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As we emerge from our Independence Day festivities, there's another sign of summer popping up along with the humid weather and out-of-state visitors: construction projects. In the western Maine woods, this has meant hundreds of new utility poles going up along a 145-mile-long transmission corridor that is designed to feed 1,200 megawatts of electricity generated by Canadian hydropower into our grid.

The project is being developed through a partnership between Central Maine Power's parent company Avangrid and Hydro-Québec. Supporters say that it will lower rates and connect New England's grid to a source of renewable green energy; detractors have said the project will harm western Maine's forest and the tourism industry that depends on it.

There have been two years of legal actions to halt the project and a statewide referendum … which the project lost. A jury later determined that the project could proceed anyway. The controversy has expanded the project's timeline and cost (from $1 billion to $1.5 billion) but it hasn't stopped hundreds of poles from going up this year — see the links below.

State announces resource center to aid local opioid settlement spending

The center will help local subdivisions conduct assessments of their needs, develop objectives and plan programs, as well as provide more transparency to the public about the process.

Local governments have asked for help in setting up processes to get the money out the door. Franklin County, for example, formed an advisory committee to assist in that process but ran into issues and eventually had to disband it. They reformed the advisory committee last month with fewer members and publicly posted bylaws.

Making the data developed by the resource center public will not only boost transparency, the state's attorney general believes, but also allow communities to learn from each other.

Read this story by Emily Bader of The Maine Monitor.

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

Hundreds of utility poles are going up in western Maine for the 145-mile-long New England Clean Energy Connect, which is designed to connect the New England grid to Canadian hydropower. | Associated Press

There’s a form to help people in crisis. Most don’t know it exists. | The Maine Monitor

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is investigating after the town of Phillips reportedly dredged part of the Sandy River following flooding tied to rainstorms in December. The dredging may have caused other branches of the Sandy to dry up, destroying developing salmon eggs. | Maine Public

A dozen organizations across the state — including Franklin County Adult and Community Education in Farmington — received $12 million in grant funding from the Maine Connectivity Authority to improve communities' access to digital resources. | Sun Journal

Kingfield is looking at an update to their zoning ordinance that would make it easier to construct affordable housing in the town. | Daily Bulldog

Maine's ombudsman ‘not aware’ of the high number of wanderings from assisted living facilities | The Maine Monitor

A pandemic-powered boom in home pool installations has subsided for Maine companies. | Bangor Daily News

Rep. Jared Golden is predicting that Donald Trump will win the election in November. | Maine Public

Maine has closed its ATV trails at Mt. Blue State Park for the season and possibly longer, with state officials saying that the trail is too narrow for modern machines. | Sun Journal

The first-ever Celebration 300 race at Oxford Plains Speedway was held on Independence Day, drawing drivers from all over the country. | WGME

The Maine Monitor just welcomed a new reporter to cover Western Maine and other rural areas of the state. Please join us in welcoming Adrienne Washington!

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.