Only in Maine

Found a new to me weed along the back of my daughters garage Field Horsetail: Got Pests? : Board of Pesticides Control: Maine DACF
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Yup, and it's a real PITA!! Mine haven't started yet.

You can use gallons of Round Up on it. That's not the plant, that's the spore generating phase. Pull those suckers out now so they don't spread.

The fronds are very abrasive. The Wabanakis used to use them for dental floss.
In the link it says the leaves can also be used for scrubbing pots and pans due to high silica content 😂
 
Bet those downwind residents are having one hell of a time...

Second fire in a month breaks out at Gorham cannabis facility

The Gorham Fire Department responded to a 911 call on Saturday reporting black smoke coming from the building on 7 Country Road.

A second fire within a month at a Gorham medical medical marijuana cultivation facility was reported Saturday, according to fire officials.

Just before 11:45 a.m. Sunday, Cumberland County dispatchers received a 911 call reporting black smoke coming from a room of the 20,000-square-foot building at 7 Country Road, according to a Gorham Fire Department news release posted on Facebook.

Firefighters located and extinguished the fire while searching the building for occupants. No injuries were reported.

On April 11, Gorham firefighters responded to the marijuana grow facility after two employees partially extinguished a fire inside with fire extinguishers. Firefighters completed putting out the fire, and the two employees were treated for smoke inhalation on site by EMS.

Initial investigations into the April 11 fire indicated that a broken light fixture fell onto a plastic table, which later ignited.

No preliminary details about the cause of Saturday’s fire were released.

Both fires are under investigation by the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Fire departments from Buxton, Limington, Scarborough, Standish, Westbrook and Windham provided aid on Saturday’s call.
 
OY!!!!

The biggest difference between Miss Maine’s 2 high-profile contestants

With the pageant's first transgender contestant and Bill Belichick's girlfriend both competing this month, the event is drawing more attention than usual.
 
The Great White North is reacting more violently than predicted!! One of learned colleagues here said that they would relent and still visit Maine after the "51st State" hullabaloo. Well, the resolve & patriotism of Canadians is something the average American can't fathom...

Border crossings into Maine from Canada continue to fall

The 28% decline in visitors so far this year has outpaced preseason forecasts.

Canadian border crossings into Maine fell by nearly a third in June compared to the same month last year, marking an accelerated decline in visitors since President Donald Trump took office.

Just under 210,000 people crossed into Maine in June, according to new data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That’s about 90,000 fewer than in June of last year.

From February to June, about 865,000 people crossed from Canada into Maine. That’s a drop of about 339,000 — or about 28.2% — compared to the same period last year. That decline is sharper in Maine than in the rest of the country. Nationwide, visitors crossing the northern border dropped by about 17.2%, according to the federal data.

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The vast majority of crossings — about 208,000 in June — took place at Maine’s land borders, while a small fraction of visitors flew into the state.

All told, crossings into Maine hit a two-year low in April, with fewer than 148,000 travelers. And while monthly crossings have climbed by about 62,000 since then, they still fail to keep pace with last year’s seasonal growth. In other words, overall visitors are down, and so is the typical summer bump.

Maine’s continued decline outpaces preseason forecasts that the state would lose 25% of its Canadian visitors.

In Old Orchard Beach — where hotels and others in the hospitality industry had braced for a depressed season — visitors have been “down a little bit,” but things are better than what many had feared, said Kim Howard, executive director of the Old Orchard Beach Chamber of Commerce. Howard said the July 4 weekend was busier than expected, but she did not have specific visitor data.

“We are definitely seeing Canadian (license) plates around town,” she said. “The Canadians that we’ve talked to are happy to be here.”

A few Canadians have emailed the chamber asking whether it is safe to cross the border or if they would feel welcomed in Maine, but those messages are relatively rare, Howard said.

The state’s northern neighbors continue to boycott American destinations in light of Trump’s tariffs and rhetoric about trying to annex Canada as the 51st state. Canadian leaders, including premiers of provinces that border Maine, have said they can’t recommend their constituents travel to the United States and are encouraging people to explore Canada this summer. Meanwhile, the Mills administration has worked to court Canadians through new signage and cross-border visits.

