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The dozens of independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan news organizations that make up the Rural News Network are developing the broadest news alliance reporting on rural America. These newsrooms are pursuing coverage that provides a more complete picture of what it means to live and work in these communities.
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LATEST NEWS FROM THE NETWORK
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Across Maine, towns continue to grapple with school district reorganization
June 15, 2025
More than 40 towns have withdrawn from their school districts since the state’s 2007 consolidation push.
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What the public lands fight means for Maine
June 13, 2025
Public lands, waters and wildlife are part of our birthright as American citizens, a public domain that we all collectively own, regardless of our proximity.
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New law aims to expand rural pharmacy access
June 08, 2025
Closures over the past decade have left many rural communities without a local pharmacy, a Maine Monitor analysis found.
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In distracting times, rumble strips are saving lives — and money — on rural Maine roads
June 07, 2025
“It’s still, by far, our biggest lifesaver with regards to two-lane, rural, head-on collisions.”
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Amid rising education costs, a rural Maine town weighs leaving its school district
May 31, 2025
Embden is debating whether to start the process of withdrawing from its school district.
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Maine’s heat pump boom has been promising for rural workforce development. Can it last?
May 22, 2025
Maine has had success in adopting heat pumps across the state, and jobs have grown quickly — particularly in rural areas. But as the state approaches big deadlines for heat pump installation and bolstering its clean energy workforce, uncertainties lie ahead.
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Counties and municipalities have spent about $7 million of their opioid settlement funds so far
May 04, 2025
The money has gone to residential treatment program scholarships, mental health liaisons in police departments and a recovery center in Alfred.
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USDA funding uncertainty puts Maine farmers in a bind
April 27, 2025
“Farmers really aren’t sure if they can trust these projects and these programs moving forward, and that’s really devastating.”
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The Trump administration cut a key FEMA grant. What does that mean for Maine projects?
April 25, 2025
A total of 18 resilience projects in Maine had their BRIC applications terminated with the cancellation of the program and are now seeking alternate funding.
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Farmers, seasonal businesses worry as immigration crackdown ramps up
April 19, 2025
“There are a lot less local people that want to do [this work], so we have to have this program,” said the owner of an apple orchard. “Without it, we’ll just be out of the industry. We go away.”
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MDI Hospital announced plans to close its birthing unit, making it the tenth Maine hospital to do so in the past decade
March 27, 2025
The hospital president said the choice to close the unit follows a steep decline in births, calling it a “devastating decision.” The Maine State Nurses Association called it an “abject failure.”
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As birthing units continue to close, potential solutions emerge
March 16, 2025
Cross-training staff, incorporating more independent providers, and expanding training in rural areas are solutions proposed by providers and researchers.
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Maine’s childhood vaccination rates have benefited from the elimination of nonmedical exemptions
February 13, 2025
During the last school year, vaccination rates among kindergartners across Maine were around 97 percent for all four mandatory vaccines. The rates have increased steadily since 2019, when the state passed legislation ending nonmedical exemptions.
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Concerns raised about Maine’s ‘crisis pregnancy centers’
January 16, 2025
Activists say these centers circulated misinformation about “abortion pill reversals” not supported by studies.
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Maine’s yellow flag law in three charts
January 12, 2025
Since the Lewiston shootings, agencies have completed 548 weapon restriction orders, for an average of 38 orders per month.
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