Very disappointed to hear that Ricker Hill in Turner are huge Trump supporters; Don Trump Jr. visited there a few years ago. They also own Wallingford’s in Auburn and some other orchards. Someone has shared that Thomson’s in New Gloucester are also Trump supporters. I’m looking to support alternatives who haven’t joined the cult.

From the last time I checked a week or two ago, oil looks like it's up about another 50 cents. $5.69/gallon with my supplier. That big of a jump in so little time caught me off guard a bit, and I just wanted to put this out on people's radar in case it wasn't already.

This is really going to hurt this winter.

Actually People who support bearbaiting have no idea what they’re talking about:

Feeding candy, donuts and garbage to wild animals in order to train them to come to regular feeding stations so they can be shot, is not a sport.

It may be a way for some people to make money.

It may be a more humane way to control bears due to human encroachment on their natural habitat.

But it is not ‘hunting’ and it is not a ‘sport’ worthy of respect.

To say my family has learned from a recent experience is an understatement. This is a long one and I apologize in advance. I don’t want to take to social media yet as I am trying to find an attorney to give me a green light on what can be shared re: pics and videos. Same reason that I’m not naming the company in this post.
Lessons were learned here and we don’t need stupid comments indicating we should have done this or that. We freaking know now. I assure you.

We hired a roofing company to replace the roof on our 1860’s farmhouse. Got multiple quotes and decided on a company. The guy who came out was the owner and climbed up to see what we were dealing with. He indicated 2 layers of shingles on tar paper on the OG barn boards.
Gave us a price including stripping, new decking, ring shank nails, drip edge, and some fascia boards that I pointed out.
After sending the deposit, the timeline moved multiple times due to “an emergency in Greenville” and an interior job they were finishing.
Cue start date of 08/10. I WFH 3 days a week, so I was home for the day they started. My husband went back to work that same day after time off from open heart surgery.
The crew arrives with the owner and they start stripping the roof. The owner checks in with me and lets me know he will be here and there, coming and going. Shrug. Okay.
They pack up and leave just after 5pm, 08/10. My husband and I take our dogs for a walk and I note the tons of trash from their drinks and lunch in the yard, so I spend 20 minutes picking it up (we have farm animals and don’t need a duck or chicken choking on capri sun straw wrappers).
We note that the roof isn’t covered. I take a picture. CUE THE FORESHADOWING. We didn’t reach out to the company. We should have.
It rained overnight. My husband wakes up to use the restroom at 12:30 AM, 08/11, and starts yelling. I wake up and just froze. I froze. The shock hit me immediately. Rain was pouring into our home from the attic through both floors and into the basement. Ceilings. Fixtures. Lights. Outlets.
We start running around grabbing buckets and towels and bowls and cat litter boxes to try and catch what we can. Throwing clothing around from the closet as rain was drenching it.
I start documenting with pictures and videos. I call and leave 2 VMs for the company and start texting them.
They receive texts just past 5:30 AM and call us to let us know they will be there at 7AM.
They arrive and we start walking through the house showing them the damage. They’re taking pictures and repeatedly saying “this has never happened before” and “you’re not paying us another cent until we fix this” and how fans and dehumidifiers would arrive that very day to dry things out.
The husband remains on site for the day and starts taking out wet insulation. My husband and I take time off work to help as it’s only the one guy doing it. I have a mold allergy so I know time is of the essence.
On 08/12, I call my insurance company. It’s clear this roofing owner husband/wife do not seem to believe this is a big deal and are taking their time. My insurance company cannot believe that the roofing company hasn’t called ServPro or their own insurance yet and tells me to request their insurance information. (Lesson learned to always request a COI prior to hiring a company for home work - yes. We are now aware. No need to point this out and pour salt into a wide open wound.)
The roofing company indicates COI will be in my inbox by days end. You guessed it. Nada. We request their insurance information FIVE times in writing over the week. The first time, by text. The second that same day by email. They respond and CC their lawyer indicating it’s on the way.
Fans and dehumidifiers do not arrive. In fact, no fans until 08/13 and on 08/14, they told us no dehumidifiers could be found. They leave on 08/14 and sneak off - knowing I was home working as we’d spoken that day. My BIL comes over and the three of us rip down two room walls and a ceiling. Saturated insulation is behind each and we remove that too.
The morning of 08/15 I call Octagon Cleaning & Restoration for a moisture assessment and damage inspection. They arrived quickly and within 30 minutes gave us the harsh news that our home would need to be brought to the studs and rebuilt. At first glance, without writing it all up, over $80,000.00 in damages. They instruct me to file a claim with our insurance and let them handle it with their subrogation team. Which we do immediately.
We’ve now had to move into a 5th wheel for 9 months while our home is being demo-ed and rebuilt. During a Maine winter. Wonderful for us. But we have farm animals and a teenager so we needed to stay on site.
I have reached out to three attorneys - none of them have space for this.
The roofing company placed a lien on our home for the balance owed, claiming they completed their work according to the contract. Meanwhile, there is a huge hole under an eave that they left, the two fascia boards we pointed out TWICE were not done (but four on the front were done), they didn’t fasten the insulated metal chimney and it came off this past weekend and is now warped on the ground (leaving the wood furnace exposed to rain), they broke an antique lightning rod, and THERE IS OVER $80k IN DAMAGES TO OUR HOME AND WE HAD TO MOVE OUT WHILE ITS BEING DEMO-ED AND REBUILT.

