Maine is the second most rural state in the U.S., with over 61 percent of the population living in a rural part of the state, according to the 2020 Census.
A member of the Rural News Network, The Maine Monitor regularly covers rural issues — including dedicated coverage of Franklin, Oxford, Somerset and Washington counties.
A $156 million middle school is under construction in rural Maine. What’s behind the price tag?
The project is the most expensive public school construction project in Maine to date. Three quarters of the costs are being covered by the state.
A woman hit her son in a grocery store parking lot. She says it was a spanking. The state says it was child abuse.
The story of one Maine woman’s fight to get her son back offers a rare glimpse inside the state’s secretive child welfare system.
Paper mills in Maine and across the U.S. releasing more greenhouse gases than federal data shows
As the Trump administration eyes rollbacks on industrial emissions limits, a new report claims that paper mills are already dirtier than they appear.
Across Maine, towns continue to grapple with school district reorganization
More than 40 towns have withdrawn from their school districts since the state’s 2007 consolidation push.
A ‘concerned’ Mainer’s tip got an immigrant wrongly detained for 65 days
Border agents in Calais arrested the Venezuelan man who was allowed to be in the U.S., prompting a strongly worded decision from a federal judge this week.
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