Maine and 37 other states got zero ventilators from the federal stockpile. Why?

In yesterday's Portland Press Herald I tried to answer the question: "Why did Maine -- and 37 other states -- get zero ventilators from the Strategic National Stockpile?"

The answer isn't entirely clear, beyond the fact that the federal stockpile was woefully understocked for a crisis of this magnitude. Many -- but not all -- of the states that did receive  some of the circa 9000 on hand are hot spots. Other places that appear vulnerable got none. Colorado aside, there's not a clear political pattern in ventilator allocation (though that may not be the case for personal protection equipment, a separate issue.)

As you'll read in the story, even when adding in "alternative ventilators" like CPAP machines, converted anesthesia devices and the like, it leaves Maine short if things reach the more dire planning scenarios the Maine CDC has been working with. It all may depend on whether Mainers can slow the spread enough in the coming weeks to prevent a spike in the state's ICUs.

One other Maine coronavirus update from me in today's Press Herald: the Chebeague Island ferry will now transport emergency COVID-19 patients after all.

Maine lags rest of New England in pandemic data reporting

In yesterday's Portland Press Herald, I explore why Maine lags the other five New England states in the daily reporting of all sorts of pandemic-related data, including the fact that it is alone in being unable to report the number of negative tests on a daily basis.

The Maine CDC, which was weakened by eight years of disfavor under Gov. Paul LePage, has also been behind in being able to tally the number of Covid-19 patients hospitalized each day, in reporting non-resident cases confirmed here, and in knowing how many ICU beds and ventilators are available.

A reader asked on Twitter why we would poke at an agency that, with the abdication of the federal government, is our lifeline in the pandemic. The answer: you want your lifeline to be as strong as possible before the cases start peaking, and that requires testing it constantly. That's what we'll keep doing.

Other recent Coronavirus coverage includes this look at the precarious state of the medical equipment supply chain; the strange story of a Portland based pop-up medical supplier; and the Chebeague ferry service refusing to carry suspected Covod-19 patients, even in the context of being the island's official ambulance link to the mainland (updating soon.)

[Update, 3/16/20: The Maine CDC revamped their website a bit today, providing more of the information they lacked and other New England states were providing. Negative test reporting still a challenge, but weekly numbers now posted there too.]

Maine island life in the time of coronavirus

At the moment the coronavirus pandemic "got real" in Maine -- the announcement of the first confirmed case here -- I was on Cheabeague Island with Press Herald colleague and photographer Ben McCanna to see what the view looked like from an island community. Did they feel safer or more vulnerable being separated from the world by a half mile of water? Were there special vulnerabilities they expected, given that day-to-day life for the island's 340 year-around residents is pretty integrated with the mainland, with many people commuting there to work and all 6th to 12th graders to schools.

As you can read in yesterday's Maine Sunday Telegram, Maine islanders have the advantage of always being prepared for a potential crisis and to look out for one another and the island as a whole if one comes; but they're also at the very end of supply chains, so it can be hard to get things -- for the EMTs or the island nursing home -- when the outside world goes haywire. Hope you enjoy.

The evening the story came out, elected officials on a larger and more self-sufficient island -- North Haven in Penobscot Bay -- announced they were banning visits by non-residents and advising residents to avoid non-essential travel to the mainland in an effort to keep the island infection-free, if indeed it actually is.

[Update, 3/18/20: Why do Maine officials only say which counties -- rather than towns -- coronavirus cases are located in? Got you covered in this short Press Herald piece.]

[Update, 4/16/20: A problem with Chebeague's ferry transporting COVID-19 patients has been resolved.]

Cruise tourism impacts in Maine, a series

Over the past four months I've been at work on a series on the impact of cruise ship tourism in Maine, where most ports of call have a smaller year-around population than the compliment of the larger ships themselves. The results have been appearing in the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram this week, with the final part in today's paper.

The bottom line for Maine communities: taking an ad hoc, reactive approach to cruise tourism has considerable dangers, but if you plan, prepare, and negotiate properly, you can get the outcomes your citizens want, rather than the ones that will just happen to them.

The full series -- Pier Pressure -- consists of five articles over three days, and they're all here for your convenience:

Day 1: "Some in Maine fear cruise ship tourism has gone overboard" (featuring Bar Harbor and the global, business, and historical contexts Mainers should know about.)

Day 1 sidebar: "No discharge fight comes to Acadia region" (Maine has the weakest marine discharge protections in New England, but there's a good explanation for why.)