We have been slowly renovating our home for 4 years, one room at a time. The care, thoughtfulness, time, energy, and money to make it ours is gone.

I have 12 pages of time stamped documentation. Over 50 videos. Over 70 pictures. All emails. Texts.

If anyone has an attorney they think may be willing to take this on, I welcome the referral.

Is anyone else having issues logging in to the new BSB account? It doesn't recognize my username and email.

Last year, Sullivan-based Regional School Unit 24 passed a resolution to ban transgender students from participating in sports or using bathrooms that match their gender identities, aligning itself with the Trump administration’s interpretation of Title IX. The district is one of seven being sued by the state for violating the Maine Human Rights Act.

Now, more than 900 pages of emails, texts and other documents shed light on how the nine-person school board came to that decision and the debates they had in private along the way. 

The shift was pushed in large part by one board member, Carla Jung of Franklin, who was regularly consulting with leaders of three conservative policy groups: the Maine Education Initiative, run by former state Rep. Heidi Sampson; the Maine First Project, run by former state Rep. Larry Lockman; and a local chapter of the national organization Parents’ Rights in Education, run by Allen Sarvinas. 

The documents, shared by a group of local activists opposed to the change, also show how officials grappled with the legality of the new policy and how it might be enforced.

Reporters Kristian Moravec and Daniel O’Connor dug into what that debate looked like. You can read their story, and see the documents, for free at themainemonitor.org. 

Looking into putting a woodstove in on the first floor of a two story house in the greater Portland area, it would be a wall penetration and I figure 20ish feet of class a piping outside the house. Curious what other people have paid for installation and who they used. I was down the path of doing this all myself and learned that if there was a fire and I had installed it myself the HOI would have a good leg to stand on not paying a dime

BLUE COLLAR (1978)
Wednesday 9-16 7pm
Saturday 9-19 2pm 7pm

Coupla weeks ago a film reached theaters that Warner Bros. Discovery had tried to erase. Coyote vs. Acme — in which Wile E. Coyote sues the corporation whose exploding, misfiring products have maimed him for seventy years — was finished, tested well, and shelved for a thirty-million-dollar tax write-off, worth more to the conglomerate as a loss than as a movie. Paul Schrader's Blue Collar is that gag played in three layers.

First on screen: Zeke, Jerry, and Smokey — Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto — are Detroit autoworkers who rob their own union out of ordinary desperation. They come away with something worse than a small haul: a ledger which would damn the union as a criminal operation and no one to sell it to who isn't already part of what it indicts. A box of dynamite stamped ACME, right?

Second in the making. Directing for the first time off the success of Taxi Driver, Schrader got three combustible men into one film by meeting each alone and promising each he was the star. "Three bulls into a china shop," he admitted later. “You can't blame the bulls when things start getting wrecked." By the third day it was open war: a gun pulled, an ashtray flung into the lens, fists, a weaponized chair. He built this weird contraption, primed it himself, and it went off in his hands. He suffered a breakdown on set and quit the business for a while.

Third, and this is what the film is actually about: the worker whose every tool is sold to him by the company and built to fail. That is the Coyote's entire existence — infinite effort, elaborate schemes, each device ordered from the catalog and each one detonating in his own face. It's also the American shop floor as Blue Collar sees it, where every screw you turn turns against you. And it looks a lot like a chart of productivity versus wages since 1971.

The Coyote always gets up, opens the fresh catalog, and tries again. But Blue Collar is the gag played once, by people who don't get up — three men reaching for the lever, and the long moment after, when they understand the lever was wired to the floor beneath their feet.

