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A ranked-choice ballot used for the 2nd Congressional District general election in Nov. 2022. Photo by Robert F. Bukaty of the Associated Press.

Mainers decided to begin using ranked-choice voting in elections for the state Legislature, governor and federal offices all the way back in November of 2016 — the first state in the nation to do so.

But nearly a decade and multiple court cases later, full implementation of that new system approved by 52 percent of voters has languished in a sort of legal and administrative purgatory. Ranked-choice voting is used in state and federal primaries. It is also used in federal races during the general election. But it is not used in general elections for state representative, state senator or governor. 

In the Democratic and Republican primaries this June, Maine voters will rank candidates for governor, the state Legislature and federal offices in order of preference. In this system, if one candidate is the first-choice pick of more than half the voters, that candidate is declared the winner. 

If no one gets more than 50 percent, there could be another round of counting, with candidates in last place eliminated and their votes reallocated to voters’ second-choice picks. That process can continue for multiple rounds until one candidate secures more than 50 percent and wins the election.

https://themainemonitor.org/maine-ranked-choice-voting-limbo/

A May 7 order by a federal judge sanctioned a Massachusetts lawyer for citation errors caused by AI use in a Maine lawsuit. Photo by Erin Rhoda.

An attorney working on a case alleging physical and psychological abuse and forced labor trafficking at the Hyde School in Bath was sanctioned this week by a federal judge for using artificial intelligence in a court filing, leading to citation errors. The judge ordered her to attend a course on AI and to create procedures aimed at preventing future mistakes, but the underlying civil case will continue. 

The case before the U.S. District Court in Portland is the latest example of how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal field and raising ethical questions.

Kelly Guagenty, a partner at the Massachusetts firm Justice Law Collaborative, is representing a former attendee of the Bath boarding school in a federal lawsuit alleging that students were subjected to forced labor and abuse for “decades,” a claim the school denies. In a filing arguing against dismissal of the case last November, Guagenty failed to do a line-by-line verification and included mischaracterizations of case law, an improper quotation and a misattribution.

https://themainemonitor.org/attorney-artificial-intelligence-errors/

Ruth Griffith grew up in Parkman, Maine, and originally dreamed of becoming a farmer. This year, she will graduate from the University of Maine in Orono as valedictorian before heading to New York City to work in finance. Photo courtesy the University of Maine.

Growing up in Parkman, Ruth Griffith’s neighbors lived half a mile down the road. The Piscataquis County town is home to fewer than 900 people, and the highest level of education is typically a high school diploma. Griffith described the community as isolated, rural and tightknit.

“When I was in high school, I worked at a small vegetable farm, and I really liked that work — being out in the field,” Griffith said. “I did, for a long time, think that I would be a farmer.”

Instead, Griffith pursued a college degree, attending the University of Maine in Orono. There, she discovered a love of working with data and studying finance, and decided to major in economics with minors in math and international affairs.

This month, she is graduating from the honors college within the state’s flagship university as valedictorian. It’s the highest honor awarded to a student who earned at least a 3.8 grade point average and made significant contributions to the university or wider community.

https://themainemonitor.org/from-rural-piscataquis-county-to-umaine-valedictorian/

Augusta Superintendent Michael Tracy presents to school board members at a meeting Monday. Credit: Daniel O'Connor / BDN

Municipal and school budgets across Maine are in turmoil as rising costs continue to force communities to balance school quality and tax burdens.

The cost of teachers, goods and transportation are rising, meaning it’s another fraught year for Maine schools pitching their budgets to voters and municipal officials. They’re asking for more money due to rising costs. Some places are having to confront thorny service reductions.

School and town budgets are being strained by years of inflation. Costs have been rising for years and are unlikely to come down. Increased student needs are adding to the struggle as well. Maine’s special education costs are among the highest in the nation, and schools are required by federal law to pay for those accommodations. 

https://themainemonitor.org/local-budget-dispute-lessons/

East Range has four classrooms, two of which are not used for regular instruction. Photo by Daniel O’Connor

The remote Washington County town of Topsfield voted last week to close its five-student school, opting to send a shrinking student population elsewhere.

Residents voted, 42 to 18, to shutter the East Range II School after high costs began to drive students from out of town elsewhere, bringing the number of students down from 25 in 2023 to the small total it has today. Turnout was robust in a town with only about 175 residents and 130 registered voters.

School district officials projected that the school, which once served pre-K through eighth grade, would have taught no more than seven students at a time over the next five school years. They also expected it would cost nearly $500,000 per year to keep the school open.

