Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Herald’s first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maine’s 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 Globe’s 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 family’s next adventure.
-
PublishedMay 1, 2025
Maine announces record $8M in state climate resilience grants
More than 150 communities across the state are included in the latest round of state climate resilience grants announced by Gov. Janet Mills in Kennebunkport, which was heavily damaged by back-to-back storms in January 2024.
-
PublishedApril 21, 2025
USDA cancels $35M climate grant to Freeport demonstration farm
The termination letter said Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment failed to pay at least 65% of its climate-smart agriculture grant directly to farmers.
-
PublishedApril 16, 2025
Farmers angry over federal funding cuts rally at Maine State House
They showed up, on their tractors, to protest millions in cuts to federal grants, canceled support for school lunches and the termination of 20% of USDA workers who support Maine’s farmers.
-
PublishedApril 14, 2025
Lawmakers consider $10M bailout for Fairfield water crisis
A bill would expand the public water system to Fairfield residents whose private wells have been contaminated by toxic forever chemicals from the state’s former agricultural sludge-spreading program.
-
PublishedApril 12, 2025
More than $100M sought to help Maine prepare for winter storms, climate change
A $34.5 million bill would fund home resiliency grants statewide, and a $75 million bond would invest in coastal resilience projects.
-
PublishedApril 9, 2025
Athletes, environmentalists debate proposed statewide ban on artificial turf fields in Maine
The potential 3-year ban would allow for a state study of the environmental and health effects of synthetic turf fields.
-
PublishedApril 7, 2025
White sharks make frequent visits to Maine’s coastal waters, new data reveals
But most white sharks tracked during a new study only hung out for about 15 minutes at Maine’s most popular sandy beaches before moving on, and the number of shark visits is still low compared to hotspots like Cape Cod.
-
PublishedApril 6, 2025
Seasonal allergies getting worse? Blame climate change.
As temperatures rise, plants produce more pollen over a longer period of time. But locally collected pollen counts are on the way to help Mainers with seasonal allergies navigate the worst of the sneeze season.
-
PublishedMarch 31, 2025
King-backed bill would force USDA to pay farmers’ federal contracts
Despite a judge’s orders and the Trump administration’s promise to release the funding, farmers across the country, including in Maine, are still waiting for millions in federal reimbursements for agricultural conservation projects.
-
PublishedMarch 31, 2025
Maine moving forward with budworm control, but funding delay will limit spray area
After the Legislature failed to pass $2 million in emergency funding, spraying this spring will cover only about 85% of the area threatened by the forest pest.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 52
- Next Page →