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Good morning:

Last month, voters in Jonesport overwhelmingly approved changes to two municipal ordinances that would have given Kingfish Maine more latitude to show substantial start of construction on its proposed recirculating aquaculture facility and also lower the threshold to get approval for revisions to the full site plan review.

On Friday, following a two week push to sell shares on the Euronext exchange, Kingfish failed to meet its $4.8 million goal. The money was intended to fund general operations for Kingfish and not tied directly to the Jonesport project. 

And, unrelated, the company said it will not proceed with the Maine project until legal, financial and other conditions improve. Our story this week explains what happened.

We also have a story out of Eastport with the latest action by a citizens group to ban an underwater computing project in the Western Passage, which developer DeepGreen had initially called an underwater artificial intelligence data center. 

A public hearing will be held Wednesday this coming week to gather comments on two petitions the group has submitted, both of which are drafted to halt DeepGreen and any future large-scale commercial data center projects.

On Wednesday the Washington County Commission hired an attorney to work with county employees and officials on a plan to reorganize operations and ease disagreements. Our story explains why the commission felt that was necessary as the county starts to dig into the 2027 budget.

And, we talked with a couple who operate a brewery on Campobello Island this week about their decision to move their business to Lubec.

Enjoy the holiday weekend, and please share this newsletter with family members and friends. They can sign up on our website to have it delivered to their inbox each Saturday. 

Thank you for reading,

Judy

Proposed Kingfish aquaculture project in Jonesport on indefinite hold: Last month, the company launched a two-week window to raise funding for general operations, but failed to meet its $4.8 million goal. Read this story by Jessica Brockington

Residents seek formal role in federal review as Eastport considers ban on underwater data center: City Council to take public comment next week on two resident‑driven ordinances targeting DeepGreen’s proposed subsea computing project. Read this story by Melissa S. Razdrih

Washington County Commission hires legal counsel to settle dissension in county government: The attorney is tasked with reorganizing county government and calming growing disagreements. Read this story by Judith Meyer

Crushing tariffs force Campobello Island couple to consider moving brewery to Lubec: Locals are urging Mother Mushroom Brewery to take over the space left vacant when Lubec Brewing Co. closed last month. Read this story by Melissa S. Razdrih

Mobile home group threatens to sue town over proposed rent control ordinance: The Maine Manufactured Housing Association is preparing to push back against a wave of local ordinances that restrict mobile home parks’ ability to raise rent. Read this story by Caitlin Andrews

What used to be one of Maine’s smallest universities has seen the biggest increase in students: Online learners have fueled enrollment growth at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, which preliminary numbers show is now the third biggest public university. Read this story by Kristian Moravec

5 people have used Maine’s new red flag law on their family members so far: Six months since the new red flag law went into effect, a total of eight orders have been filed. Law enforcement officers are continuing to favor the pre-existing yellow flag law. Read this story by Emily Bader

Maine family lives without modern amenities to protest environmental destruction: Thousands have visited them to learn about living without oil, electricity or cars. Read this story by Kate Kaufman

The following stories are from other newsrooms. While The Maine Monitor does not place its content behind a paywall, some newsrooms we link to below may. Paywalled stories are followed by a ($). We encourage you to consider supporting local Maine newsrooms.

Students are going back to school, and Maine districts are focused on bus safety | Maine Public

Maine wood pulp mill contests $794K in OSHA penalties tied to deaths of two workers | WABI

US House passes bill delaying start of new right whale rules | Maine Public

A dry summer has the state approaching last year’s drought conditions, and experts warn it may get worse | Spectrum News Maine

Gas prices are surging to a record level for Labor Day weekend | WMTW

US House passes bill delaying start of new right whale rules | Maine Public

Mainers are dropping their health insurance due to rising costs, but assistance is available | Public News Service

The state is providing free, lockable storage bags for cannabis products to reduce cases of accidental ingestion | Maine Public

Eastport’s only grocery store closing as owner retires | WABI

Passamaquoddy tribe weighs purchase of Eastport’s recently closed grocery store | Bangor Daily News ($)

Have feedback, a correction or know of something we should look into? Send it to our newsroom. You can reach Monitor Local editor Judith 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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