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Articles by Patrick Horne
Supreme Court declines to take up Maine lobster boat tracking appeal
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Supreme Court declines to take up Maine lobster boat tracking appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a Maine lobsterman’s legal challenge to an electronic vessel tracker requirement, putting an end to the multiyear lawsuit. The court denied a request to take up the appeal by Frank Thompson, a Vinalhaven lobsterman, Maine Morningstar reported. In a statement, Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Carl Wilson said the department believes the tracking data is critically important to the long-term sustainability of the lobster fishery.
Trump administration uses rare authority to claw back nearly $1B in spending approved by Congress
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is canceling nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, the White House announced on Friday, using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives.
Flights are disrupted across the Northeast due to technical problems at a key air traffic center
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Flights are disrupted across the Northeast due to technical problems at a key air traffic center
Hundreds of flights were canceled in the U.S. Northeast due to technical problems at a key regional air traffic control center, as every major airport in the New York City area ground to a halt for several hours Monday just as numerous foreign leaders were flying to the United Nations General Assembly. However, President Donald Trump’s flight from Washington to New York was able to depart as scheduled.
Graham Platner no longer scheduled to speak at Labor Day rally
PORTLAND — Former Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner is no longer set to speak at a Labor Day rally when he makes his first major public appearance since ending his campaign against Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. Platner, who won the nomination in June but dropped out in July after Politico reported that a former girlfriend said he sexually assaulted her, had been scheduled to speak Monday at the rally in Ellsworth, near his hometown of Sullivan. He has denied the allegations.
Dolly Parton, music star, actor and beloved figure who spanned generations, dies at 80
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Dolly Parton, music star, actor and beloved figure who spanned generations, dies at 80
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Dolly Parton, the country music icon whose soaring vibrato vocals, poignant songwriting and sparkling costumes defined her rise from a log cabin in the Tennessee mountains to the height of stardom and acclaim, has died. She was 80 years old. Parton died peacefully Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee, her publicist said in a statement.
ICE pitches legal insurance to help shield local officers who make immigration arrests
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pitching a plan to help shield local police officers who make immigration arrests from possible financial consequences if they are accused of on-duty misconduct. The agency is proposing to subsidize liability insurance for state and local officers who are trained and deputized to enforce federal immigration laws, according to a planning document published Friday.
Forget left vs. center. Democratic voters are making it clear they just want change
WASHINGTON — Democrats remain mixed over what ideological direction the party should take. But across a series of closely watched primaries, they are sending a clearer message about the party’s path forward: They want change. In marquee Senate primaries in Michigan and Minnesota, progressive candidates defeated two members of Congress with significant backing from party leaders.
Kamala Harris endorses Democrat Troy Jackson in Maine’s US Senate race
PORTLAND — Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday endorsed Maine’s Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Troy Jackson, just two days after the state’s party used a hastily called nominating process to name him as the replacement candidate in a race seen as crucial for control of the chamber. Jackson secured the Democrats’ nomination on Saturday to run against longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Endangered right whales could wait almost a decade for new US protections
A North Atlantic right whale in the waters off New England in May 2024. There are only about 380 North Atlantic right whales left. There were about 480 in 2010. (NOAA via AP) SCARBOROUGH — New protections for endangered right whales in the North Atlantic would be postponed for nearly a decade under a plan that cleared a key hurdle in Washington last week with the full-throated support from the fishing and lobster industries.
Analysis: Platner may be done. Voters’ hunger for change and willingness to take risks will remain
With Graham Platner’s campaign teetering from an allegation of sexual assault, there’s no shortage of people arguing that the 41-year-old Maine oysterman and progressive political neophyte was always too risky for a key Senate race. However, it’s likely more candidates will follow his path in the future.
Maine couple spot a bear chasing a moose calf and help it escape
In this photo provided by Elvia J. Malcolm, a bear chases a moose calf in Telos Township, Maine June 20, 2026. (Elvia J. Malcolm via AP) A Maine couple heading out for a day of fishing happened upon a scene fit for a nature documentary: A moose calf running for its life with a large black bear in pursuit. Elvia and Todd Malcolm were in Telos Township, about an hour or so from their home in Lincoln, when they saw a female moose along the edge of a wooded area before she turned down a side road.