The school board will finalize the closure plan and weigh what to do about the staff at East Range, at a meeting on May 7. 

https://themainemonitor.org/topsfield-closing-school/

Photo by Tristan Spinski.

Gov. Janet Mills withdrew from the race for U.S. Senate Thursday morning, clearing a path for another Democrat to win her party’s nomination.

The rise of progressive oyster farmer Graham Platner of Sullivan was unthinkable when he announced his campaign as a political unknown. He is now poised to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a pivotal November race for determining control of the chamber.

Platner has painted himself as a working class hero, running far to the left of Mills on issues from tax policy to tribal rights. He represents the younger, activist wing of the party as national Democrats weigh whether to shift to the left or the center in the wake of their defeat at the hands of President Donald Trump in 2024. Platner has never run for elected office before.

His viral campaign of economic populism took off, particularly with younger voters,  advocating for universal healthcare and union protections. He said he would push for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that allowed massive spending on political campaigns. 

https://themainemonitor.org/what-to-know-graham-platner/

James, a long-time resident of York, received military honors during his burial in April. About 30 people attended his funeral, none of whom had known him. Photo courtesy Janie Sweeney.

When Janie Sweeney found out James had died, she put out the word about his funeral to ensure he wouldn’t be sent off alone. She believed it was important to bury James in his long-time community of York.

“It matters a great deal to me that people are not sent on the next journey alone, that they are laid to rest with dignity and people around,” said Sweeney, the family services manager for the York Community Service Association.

A growing number of older adults are living alone and have limited contact with other people. An estimated 20 to 25 percent of adults 65 and older, who don’t live in nursing homes, are considered socially isolated, according to a 2024 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The York Community Service Association started gathering people to attend funerals for those with no friends and family after a woman died in York Housing in 2022, and no one knew for several days, Sweeney said. The association arranged a graveside burial service for the woman and gathered people to attend her funeral. Since then, the association asked the town to start a burial fund, made up of $4,000 annually, and has arranged four other funerals, including for James, which was the largest yet. 

https://themainemonitor.org/she-buries-those-no-goodbye/

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Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the Maine Senate race on Thursday, making progressive candidate Graham Platner the presumptive Democratic nominee against Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in November.

In a statement issued by her campaign, Mills explained that she had run out of money to continue on, well short of the state’s June 9 primary, and before any debates between her and Platner.

“I step back from campaigning with unending love, admiration, and hope for Maine people — a people whose hearts are filled with love and whose integrity and humility is surpassed only by their kindness, generosity, and compassion,” she added.

The writing had been on the wall for the governor’s campaign for some time. It stopped running campaign ads three weeks ago. Mills had made few appearances on the trail. And poll after poll showed her badly lagging behind Platner, in some cases by 30 or more percentage points. She also had few allies among the Senate Democratic Conference, which had been pulling for Platner despite his controversies. 

https://themainemonitor.org/mills-suspends-senate-campaign/

The Pixelle Specialty Solutions paper mill in Jay, pictured here in 2022, closed in 2023, but developers have proposed building a data center there. Photo by Troy R. Bennett of the Bangor Daily News.

Town and school officials got their wish Wednesday when the Maine Legislature sustained Gov. Janet Mills’ veto of a bill that would have halted plans to redevelop the former Androscoggin Mill site as a data center.

On what is known as “Veto Day” at the State House in Augusta, the House of Representatives voted, 72-65, to override the veto, well short of the two‑thirds margin required in both chambers.

The Senate vote was closer — 20-11 in favor of overriding — but still below the threshold.

https://themainemonitor.org/jay-data-center-can-proceed/

Augusta Superintendent Michael Tracy presents to school board members at a meeting Monday. Photo by Daniel O'Connor.

The school board in Maine’s capital city on Monday found roughly $2.5 million in budget cuts to present to the City Council after struggling to meet demands from its conservatives.

The school’s superintendent had put forward a plan that would require a 16.1% increase on the school side of the budget. But the council’s conservatives, receiving pushback from tax-weary residents, suggested the school whittle that down to a roughly 5% increase. The school board got part of the way there, cutting it down to a roughly 10% increase in a pained meeting that discussed more drastic options. 