Day 2: "Long touted economic benefits of cruise tourism far overstated" (How assumptions have been way off for passenger spending and net economic benefits in Portland, Maine.)

Day 2 sidebar: "Lone Portland passenger study made assumptions, overestimated economic impact" (A flawed 2009 study led city officials and residents to unrealistic expectations.)

Day 3: "Cruise ships trigger identity crises for a small city in Maine" (on Rockland and solutions generally for Maine ports.)

Photos by the ever-awesome Greg Rec.

Bar Harbor voters decide today if they want to buy an abandoned ferry terminal so as to ensure it becomes a multi-use facility, not a cruise ship mega-pier. [Update, 6/13/18: They approved the purchase by a more than five-to-one margin.]

In an unrelated note, my thanks to peers and colleagues in the Maine media for kindly recommending me to Pine Tree Watch's list of Maine's Most Trusted Journalists. The others so honored are my Press Herald colleagues (and, remarkably, immediate newsroom desk-neighbors) Mike Lowe, Eric Russell, and Bill Nemitz; Lewiston Sun-Journal managing editor Judy Meyer; Maine Public's Steve Mistler, Don Carrigan of WCSH-6/WLBZ-2, and the Bangor Daily News's Erin Rhoda, Chris Cousins, and Jake Bleiberg. All of us well know this is not an exhaustive list, as Maine is blessed with a great and varied press corps.

Maine: LePage administration threatens Wiscasset on traffic project, town says

In yesterday's Portland Press Herald, I have an update on the increasingly fraught struggle between Maine Gov. Paul LePage's Department of Transportation and the town of Wiscasset, site of Maine's most infamous summer traffic bottleneck.

To recap, the town originally supported the plan, but turned against it and ultimately filed suit against the DOT, alleging that it is violating town ordinances and state law and that it changed the project after receiving approval. Among other things, the DOT suddenly decided not to use federal funds, which were to pay for 80 percent of the project's $5 million price tag, thereby avoiding historic preservation requirements. LePage then personally started throwing fuel on the fire with blustery notes to constituents telling them he's had enough of Wiscasset's obstruction, then allegedly vetoing a draft compromise worked out between the department and town.

Now the department has allegedly told the town they might go ahead with their project -- which includes removing all on-street parking on Main Street in the historic village -- without building replacement parking (as the plan has called for all along) if they are made to follow local ordinances. It's the nuclear option, so to speak, and one local businesspeople say would kill the historic downtown. Details within.

Gov. LePage scuttled Wiscasset traffic compromise, attorney says

Maine Governor Paul LePage personally intervened to kill a compromise between the state transportation department and the town of Wiscasset over a controversial traffic project there, an attorney for the town told residents this week.

I have the details in today's Portland Press Herald, which is also available online here.

For fuller background on the project, this story lays it all out, including the governor's chain of aggressive correspondence with constituents about the traffic problems in the midcoast town and how the Maine DOT lost the confidence of town residents after reneging on promises made about the project, including the use of federal funds and the historic preservation reviews that come with them.

Right whales in crisis: speeding ships and missing calves

The disastrous year for the North Atlantic right whale, the world's second most endangered mammal after the species' Pacific cousin, doesn't appear to be abating. After seventeen of the whales have been found dead since June in New England and Atlantic Canada -- more than three percent of the total worldwide population of 450 -- scientists warned the species will be extinct in another 23 years if something doesn't change.

But the most recent news only increases anxiety about the whales: a series of speeding violations by ships in a zone of the Gulf of St. Lawrence set up by Canada to protect the whales and, separately, an absence of calf sightings on the whales calving grounds off Georgia and northeastern Florida.

I have the full story on these and other developments in the whales' odyssey in this week's Maine Sunday Telegram.

I reported last summer for the Press Herald about the right whale die off, with some additional background about the species and how its been monitored. I've reported on the species on and off for  a decade for other publications, context you can find by starting here.

Maine: state plan to mitigate the infamous Wiscasset traffic bottleneck turns acrimonious

The state has a plan to mitigate Maine's most infamous summer traffic bottleneck, the one in the historic village of Wiscasset, where US Route 1 passes down Main Street to and from the only bridge for miles that crosses the Sheepscot River, linking the Boothbay and Bristol peninsulas with points South.

It's not going well.

