Morning Update: What you need to know in Maine today

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Nobody can tell me at Maine Revenue Services why the jump other than they reassessed it. We basically went from a valuation — for two properties under 2 acres — of $350,000 to almost $950,000.”

— Keith Smith on a recent revaluation by the state of properties in Maine’s unorganized territory that upped the value of two small parcels he and his wife bought on Moosehead Lake in 2002 to a combined value of nearly $1 million.

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

A fisherman’s new boat is caught up in Donald Trump’s cuts to Maine. John Cotton’s situation shows how the impact of the cuts has trickled down to ordinary people who make up the state’s heritage industries.

Construction in Pickering Square will resume after a months-long delay. Bangor’s city leaders have seen the project as the finishing touch on a years-long endeavor to transform the corner of downtown.

Unorganized territory property values are going way up. The recent news from the state surprised residents who could see major tax increases later this year.

A Singapore couple is selling the Maine lake mansion they rebuilt. Over the past few decades, the couple has bought and renovated a handful of properties around Ellsworth’s Branch Lake.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

MAINE IN PICTURES

Boats are moored in Port Clyde Harbor on Thursday. Credit: Jules Walkup / BDN

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

President Donald Trump attends a Make America Healthy Again Commission Event in the East Room of the White House on May 22, 2025, in Washington. Credit: Jacquelyn Martin / AP

“The damage that Trump is doing to America, and its institutions, is too dangerous to remain silent.”

Editorial: It’s time for Republicans to declare that Trump is not making America great again

LIFE IN MAINE

Here’s how to make an authentic Maine lobster roll. For starters, serve the lobster filling in a top-split roll with butter-toasted sides.

Katahdin isn’t the only spectacular hike at Baxter State Park. “Baxter is home to more than 220 miles of hiking trails. And believe me, they’re all wonderful,” Aislinn Sarnacki writes.

Here are the best questions for beginning birders to ask. “Good, basic questions other people should ask me, but rarely do,” Outdoors contributor Bob Duchesne writes. “They are pertinent to situations all birders face.”