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| 📷 The Shawmut Dam spans the Kennebec River between Fairfield and Benton on Sept. 15, 2021. (AP photo by Robert F. Bukaty) |
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🐟 The battle over a dam persists with a procedural step.
◉ The Maine Department of Marine Resources issued a statement on Wednesday saying it was "inviting" the owner of the Shawmut Dam to submit a new application for a key water quality permit. The regulator's official step was to formally reject an application ahead of an Oct. 18 deadline to act.
◉ The Mills administration put forward a plan in early 2021 that would have removed this dam and three others. She walked back from a hard line and said she would protect a Skowhegan paper mill that relies on the dam, but LePage has raised the specter of removal absent official steps to end the dispute.
◉ The state said it rejected the application because of new fish-passage information filed before a federal regulator. That move does not change current operations. But the owner, an offshoot of Brookfield Renewable U.S., called it "disappointing" and said it could provide another year of uncertainty.
📮 Republicans catch up a bit on absentee ballots.
◉ Democrats had nearly a 4 to 1 advantage over Republicans in early absentee ballot requests ahead of Election Day, according to data from Secretary of State Shenna Bellows' office as of Tuesday at 3 p.m.
◉ That is still a big edge, but it is down from the 5-to-1 lead the majority party had last week. Democrats had still requested 59 percent of ballots compared with 16 percent for Republicans who are more likely to vote in person. |
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What we're reading
📁 At a lobstering rally, Golden agreed with LePage and broke with Mills to urge the state to file its own lawsuit against federal restrictions. Attorney General Aaron Frey said such a move would be "legally insignificant."
🎤 Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from the 1st District, said Maine would be "Alabama tomorrow" on abortion if Republicans control Augusta in her first debate with longshot GOP challenger Ed Thelander. He apologized for rally comments likening lobster rules to rape.
🚮 The investment firm working with 115 Maine cities and towns to revive a Hampden trash processor says it has found a respected operator.
🚰 Three coastal schools have switched to bottled water after high levels of lead were found in drinking water. |
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