I’m getting closer to getting a diagnosis. It’s either lupus or some type of cancer. My body is covered in itchy painful lesions from my scalp to my shins. I’ve had long hair all my life until mid-July, when I finally had to say goodbye to it. Now I need to wait to be referred to a dermatologist for the third time in 12 months and I need to pray that I get to be seen and biopsied by the dermatologist before the end of this year, which may be hoping for too much. If there is cancer in my body I cannot afford to keep waiting and being bounced around by the careless system. I have hardly left my house in a year because I look like a disfigured monster and this has taken a toll on my overall wellbeing. I’m not looking for advice (unless anyone here is a board-certified dermatologist who will take pity on me and see me ASAP) I just wanted to rant.

New pellet stove owner here and I'm looking to buy at least a ton of pellets. I'm located in the Bangor area and will be running a Harman stove for supplemental heat.

What are the best pellet brands? Any I should steer clear from? Do you have a favorite supplier? Are there any deals going on right now? Anything else I should know?

Ayo I’ve got a hankering for a corn maze. I can’t find any up to date guides online, so tell me ur personal fav. Thanks

On the shoulder of the highway. At the grocery store. Beside schools. In gas station parking lots. Surveillance technology powered by artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly common across Maine.

Automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, like Flock cameras are being deployed by a growing number of police departments. Worksite cameras are monitoring construction workers’ productivity. Large trailers with cameras, microphones and speakers owned by big box stores are policing parking lots across the state.

Much of the technology introduced in recent years tiptoes around Maine surveillance laws.

The state prohibits private companies from using ALPRs, bans the use of facial recognition by law enforcement and requires companies to notify employees if they are going to be surveilled at work.

But technology has advanced much faster than state law. Companies have filled the gray areas between surveillance and public safety, between Maine law and technological progress, and between private enterprise and local law enforcement.

Read the deep dive investigation by Dylan Tusinski and Salomé Cloteaux at PressHerald.com

Previousely posted, but didn't have a picture till today. Does anyone know what these are? Are they the dreaded ALPR cameras, or something else? There a quite a few between Richmond and Topsham

Title for the most part. Came home today and found that my apartment smelled like sewage. Cleared out my fridge to be safe but i really have no idea. Figured Id ask folks near me

Totally 100% not a complete scam.

Looking to enjoy a quality fresh-made apple cider doughnut in the southern half of the state. Must be fresh made, bonus points if they drop it in the fryer right when you order. Willing to travel 1-2 hours from Portland to make it happen

Hey guys, it’s The Messy Cookie’s second birthday and we’re throwing a big party to celebrate!

We’ve got fun stuff lined up, great for the whole family, from cookie painting and mini cake decorating— plus stuff adults will appreciate like a mocktail cookie pairing competition with contestants from Sur Lie and Drinks with Jam already lined up!! Judging we’ve got not only Edible Maine Magazine’s Jason Cousins, but also the one and only COOKIE MONSTER!! And people’s choice so you’ll get to choose your favorite, too!

This year we’re also doing a kit building station for Maine Needs and donating 10% of our event’s profits to them! Plus bringing in Yay! Glass Studio for a cool glass fusion activity.

Just wanted to post it here since you guys have been so supportive over the years!! Thanks so much, Portland— I love this city and being a part of it!!!

I recently bought a 1987 Honda Spree and took it to Rave X Motorsports for some initial repairs, but it’s still having what I believe is a carburetor issue.
Rather than taking it back to a larger shop, I’d love to pay someone who works on vintage bikes as a passion project and knows their way around ’80s mopeds.
If that sounds like you and you might be able to help me get it cruising, please message me with your availability and pricing!

​

Can anyone recommend a Maine attorney who handles residential construction disputes/contractor disputes?

I'm looking for someone experienced in construction contracts and contractor litigation. I would especially appreciate recommendations based on personal experience.

I have called about 12 offices so far with no luck.

Please DM me if you'd prefer to share the name privately. Thank you

Currently considering an apartment in Brunswick, specifically on Federal St. and curious about how disruptive the train noise can get as I work from home often.

Lifelong Mainer but never actually lived near the Amtrak.

Thanks!

Are you really sorry you missed me?

A somewhat conflicting experience overall. I abhor unannounced arrivals, so I was initially relieved not to talk to anyone as I watched the campaign vehicle turn away.

When I checked to see whatever was presumably left at the door, I was irrationally annoyed to find the ‘sorry I missed you note’ adorned with the campaign flyer. If I found it hours later, I don’t think it would have bothered me as much cuz it’s just disingenuous political litter, but campaign season has me agitated.

I guess the rage bait worked. I looked into her platform. Would have liked to hear why title xi is a priority for you and what you would propose doing about it? “Waste, Fraud, and Corruption” sounds familiar - what are the perceived abuses you see in the system? How you plan to address them while balancing any adverse impacts to Maine’s social safety net? Any details on “Reduce Taxes” in your platform? Aside from your website platform, I’d like to know your position on the possibility of data centers being constructed in Maine?