Supreme Court strikes down limits on party spending in federal elections, backing Republican appeal
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday erased limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and president, striking down a federal election law that is more than 50 years old. Prodded by a Republican-led lawsuit that includes Vice President JD Vance, the court’s six conservative justices were again in the majority of the latest decision that upended congressionally enacted limits on raising and spending money to influence elections.
Hiker evacuated from Knife’s Edge on Katahdin by Forest Service helicopter Original
Maine Forest Rangers evacuated an injured hiker from the Knife’s Edge trail on Mount Katahdin on Sunday in the second helicopter rescue from the mountain in less than a week. A hiker fell about 20 feet near Pamola Peak on Sunday morning, sustaining several injuries, including a serious open fracture of the lower leg, according to a post on social media by the Maine Forest Rangers. Baxter State Park rangers got to the hiker and stabilized their injuries so they could be transported.
Trump administration to buy back leases for 4 more offshore wind projects
The Trump administration said Wednesday that it’s buying back another energy company’s U.S. offshore wind leases for four more wind projects, bringing the total amount spent on these agreements to nearly $2.6 billion. Chicago-based Invenergy has agreed to end its four offshore wind leases that were very early in development in exchange for reimbursements of lease fees totaling $765 million.
The Portland Press Herald
A warehouse on Route 1 in Monticello is stacked high with bales of used clothes, bins full of cardboard and shelves full of food. Some of the goods come from trucks heading north that have extra cargo they need to off-load before crossing the Canadian border. Other items, such as potatoes and broccoli, come from nearby farms.
The Portland Press Herald
Sen. Bernie Sanders, left, joins hands with Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, and at an event in Orono on May 24. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) WASHINGTON — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said Monday that he is standing by Graham Platner in the wake of media reports that the Maine Senate candidate previously exchanged sexually explicit text messages with several women while he was married.
Rare 2-colored lobster caught off Cape Cod donated to aquarium
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The Portland Press Herald
A rare split-color lobster is seen at the Wellfleet Shellfish Company, in Eastham, Mass., on April 17. (Shannon Keresey/Wellfleet Shellfish Company via AP) It might be a divided lobster, but it has united New Englanders in fascination. A Cape Cod seafood company has donated a rare two-colored lobster to a science center, sparing the critter from the kettle because of its remarkable coloration.
The Portland Press Herald
Protesters against the Iran war, protest at Lafayette Park near the White House on Tuesday in Washington. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photographer) TEHRAN, Iran — President Donald Trump says he’s pulling back on his threats to widen attacks in Iran to include an array of bridges, power plants and other civilian targets, subject to Iran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Portland Press Herald
Strikers picketing outside Bath Iron Works in Bath on Monday. The Bath Marine Draftsmen's Association is affiliated with the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America. (Rodrique Ngowi/AP Photograph) PORTLAND — Hundreds of designers, clerks and technicians went on strike Monday at Bath Iron Works, one of the U.S. Navy’s largest shipbuilding contractors.
Golden votes with Republicans as House rejects war powers resolution
Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, seen in 2024, was one of four Democrats to cross party lines and vote against a War Powers resolution in the House on Thursday. (Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press) WASHINGTON — The House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution Thursday to halt President Donald Trump’s attacks on Iran, an early sign of unease in Congress over the rapidly widening conflict that is reordering U.S. priorities at home and abroad.
House narrowly rejects war powers resolution to halt Trump’s attacks on Iran
Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, seen in 2024, was one of four Democrats to cross party lines and vote against a War Powers resolution in the House on Thursday. (Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press) WASHINGTON — The House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution Thursday to halt President Donald Trump’s attacks on Iran, an early sign of unease in Congress over the rapidly widening conflict that is reordering U.S. priorities at home and abroad.
Trump ends Obama-era restrictions on commercial fishing in protected area off New England
A garden of deep-water corals grows in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in the Gulf of Maine. (Photo courtesy NOAA) PORTLAND — President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on Friday reopening a huge swath of protected sea in the Atlantic Ocean to commercial fishing.
US asks court to toss lawsuit alleging Army failed to stop Maine’s deadliest mass shooting
Attorney Travis Brennan speaks Sept. 3, 2025, at a news conference at the Franco Center in Lewiston announcing a lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of the victims of the October 2023 mass shooting in Lewiston. At left is attorney Ben Gideon.