As you can read in my story in this week's Maine Sunday Telegram, the town is now opposed to the project and is suing the Maine Department of Transportation to stop it, alleging that it is violating town ordinances and state law and that it changed the project after receiving approval. Among other things, the DOT suddenly decided not to use federal funds, which were to pay for 80 percent of the project's $5 million price tag, thereby avoiding historic preservation requirements. And Gov. Paul LePage threw fuel on the fire with blustery notes to constituents telling them he's had enough of Wiscasset's obstruction and wishes he could put a viaduct right through the center of the village, carrying traffic up and over to the bridge as it does in Bath. And local businesses fear it will destroy the village.

But others support the project, including the select boards of neighboring towns and some business people, who believe the project will revitalize Main Street, not destroy it.

Read on for details.

Maine: Wiscasset sues state over controversial traffic project

If you've visited Midcoast Maine in the past quarter century of summers, you're probably aquatinted with the state's most notorious traffic bottleneck: Route 1 as it passes through the historic village center of Wiscasset and then over the bridge crossing the Sheepscot River. There's not much way to avoid it -- unless its backed up for miles, in which case even an extra twenty minute diversion up to Sheepscot Village in Alna and back around again is worth it.

The Maine Department of Transportation has a fix in mind. But in today's Portland Press Herald I report on how the town has just filed a suit against the agency, asking a judge to block the plan which they allege breaks state law as well as local ordinances. The project, critics have said, will destroy the downtown, level a 101-year old building, cost Maine taxpayers a load of money, and won't improve the traffic delays.

Sounds like a story worth following.

[Update, 12/13/17: I have a detailed an updated story on the controversy in this week's Maine Sunday Telegram.]

How ruby red Utah became the nation's land use planning leader

Guess where the most ambitious and successful long-range land use planning effort in the U.S. has taken place, one that included the building of an expansive regional commuter and light rail system and has been expanded to cover an entire state?

If you guessed Vermont or Oregon, you'll be surprised to learn its Utah, and my latest piece for POLITICO Magazine's What Works series is on how and why they did it. There's lessons in it for cities and states everywhere, including very conservative ones.

The Deseret News, the statewide Salt Lake City daily owned by the LDS Church, picked up on the piece today with this nice summary, which I appreciate given the church itself declined to participate in the story.

This is my eleventh full-length "What Works" piece over the past year. The others were on how Des Moines went from dull to cool; how Manchester, New Hampshire turned its vast 19th century millyard to spinning high-tech gold; on how Denver built its game-changing light rail system, only to discover its most powerful effects were not what they'd expected; how Cincinnati transformed "America's most dangerous neighborhood"; how Philadelphia repurposed a 1200 acre former naval base;  how Milwaukee breathed life back into a legacy industrial district, creating the manufacturing park of the future; how Roanoke, Virginia went from a train city to a brain city;  how Winston-Salem, North Carolina pivoted from tobacco manufacturing to high-tech innovation and how Burlington, Vermont -- Bernie Sanders' hometown -- became the country's first all-renewable-powered city; and how Albuquerque, New Mexico took on homelessness (under a Republican mayor, no less.) In addition -- on the occasion of the Republican National Convention -- I had this shorter story on how Cleveland revamped its long-neglected Public Square.

After twelve crazed months, I'll be taking a hiatus from piloting the What Works series to catch up on other projects, but expect more as the year progresses.

Lessons from Denver's transit triumph

My latest installment for POLITICO Magazine's "What Works" series posted last night, and it's on Denver's ambitious, nearly-completed effort to build a region-wide rail transit system in what has been a fast growing, auto-dependent city.

Denver did a number of remarkable things to make it happen: foster cooperation across a vast metropolitan region, convince a skeptical public to increase taxes to build it, and when budget and expense forecasts collapsed in the face of the 2007-2008 financial collapse, create the nation's first large-scale transit public-private partnership to get much of the system built.

But the biggest lesson learned: the greatest benefit of the system isn't relieving traffic congestion, it's the revolution in land use the stations and lines catalyze. Denver had to discover this along the way, but other cities contemplating major expansions can take advantage of what they learned.

Thanks to Colorado Public Radio's "Colorado Matters" for having me on the program yesterday, hours before the piece was even published. You can hear the interview online here.

This is my third "What Works" piece as a POLITICO Magazine contributing editor. The others were on how Des Moines went from dull to cool and how Manchester, New Hampshire turned its vast 19th century millyard to spinning high-tech gold. Where am I off to next? Hint: it's where Greater Appalachia once spread over "the Rhine."

The forecast for passenger rail in Maine

Union Station, Portland, 1954, courtesy of the always interesting Portland Maine History 1786-Present Facebook Page

The last passenger trains pulled out of Maine in the 1960s. Portland's grand terminals were torn down to make way for parking lots and, in the case of Union Station, a particularly soulless strip mall. Tracks were ripped out or paved over. Highways were the way of the future.

