trash pickup day and to ask about that loud noise.
But they also can create polarizing environments that lead to contentious town meetings and votes, fewer people running for office, and general division among residents.
What’s happened in Clifton, with a population of 877, during the past year illustrates how online rifts can snowball — and bring a town’s governance to the edge of dysfunction.
The vitriol has driven public officials out of office, required police to be called on residents during Select Board meetings and, most recently, forced the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to decide the outcome of an election that came down to two forgotten absentee ballots.
Latest Stories
- 20-year-old killed in Piscataquis County ATV crash
- Even small Maine towns are weighing data center bans
- Maine’s biggest dam owner faces reckoning after another Penobscot River fish kill
- Their plan to build hundreds of Bangor apartments is being held up by decades-old sewers
- ICE grew its Maine staff 44% over the past year
- Pictures: Cooper and Ace Flagg host basketball camp for hundreds of Maine kids
- Photos: Riley Green plays Bangor’s waterfront with ‘As Cowboy as it Gets’
- NH man charged after 14 callers report car going over 100 mph on Maine highway
- What 3 educators told us about the problems facing Maine schools
From the Opinion Page
“It starts with a headline: Troubling past surfaces: Investigative report into a lifetime of questionable behavior.”
Opinion: Why I can’t run for office