Augusta’s discussion was a continuation of the property tax strife facing Maine cities and towns over the past year and a potential sign of more difficult debates to come. No party holds clear control over city government. That roughly balanced political mix has yielded a school board that largely wants to avoid cuts relying on money from a City Council that seeks cuts.

https://themainemonitor.org/augusta-school-budget-cuts-council-pressure/

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Read our story here: 

Northern Light Health, which serves the northern two-thirds of the state, has been in a public financial tailspin, losing money the last four years in a row. I wanted to understand what is driving these financial challenges and what, if anything, the health system can do to pull itself back from the brink. I spent four months digging through financial records, talking to experts and interviewing Northern Light Health executive leadership. What I learned is that Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC), the system’s flagship hospital in Bangor, has been losing more money than its more rural counterparts. EMMC made up half the health system’s $156 million losses in fiscal year 2024 and had a -8.4% operating margin that year. The only other Northern Light Health hospital with a worse operating margin that year was Northern Light Inland Hospital in Waterville, which closed last June. The financial data on EMMC presents difficult questions about its future.

I’m here to answer your questions TOMORROW 11 a.m. to noon! 

In this 2021 file photo, Caribou firefighters talk atop the ladder of one of the department's fire trucks during a training exercise. Photo by Hannah Catlin of The County.

Calais has been seeking federal funds for a new ladder truck for years. It hasn’t worked out.

At 41 years old, the fire department’s current truck has been in service for about two decades longer than industry standards recommend. The department can no longer find parts for it but can’t replace it with town money alone. New ones run more than $1 million, and the budget for the entire city is roughly $6.5 million per year.

“We don’t want to burden the taxpayers with that, because I don’t think they can [afford] it, to be honest with you,” Fire Chief William Lee said.

Fire engine prices have skyrocketed since the pandemic, rising much faster than inflation. Maine towns struggling under heavy tax burdens are responding by holding onto aging trucks for longer and struggling to plan for new purchases that often take several years to process.

The price spike is the culmination of industry consolidation, ever-changing safety and emissions standards and President Donald Trump’s tariffs. One Maine city has even joined a national legal effort alleging a price-fixing scheme among a trio of dominant manufacturers.

https://themainemonitor.org/expensive-fire-trucks/

The Pixelle Specialty Solutions paper mill in Jay, pictured here in 2022, closed in 2023, but developers have proposed building a data center there. Photo by Troy R. Bennett of the Bangor Daily News.

Town and school officials are hoping a plan to redevelop the former Androscoggin Mill site into a data center clears its final hurdle.

Wednesday is “Veto Day” at the State House in Augusta, when lawmakers are expected to vote on whether to override Gov. Janet Mills’ veto of a bill that would have barred state, local and quasi‑governmental agencies from approving new data centers until 90 days after the legislative session ends.

The bill, L.D. 307, sponsored by Rep. Melanie Sachs, D‑Freeport, also would have created a Data Center Coordination Council to study the effects of data centers in Maine.

Overturning a veto requires a two‑thirds vote in each chamber.

The bill previously passed the House of Representatives, 79-62, and the Senate, 21-13 — both short of that threshold.

Tony McDonald, a principal with JGT2 Redevelopment LLC, which owns the site, told the Jay Select Board on March 24 that “the moratorium would kill this project.”

https://themainemonitor.org/jay-data-center-plan-final-test-veto-day/

Fishing wharves seen at low tide at dawn on Matinicus Isle in August 2009. Photo by Robert F. Bukaty of the Associated Press.

Electric bills on Matinicus Isle are expected to increase this summer after the island’s government upgraded its aging power system and are now looking to make it financially sustainable.

The community on Maine’s most remote inhabited island is home to more than 100 people in the summer but only 20 or so in the winter. Without a utility cable connecting Matinicus to the mainland 15 miles away, the plantation and its board of assessors run the power grid that has long relied on diesel fuel as the only source of electricity.

Matinicus has long kept rates steady and operated its power company at a loss. While most mainland Mainers pay 13 cents per kilowatt hour for power, it is 30 cents on the island. But it costs 50 cents to generate that power, Paul Davies, a former finance professor who moved to the island in 2021 and has helped update the power grid told assessors in February.

Rising electric prices have been a theme of the past few years in Maine. But the situation facing Matinicus is unique; the remote island is trying to diversify from diesel fuel and charge its customers for the power they consume.

“We’re talking about making some sort of adjustment in order to make sure that the cost of electricity is basically paid for by the users of the electricity,” Matinicus clerk Eva Murray said. “Rates out here have always been very high because we’re very isolated. It’s something like an Alaska-type setting.”

Rates have long been high because it’s expensive to bring diesel fuel to an island accessible only by air and occasional ferries. Until last summer, that was its only source of power. Last year’s overhaul required a $940,000 loan that the new rates will help pay back.

https://themainemonitor.org/spiking-electric-rates-matinicus/

Photo by Katherine Emery.

Save the date: Rose Lundy, a health reporter with The Maine Monitor, will host an AMA at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 30, about what’s contributing to years of financial losses by Northern Light Health, which operates nine hospitals across much of rural Maine.