byBDN staff reports
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Whether it’s interest rates are finally being absorbed, if it’s a macroeconomic thing, if people are feeling less good about spending money, or simply they’ve hit the affordability ceiling, we’re feeling it. We are not going to keep pricing things higher and higher.”
— Brit Vitalius, designated broker at Vitalius Real Estate Group, on the Maine housing market.
TODAY’S TOP MAINE STORIES
These are 4 ways the Maine housing market has radically changed in just a decade. The Maine cities and towns that have been hit hardest by the spikes in value over the last decade may surprise you.
Bangor is poised to lift a longstanding construction restriction that planners hope will bring more housing to the city. That change now goes to the City Council for final approval.
The world is weighing in on the fate of four Maine dams blocking passage of endangered salmon. The stakes couldn’t be higher, pitting the potential survival of a species against business interests.
The big road construction projects Maine will have to deal with this summer. They may cause some headaches over the next couple months.
MAINE IN PICTURES
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE
- FBI director says Chinese organized crime gangs are connected to Maine marijuana grow houses
- Why homeschooling in Maine is on the rise
- They’re not ‘Maine’s tribes’: A new guide for writing about the Wabanaki Nations
- Bangor High graduates 220 students whose tenures began with pandemic
- Bangor’s getting a Hawaiian shave ice food truck
- Brewer property tax rate to drop 6.5 percent under new budget
- Presque Isle man dies after crashing vehicle into building
- Motorcyclist dies after Aroostook collision
- Maine man trapped in tractor trailer escapes injuries in rollover crash
- An Odd Fellows hall in coastal Maine is now a boat shop and chic vacation rental
- Driver in crash that killed 4 Maine Maritime students gets 3 years behind bars
- A Maine festival with whoopie pies and live wrestling returns June 22
- A 21-foot sculpture honors the tribes that hunted swordfish in the Gulf of Maine
- Maine monster truck driver won’t be charged after injuring spectators
- Newly released records detail ‘pure chaos’ on night of Lewiston mass shooting
- Dump truck driver killed in Maine collision has been identified
- Police raid illegal marijuana grow house in Solon
- State police trooper fatally shoots man in Hiram
- Whale was spotted near MDI before it died off Cape Elizabeth
- More than 2,500 pot plants found at Parsonsfield illegal drug bust
- Professional-level motocross track opens in Oakfield
- Bangor baseball beats Brewer 7-3 in regional semifinals
- Mainers win 5 gold medals at New England Track Championships
- John Hayes IV defends Downeast Metro golf title by just 1 shot
INSIDE THE NEWSROOM
I spent six months chronicling the journey of a Ukrainian family that fled the war in their country and found safety with sponsors in Maine, though they face an uncertain future. This story shares snapshots of Mariana, Zlata and Mykyta Haletska’s lives, and it aims to capture the tension of gratitude and loss as they navigate an impossibly unfair situation.
Now that the project is out in the world, I feel simultaneously relieved and like a piece of me is missing. Reporting and writing this story was personal. In some ways, the Haletska family’s experiences mirrored those of my parents and siblings, who were part of a wave of refugees leaving their motherland after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Like Mariana, many of my relatives still live in Ukraine, and I think of them often. The weight of the ongoing destruction there is soul-crushing.
I am grateful to the Halestka and Deveau families for opening their lives to me. It was an honor to tell this story, which I will carry with me for a long time.
— Valerie Royzman
FROM THE OPINION PAGES
“Symbols of Pride, like the ubiquitous rainbow flags, can serve a much more important message. They send a message of belonging. They tell LGBTQ+ Americans and Mainers, ‘You are welcome here.’”
Editorial: Pride Month is time for celebration, but also to push back on efforts to diminish LGBTQ+ Mainers
LIFE IN MAINE
The historic crunch in Maine’s real estate market is putting land out of reach of aspiring homesteaders. But resourceful Mainers are finding ways to live off the land without owning it.
BDN Outdoors contributor Sarah Sindo sought out 360-degree views of the Katahdin region. All it took was braving an 80-foot climb up an old fire tower.
Not everyone has the time (or energy) to take a road trip to some of Maine’s hiking destinations. That’s OK. All of these hikes are within an hour of Bangor and offer treks for all levels.
