“Over 200 illegals taken off your hands… They’re going back to their shithole countries.” Texts obtained by the @pressherald.com show Maine police chatted w/ DHS officials & surveilled protestors during the ICE surge despite public statements to the contrary www.pressherald.com/2026/03/12/p...

Portland, South Portland police texted with immigration agent during surge operation in Maine

Records obtained by the Press Herald reveal how local officials communicated with a federal officer, including on the surveillance of protesters, when more than 200 arrests were made in late January.

pressherald.com

Maine regulates how state employees & certain industries are allowed to use AI. It has no laws for local governments. Some towns now use AI to write emails & ethics policies. Others use it to police & track citizens. Few have formal AI policies. My latest: www.pressherald.com/2026/02/11/m...

M​aine towns are using AI for policing, budgets and more

In the absence of state or federal regulations around artificial intelligence, local governments are deciding for themselves what safe and ethical use of the technology looks like.

pressherald.com

Video shows ICE leaving behind an infant and broken glass after arresting a man with no criminal history. “There was a car seat in the back... There were broken glass shards all over it... There was just this tiny peanut of a baby. He was crying.” My latest: www.pressherald.com/2026/01/28/i...

ICE agents shatter window, leave 1-month-old baby, mother in car after Portland arrest

Video shows federal immigration agents leaving behind an infant and broken glass after detaining a Guinean immigrant with no known criminal history.

pressherald.com

My latest:

Portland Press Herald@pressherald.com · 6mo ago

ICE agents shatter window, leave 1-month-old baby, mother in car after Portland arrest * Free to access

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens.” - Harry Truman

The new MAHA strategy leaves pesticides alone. The plan is a win for the farm industry, which successfully lobbied the White House to temper RFK Jr.'s health agenda.

RFK Jr.'s new MAHA roadmap is finally public

The long-awaited document stops short of surprise regulations and leaves pesticides alone.

politico.com

We, the workers of the statewide Maine Trust for Local News are excited to kick off our new campaign to bring the entire company under One Big Union. As our work grows increasingly unified, so should our representation. It's time to bring the whole company together. Sign out petition here!

Support One Big Union at the Maine Trust for Local News

Under nonprofit ownership, the Maine Trust for Local News is building a business model that could be a roadmap to sustainability for local news organizations across the country. We are here because we...

actionnetwork.org

NEW: Your local dispo's $40 ounce might've been grown by the Chinese mob Growers warn "gray market" weed is flooding legal weed markets & crushing legit businesses. “They’re not just fighting us, but they’re fighting each other. It’s a race to the bottom.” www.pressherald.com/2025/08/17/h...

How cheap weed from ‘gray market’ growers ends up on Maine dispensary shelves

Law enforcement experts say cheap, sometimes tainted weed grown by Chinese criminal groups is getting into the state's medical market. Business owners say it's cratering market rates and pushing reput...

pressherald.com

BREAKING: GUNMAN AT LARGE IN WINDHAM, MAINE

NEW: Maine rejects Justice Department’s request for a list of local election officials and every registered voter’s personal information. SOS Shenna Bellows told the feds to “jump in the Gulf of Maine.” www.pressherald.com/2025/07/29/m...

Maine rejects Justice Dept. request for lists of all voters, election officials

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said the federal government has sent the same request for voters’ personal information in all 50 states.

pressherald.com

Hyde School alumni take out full page ad in the @pressherald.com after the paper reported on the school’s alleged practices of child abuse, manual labor & “attack therapy”

A 'cluster' of HIV cases in Bangor has quietly become one of the largest outbreaks in Maine's history. Local providers expect the county's thin support structure to face more strain as cases rise and the federal government cuts public health budgets. My latest: www.pressherald.com/2025/07/23/h...

How a ‘cluster’ of HIV cases in Penobscot County became one of Maine’s largest outbreaks

The vast majority of positive tests have come from people in Bangor who have either been homeless, injection drug users, or both. But officials say the outbreak is a culmination of factors much larger...

pressherald.com

7 Chinese nationals have been charged for running a “a multi-million-dollar conspiracy” of illegal weed grows across New England. One man was caught laundering $40k in drug proceeds while wearing a $120 Supreme shirt of an iron laundering money. www.pressherald.com/2025/07/09/s...

Maine Fire Marshal investigating dudes for rocking

Maine woman who allegedly kept and sold "malnourished, lice infested" horses charged with animal cruelty for 2nd time in 15 years www.pressherald.com/2025/07/06/b...

Burnham woman again charged with animal cruelty

The state is investigating a woman who allegedly kept and sold malnourished horses, cows, dogs and cats at her Burnham property and was convicted of nearly identical charges about 15 years ago.

pressherald.com

Thanks for the shout in the newsletter last week @ire.org www.pressherald.com/2025/06/04/h...