But since 2001, passenger rail has been making a comeback. In 2001, the Amtrak Downeaster debuted Boston to Portland service and in the years since has greatly exceeded ridership expectations and regularly been rated as the top service in the national system. This past November the run was extended to Freeport and Brunswick in Maine's midcoast. There was talk of continuing service to Augusta and Lewiston, and maybe even Montreal. Seasonal connecting service to Rockland was to beefed up. Direct Portland to New York City trains were on the drawing boards.

In today's Portland Press Herald cover story, I take a look at the near- and long-term prospects for extending passenger trains in Maine. Ironically, because of some missing infrastructure -- consisting entirely of elements torn up in the late 20th century -- the Downeaster's core service isn't operating as quickly and frequently as it really needs to, particularly on the Portland-Brunswick leg. Until it does, most connecting and continuing services will have to wait, while seasonal service to Rockland is actually expected to scale back.

Maine: Quebec and East-West Highway; prominent campaign donors

I have two short stories in today's Portland Press Herald.

In the first, we check in with officials in Quebec to see what they are thinking in regards to the proposed East-West Highway and the "missing link" from the Quebec border to the nearest existing highway at Sherbrooke. Short answer: it's not really on their radar screen. (For more on East-West highway issue, consider this feature in the Maine Sunday Telegram last week.)

The second is an early take on donations to Maine's US Senate and House hopefuls, as shown in early returns for the latest reporting deadline yesterday. My piece highlights a few prominent Mainers and who they're giving to. My colleague John Richardson has a round-up of the money totals thus far. More details to come.

Maine's East-West Highway: savior or albatross?

My story in today's Maine Sunday Telegram explores the proposed East-West Highway plan, a $2 billion private toll road connecting Calais/St.Stephen, NB with Coburn Gore and south-Central Quebec. At this writing, it's the most read story on the newspaper's website today.

As you'll see, whether the plan appears to be a good idea or not has a lot to do with your mind set and frame of reference.

There's also a companion story from my colleague Tux Turkel on why the highway's promoter, Cianbro head Peter Vigue, travels with bodyguards.

For fellow policy wonks, I'll be adding a few documents to this post when I have an extra few minutes this weekend.

[Update, 6/5/12: An update on the Quebec angle to this story.]

Portland's cruise ship terminal finally complete, but still in the red

Maine's largest city has finally completed its cruise ship terminal at a cost of nearly $30 million. While political leaders were smiling at the ribbon cutting ceremony, I asked if the facility is paying for itself yet. The answer -- in the new issue of Working Waterfront -- is "not yet."

Its certainly a positive development that, with the "megaberth" completed, proper cruise ships are finally able to use the city-owned terminal. As the article notes, its not clear if it should have been built in the first place.

For more background on Ocean Gateway and the Portland waterfront, start here, and continue here.

Maine Turnpike Authority defends board...poorly

In the October 2011 Down East, I reported on the effort to reform the Maine Turnpike Authority in the wake of a disgraceful expenses scandal and the exposure of other questionable practices at the quasi-public agency.

Although the article concludes that interim director Peter Mills is putting the agency back on track, the MTA's two long-serving board members -- Lucien Gosselin and longtime board chair Gerard Conley -- didn't take to the suggestion that they might have some degree of responsibility for the state of affairs. The result: their letter to the editor you'll find in the current issue of the magazine, one that's remarkable in its slipperiness. You'll find my withering response there too.

The letter suggests Mr. Mills has his work cut out for him. Even in the midst of a debacle of this scale, some of his bosses on the board remain defensive when one might expect contrition.

A side note for Turnpike watchers: among the board's newer members is none other than former Portland mayor Jim Cloutier, a partner at Mr. Conley's law firm, and a man best known to readers of Down East for his questionable role in the Maine State Pier scandal. Also, since the article and letter were produced, Mr. Gosselin has been replaced by Lewiston pol Robert D. Stone.

For more background on the Turnpike, see this earlier article.

Maine: Saving the Turnpike

Earlier this year, scandal engulfed the Maine Turnpike Authority, whose books and records had finally been exposed to public scrutiny. As a result, the quasi-state agency's longtime head, Paul Violette, has resigned and is now the target of a criminal investigation by the Attorney General's office and a nearly half-million dollar law suit by the authority itself. Independent investigators from the state's Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA) also identified a troubling relationship between the Authority and their lifelong contract engineering firm, HNTB, and noted a surplus would likely never be produced for the state coffers under the definitions then in place.

