Key component arrives for $158M upgrade at Navy shipyard
KITTERY, Maine (AP) — The Navy’s improvements at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are taking a big step forward. Maine-based Cianbro spent a year-and-a-half building the 5,000-ton, precast concrete entrance for one of the shipyard’s three dry docks. It arrived by barge on Monday. The so-called “Superflood Basin” project will make the shipyard less reliant on tides and allow Virginia-class attack submarines to enter Dry Dock No. 1 without a buoyancy assist system. It’s part of the Navy’s long-term upgrades to four public repair yards to speed maintenance and return ships and submarines to the fleet faster at a time of growing threats.
Maine looking for new uses for dormant rail corridors
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine is going to investigate potential new uses for dormant rail corridors in the state. Gov. Janet Mills recently signed into law a proposal that directs the Maine Department of Transportation to evaluate potential uses for the state-owned corridors. The department will eventually submit a report to the Maine Legislature. Democratic Rep. Art Bell of Yarmouth proposed the bill. He said Monday he is “hopeful that it will provide an opportunity to reimagine the way we interact with miles of dormant, state-owned rail corridors, lying fallow.”
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s fishery for baby eels recovered in value this spring. The fishery is one of the most valuable in the country on a per-pound basis. The baby eels, called elvers, are valuable to Asian aquaculture companies that raise them to maturity so they can be used as food. The eels are typically worth around $2,000 per pound, but fell to $525 per pound in 2020 due to disruption and economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But the Maine Department of Marine Resources reported recently that the eels were worth $1,849 per pound this year.
Maine’s agriculture fairs back on the moo-ve after year off
MONMOUTH, Maine (AP) — Maine’s agricultural fair season is back after a year off due to the coronavirus pandemic. The agricultural fairs, which celebrate Maine’s food producers and rural heritage, run from June to October every year. They started back up again on June 18 this year. The 26 fairs include events such as Common Ground Country Fair and Fryeburg Fair that draw thousands of people to rural Maine. The next fair on the schedule is the Monmouth Fair, which runs from Wednesday to Saturday. The fairs are returning as new COVID-19 cases are dropping in the state.
Maine books-to-children program to add 2 dozen more schools
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A program that gets books to Maine schoolchildren said it is adding two dozen new schools in the coming academic year. Dirigo Reads seeks to get a book to every Maine first-grader each month during the school year by 2025. The campaign said the addition of 24 new schools will bring the total number of participating schools to 50 for the 2021-22 school year. The campaign gave out more than 8,000 books last year.
LASTIC BAG BAN
Maine’s statewide single-use plastic bag ban starts July 1
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine’s statewide ban on single-use plastic bags will begin on July 1. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection said it is working with retail stores and restaurants to make sure they are ready. The Maine Legislature passed the ban in 2019 and it was initially scheduled to go into effect in April 2020. The state delayed enforcement of the ban due to aspects of the coronavirus pandemic. The first delay was because of concerns about the transmission of the virus, and a second delay was because of concerns stemming from disruption in packing supplies due to the pandemic.
BC-VIRUS OUTBREAK-NEW ENGLAND
Pandemic-delayed surgeries share blame for blood shortage
BOSTON (AP) — Some New England hospitals are delaying or rescheduling surgeries because of a shortage of blood donations during the pandemic. Officials point toward a number of factors including the typical summer drop in blood donations at a time when surgeries are increasing because of procedures that were postponed during the pandemic. The director of transfusion medicine at UMass Memorial Health told the Boston Globe that “we haven’t seen anything like this in about 30 or 40 years at least.”
INDOOR AIR QUALITY
Maine looking to implement stricter school air quality rules
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Stricter air quality standards are likely coming to Maine schools. The Maine Legislature has approved a proposal to create consistent standards across the state. The proposal from Democratic Rep. Rebecca Millett of Cape Elizabeth would also charge the Maine Department of Education with amending standards for air quality and ventilation around the state. Proponents of the stricter standard said the state suffers from a patchwork of ventilation practices at its schools. That is partly because the DEP’s rules state that there should be “sufficient changes to produce healthful conditions” and there is no definition of what “healthful conditions” means.
FARM DONATION
Island farm donated to American Farmland Trust
NORTH HAVEN, Maine (AP) — A 153-acre farm on North Haven Island has been donated to the American Farmland Trust, which plans to continue using it as working farmland. The Turner Farm was one of North Haven’s largest farms in the 1800s and it underwent a restoration under the ownership of financier and philanthropist Donald Sussman, who donated the land to the trust. The American Farmland Trust is dedicated to protecting farmland and promoting environmentally sound farming practices.
DISCRIMINATION-JURY SELECTION
Bill would ban discrimination against LGTBQ jurors
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Discrimination would be prohibited against jurors in federal courts on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity under a bill reintroduced by U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Susan Collins of Maine. The United States Code currently prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin and economic status. Eleven states prohibit exclusion from jury service in state court based on sexual orientation; eight protect against discrimination based on gender identity.