Penelope Overton

Press Herald

Penelope Overton writes about the lobster and marijuana industries in Maine, a mix of the iconic and the emerging, the economic powerhouse and the mysterious darkhorse. Just the right mix of old and new for a Maine transplant. Penny joined the Press Herald in 2016. She has covered politics and government, the environment and Indian Country in Florida, Connecticut, Arizona and Washington, D.C. Her favorite stories are when she gets to dive into a world where readers seldom venture. When she’s not newspapering, Penny and her young daughter like to hike, body surf, travel and explore new books, places, poems and people. She is plovertonpph on both Instagram and Snapchat.

Latest

Published
February 16, 2018

Asians help to fill sales gap as Europe eats less Maine lobster

Live exports from the U.S. to the Far East jumped 36% last year, offsetting losses caused mainly by a Canadian trade deal.
Published
February 12, 2018

U.S. data show increase in fatal crashes on April 20, day of pot events

Maine’s data set is too small to be statistically significant, but Canadian researchers find that, overall, U.S. drivers are at a greater risk on the roads that day than a week earlier or later.
Published
February 8, 2018

All Maine lobstermen will have to report fishing details, including secrets of success

But regulators who monitor the health of the fishery decide the state’s harvesters won’t have to reveal trap locations, catch totals and more until 2023.
Published
February 8, 2018

Pot advocates help finance gubernatorial bid of leading marijuana opponent

All five directors of Legalize Maine have donated to House Minority Leader Ken Fredette’s campaign. Their positions on marijuana policy sometimes mesh, but he says he’s not doing the group’s bidding.
Published
February 2, 2018

Medical marijuana sales, caregivers and patient numbers decline

Caregivers and dispensary owners blame the ‘gray market’ caused by Maine’s emerging adult-use market for the first decline in the state’s medical marijuana industry since it began nearly 7 years ago.
Published
February 1, 2018

Maine lawmakers won’t extend moratorium on pot sales, but it’s still not for sale

Absent the state infrastructure to license retail pot, the move will have little impact on towns, a committee co-chair says.
Published
January 31, 2018

LePage agrees to delay new, more restrictive medical marijuana rules

The governor wants to give a committee more time to resolve deficiencies in the program before implementing new caregiver and processor regulations.
Published
January 25, 2018

Panel votes to put new medical pot rules on hold until July

That would allow lawmakers to consider another bill that could nullify what some critics consider overly restrictive rules on medical marijuana growing and processing that could damage the industry.
Published
January 24, 2018

LePage likely to veto bill to extend pot sales moratorium – and seek longer delay

House Minority Leader Ken Fredette says the proposed April 18 target date doesn’t allow enough time to write market rules, and he and the governor want the moratorium to last until January 2019.
Published
January 22, 2018

Gulf of Maine lobster population past its peak, study says, and a big drop is due

Scientists say warming waters in the Gulf of Maine will lower lobster populations 40 to 62 percent over the next 30 years, but conservation measures the state adopted decades ago will mitigate the impact.