City Council committees continue to debate proposed rules for a lottery to award as many as 20 retail licenses, meaning Portland won’t be ready when the state is likely to start recreational sales.
Penelope Overton
Staff Writer
Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Heraldโs first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maineโs 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 Globeโs 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 familyโs next adventure.
Maine hemp farmers want relaxed THC rules, lower fees
The state wants to change the way it differentiates hemp from marijuana to echo stricter federal guidelines.
Portland edges closer to adopting rules for marijuana retailers
Officials are scheduled to meet Tuesday to finalize the proposed regulations they will send to the City Council for approval.
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.