The Maine Monitor

Voters in at least eight towns and cities across Maine will decide whether to add some level of rent control for mobile home parks on Nov. 3, offering the potential to almost double the number of places that have financial protections for park residents.

Voters in parts of Maine will decide whether they want to temporarily ban data center construction next week, joining a growing list of municipalities pre-emptively blocking the controversial projects.

Penobscot County officials say a new, larger jail is necessary to meet the needs of the people in their custody. But a group of concerned citizens is fighting against the latest plan. County residents will be asked to weigh in on Election Day.

Faculty, lawmakers, students and staff gathered at the University of Maine in Orono on Monday to call on university leaders to not cut faculty and staff as the state’s flagship university faces a $19 million shortfall.

The Maine Monitor will host a live blog on its website on Election Day, reporting from more than 40 polling places around the state. We’ll have reporters across Maine bringing you photos, videos, interviews with voters, breaking news, and updates.

Nearly three months into a ban on cellphones in Maine schools, educators told The Maine Monitor they have been surprised by how understanding students have been. They described the effects on students as overwhelmingly positive.

After 4 mobile homes in Brunswick were condemned for safety risks, the town and state came together to pay for temporary housing for the displaced families.

The vast majority of medical providers across the country still accept Medicare, the federal insurance for Americans 65 and older. But some people have raised concerns that medical providers will opt out of Medicare due to reductions in payments.

Cancelled health insurance plans, little information from the federal government and general economic anxiety have dominated the start of open enrollment for Medicare, which ends Dec. 7.

Mainers casting ballots in the general election this fall may notice that there is no option to vote for the secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer or state auditor. Instead, their selection is left to lawmakers.

With Election Day fast approaching, faith-based groups have been working to engage voters across the political spectrum in Maine.

In 2025, The Maine Monitor launched a civic news initiative, Monitor Local, in response to feedback from Mainers who said they needed more reporting on their towns. Today, we announce our expansion of Monitor Local to Waldo and Kennebec counties.

Starting today, readers will be able to sign up for a new regional newsletter, Central Maine Local. Central Maine Local will include a round-up of news from Kennebec and Waldo counties. Sign up:

More money is being spent on negative advertising in Maine’s Senate race than the state’s entire federal allotment for heating assistance this winter.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered transmission utilities to refund more than $1.5 billion to customers after finding that the companies’ authorized returns were set too high. The utilities are pushing back, and litigation is ongoing.

For small, rural churches in shrinking denominations such as the Episcopal Church, finding new clergy can take months or years.

Independent Rick Bennett, Republican Bobby Charles and Democrat Hannah Pingree all called for increased Medicaid reimbursements for providers, intensifying efforts to recruit new providers to the state and incentivizing established providers to remain.

Bobby Charles claims he has released his personal financial disclosure amid his campaign to be Maine’s next governor. In reality, his campaign has declined to provide the same level of information typically included in a financial disclosure statement.

The three candidates for governor all lamented the decline of standardized test scores among Maine children but shared differing ideas for how the state government should respond, in interviews with The Maine Monitor.

Democrat Hannah Pingree promised to continue Maine’s efforts to invest in building affordable housing; Republican Bobby Charles said he is eyeing property tax cuts; and independent Rick Bennett vowed to help homebuyers directly.