In November 2025, The Maine Monitor launched its local civic news initiative, Monitor Local, in response to feedback from people across the state who said they needed more reporting on their local town and county governments. Today the nonprofit newsroom announced it would expand Monitor Local civic news reporting to Waldo and Kennebec counties.
“Monitor Local has had a real impact on communities in the counties we currently serve — increasing community engagement in local government and bringing more transparency to local governance,” said Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, executive director of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, the nonprofit that publishes Monitor Local. “We repeatedly heard from people in other counties asking us to bring Monitor Local’s civic news to their communities. We are eager to do that and are excited to expand to Kennebec and Waldo counties.”
In the time since Monitor Local launched in Franklin, Oxford, Somerset and Washington counties, it has reported on county budgeting, town meetings, planning boards, school boards, shellfish commissions and more, getting people the news they need to confidently participate in decision-making for their local communities, Schweitzer-Bluhm said.
“Town officials — from Calais and Machias to Kingfield and Farmington — have reached out to thank the team for bringing attention to local issues and residents tell us they are more active in local governance because of Monitor Local’s work,” said Kate Cough, editor of The Maine Monitor.
Monitor Local will begin reporting on Kennebec and Waldo counties starting Nov. 9, said Judith Meyer, Monitor Local editor, bringing the total counties covered by the initiative to six.
The articles will appear throughout the week on themainemonitor.org and in The Maine Monitor Daily Dispatch newsletter.
Starting today, readers will be able to sign up for a new regional newsletter, Central Maine Local. Launching on Nov. 14, Central Maine Local will include a round-up of news from Kennebec and Waldo counties. Sign up now at themainemonitor.org/newsletters.
“The civic news reporting we have done in the past year has been energized by reader support,” said Meyer. “We want the journalism we produce in Central Maine Local to be a catalyst for readers in Kennebec and Waldo counties to participate more fully in local government and to have more confidence in their understanding of the issues confronting their communities.”
“All of our news is free to read, with no paywall, and distributed for free to other news outlets to republish, supporting the entire news ecosystem in Maine,” Cough said. “We expect the expansion of Monitor Local to enrich existing local journalism and support local newspapers.”
“Monitor Local works because we work with a team of community journalists who know their towns and counties,” Meyer said. “We are excited to work with community journalists in Waldo and Kennebec and are prepared to train people interested in doing civic news reporting through Journalism New England’s Career Lab, which trains community journalists.”
Those interested in freelancing for Monitor Local should apply here.
