Officials are scheduled to meet Tuesday to finalize the proposed regulations they will send to the City Council for approval.
Penelope Overton
Staff Writer
Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Herald’s first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maine’s lobster and cannabis industries, covered state politics and spent a fellowship year exploring the impact of climate change on the lobster fishery with the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team. Before moving to Maine, she has covered politics, environment, casino gambling and tribal issues in Florida, Connecticut, and Arizona. Her favorite assignments allow her to introduce readers to unusual people, cultures, or subjects. When off the clock, Penny is usually getting lost in a new book at a local coffeehouse, watching foreign crime shows or planning her family’s next adventure.
Maine’s final plan to protect whales includes fewer lines, and a little slack, for lobstermen
The state proposal calls for the use of weak rope, fewer buoy lines carrying more traps in deeper waters, and flexibility to approve alternative protections to sustain fishermen and regional fishing traditions.
Dispensary operator named to state cannabis board
Josh Quint, director of operations for the Biddeford-based medical marijuana firm Canuvo, will become the first grower to serve on the 15-member panel.
Efforts to improve banking access for cannabis growers take a big hit
A proposal to protect financial institutions serving marijuana businesses was stripped from the federal spending bill, and a measure to improve access to banking is held up in the Senate Banking Committee.
New hemp rules would raise fees, change calculations for THC thresholds
The state’s proposal would double the per-acre cost for farmers and change the way the psychoactive element of hemp is measured.
Maine hemp farmers fear proposed rule change could cost them their crop
Under the proposed standards, 27% of Mainers farming hemp in 2019 would have tested ‘hot’ for exceeding allowable THC levels in their plants.
Kennebunk facility is 1st to seek license for testing recreational pot in Maine
Nelson Analytical applies for certification from the Maine CDC, a first step toward applying to the Maine Office of Marijuana Policy.
Southern cooking basics, for outsiders and wistful ex-pats
The collection of pantry-building tips and foundational master recipes in ‘Southern From Scratch’ will teach you what your nannie or meemaw would have, if you’d had one.
The race is on for recreational marijuana licenses in Maine
The state will publish application forms this week; on the municipal level, the process is already well underway.
Portland councilors hear criticism of city’s proposed cannabis rules
Speakers question the plan to use a merit-based scoring system to award 20 retail marijuana licenses, saying it favors big businesses and could exclude people who already have invested significant time and money.