Articles – 2019
House passes Rep. Pingree’s measure to protect working waterfronts; Rep. Chellie Pingree’s bill would provide federal loans and grants to preserve access for fishermen, boatyards and the public and defend against climate change damage; Portland Press Herald; LOCAL AND STATE, 11 December 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. C1
People on front lines battle squeeze on Maine’s EMS system; Thanks to them, 911 callers have yet to feel the pinch of rising costs and a jury-rigged and inadequate funding model; Portland Press Herald; FRONT PAGE, 9 December 2019, NEWFIELD, MAINE, p. A1
Maine’s emergency medical response system is teetering on the brink of collapse; Underfunded and understaffed, especially in the state’s vast rural stretches, EMS services are in critical condition; Maine Sunday Telegram; FRONT PAGE; 8 December 2019, FARMINGTON, MAINE, p. A1
In the Mediterranean, a nurse with Maine ties works the front lines of a crisis; With Doctors Without Borders, Tim Harrison has helped rescue thousands of refugees at sea; Maine Sunday Telegram; FRONT PAGE; 1 December 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. A1
Senate version of renewed Violence Against Women Act would weaken tribal courts; Penobscots have sought jurisdiction over domestic violence on their reservation, as allowed under a House version of the bill; Portland Press Herald; LOCAL AND STATE, 23 November 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. B1
Kelp, the forests of the sea, vanishing from southern Maine as Gulf warms; Fish don’t much like the scrubby invasive seaweeds that are replacing them, researchers find; Portland Press Herald; FRONT PAGE, 16 November 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. A1
Scientists predict Maine’s lobster boom will end within 5 years; The culprit is a warming Gulf of Maine. But researchers caution that the forecast may be overly dire because lobsters could respond to the warming in unexpected ways; Portland Press Herald ;FRONT PAGE, 24 October 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. A1
Family and tribal members plead for posthumous pardon for Don Gellers; The Passamaquoddy’s attorney was the victim of a state-sponsored conspiracy while doing work that led to the Indian land claims settlement act; Portland Press Herald; LOCAL AND STATE, 18 October 2019, AUGUSTA, MAINE, p. C1
Senate panel approves marine research funding that Trump wanted to kill; The unanimous move by the Appropriations Committee includes $1 million to study new lobster gear technologies that won’t harm right whales; Portland Press Herald; LOCAL AND STATE, 4 October 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. C1
Maine nonprofit launches global effort to help small farms cut greenhouse gas emissions; The initiative seeks to boost yields while building up carbon in their soil, reducing the effects of climate change; Portland Press Herald; LOCAL AND STATE, 3 October 2019, FREEPORT, MAINE, p. B1
Gov. Mills wants Maine carbon-neutral by 2045. What will that take?; For this richly forested state, it may not take much beyond previously announced greenhouse gas cuts; Maine Sunday Telegram; FRONT PAGE; 29 September 2019, AUGUSTA, MAINE, p. A1
Gov. Mills launches Maine Climate Council with a call to action; Former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy praises Maine’s effort, and notes, ‘Nothing innovative starts at the federal level.’; Portland Press Herald; LOCAL AND STATE; 27 September 2019, HALLOWELL, MAINE, p. B1
Gov. Mills discusses climate change with European officials, U.S. governors; Maine’s governor meets with European climate leaders, Brazilian regional officials and other U.S. governors to discuss how states can help the nation meet Paris climate targets; Portland Press Herald; LOCAL AND STATE; 25 September 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. B1
In address, Gov. Mills vows Maine will be carbon neutral by 2045, and challenges others; The only U.S. elected official to address the climate summit, Janet Mills announced an executive order aimed at making Maine’s economy carbon neutral; Portland Press Herald; FRONT PAGE; 24 September 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. A1
Gov. Mills to address UN Climate Action Summit; She will be Maine’s first sitting governor to speak before the international body’s General Assembly; Portland Press Herald; CLIMATE CHANGE; 16 September 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. A8
Maine finally addressing climate change in the gulf; For eight years, state government did little to deal with the impacts of a warming Gulf of Maine. That’s starting to change; Portland Press Herald; FRONT PAGE; 16 September 2019, AUGUSTA, MAINE, p. A1
Waters off the coast of Maine vulnerable to changing climate; Warming within the swirling ocean depths of the Gulf of Maine has implications for all life and livelihoods within the ecosystem. Scientists, fishermen and aquaculturists brace for challenges; Maine Sunday Telegram; FRONT PAGE; 15 September 2019, FREEPORT, MAINE, p. A1
When leaving your children is a selfless act; How one family’s journey from the Philippines to Texas tells the story of global migration; a review of A Good Provider is One Who Leaves by Jason DeParle; Washington Monthly, BOOKS, September/October 2019, p. 107-108.
