See how much new housing is being built in your town

Along with the fireworks and barbecues, the Fourth of July offers an opportunity to reflect on our history as a country — all 250 years of it. At a talk we hosted a couple of weeks ago on ranked-choice voting, Ron Schmidt, a political science professor at the University of Southern Maine, said something that has stuck with me: “The majority of my students want democracy but feel like they don't have it, or the form in which they have it doesn't really work.”

This questioning of our institutions — how they are working, how they are representing the people they are supposed to represent — is central to our mission as an accountability-focused newsroom, and something we are thinking about as campaigns heat up ahead of the midterms. If you have questions you’d like us to dig into as the election approaches, our inbox is always open.

This week we published stories from two of our Fitzgerald Reporting Fellows, who have joined us this summer through a partnership with Harvard University and the Libra Foundation. One looked at how the attorney general’s office has handled the surge in lawsuits against the Trump administration — the latest of which challenged Medicaid work rules. And the other examined a push for a universal health care ballot question that is amping up this summer.

Our housing reporter, Caitlin Andrews, also looked at new housing construction data from the state. She figured people would be curious to see what was approved in their towns, so she compiled the data into an easily searchable table, which you can explore here.

Happy 4th, and stay cool out there,

Stephanie

Join members of The Maine Monitor at Downshift Coffee in Belfast on July 9 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. for a casual conversation about our journalism and the issues that matter to you.

Maine has engaged in 48 lawsuits against the federal government in President Trump’s second term. Here’s how the state is handling them: The state has hired one attorney to help handle the increase in litigation, but has not hired outside counsel. Read this story by Megan Blonigen

Maine group revives push for universal health care ballot initiative: Advocates are hoping to gather enough signatures to get a question about publicly funded health care on the November 2027 ballot. Read this story by Kate Kaufman

See how much new housing is being built in your town: New Maine housing data shows about half of counties met building permit goals set by the state two years ago. Read this story by Caitlin Andrews

Lincoln suspends deep budget cuts that caused outcry: Public outrage grew after the initial budget vote, under which the fire department faced the possibility of losing nearly half its staff. Read this story by Daniel O'Connor of The Maine Monitor and Bangor Daily News

Susan Collins wants guardrails on Donald Trump’s $300B Iran deal: The Maine Republican’s stance has put her under fire from both directions. Read this story by Daniel O'Connor of The Monitor and BDN & Michael Shepherd of the BDN

Washington County Commission fires County Manager Renée Gray. Read this story by Judith Meyer

MSAD 58 board of directors approves Kingfield withdrawal agreement. Read this story by Ben Hanstein

Buckfield, Hartford, and Sumner advance RSU 10 withdrawal negotiations. Read this story by Makayla Morello

Machiasport voters approve school, municipal spending despite concerns over rising taxes. Read this story by Melissa S. Razdrih

Somerset County Commission decides to maintain current speed limit on Lake Moxie Road following study. Read this story by Makayla Morello

Lubec officials set a one-day delay in closing date on sale of foreclosed property. Read this story by Melissa S. Razdrih

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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.

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