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This has been a great summer for gardening in western Maine. We're owed it, of course, after last year's summer of dismal damp and blighted tomatoes, but it's been glorious all the same: the perfect mix of sunny, hot weather interspersed with plenty of rain.

This summer's tomatoes are already as tall as I am, and assuming the deer don't have their way, we're looking forward to a nice harvest.

It is our peak season here for more than just gardens: summertime visitors flock to our trails and lakes, artists arrive with their easels and notebooks to seek inspiration in the foothills, and the towns put out flags and bunting just in time for their local parade or festival. Even the crosswalks have new coats of pearly-white paint.

This the time for warm, wonderful memories that can light us up like sunbeams when we're in the depths of an icy February night. The winter-spring floods are behind us and the storms of autumn are ahead of us, but for now life is good in western Maine.

Communities mostly in compliance with new housing law as deadline passes

The law, which essentially bans single-family zoning statewide, was signed by Gov. Janet Mills in 2022 in an effort to address the state’s housing crisis. Implementation was delayed until this year, after pushback from opponents worried about its effects on a range of issues, from parking and traffic to water and sanitation. Even those in support often said more time was needed to comply.

Read this story by Jacqueline Weaver of The Maine Monitor.

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

ICYMI from The Monitor: Schools across Maine confront unique challenges in ridding their water of forever chemicals. Funding and delays have kept schools on bottled water for over a year as they try to eliminate their PFAS.

Also from The Monitor: Community solar is booming in Maine, but who owns the projects? A Maine Monitor analysis finds developers have bundled projects and then sold them to some of the world’s largest corporations and investment firms.

The parents of a Phillips teenager killed in a car crash in 2021 on Route 4 have sued the driver of the other vehicle. State police previously indicated in their report that the other vehicle had not caused the collision. | Sun Journal

Farmington selectmen approved a plan to collaborate with three other entities on a grant application supporting the 2025 Moose Festival next June | Livermore Falls Advertiser

The state's public defender commission added flexibility to the lawyer qualification standards, following a surge of low income defendants jailed without representation. | Maine Public

Advertisements for the installation of solar power cells featuring a portrait of the governor and fake state incentives have been making the rounds on Facebook. | Bangor Daily News

Voters in the Oxford Hills region approved a $50.79 million budget at a hearing to operate the MSAD 17 district, with a validation vote to be held on Aug. 6. Oxford Hills previously rejected a $53.56 million budget earlier this year. | Advertiser Democrat

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association is suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency, arguing that the EPA failed to regulate the spread of toxic sludge. | Maine Public

Kaelyne Thompson dives in as new principal at Dirigo High School | Rumford Falls Times

Rep. Jared Golden of Maine's 2nd Congressional District said he "absolutely not" commit to voting for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in November. | Axios

An estimated 1,200 stakeholders attended the sixth annual Governor' Opioid Response Summit in Auburn this week. State data indicates that fatal overdoses are down roughly 15 percent so far this year, compared to a similar time period in 2023. | WMTW

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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.