US asks court to toss lawsuit alleging Army failed to stop Maine’s deadliest mass shooting
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US overdose deaths fell through most of 2025, federal data reveals
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention building in Atlanta. (Ben Gray/AP Photograph) NEW YORK — U.S. overdose deaths fell through most of last year, suggesting a lasting improvement in an epidemic that had been worsening for decades. Federal data released Wednesday showed that overdose deaths have been falling for more than two years — the longest drop in decades — but also that the decline was slowing.
Immigration officers shoot and wound 2 people in Portland, Oregon, authorities say
Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez, center, speaks to the media following reports that federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in Portland, Ore., on Thursday. (Jenny Kane/Associated Press) PORTLAND, Ore. — Federal immigration officers shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, a day after an officer shot and killed a driver in Minnesota, authorities said.
Right whales have more calves than recent seasons
A North Atlantic right whale in the waters off New England in May 2024. (NOAA via AP) PORTLAND, Maine — One of the world’s rarest whale species is having more babies this year than in some recent seasons, but experts say many more young are needed to stave off the possibility of extinction The North Atlantic right whale’s population is an estimated 384 animals and is slowly rising after several years of decline.
Portland firefighters battling waterfront blaze
Flames erupt from a building on Commercial Street in Portland on Friday night. (Reuben Schafir/Staff Writer) A third alarm has been struck as firefighters respond to a fire in a building at 53 Commercial St. in Portland Friday night. Photos from the scene showed the flames bursting from the roof of what appeared to be a warehouse. This is a developing story.
More than a third of states sue HHS over move to curtail youth gender-affirming care
NEW YORK — A coalition of 19 states, including Maine, and the District of Columbia on Tuesday sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and its inspector general over a declaration that could complicate access to gender-affirming care for young people.
Motive still unknown after suspect in the Brown attack and MIT professor’s killing is found dead
Investigators on Friday were trying to sort out why a former Brown University student allegedly opened fire on the campus decades after he dropped out and later gunned down an esteemed Massachusetts college professor he attended school with in Portugal in the 1990s.
Man suspected in shooting at Brown University has been found dead in New Hampshire, AP source says
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A man suspected of killing two and wounding several others at Brown University has been found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility, a law enforcement official and a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The man was found dead Thursday evening. He is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the person familiar with the matter said.
Washington County officials adopt budget
MACHIAS — Washington County has a budget. On Wednesday morning, following a two-hour meeting of the county commission and the budget advisory committee, members of the budget committee approved a plan to raise $11.6 million through taxation for the 2026 budget. The vote was 9 to 2. The three commissioners also gave their stamp of approval.
House votes to nullify Trump order and restore bargaining rights for federal workers
Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, seen in 2024, co-sponsored the bill and a discharge petition to get the bill to the House floor for a vote. (Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press) WASHINGTON — Nearly two dozen House Republicans joined Democrats Thursday to pass a bill that would restore collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal employees, an attempt to overturn an executive order that President Donald Trump issued earlier this year.
Federal judge throws out Trump order blocking development of wind energy
Wind turbines operate at the Block Island Wind Farm, off Block Island, R.I., in 2023 (Julia Nikhinson, AP Photographer) WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking wind energy projects, saying the effort to halt virtually all leasing of wind farms on federal lands and waters was “arbitrary and capricious” and violates U.S. law. Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated Trump’s Jan.
Lobster boats must keep using tracking devices for government observation, court rules
Lobster boats moored in Stonington harbor in May. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo) PORTLAND — The U.S. government can continue requiring America’s lobster fishing boats to use electronic tracking devices to collect data, a federal appeals court has ruled, denying claims by some in the industry that the monitoring amounts to unreasonable search and seizure. Fishing regulators began requiring federally permitted lobstermen to install electronic tracking devices that transmit location data in late 2023.
Only 2 Maine districts make the cut for school construction funds
The beginnings of stair and elevator towers are underway at the new RSU 14 middle school site in Windham in July. With a $156 million price tag, the Windham middle school project is the most expensive public school construction project in Maine to date.
