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Good morning from the shores of Gouldsboro Bay, where election signs are flattened or tilted along roadsides and local election officials and poll workers are finally catching a breath.

Virtually every Downeast town had voters lining up to cast their ballots Tuesday with
many of them registering on the spot. No word yet on whether a record number of
voters turned out, but it’s very likely. 

Ellsworth voters approved adult use cannabis shops in the city. Bar Harbor residents opted to stick with the 1,000-passenger-per day limit on cruise ship visitors. And Deer Isle is looking at shoring up access to Sunshine Island, where the causeway and only access flooded in January. The cost will likely be millions of dollars for 1,500 feet of road.

For more statehouse results and representatives’ legislative records, you can visit the county pages in our voter guide and then navigate to each district in our statehouse directory. 

Who donated to Jared Golden and Austin Theriault?

A Maine Monitor analysis of FEC data finds the majority of Golden’s individual contributions came from out of state, while Theriault’s were more evenly split.

Read this story by Emily Bader

While The Maine Monitor does not place its content behind paywalls, some newsrooms we link to in this newsletter may. 

ICYMI from The Monitor: An ethics inquiry puts the Maine Supreme Court in uncharted territory

Ellsworth voters have approved adult-use cannabis businesses in the city. The referendum passed by a margin of 417 votes. | The Ellsworth American

Bar Harbor residents narrowly defeated a Town Council initiative to raise the limit on the number of cruise ship passengers visiting every day. | Mount Desert Islander

The first case in Maine of Eastern equine encephalitis since 2015 has been detected in an adult from Penobscot County. | Bangor Daily News

Work is progressing on the iconic Shore Path in Bar Harbor, which was heavily damaged in January storms. | Mount Desert Islander

Machias works to fill positions as its looks to its future | The Quoddy Tides

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has cleared the way for Penobscot to reopen a commercial fishery at Wight’s Pond. | Castine Patriot

University of Maine civil engineering students are looking at how to maintain access between Sunshine Island and the Deer Isle. | Island Ad-Vantages

Isle of Haut will finally be getting full internet access via a seven-mile undersea fiber optic cable was due to be installed Thursday. | Island Ad-Vantages

The race between Rep. Jared Golden and Austin Theriault in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District is headed to a ranked-choice tabulation. | Bangor Daily News

Efforts are under way across Washington County to expand access to flexible childcare in an attempt to meet unmet need. | The Quoddy Tides

Know of a story that we should be digging into? Send it to our newsroom.

The Maine Monitor is a publication of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, an independent and nonpartisan nonprofit news organization that produces investigative journalism. We believe news is a public good and keep our news free to access. We have no paywall and do not charge for our newsletters. If you value the reporting we do for Maine, please consider making a donation! We cannot do this reporting without your support.