Last week, Trump vowed to raise tariffs on many Canadian goods to 35% — 10 points higher than the tariff he had originally imposed in March — further escalating tensions between the United States and Maine’s biggest trading partner.

The threat of increased tariffs “will only further weaken our civic and economic bonds with our northern neighbor,” Gov. Janet Mills said in a written statement Wednesday.

“As I heard when I was in Canada, the tariffs and rhetoric from the White House is undermining historic relationships and shaking the confidence of markets and citizens on both sides of the border,” Mills said.

It’s not clear what impact the decline in visitors will have on the state’s economy. Last year, Maine saw about a 9% drop in summer visitors compared to 2023, but visitors spent more per capita, meaning the total direct spending fell less than 1%.

The state does not yet have spending figures for this year, according to Maureen Terry, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. She said the border crossing figures “are in line with our expectations” but noted that not all crossings have to do with tourism, as some people cross to work, shop or run errands.

“That said, Maine’s tourism leaders remain committed to maintaining a marketing presence in Canada like we have always done, as well as to nurturing our historic cross-border relationship for the long term,” Terry said. “Our summer marketing campaign in Canada continues and our fall campaign will begin in August.”
 
PETA sure has their heads up their you know what. This one will go over more poorly than a wet fart in Church...

PETA sues Maine Lobster Festival in an effort to stop steaming of 20,000 pounds of live lobster

The animal rights organization says lobsters can feel pain and that the city's decision to allow the festival to steam them live is 'a municipally endorsed spectacle of animal suffering.'


A large crowd at Rockland’s annual Maine Lobster Festival in 2011. (Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer)

A prominent animal rights organization has filed a lawsuit to try to stop the Maine Lobster Festival and city of Rockland from steaming more than 20,000 pounds of live lobster at future events.

In their complaint filed in Knox County Superior Court on Thursday, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, alleges the city and festival organizers are violating Maine’s animal protection statutes on public land. The organization’s argument hinges on evolving science that shows lobsters feel pain, despite popular belief that lobsters are not sentient creatures.

And PETA asserts that by conducting this “municipally sanctioned,” “criminal animal cruelty” on public land, the city is infringing on the rights of PETA’s 3,500 members who live within 20 miles of Rockland.

The organization is calling on the courts to stop the Maine Lobster Festival from using what festival organizers deem “The World’s Largest Lobster Cooker,” a giant lobster pot that can cook up to 1,600 pounds of lobster in 15 minutes, a demonstration the lawsuit is labeling “a municipally endorsed spectacle of animal suffering.”

This year’s festival is scheduled to run from July 30 to Aug. 3. PETA acknowledged that it doesn’t expect the lawsuit to change things this year.

“But our hope would be that, because of this case, this will be the last Maine Lobster Festival in which lobsters are tortured to death,” Asher Smith, PETA’s director of litigation, said in an interview.

The Rockland Festival Corporation, which organizes the event, said it respects different viewpoints and “takes any public concern seriously,” but follows the scientific evidence that their cooking method does not cause pain.

“The Maine Lobster Festival has celebrated Maine’s iconic lobster industry for 78 years using traditional, lawful, and widely accepted cooking methods,” said Shannon Kinney, the marketing director for the Maine Lobster Festival and Rockland Festival Corporation.

The city of Rockland did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

A BIOLOGICAL DEBATE​

This isn’t PETA’s first time launching a campaign targeting the Maine Lobster Festival — nor its first time targeting Maine’s iconic industry.

In 2021, PETA sponsored advertisements at the Portland International Jetport encouraging passengers to forgo eating lobsters entirely. On a poster, a lobster held up a sign reading “I’m ME, Not Meat.” They bought the ad space just as the annual Maine Lobster Festival was getting underway.

PETA’s argument hinges on a highly debated belief: that lobsters can feel pain.

The science is evolving, and there’s no consensus among lobster biologists about whether that’s true. Rick Wahle, a leading lobster biologist in Maine, described it as a “controversial” question.

“My take is that, to date, the measure of whether lobsters perceive a stimulus to be noxious is whether they move away, avoid it, or (are) grooming an injured part of the body,” Wahle said in an email. “Actual pain receptors have yet to be found.”

