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.
Good morning. While the highs today are well below those we saw just a week or two ago, the air is wetter than David Hasselhoff, with 95-97% humidity across the state relieving us from whatever relief these more seasonable temperatures might have provided. But afternoon thunderstorms might take the edge off the humidity later today, if we’re lucky.
What Bangor’s city manager has learned during her 1st year on the job
When Carollynn Lear started as Bangor’s top administrator in June 2025, the city faced an HIV outbreak and an affordable housing shortage, along with more quotidian concerns, including an aging sewer system, vacant city positions and residents “hungry for more information.”
But what dominated her first year was homelessness, with dual pressures from those in need and those who weren’t but felt put out by it.
“It’s not the only extremely important issue. But it has felt, over the course of my first year, that it is the only issue that we’ve had space to talk about, and it’s pushing out other really important conversations,” Lear told the Bangor Daily News this week.
Lear, a former assistant commissioner at the New Hampshire Department of Revenue, also talked about expanding the tax base, justifying new programs by showing return on investment and other finance-minded goals for the city as she starts her second year.
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From the Opinion Page
“Many older adults fear disability and dependency more than death.”
Opinion: Maine’s families are counting on federal Alzheimer’s research funding
