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Greetings from Downeast where severe drought has taken hold and a gray haze from Nova Scotia wildfires tinges our waning summer blue skies. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the Downeast region is officially in severe drought. Forecasters predict conditions to get worse.

In case that’s not enough to keep a lid on fire pits — look up. Smoke from Nova Scotia wildfires is wafting over Downeast skies. Folks everywhere from Lubec to Jonesport report on social media they can smell the smoke too. 

Depleted lakes and crunchy grass aren’t keeping tourists away though. Last weekend’s Machias Wild Blueberry Festival might be the biggest year. Acadia National Park is overflowing with visitors too, causing congestion from Bar Harbor to Ellsworth. You can read in stories below about how those towns are tackling their traffic troubles.

It seems the Eastport Port Authority has worked out its troubles with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol over lease fees. A story from the Quoddy Tides caused waves with some readers and Eastport Port Authority executive director Chris Gardner. He reports the CBP apologized and reversed course.

Condolences also poured out on social media for former Eastport City Manager Kate Devonshire, who passed away unexpectedly this week. Devonshire was the city’s sixth manager over a twelve-year period, serving for two years until May 2023.

Angst over Maine's high property taxes hampers efforts to make them fairer

Addison is among many municipalities are doing their first revaluations since the pandemic boom in home values, making residents concerned about taxes.

Read this story by Daniel O'Connor of The Maine Monitor & Bangor Daily News

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

Graham Platner, a 40-year-old oyster farmer from Sullivan who has never held elected office, announced this week that he is entering the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, hoping to unseat incumbent Susan Collins. | Spectrum News Maine

Parts of Down East and the Midcoast are now in a severe drought, while southern, central, western and parts of eastern Maine remain in a moderate drought. | Portland Press Herald

The University of Maine and state officials have confirmed the presence of the Asian longhorned tick for the first time in Maine. | Maine Public

Maine joins nearly a dozen other states around the country that have added “coercive control” to their definition of domestic abuse in civil code. | The Maine Monitor

As trade war grinds on, some Calais businesses are losing Canadian customers. | Maine Public

The Sustainable Tourism Task Force met the consultants who will lead them for the next 16 months or so as Bar Harbor tries to gather multiple thoughts, needs, and opinion to create a tourism strategy. | Bar Harbor Story

A U.S. Department of Transportation program will support around $50,000 in funding to help Ellsworth address infrastructure and transportation challenges. | Ellsworth American

The town of Bar Harbor released the results of a cybersecurity audit launched after last month’s system breach. | Mount Desert Islander

Ellsworth city council chairperson Michelle Beal resigned from her leadership role earlier this week and will not seek a second term. | Ellsworth American

Lubec leaps into jurisdictional dispute over aquaculture leasing. | Quoddy Tides

Electricity is flowing through the lines from 30 giant wind turbines surrounding Columbia, and soon the promised money from project operation will flow as well to local governments in Washington County. | Quoddy Tides

Maine’s daily newspapers once employed D.C.-based reporters dedicated solely to covering the state’s congressional delegation. No Maine-based news outlet, however, has maintained a D.C. correspondent in more than 15 years. The Maine Monitor will break that trend by supporting a D.C.-based correspondent dedicated to covering Maine’s congressional delegation. | The Maine Monitor

Have feedback, a correction or know of something we should look into? Send it to our newsroom. If you have feedback or a tip that you want to send to Joyce Kryszak directly, email her at: joyce@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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