Science has long posited that lobsters don’t have the nerve endings or receptors to sense pain, according to Jason Goldstein, a researcher at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve.

But even in studies that reference these findings, Goldstein said, “unfortunately, little work has been conducted on the topic in lobsters specifically.”

In November 2021, a study from the London School of Economics and Political Science zoomed in on this debate. Its findings indicated researchers had “either high or very high confidence” that decapod crustaceans — like lobsters, crabs and crayfish — do feel pain based on their brain chemistry and their responses to threat.

If scientific findings like the one from the London School of Economics gain traction, then the festival — or any person boiling lobsters alive in Maine — could be violating the state’s animal cruelty statutes. Those statutes say that any sentient animal must be killed with an “instantaneous death.”

The Rockland Festival Corporation disagrees.

“To date, Maine’s laws do not prohibit the traditional preparation of lobster, and the state has not recognized boiling or steaming lobsters as a violation of its animal welfare laws,” Kinney, the corporation’s marketing director, said.

Electrical-shock stunning devices are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to boiling or steaming live lobsters. The devices deliver a shock, and then the lobsters are boiled right after.

It’s one method that’s catching attention in Europe. And Wahle, Maine’s leading lobster biologist, said that some lobster processors in the state are also using those systems, including Ready Seafood, Maine’s largest lobster processor, in Saco.

STEAM NO MORE

PETA acknowledges that its lawsuit is a tall order.

“The absolute bare minimum is that the death of these animals has to be instantaneous,” Smith, PETA’s litigation director said. “Obviously, PETA’s own view is anyone who doesn’t want to support animal suffering can make the easy choice to go vegan. But the Maine Lobster Festival has its own obligation to follow the law.”

Smith also said the live cooking limits its members’ enjoyment of the city park.

“PETA hears from its members who want to use the park for walking their dogs, enjoying the green space, but effectively can’t because they would be exposed to these horrific displays of torture,” Smith said.

Kinney said this hasn’t come across the festival corporation’s radar before.

PETA is hoping to set a precedent for similar events.

“When PETA wins this case, it should, just by its very nature, become an example that public prosecutors and others can use to establish that non-instantaneous killing, that torture of lobsters, violates the law no matter who does it,” Smith said.
 
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Solutions seems simple enough for me, if this lake is so remote, just look for Billy Bob and Bubba coming there with bait casting rods with spinner baits...

Largemouth bass illegally introduced into Down East Lake

Wildlife officials announced a $6,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

State wildlife officials announced a $6,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for illegally introducing largemouth bass into a Down East lake.

Biologists confirmed last week the presence of largemouth bass in West Musquash Lake, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said in a statement Thursday. West Musquash is in Washington County about 8 miles southwest of Topsfield.


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An illegal largemouth bass taken from West Musquash Lake in Washington County. (Photo courtesy Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.)

“The team of biologists from across the state caught and visually confirmed multiple largemouth bass of varying ages in the lake,” the statement says. “Biologists also confirmed there were no largemouth bass in Orie Lake, which feeds into West Musquash, and natural barriers prevent upstream passage of bass into West Musquash, indicating the bass were moved illegally into West Musquash.”

West Musquash covers about 1,600 acres and has no lakeside development aside from four small camps and boat access, the department said.

“West Musquash is a deep, clear, cold-water lake that is truly special to the region and area,” said Jacob Scoville, the department’s regional fisheries biologist. “The lake supports a wild brook trout, wild lake trout and wild landlocked salmon fishery, and also is one of the last waters in the state with a population of round whitefish. This is the only water in the region that has all these fisheries without an active stocking program.

“Sadly, this introduction will no doubt change the lake forever.”

Maine’s Operation Game Thief, a nonprofit organization, has pledged $5,000 toward the reward, while the Grand Lake Stream Guides Association has contributed $1,000.

Anyone with information regarding the illegal introduction of largemouth bass into West Musquash Lake is encouraged to contact Operation Game Thief at 800-253-7887. Tips can also be submitted online by visiting their website, maineogt.org.
 
