Morning Update: What you need to know in Maine today

A version of this story first appeared in the Morning Update newsletter. Sign up here to receive the Morning Update and other BDN newsletters directly in your inbox.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“This selection and the running of the airport, it’s more like a private business than it is like a fire department or a park and rec department. And usually private businesses, the board of directors try to show a certain unity about whatever decision they make.”

— Scott Wardwell, director of Presque Isle International Airport, defending the city’s closed-door deliberations to pick airlines for the airport, a process that experts say is illegal.

TODAY’S TOP STORIES

Tenants will move into a former Bangor inn next week. The opening of the housing facility intended to combat homelessness comes nearly six months after its ribbon-cutting ceremony.

A Brewer counseling service is expanding to meet growing demand. Higher Ground Services is adding nine additional counselors and hopes the move will encourage other providers to fill out their own ranks.

Bucksport friars sold their monastery to New York buyers. The sale completes the friars’ move south from the region where its members were well-known business owners for decades.

Presque Isle’s new process for recommending airlines is meant to be discreet, but it might be illegal. The city moved deliberations behind closed doors in an attempt to avoid heated public debates that might scare away commercial airlines.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

• A judge appointed by Donald Trump will decide this Maine abortion case
• Maine clinics fight to restore Medicaid funds after Trump’s cuts to abortion providers
• How Maine’s emergency managers are preparing for dangerous heat
• Bangor man arrested after alleged assault caught on security video
• Bangor woman charged with arson
• Dog that went missing after Glenburn shooting and home invasion has been found
• Dexter man accused of assaulting his 7-month-old child
• Judge tosses deathbed will in family feud over Belfast lobster pound
• Man rescued after falling nearly 30 feet near Maine waterfall
• Maine firefighter charged with arson after he allegedly set his home on fire
• Cooper Flagg and the Mavs are booked to play the Celtics in Boston

MAINE IN PICTURES

The East Branch of the Penobscot River flows over Pond Pitch in the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in northern Maine. Credit: Robert F. Bukaty / AP

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, walks to the chamber following a closed-door Republican meeting with OMB Director Russell Vought at the Capitol in Washington on July 15, 2025. Credit: J. Scott Applewhite / AP

“By investing in global health, we build trust, forge partnerships and enhance stability in regions critical to our national interest.”

Opinion: Susan Collins saving global AIDS relief program shows that American compassion still matters

LIFE IN MAINE

It’s finally time to find out if you were lucky enough to get an antlerless deer permit for this fall’s hunt. If you didn’t, there’s still an opportunity for you to purchase one later this summer.

The new and updated Maine hunting laws have been released, and provide important updates on everything from digital stamp purchases to landowner privileges.

A flash drought has developed in parts of Maine due to persistent dry and hot conditions, keeping the fire danger squarely in the high and extremely high range.