Under pressure, Maine Library Commission postpones vote to adopt new requirements for libraries
Lincoln Memorial Public Library is Washington County’s smallest library, with 6,385 collections packed into a mere 875 square feet. (Photo by Joyce Kryszak via The Maine Monitor) AUGUSTA — The Maine Library Commission voted unanimously Monday to postpone its vote to adopt a new agreement that would force the state’s smallest libraries to hire directors and expand their hours if they want to continue to access the state’s interlibrary loan service, including e-books, and internet service.
Federal shutdown creates uncertainty for Maine cancer patient struggling to stay warm
BAILEYVILLE — Setting the thermostat at 60 degrees used to be no problem for Gerard Berry, even during harsh Maine winters. Then he got sick with stomach cancer and struggled to stay warm as he lost weight. “I used to tell the kids, ‘Put a sweatshirt on.’ But when I got sick, I got really thin, and we had to push it up a lot more,” said Berry, 47. “We burned a lot more fuel last year than we ever did.” Berry’s family of seven got help filling their oil tank last winter.
Federal shutdown creates uncertainty for Maine cancer patient struggling to stay warm
BAILEYVILLE, Maine — Setting the thermostat at 60 degrees used to be no problem for Gerard Berry, even during harsh Maine winters. Then he got sick with stomach cancer and struggled to stay warm as he lost weight. “I used to tell the kids, ‘Put a sweatshirt on.’ But when I got sick, I got really thin, and we had to push it up a lot more,” said Berry, 47. “We burned a lot more fuel last year than we ever did.” Berry’s family of seven got help filling their oil tank last winter.
New map brings Maine’s seaweed forests to the surface
A new, interactive map shows seaweed density along Maine’s coast. Red marks the areas with the highest seaweed density; green shows medium density; and blue shows areas with the least. (Courtesy CEMAP) Amid the Trump administration’s cuts to federal climate change research, a New England remote sensing company has released a high-definition map of Maine’s coastline that its founder hopes will help local officials plan for climate resilience.
Trump escalates retribution campaign with charges against Comey and threats against liberal groups
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s unprecedented retribution campaign against his perceived political enemies reached new heights as his Justice Department brought criminal charges against a longtime foe and he expanded his efforts to classify certain liberal groups as “domestic terrorist organizations.” Days after Trump publicly demanded action from his attorney general and tapped his former personal lawyer to serve as the top federal prosecutor in Virginia, former FBI Director James Comey,...
Kid Review: Bear and the Three Goldilocks By Patrick Horne
About This Book: You’ll laugh out loud at this funny fractured folktale with pictures by a popular artist! The Goldilocks family leave their campsite to go on a hike while their s’mores cool off . . . when along comes Bear. “What’s that yummy smell?” Bear wonders. S’mores, of course: too gooey, too chocolatey . . . and just right! Bear eats them all. Bear continues to wreak havoc by breaking a chair, smashing musical instruments, and extinguishing the fire.
Justice Department ramping up efforts to target human smuggling at the northern border
Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks as U.S. Attorney of Middle District of Florida Gregory W. Kehoe, left, watches during a human smuggling news conference in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday. (Chris O’Meara/AP Photographer) TAMPA, Fla.
State restricts Piscataquis County Jail operations after it fails to meet key standards
The Piscataquis County Jail has had its operations restricted by the Maine Department of Corrections after it failed to meet a number of key standards during an inspection last month. The jail must stop all new intakes, return all boarded inmates to their original facilities and create a plan of corrective action. That plan is due by the end of the week and must outline actions the sheriff and jail administrator will take to come into compliance.
Federal data suggest Maine had the highest electricity hike last year. The picture may not be so clear.
New federal data shows that Maine had the biggest increase in residential electricity prices in the country over the last year. But state officials are criticizing the report, saying the numbers overstate what people pay here, though they acknowledge bills have climbed.
Will the battle over congressional redistricting come to Maine?
A national battle over congressional redistricting has some Democratic-led states saying they will work to counter efforts to create more Republican-leaning districts in Texas, though it’s unlikely Maine will join that effort. Maine’s 2nd District is a swing district that has been targeted by Republicans as a pick-up opportunity and could factor into whether the party maintains its narrow control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year.
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