Some context, one of my uncanny "Superpowers" is causing the closing of local Naval Aircraft stations and manufacturing sites.
  • Grew up on LI and there goes Grumman
  • Move to IL on Glenview NAS's flightpath, Navy closes down Glenview
  • Move to ME, Navy closes down Brunswick NAS
I have an interesting Glenview-Brunswick link. While living in IL, my neighbor was a retired Chief stationed at Glenview. He informed me that the P-3s from Glenview would have to fly out over the Atlantic, instead of hopping over to the adjacent Lake Michigan to do their training missions since the sonobuoys couldn't work in fresh water. He also related that many P-3s had minor engine issues during the flights like low oil pressure before they headed back to Glenview. They would land at Brunswick to have the plane tended to, and almost always came back to Glenview with a large load of lobsters, nudge-nudge, wink-wink, SAY NO MORE!!

Now that I volunteer at the lighthouse, I come into contact with all sorts of Navy retirees, and this past week we had a retired Brunswick mechanic. When I asked about the reliability of the Glenview P-3s, he started laughing out load, "You mean the lobster runs???" Guess it wasn't very classified...

Refurbished Navy aircraft unveiled on Brunswick Landing

Brunswick Naval Aviation Museum celebrated the refurbishment of its P-2 Neptune on Friday, an aircraft dating back to the 1950s.

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A Lockheed P-2 Neptune aircraft stands guard on Brunswick Landing Friday. The Cold War-era plane was restored with the help of volunteers and veterans. (Katie Langley/Staff Reporter)


BRUNSWICK — An iconic P-2 Neptune naval aircraft has watched over Admiral Fitch Avenue on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station for more than 50 years after retiring from action. With the help of some dedicated volunteers and donors, it’s now been restored to its former glory.


Sailors, family members and supporters came from near and far Friday morning to unveil the newly painted and refurbished plane, which dates back to the Cold War. The restoration, led by the Brunswick Naval Aviation Museum, took roughly $60,000 and four years.

“This plane will be here for years to come,” retired Navy Master Chief Mark Nowak, of Topsham, told the crowd Friday. “It will showcase Brunswick Landing; it will remind everyone of the sacrifice and the dedication of the men, the women and the families who have served on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station.”

Nowak, who served in Brunswick during his 30-year career and flew in P-3 aircrafts, led the fundraising and restoration effort.

“We had some hefty donors, but it’s the little people that made it all come together,” Nowak said in an interview.

After the fundraising came the work. Holes were patched, new decals made, a fence built and a fresh coat of paint was applied with the help of Moore Painting and other corporate sponsors.

“[The P-2 had] been exposed to the elements for 55 years now … and, frankly, had fallen into a state of disrepair,” said retired Navy Capt. Sean Liedman, the Brunswick Naval Aviation Museum president. “We had some dedicated volunteers who just essentially took the bull by the horns and just started fundraising.”’

And now? “It looks like it just rolled off the assembly line,” Liedman said.

At a short ceremony Friday, Liedman and Nowak gave remarks along with Brunswick Town Manager Julia Henze and Dan Stevenson, the executive director of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which oversees Brunswick Landing.

“Naval Air Station Brunswick brought sailors and their families to our town, and really made Brunswick what it is today,” Henze said. “We are so proud that so many of the sailors who formed connections here chose to come back after they completed their service, or stayed in some cases.”

Dozens set up lawn chairs and leaned along the fence, taking in the shiny white and grey aircraft and posing for photos with former shipmates.

Friday’s event was akin to a “mini-reunion,” Nowak said.

“I saw people I haven’t seen in years; my former skipper was here,” he said.

Naval Air Station Brunswick was commissioned during World War II and officially closed in 2011. Now known as Brunswick Landing, the former base is home to residences, businesses, the Brunswick Executive Airport and the Brunswick Naval Aviation Museum.

The museum maintains the P-2 and a P-3 Orion, both anti-submarine planes that patrolled the Atlantic Ocean during the Cold War era.
 

More than three decades after Maine's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills avoided releasing approximately 6,000 pages of case files pertaining to the federal investigation into her alleged cocaine use, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is seeking those very documents.
 
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