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Do you have questions about what is happening in your town government? Are you interested in reporting but do not have formal journalism training? You could be a great candidate for our new community reporting fellowship, focused on western and Downeast Maine.

The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting is joining Journalism New England’s Career Lab to recruit and train community journalists. The three‑month local journalism program will provide hands‑on training for aspiring community reporting fellows to contribute to The Maine Monitor’s Monitor Local coverage of government deliberations in western and Downeast Maine.  

This training program will teach participants the foundations of journalism and give them opportunities to work directly with an editor on reporting, interviewing, writing and story revisions.

Fellows will cover town council meetings, school budget debates, zoning conversations, tax deliberations and more. Their work may be published by Monitor Local and Journalism New England during the training period, with the potential for continued paid contributions to Monitor Local, distributed each Saturday in the Downeast Monitor and Western Maine Monitor newsletters.

This is a great opportunity for those who want to become more involved in their communities and help inform their neighbors about issues that matter to them. More information about the program, along with a link to apply, is available here.

For inspiration, please read the head-scratcher about a bogus press release distributed earlier this week announcing that Maine’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife had revised its classification of pike from an invasive fish to a protected species. 

Some anglers recognized the post as outright fishy from the start, but others were aghast that IF&W could be so cavalier as to reclassify this aggressive species and endanger Maine’s native salmon and trout populations.

Current regulations allow anglers to kill pike when caught. Nothing has changed. Pike remain an invasive species.

And please read our story this week about the Maine National Guard’s decision to keep the Calais Armory rather than sell it to the city.  

The city was eager to take ownership for its Police Department and municipal offices. With rising recruitment numbers, however, the Guard has decided to keep the building in case it needs the space in the coming years.

We hope you are enjoying this newsletter and encourage you to share it with family members and friends. They can sign up on our website to have their own delivered each Saturday.

Maine National Guard reverses course, decides not to sell Calais Armory: The city had explored buying the property as a way to replace some aging facilities, including City Hall and the police station, but the Guard decided to keep it for its own use. Read this story by Ethan Bien

Maine Library Commission drops proposed agreement, continues work on new standards: Commissioners to consider new standards through a rulemaking process that could take most of 2026. Meantime, the proposed requirements for paid directors and minimum hours do not apply. Read this story by Judith Meyer

Lubec Board of Selectmen uses final meeting of 2025 to wrap up municipal finances: The board plans to revisit responsibility for deteriorating Gun Rock breakwater marker at Jan. 14 meeting. Read this story by Ethan Bien

Washington County projects less than three months’ worth of cash flow entering the new year: County commissioners voted to reduce the mileage reimbursement rate from a federal standard to a state standard to save money. Read this story by Judith Meyer

Bogus document on pike regulations highlights ‘hot button’ fishing issue: A fake press release announced the classification of pike had changed from an invasive fish to a protected species. That is not true. Read this story by Jon Bolduc

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

As Maine rings in the new year, many state laws are set to go into effect in January, including a new sales tax on streaming services, affecting Mainers’ pocketbooks and prices in 2026. | Bangor Daily News

Mitigation of “forever chemicals” is at the forefront of many 2026 legislative proposals, along with support for the wastewater treatment facilities and the state’s forestry industries. | The Maine Monitor

Frigid conditions are expected as Arctic air moves into the region, bringing bitterly cold temperatures and even colder wind chill values. | WABI

CDC urges Mainers to take care as flu activity spikes. | Mount Desert Islander

Maine set another new record for tickborne diseases reported in 2025. | Maine Public

A memo posted this week on the Baileyville Utility District website disputes concerns and data recently reported on social media questioning the safety of the town’s water supply. | Baileyville Utilities District

January is National Radon Action Month, so health officials are emphasizing the importance of testing homes for this radioactive, odorless gas. | News Center Maine

More direct primary care clinics, an alternative health care model, are opening around the state as health insurance premiums skyrocket. | The Maine Monitor

Maine will start tracking how much housing is being built in the state. | Bangor Daily News

The Department of Veterans Affairs said nearly 52,000 veterans found permanent housing last year, including more than 200 in Maine. | Portland Press Herald

A Maine Monitor analysis showed that low-income students and students with disabilities saw the biggest decline in test scores between 2007 and 2024. | The Maine Monitor

Democratic state Sen. Joe Baldacci will announce in January that he is running for Congress in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation. | NOTUS

Sipayik remembers Majik Francis as clam garden project dedicated. | Quoddy Tides

It was significantly larger and heavier than a message in a bottle, but a 50-pound drifting research buoy with Tremont Consolidated School stickers attached to it washed ashore in Maryland. | Ellsworth American

Have feedback, a correction or know of something we should look into? Send it to our newsroom. You can reach Monitor Local editor Judy Meyer directly via email: judy@themainemonitor.org.

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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