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The Eastport CIty Council adopted an ordinance on Wednesday banning large-scale data centers, three months after the citizens group Eastport Coalition for Healthy Oceans petitioned the council to adopt one.

Councilors also voted to seek intervenor status in the DeepGreen Western Passage subsea data center project, and to send a letter of opposition to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, citing their objections to the project. Our story this week has details about the council decision and what’s next.

We have two stories from Thursday’s Washington County Commission meeting. One is about the negotiated agreement between the county and County Manager Renée Gray settling her lawsuit against the county and two of its councilors, and the other is about commissioners continuing to put pressure on the Sheriff’s Department and jail administrators to cut overtime costs.

We also have two stories out of Lubec, including one about a legal opinion on whether the chair of the Lubec Select Board meets the residency requirement to serve as an elected official, and another about what the Lubec School Board decided to do about allowing the public to use the community playground at the Lubec Elementary School during school hours.

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Thank you for reading, 

Judy

Eastport City Council moves to join federal review of subsea data center plan: Councilors file an opposition letter with FERC and adopt a ban on large‑scale data centers in the business district. Read this story by Melissa S. Razdrih

Washington County settles wrongful termination lawsuit with county manager: Amended contract strips commissioners of firing power and puts decisions involving Renée Gray in the hands of an arbitrator. Read this story by Judith Meyer

Lubec School Board takes no action on dispute over playground access: The school administration claims the community‑funded playground, open during school hours for decades, can be closed to the public while classes are in session, prompting objections and calls for change. Read this story by Ethan Bien

Legal opinion says chair of Lubec Board of Selectmen meets residency requirement: Town’s lawyer concludes Carol Dennison’s Lubec home qualifies as her principal residence despite her living most days in Trescott. Read this story by Ethan Bien

Washington County Commission presses Sheriff’s Office, jail to rein in soaring overtime: Costs at both departments have already exceeded allocations, and commissioners say they still have not seen a plan to prevent a year‑end budget overrun. Read this story by Judith Meyer

Where Medicaid cuts could hit hardest in Maine: See how many people in each county could be subject to new work requirements in order to receive health benefits. Read this story by Rose Lundy

Susan Collins and Troy Jackson have both navigated family lobbying ties, under different rules: It’s been nearly 20 years since the federal government put some restrictions on lobbying by family members. Maine and other states haven’t followed suit. Read this story by Matt Junker

Voters know less about Troy Jackson’s finances than any other major U.S. Senate nominee: The Democrats’ replacement nominee hasn’t yet had to file information that’s typically available already for most Senate candidates. Read this story by Matt Junker

What to know about this year’s flu, COVID-19 and RSV shots: Major medical groups issued immunization recommendations last week, ahead of the fall respiratory virus season that begins in October. Read this story by Emily Bader

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.

Dozens of people have reported dry wells across the state as the drought expands | Maine Public

Passamaquoddy Nation will not buy Eastport grocery store | Portland Press Herald ($)

Closure of city's grocery store leaves many shoppers in limbo | Quoddy Tides

Maine schools still teach reading in ways that aren’t proven to work | Bangor Daily News

The commissioner of the state’s Department of Corrections is retiring at the end of the month | Maine Public

Tariffs creating difficulties for Woodland Pulp operations | Quoddy Tides

25 years later: Lubec remembers Jackie and Robert Norton, lost on 9/11 | WABI

Rick Bennett vows to fix Maine’s reading crisis. His rivals aren’t as specific. | Bangor Daily News

Canadian communities speak out against Eastport data center | Quoddy Tides

Maine has the ninth-most demand for seasonal labor in the country, making it heavily reliant on foreign labor | Maine Public

Maine is one of the cheapest states to own a vehicle | WABI

Maine groups are joining a national effort to reject proposed changes to the National Historic Preservation Act | Public News Service

Bassett elected as chief at Sipayik | Quoddy Tides

Mi'kmaq Nation acquires 83 acres in Aroostook County | Maine Public

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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