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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I don’t think people are as concerned about the name as they are of the attributes.”
— Hank De Raat, listing agent for Esther Island in the Bagaduce River in Castine, which recently went up for sale. The island was renamed in 2022 after one of the earliest known enslaved people in the area, but the original name still appears in the real estate listing.
TODAY’S TOP STORIES
Bangor’s finance director cited an “unjust personal attack” in his fiery resignation letter. David Little resigned just days after he was the subject of a nearly 10-minute rant by a city councilor on his professional conduct.
There are secret Maine pathways that are helping to prevent dangerous, and often fatal, animal crashes. The state is quietly embracing methods long used in the western U.S. to divert animals large and small around high-strike roads and areas reshaped by development.
Here are four starter homes on the Maine market right now. Though the concept of a “starter home” is largely a casualty of the affordability crisis, there are opportunities for first-time buyers.
A once-offensively named Castine island is for sale again with a new name. Two islands received new recommended names from town voters in 2022, and one is now on the market.
The former sardine cannery in Gouldsboro will soon store frozen blueberries. Wyman’s, known for its Maine-grown blueberries, has signed a lease to use 18,000 square feet for frozen storage.
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE
- Uncommon May nor’easter to bring rain, snow to New England just before Memorial Day weekend
- Bernie Sanders endorses Troy Jackson for Maine’s next governor
- This Democrat is at the center of Maine’s debate over transgender athletes
- Advocates urge lawmakers to reject bill that would narrow Maine’s right-to-repair law
- A new rural government reporter will join the BDN and Maine Monitor
- Downtown Bangor businesses furious over unexpected road work
- 20-year-old seriously injured in Hampden crash
- New signs will give special welcome to Canadians visiting Maine
- Search continues for fisherman missing off Down East coast
- Maine parents and educators describe trauma from restraining and secluding students
- MDI nurses who protested closure of birthing unit will be disciplined
- Belfast’s harbor bridges are getting worked on this summer
- Maine State Police identify 4-year-old fatally shot in the head
- Woman dies after BMW crashes into Maine home
- Wells pauses ICE agreement in light of pending legislation that would ban it
- Duo wanted for murder in Texas arrested in Maine
- Gymnasts and parents ‘blindsided’ by program pause at Old Town-Orono YMCA
MAINE IN PICTURES

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

“Some see meat. Others see murder. And somewhere in between lies an old truth: We are part of nature, not separate from it.”
Opinion: Is it cruel to hunt deer?
LIFE IN MAINE
The state is proposing opening six Wildlife Management Districts to taking either sex deer with a regular license. A public hearing will be held at 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, in Augusta.
A tick expert offers advice for the increasingly popular “No Mow May.” You can still participate in the effort to foster an environment for pollinators with a few tweaks to your yard work habits.
The state’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife app surprised BDN Outdoors editor Julie Harris. “It is a treasure chest of history, statistics, how-tos, wildlife identification, community science, derbies, ice-outs, laws, descriptions of state regions, biologists’ reports and so much more,” she writes.