Wilton names former director to RSU 9 board

As we approach the third month of Monitor Local, we invite you, our readers, to come meet us for coffee and cookies and to talk about local news.

There is no agenda. We just want to hear what you think about local news in your community and how Monitor Local can serve you in western Maine.

We plan to gather from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at Twice Sold Tales at 155 Main St. in Farmington.

I will be there, along with Executive Director Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm and some of our reporters who have been covering Oxford, Franklin and Somerset counties.

The event is informal, so please come for five minutes or stay the full two hours and tell us what you think.

We hope to see you there. We also hope you will consider applying for our new community reporting fellowship, focused on western and Downeast Maine.

We are interested in working with people who want to cover local news in their communities but need some journalism training to get started.

The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting is joining Journalism New England’s Career Lab on a three‑month local journalism program to provide hands‑on training for aspiring community reporting fellows who will contribute to The Maine Monitor’s Monitor Local coverage.

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

Fellows will cover town council meetings, school budget debates, zoning discussions, 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, which is distributed each Saturday in the Downeast Monitor and Western Maine Monitor newsletters.

This is a great opportunity for people 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.

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.

Know of a Western Maine story The Maine Monitor should look into? Click the banner to contact the newsroom.

Wilton names former director to RSU 9 board: Board repeals the policy that allows all-terrain vehicles on public roads, paving the way for an ordinance that could outlaw that behavior to be heard at the annual town meeting. Read this story by Bob Neal

Owners have discretion to demolish dilapidated sections of former Advertiser Democrat building in Norway: A public hearing scheduled for Jan. 22 is the next step in the demolition process. Read this story by Jon Bolduc

banner that reads in-depth from the maine monitor

What does the Trump administration’s review of wildlife refuges mean for Maine? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been asked to “look for refuges and hatcheries established for a purpose that no longer aligns with the mission” of the agency. Read this story by Chris D'Angelo.

banner that reads other news we're monitoring"

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

Greenwood’s code enforcement officer was sworn in by the town’s select board, with six new members joining the planning board this week. | Bethel Citizen

Cannabis products sold out of a Bethel store this fall were revealed to have identifying stickers for medicinal marijuana underneath the recreational ones, leading to questions about how Maine regulates the two programs. | Franklin Journal

Officials are seeking assistance from the public with fires at two vacant structures in western Maine on Jan. 6: one in Mexico and one in Phillips. | Spectrum News Maine

Significant changes are being proposed to an intersection on Route 148 in Madison, including an all-way stop. The intersection is 19th in the state for serious crashes, with 33 crashes in the last 9 years. | Morning Sentinel

Oxford County will transfer emergency calls to Cumberland for a few hours next week, in order to update its 911 system. | Sun Journal

Rangeley will hold a special town meeting later this month to allow the select board to use reserve account funds, after that article was inadvertently left off the June town meeting ballot. | Rangeley Highlander

Maine libraries scrambling for books after distributor closes | Portland Press Herald (Maine Monitor context: Maine Library Commission continues work on new standards)

The sheriff of Androscoggin County will receive a 2.5 percent cost of living increase, matching that of other elected officials and nonunion employees in that county. | Sun Journal

The Attorney General’s Office found the 2025 fatal shooting of a Hartford man by Oxford County deputies to be justified after he ran at an officer with a knife. | Maine Public

Waterville’s City Council is looking at regulating mobile home park rental costs, with an initial vote on a proposed ordinance passing unanimously. | Morning Sentinel

Snowmobile clubs are warning people to wait for more snow before hitting the trails. | Maine Public

January 21: Join Monitor Local editor Judy Meyer and some of our Monitor Local reporters for coffee and conversation at Twice Sold Tales, 155 Main Street in Farmington, from 10 a.m. to noon. We want to hear about what’s happening in your town and what you need from our reporting.

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.

DONATE NOW

banner that states the maine monitor is part of the trust project, an international consortium of news organizations implementing transparency standards. tap to learn about the monitor's editorial standards.

Manage preferences | Update email address