The Fraught Battle to Create an American Nationhood; the United States had no explanation for itself and its purpose as late as the 1830s; Law & Liberty Blog, 3 September 2019, BOULDER, COLORADO.
Cruise ship passengers spending less than first reported; A new study finds each spends under $62 in Maine, down from a previous estimate of $110;Portland Press Herald; STATE & LOCAL; 26 August 2019, FREEPORT, MAINE, p. B1
WGME, other Sinclair stations run stories touting new Trump campaign hat; Some stations published online stories with direct links to the Trump campaign store’s purchasing page for the new red hats; Portland Press Herald; FRONT PAGE; 20 August 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. A1
Why did Trump’s ‘judge whisperer’ buy a house on the Maine coast?; Leonard Leo, a central figure in the Brett Kavanaugh nomination, bought the Northeast Harbor mansion last fall. This month, it hosted a fundraiser for Sen. Susan Collins that drew protesters; Maine Sunday Telegram; LOCAL & STATE; 18 August 2019; PORTLAND, MAINE, p. C1
Dunlap disappointed by Senate failure to respond to election interference; Meanwhile, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell comes under criticism for blocking a series of bills; Portland Press Herald; STATE & LOCAL; 2 August 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. C1
LePage’s final year in office included 39 days in Florida, $33,000 trip to Montenegro; Newly obtained documents reveal details of trips the former governor tried to conceal; Portland Press Herald; FRONT PAGE; 8 July 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. A1
Six years after St. Croix River reopened to herring, a record run; Lawmakers had ordered fishways shut to the keystone food fish in 1995, causing their population to collapse; Portland Press Herald; FRONT PAGE; 24 June 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. A1
U.S. House unanimously passes bill to address ocean acidification; Maine Democrat Chellie Pingree’s measure moves to the U.S. Senate, while state lawmakers appear likely to pass Gov. Janet Mills’ climate package; Portland Press Herald; LOCAL & STATE; 6 June 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. B1
Scientists link warming of Gulf of Maine to decline in right whales’ food supply; Copepods, the flea-like creatures the whales feed on, have sharply declined with rising water temperatures; Portland Press Herald; FRONT PAGE; 14 May 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. A1
Bill would allow Maine tribes to hold trials for non-Indians in domestic violence cases; Other federally recognized tribes have had such power since 2013, but Maine’s were excluded because of provisions in the 1980 Maine Indian Claims
Settlement Act; Portland Press Herald; FRONT PAGE; 5 April 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. A1
Presidential candidate John Hickenlooper got his start volunteering in Maine; The ‘pimply kid’ who helped build a Maine school is now in the national spotlight; Maine Sunday Telegram; LOCAL & STATE; 17 March 2019; PORTLAND, MAINE, p. C1
Finally, Rep. Pingree optimistic about bill to address ocean acidification; The phenomenon interferes with the shell growth of clams, oysters and other organisms, threatening Maine’s marine harvesters; Portland Press Herald; LOCAL & STATE; 15 March 2019, PORTLAND, MAINE, p. B1
Democrats looking to finally tackle climate impacts to Gulf of Maine; Lawmakers optimistic bills to implement bipartisan commission’s 2014 recommendations will advance after years of delay; Maine Sunday Telegram; FRONT PAGE; 12 January 2019; PORTLAND, MAINE, p. A1
Taxpayer cost of LePage’s stay at Trump hotel to finally be released? It’s one of several public records requests that the former governor failed to fulfill before leaving office. His successor is expected to address them promptly; Portland Press Herald; FRONT PAGE; 7 January 2019, AUGUSTA, MAINE, p. A1
COLIN WOODARD is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist. He is the author of six books that have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and inspired an NBC television drama. He is currently Director of Nationhood Lab at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Affairs at Salve Regina University. As State and National Affairs Writer at the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram he won a 2012 George Polk Award and was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2016. He is a contributing editor at POLITICO and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, Smithsonian and dozens of other major publications.