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Here we are at Memorial Day weekend, our unofficial start of summer.

In towns and cities around Maine, thousands will attend parades and offer prayers. Wreaths will be set up for memorial ceremonies. There will be calls to honor and remember the men and women in our military, and most businesses will close on Monday to give their employees time to be with their families. There will also be plenty of picnics and barbecues, making Memorial Day a mixed time of remembrance and togetherness.

I’ve attended dozens of Memorial Day events over the years, starting in my teens with my high school’s marching band. I’ve covered events in Lewiston, Oxford and lots of other places. Some of the most moving events I attended were at the Buckfield Village Cemetery, where generations of families are buried and where townspeople take enormous care in placing flags and flowers at gravesides.

There is a tremendous sense of community that comes from standing together in gratitude.

Thank you to all who are organizing events this weekend, and my condolences to those who have lost a loved one in military service. And for those of you who have served, like my husband, I thank you deeply for your service.

Please share this newsletter with family members and friends. They can sign up on our website to have it delivered to their own inbox each Saturday.

Waterville City Council adopts ordinance barring city employees from assisting ICE in immigration enforcement: Councilors debated a proposal to exempt police from the restrictions and discussed warnings about potential federal funding losses before approving the measure. Read this story by Charley DiAdamo

Kingfield officials schedule special meeting to weigh moratorium on Bowdoin College campsite application: Lawyer for the Brunswick liberal arts college said the moratorium petition has a “fatal flaw” because the ordinance’s campsite definition is too vague. Read this story by Ashton F. LeCraw

MSAD 58 voters cut $472,000 from proposed budget, reject reserve funding: The trimmed spending plan is set for a districtwide referendum June 9. Read this story by Ben Hanstein

Rangeley Board of Selectmen makes it easier for town employees to take time off: Voters to decide on proposed 3.5 percent budget increase in June 9 referendum. Read this story by Ashton F. LeCraw

Wilton Board of Selectpersons awards paving and retaining wall contracts, rejects Town Office repair bid: Board moves to seek architectural proposals for a possible building expansion. Read this story by Bob Neal

RSU 9 towns to take up $46.2 million budget Tuesday: The recommended spending plan is up 1.5 percent as district trims positions and uses fund balance to limit tax impact. Read this story by Ben Hanstein

Maine’s biggest ski resort is in a dispute over $150K of taxpayer money: Franklin County officials say the money was improperly charged for an infrastructure project that fell apart. Read this story by Daniel O'Connor of The Maine Monitor and Bangor Daily News

Most of Maine’s county commissioners are in their 60s and 70s: With few competitive races, it is easy for a commissioner to remain in office for decades. Recent budget crises have brought more attention to the often ignored role. Read this story by Daniel O'Connor of The Monitor and BDN

Small fixes help older Mainers stay in their homes: Bath Housing’s Comfortably Home program is one of several in the state that provide free repairs to older adults under a certain income threshold. Read this story by Caitlin Andrews

Maine public universities on verge of closing $1.39M deal for first systemwide AI tool: A two-year contract is likely to start July 1. Read this story by Kristian Moravec

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.

A referendum on transgender athletes may not make the November ballot after thousands of petition signatures were recommended to be invalidated | Maine Public

Drought conditions across the much of the state continue to improve thanks to spring rains | WMTW

EPA rule could let Maine data centers off the hook for clean-air violations  | Public News Service

The Franklin County Budget Advisory Committee cut roughly $64,000 from the commissioners’ budget, with a hearing to be held on May 27 | Franklin Journal ($)

The funeral for game warden pilot Joshua Tibbetts, who died after his plane crashed in Avon last week, was attended by hundreds of law enforcement officers, family and supporters in Bangor | Maine Public

Paris voters will have their say on a proposed $6.46 million budget at the annual town meeting on June 15 | Advertiser Democrat ($)

The state has announced that it will make $3 million in research grant funding available to support farms affected by PFAS | Maine Public

UMaine System trustees approved a 4 percent tuition increase as part of the next budget | Spectrum News Maine

Skowhegan-area MSAD 54 voters supported the board’s $53.9 million budget at a meeting held Wednesday. The validation referendum to finalize the budget will be held June 9 | Morning Sentinel ($)

Maine libraries are still grappling with the loss of $35 million in grant funding, a year after the federal government canceled the Digital Equity Act | Public News Service

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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