Cumberland County Jail officer detained by ICE had applied for asylum

Cumberland County Jail officer detained by ICE had applied for asylum

Gratien Milandou-Wamba was detained by ICE officers while driving to work on April 19. He is being held in a New Hampshire jail awaiting court proceedings.

pressherald.com

Scarborough last had an active student newspaper in 2012. That's a national pattern: between 2011-2021, the proportion of US high schools with a student newspaper dropped from 64% to 45%. In disadvantaged urban neighborhoods and rural areas, just 27% of schools have a student paper.

Scarborough High revives student newspaper after 12 years of inactivity

A group of underclassmen founded The Storm this school year at a time when more and more young people eschew traditional media sources.

pressherald.com

A building once used by the notorious Elan school for troubled teens is back on the market after being condemned + used as an illegal Chinese-run marijuana farm for the last four years. It was raided by police last year & is being sold "as is" but traces of its past lives are still visible inside.🧵

Neat stuff in Gardiner. Officials specifically cited my investigation while rejecting two cannabis applications at an illegal Chinese-run grow mentioned in the story. The facility was licensed by a former legislator & has since been operating illegally. www.pressherald.com/2025/06/04/h...

How a former Maine lawmaker grew weed with alleged Chinese crime groups He & others in the cannabis industry/lobbying group he leads have helped numerous illegal Chinese grows find legal cover in rural Maine. My latest investigation: www.pressherald.com/2025/06/04/h...

Hundreds of pages of inspection reports, police logs and other documents reviewed by the Press Herald show how Eddie DuGay, a former state lawmaker turned full-time cannabis consultant, helped numerous Chinese nationals get medical marijuana licenses and set up shop across the state.

How a former lawmaker grew weed with alleged Chinese crime groups in rural Maine

A web of shell companies and illegal grows allegedly linked to Chinese organized crime traces its start to one former Democratic legislator, his cannabis consulting business, and his chain of central ...

pressherald.com

UMaine’s federal funds have been in limbo since February, when Trump ordered an investigation into the university system and threatened to pull its grant money following a public spat with Gov. Janet Mills over Maine state law allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.

Trump administration has frozen $50 million in UMaine funding so far

More than $21 million was terminated or put on hold recently as the university was negotiating the grants' terms and conditions, the university says.

pressherald.com

COMMENTARY: Claims of election rigging will be tested in a courtroom in Colorado next week. Here's why many journalists, Democrats, and Republicans aren't talking about it.

"I have nothing to hide! I don't need digital privacy!" Well... - AI companies are scraping your data - Scammers are using AI to get better at their schemes - And yeah, a new era of government surveillance... A starter guide to protecting you online life:

A Starter Guide to Protecting Your Data From Hackers and Corporations

Hackers. AI data scrapes. Government surveillance. Yeah, thinking about where to start when it comes to protecting your online privacy can be overwhelming. Here’s a simple guide for you—and anyone who...

wired.com

President Donald Trump announced he is granting a “full and unconditional pardon” to a former Virginia sheriff, Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of conspiracy, honest services fraud and bribery.

Trump announces pardon for former Virginia sheriff convicted of federal bribery charges | CNN Politics

President Donald Trump announced he is granting a “full and unconditional pardon” to a former Virginia sheriff, Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of conspiracy, honest services fraud and bribery.

cnn.com

Maine's only police partnership with ICE halted after pushback from residents and legislators www.pressherald.com/2025/05/21/w...

Wells Police halts ICE partnership after pushback from legislators, residents

The York County town's police chief said the department is taking a "wait-and-see approach" after state lawmakers introduced bills to prohibit local police from carrying out federal immigration policy...

pressherald.com

X continued to take payments from accounts that appeared to be affiliated with Hezbollah leaders, Houthi officials, and militia leaders in Syria and Iraq, a nonprofit found. The report comes over a year after researchers warned that X may be violating U.S. sanctions by accepting such payments.

Terrorists Continue to Pay for Check Marks on X, Report Says

Elon Musk’s social media company has continued to accept payments for subscriptions from entities barred from doing business in the U.S., a nonprofit found.

nyti.ms

Use of the state's law to intervene in gun violence varies greatly between counties and their police departments. But it's unclear why.

Guns taken through Maine’s yellow flag law? It might depend on where you live.

Use of the state's law to intervene in gun violence varies greatly between counties and their police departments. But it's unclear why.

pressherald.com

Rep. Jared Golden, D-ME, says ‘dark money’ progressive groups are why he won’t hold town halls "Their goal is to beat up on any Democrats who seek to in any way work with and show an openness to compromise with the Republican Party," Golden said. www.centralmaine.com/2025/05/08/r...

Rep. Jared Golden says ‘dark money’ group is why he won’t hold town halls

Indivisible, a progressive 501(c)(4) organization based in Washington, D.C., has more than a dozen local chapters in Maine.

centralmaine.com