It took workers more than 12 hours to recover a barge that had partially sunk at Shaw’s Fish and Lobster Wharf in New Harbor on May 3. Members of Bristol Fire and Rescue, barge owner Tucker Phinney, of New Harbor Marine Construction LLC, responders from the Coast Guard Station at Boothbay Harbor, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and salvage company Determination Marine, of Portland, worked together through the morning and afternoon to recover the craft. The “spud barge,” as it’s known, is a construction craft that is moored on metal poles, or “spuds,” driven into the muddy fl ..read more

Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to letters@bangordailynews.com I offer my heartfelt, thunderous congratulations to the workers at Coffee By Design for ratifying their union contract. It’s my hope their solidarity will inspire workers at other Maine coffee shops to reach out to Local 327 of the Laborers’ International Union of North America to learn how they too can unionize their workplaces. I’d like to commend the ownership of Coffee by Design for embracing the union voluntarily. Seeing a 30-year-old Maine company join the pro-l ..read more

WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) — When Rosemary Ketchum gets introduced as the first openly transgender person to win elective office in West Virginia, there’s often a shocked look that comes across people’s faces. “Folks will be like, ‘How did that happen?’ As if it’s like I won the lottery or solved a Rubik’s Cube in front of them or something,” she said. “They think it’s magic.” To her, it doesn’t feel like magic. But in some ways, she can understand their surprise. Out of the handful of transgender officials in the U.S., only a few were elected in similarly rural, GOP-controlled states. Ketchum, 29 ..read more

The crash of a tractor-trailer carrying 15 million bees in Clinton Thursday evening likely won’t hamper Maine’s blueberry harvest this year, according to a local bee expert. The truck full of bees destined for blueberry fields in Washington County crashed on Interstate 95 in Clinton around 7 p.m. on Thursday, according to Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety. Brandon Hale, a Clinton Fire Department firefighter and EMT who responded to the crash, said some bees escaped after the truck rolled onto its side, and stung a few firefighters in the process, but he ha ..read more

Loggers said their operating conditions have never been more difficult, with recent storms, heavy rain and mild conditions over the last 18 months. A recent survey found that 50 Maine harvesters and haulers lost at least $2.6 million in income from the Dec. 18 storm. And Dana Doran, director of Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast, said most Maine loggers worked just four weeks this winter. “Most of them had to shut down by the last week of February for the winter, so it’s just been a rollercoaster of a ride for all of them, starting with that Dec. 18 storm, but really going back ..read more

A Boston man was arrested Thursday afternoon after police say they spotted him dealing drugs in Lewiston. Jonathan Paige, 34, was charged with unlawful aggravated drug trafficking, according to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. Police and drug agents on Thursday afternoon observed an “illegal drug deal” on Sabattus Street. When police confronted him, Paige allegedly tried to run away, but police quickly arrested him, according to the MDEA. Police found a bag that Paige tossed contained more than half a pound of fentanyl, which the MDEA estimated was worth $30,000. Paige was taken to the Andr ..read more

BANGOR — The City of Bangor issued a notice this week regarding plans to build an affordable senior housing complex on Milford Street, which is a project that aligns with the City Council’s intention of making housing its top priority.  The 40-unit complex is being built by the nonprofit agency Penquis and construction is scheduled to begin in June. The City notice explains that the City has determined the project will not have a significant impact on the surrounding area, which means an environmental impact statement will not be needed, and that it is authorizing Penquis to submit a ..read more

The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com. Each May, Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate the women who brought us into the world, those who stood by us from toddlerhood through teenage years and those who continue to counsel and love us. It is a holiday to mark with appropriate fuss and affection. Mother’s Day is celebrated in dozens of countries around the world. The modern American version was proposed in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe, an aboli ..read more

AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine lawmakers failed Friday to overturn any of the eight vetoes Gov. Janet Mills issued this year, including of a measure to ban bump stocks after the Lewiston mass shooting and a repeated effort to cover farmworkers under Maine’s minimum wage laws. The last flurry of activity at the State House before lawmakers break for the year and many shift to campaign mode ahead of the November election brought no surprises, as many of the bills only passed the Democratic-controlled Legislature by party-line or narrow margins rather than receiving support from ..read more

CALIFORNIA, Pennsylvania — Congratulations to Samuel Economy of Hampden on being named to Pennsylvania Western University dean’s list for the 2024 spring semester. Over 3,100 Pennsylvania Western University students earned placement on the dean’s list. Degree-seeking undergraduate students who achieve high academic standards are identified in accordance with the following criteria: The student must earn a minimum semester GPA of 3.40. The student must earn a minimum of 12 graded credits during the semester, not including credits by proficiency examinations, incomplete grades, temporary grades ..read more