A story jointly published by The Maine Monitor and the Bangor Daily News last year earned an honorable mention from the Association of Health Care Journalists this week. For twenty years, the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism have recognized the best health reporting in print, broadcast and online media.  The association recognized “A Death of Choice” with an honorable mention in the consumer/feature category for small newsrooms. Reporter Caitlin Andrews and photojournalist Troy R. Bennett showcased the remarkable story of Karen Wentworth, a Maine woman who believed people s ..read more

A black hose from the pump-out truck was snaked across the garage floor, underneath the luxury condominiums at 40 Portland Pier. The elevator shaft had flooded. Again.  A March 10 storm that coincided with above-average tides marked the third time this year that Casco Bay had risen high enough to enter the garage. It was frustrating to Ellie Heath, property manager at Foreside Real Estate Management. She had sent text alerts and emails to residents a few days earlier, warning them to move their cars ahead of the 11.3-foot predicted high tide. What she hadn’t figured on was a strong, onsho ..read more

Sherri Parker, assistant director of nursing at Caribou Rehab and Nursing, recalled a woman who came to her facility and was so sedated by the prescribed antipsychotic medication she had been taking at home that they couldn’t keep her awake for therapy because “she’d fall asleep in front of you.” Parker, who handles gradual dose reductions at the nursing home, said she worked with a doctor to wean the woman off the medication. By the time the resident transferred back home two months later, “she was a completely different woman,” Parker said — able to eat on her own and be home alone while her ..read more

John Hussey’s condo on Portland Pier has great water views from both sides of his fourth-floor windows, out to Peaks Island, and below to the fishing and pleasure boats as they come and go.  But it’s not all sunrises and sea breezes. Three years ago, Hussey’s SUV was totaled when flood waters entered the pier-level parking garage while he was away. Since then, two other residents had luxury cars ruined by the periodic high tides that cover the pier. Now Hussey, whose primary home is in Boston, has the condo for sale. Listed last fall at $795,000, the two-bedroom unit was being offered ove ..read more

Registered nurses and technicians across a range of specialties at a Machias hospital will strike for two days starting April 30, the union representing the group said, in protest of the administration’s “refusal to address their deep concerns about recruitment and retention.” Some Down East Community Hospital staff have worked under an expired contract since mid-October and been in contentious talks with officials for months. Negotiations stalled in January when the union pushed for a bigger salary bump, and more definitive language on issues such as part-time staffing and traveling nurses, a ..read more

Editor’s Note: The following story first appeared in The Maine Monitor’s free environmental newsletter, Climate Monitor, that is delivered to inboxes every Friday morning. Sign up for the free newsletter to stay informed of Maine environmental news. A few weeks ago, a series of press releases from the Environmental Protection Agency hit my email inbox in quick succession. The subject headlines were near-identical, trumpeting a decrease in toxic chemical releases to air, land and water in states across New England. That was until an email with Maine’s results popped up ..read more

Kim Hubbard has been an education technician at elementary and middle schools in Oxford County for two decades, and year after year she has seen colleagues leave the profession because the pay is too low. Others, she said, work second or third jobs to make ends meet.  Hubbard and other educators have spent the past year pushing for the Maine Legislature to pass L.D. 974, a bill that would increase the minimum wage for ed techs and other school support staff. “You expect us to assist in their education as well as to keep your children safe from attacks, report suspected abuse, be kicked, b ..read more

The proposed sale of a defunct landfill in Bucksport appears to have fallen through, prompting town officials to push for the company that owns the facility to plan to close it by 2026. It’s the latest twist for the facility that was once attached to the Verso paper mill, which closed in 2014. While the mill was demolished and converted to an industrial office park with a salmon processing facility, the landfill remains, although it has not accepted waste since 2020. State regulators set the 2026 deadline last August and requested that AIM Development, which owns the landfill, submit a plan to ..read more

On April 8, the small town of Houlton, Maine became a national attraction as a key site for the first U.S. solar eclipse since 2017. In this episode of Chasing Maine, we talk to NASA experts, astronomers and curious eclipse chasers. Plus, a remarkable video clip captures the astounding 60-second change as downtown Houlton goes from a 98 percent partial eclipse to total occlusion of the sun. Chasing Maine is a video series that explores Maine from a distinct visual perspective. Join veteran Maine journalist and storyteller Roger McCord as he chases the people, places and things that define th ..read more

The fate of a flood-prone stretch of road on Mount Desert Island is up in the air as state and federal agencies debate whether to repair a road that washed out repeatedly during recent storms or abandon it to the sea. What happens to this portion of Seawall Road — a half-mile stretch of Route 102A that lies between the Seawall Motel and Acadia National Park’s Seawall picnic area — will be decided in the coming weeks as the Maine Department of Transportation, National Park Service, abutting towns and members of the public weigh in.  It is one of many tough conversations in Downeast coastal ..read more