So can the Turnpike Authority be turned around? That's the question I explore in the new issue of Down East, which you can now read online. The short answer: it looks very promising, though some critics allege the rot goes higher and deeper than Mr. Violette.

The Turnpike Authority doesn't like the piece, telling us that the board of directors should receive the credit for the reforms enacted under interim director Peter Mills, but none of the responsibility for what occurred under Violette. A convenient arrangement, to be sure, if you can convince third parties of its legitimacy.

Readers may wish to read the OPEGA report for themselves [pdf]. (The agency has a growing library of similar reports on other government-ish programs and agencies available here.) For an especially aggressive piece of spin, check out the Turnpike Authority's Jan. 21 press release entitled "OPEGA Report Reflects Positively on Maine Turnpike Authority." [pdf] Wowza!

Border Patrol's "internal checkpoints" snare foreign students, scholars

I've been increasingly interested in U.S. Customs and Border Patrol's expanded use of so-called "internal checkpoints" and roving patrols along -- but up to a hundred miles south of -- the Canadian border. Despite the Fourth Amendment, Border Patrol stops and questions people engaged in purely domestic travel at highway stops, bus stations, or aboard moving trains far from the actual border. The agency maintains that current case law theoretically endorses such stops within 100 air miles of the border or ocean, a definition that includes most of the major cities in the United States, and the entirety of the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Florida, and Hawaii.

As I report in this week's edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education, this is creating a climate of fear among international students and scholars at some higher education institutions lying within this expanded border zone because Border Patrol is reportedly refusing to recognize certain categories of legitimate immigration documents, resulting in the detention of people here entirely legally.

I was disappointed that Customs and Border Patrol failed to agree to my interview requests or to answer written questions about this issue over several weeks. Hopefully they will be more forthcoming going forward, as it would be interesting to understand how they see the issue and regulations.

[Update, 1/14/2011: I was interviewed about this story by CBC's As It Happens, a program syndicated in the U.S. by Public Radio International.]

Maine Story updates, Dec. 9 edition

A few developments in stories I've been following:

LePage and Private Prisons: Last week I reported on the fifty corporations that provided the big money behind Maine governor-elect Paul LePage's candidacy via the Republican Governor's Association's Maine PAC. One of the firms I highlighted -- the Corrections Corporation of America -- already looks to be seeing a return on its ($25,000) investment. Mr. LePage just announced he's in talks to help CCA build and operate a private prison in Milo, Maine. (Pity the Bangor Daily News didn't mention CCA's donation in either this or a previous story; nor did MPBN in their piece.) Perhaps the governor-elect's team might want to read up on the company. [Update, 12/28/10: The Portland Phoenix picks up on this story.]

Maine rail wins, thanks to new governors elsewhere: Mr. LePage isn't currently in a position to derail the expansion of passenger rail service in Maine, but in Ohio and Wisconsin incoming Republican governors have scuttled projects. As a result, Maine will get an additional $3.3 million in federal resources, fully funding upgrades that allow the Amtrak Downeaster to extend service from Portland to Freeport and Brunswick (and getting it halfway to Lewiston.) For more context on Maine passenger rail service, see my piece in the October issue of Down East.

Snowe's Tea Party challenger? Last week I wrote about the coming Tea Party civil war in Newsweek.com. Today, Pine Tree Politics claims the main figure in the piece, Maine Tea Party Patriots coordinator Andrew Ian Dodge, is planning to challenge Sen. Olympia Snowe in her 2012 party primary. PTP quotes only anonymous sources, but the Roll Call article they link to does seem to strengthen their allegation. Dodge hasn't confirmed or denied the report.

Maine: Return of the Iron Horses

Passenger rail is making a comeback in Maine, with the nine-year old Amtrak Downeaster service from Boston to Portland soon to expand to Freeport and Brunswick, with immediate connections to Bath, Wiscassset, and Rockland. Lewiston-Auburn and Augusta could follow in short order.

So what does this all mean for Maine and Mainers, and what obstacles stand in the way of further expansion?

These questions and more posed and answered in my latest Talk of Maine piece in the new issue of Down East magazine. After reading the piece, interested parties might also want to check out the websites of Maine Eastern Railroad and TrainRiders/Northeast, plus these images of the railway stations Portland tore down in the history-hating 60s.

Readers note: on account of my son's birth, I'm taking a two month hiatus from Talk of Maine, but will be back thereafter.