Le Journal

Two men were arrested Thursday night during a raid at a LaGrange home. Richard Stacker, 53, and 56-year-old Ferdinand Nazario, both of New York and LaGrange, have been charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, according to the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies, along with a Maine State Police tactical team, executed a search warrant about 8 p.m. at a Town Road home as part of a firearms investigation. During the search, police seized multiple guns and suspected drugs, which have been taken to a laboratory for testing. The sheriff’s office isn’t releasing more details because the investigation is ongoing.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — When you think IMAX, chances are your mind goes to those immersive documentaries that take you inside volcanoes, deep under oceans, atop mountains or to distant planets. Or to those widescreen films that bathe you in backstage experiences with iconic rockstars or Hollywood special effects. But, this year, the state of Ohio is using the technology to tell an environmental comeback story closer to home. “Ohio: Wild at Heart” features the state’s top-ranked park system to highlight wildlife conservation efforts and the restorative power of outdoor recreation. Filmed over more than a year, the $2.5 million project — paid for with information and education funds — is drawing large crowds at science museums around the state and heads next year into classrooms. Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Mary Mertz calls it “a love letter to the mission of protecting our natural resources and expanding opportunities to explore.” Narrated by Ohio State football great Archie Griffin, the documentary depicts the state’s landscapes at a sweeping scale — from the lighthouse-dotted shores of Lake Erie in the north to the towering limestone formations of the Hocking Hills in the hilly south. The efforts take on outsized meaning given the historical context. It was the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland catching on fire in 1969 that sparked the modern environmental movement and the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Just ahead of the 50th anniversary of the fire six years ago, the river’s fish were declared once again safe to eat. Many more environmental success stories are featured in “Ohio: Wild at Heart.” They include a former Blackhawk pilot’s efforts to successfully relocate rare trumpeter swans to Ohio marshlands, as well as wildlife biologists’ program to repopulate once endangered bald eagles. Ohio’s governor, Republican Mike DeWine, and his wife Fran, show off family-friendly nature paths lined with pages from children’s stories known as “ storybook trails.” Nature’s mental health benefits are also emphasized. “People feel like you have to go far away to experience nature,” a naturalist on screen says. “We restore nature, nature restores us,” a volunteer says. People feature in the film credit recreational activities as varied as hiking, kayaking, birding, ice fishing and dog-sledding with restoring their bodies, benefiting their mental health, combating loneliness and salvaging their self-esteem. ___ Videojournalist Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos contributed to this report.

A version of this story first appeared in the Morning Update newsletter. Sign up here to receive the Morning Update and other BDN newsletters directly in your inbox. QUOTE OF THE DAY “I’ll just never forget like the way my jaw hit the floor when they said how many thousands of people were in front of me.” — Alfred Russo of Bangor, who moved to the city two years ago and thought it would be easy to find a new doctor. TODAY’S TOP STORIES Waitlists for Bangor primary care providers far exceed national averages. A new primary care office that opened its doors in August already has more than 2,500 patients and an approximately six-month wait for first-time appointments. Brewer must return property taxes paid by Northern Light Health, judge rules. Brewer had denied an exemption for Northern Light’s administration building and two units at the Lafayette Family Cancer Institute. The state will start evaluating the future of an 89-year-old coastal Maine bridge. The bridge, which opened in 1939, connects Deer Isle and Stonington to the mainland, and is part of the only road off the island. He was born with only one functioning arm. He lost his mom to an overdose. Now he’s one of Maine’s best basketball players. Foxcroft Academy’s Lennon McAffee is averaging more than 18 points while hauling down around six rebounds and adding roughly three steals per game. NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE Help us report on ICE operations in Maine Maine halts undercover plates after border security request Here’s who has raised the most money in the Maine governor’s race Bangor Mall settlement talks with city have stalled, owner says Former Patten town manager claims officials pushed ‘illegal activities’ Amid expected increase in ICE activity, Brunswick officials grapple with misinformation Multi-state chase leads to arrest in Skowhegan murder Connecticut woman, 19, killed in Falmouth crash One rural Maine hockey program is in early stages of a comeback MAINE IN PICTURES Foxcroft Academy’s Lennon McAfee strips the ball from Central’s Carter Sheaff in a game at Central High School on Thursday. Due to a birth injury, McAfee plays basketball almost entirely one-armed — but still averages more than 18 points a game. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN FROM THE OPINION PAGES The mood in downtown Lewiston was quiet but tense Thursday, the day after city and state officials announced that they expected U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to target Maine cities in the coming days. Credit: Callie Ferguson / BDN “We expect federal agencies to respect the Constitution, follow the rule of law, and treat every person with basic human dignity. We will be watching closely. We will speak out if those democratic standards are not met.” Opinion: Lewiston, Portland mayors: We stand for the Constitution, dignity and public safety LIFE IN MAINE How a Depression-era ‘Hooverville’ turned into the University of Maine’s hippie paradise. Discover the history of Hungry Hollow, a countercultural hotspot at the Orono campus, and its legendary music festival, Bumstock. Why right now is the time to buy a crossbow. With new models hitting dealers and leftover packages discounted, there’s still time to get set up before spring gobbler and bear seasons. These Maine winter species are surprising even seasoned birders. “‘Now is the winter of our discontent,’ William Shakespeare wrote in ‘Richard III.’ Shakespeare was obviously a birder.”

The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com Bill Burgess of Portland is a partner with North Bridge Venture Partners. He currently serves on the board of Issue One, a crosspartisan political reform group, and is co-chair of The Council for American Democracy, a nationwide coalition of citizens dedicated to preserving our democracy. For decades, Congress has steadily surrendered one of its most solemn but important constitutional responsibilities: deciding when the United States goes to war or launches consequential military operations. Presidents of both parties have filled that vacuum — ordering strikes and sending our uniformed citizens into harm’s way with little oversight or accountability from the legislative branch. What was meant to be a shared, deliberative process has increasingly become an executive prerogative. The Senate’s recent, final vote rejecting a resolution that would have prevented President Donald Trump from engaging in further military operations in Venezuela without congressional approval is an unfortunate continuation of this trend. However, it is not a reason for despair because the final vote was extremely close. Three Republican senators — including Maine Sen. Susan Collins — joined Democrats in voting for the proposal, showing bravery by standing up to party pressure to protect our democracy. Since she is the only one of the three Republicans running for reelection this year and the president has repeatedly criticized her and called on his base to boot her out, Collins especially deserves recognition for upholding the constitutional obligation of Congress. The founders were very clear about this: They vested the power to declare war with Congress precisely because decisions of war and peace were never meant to rest with one person alone. James Madison warned that the executive is “most prone” to war, and concentrating such power in a single office posed a grave threat to liberty. Congress was meant to serve as the people’s voice — debating and authorizing the use of military force in concert with the commander in chief. Yet over time, Congress has too often stood on the sidelines. Lawmakers have ceded their constitutional authority to the executive branch, allowing presidents of both parties to unilaterally order military force without seeking congressional input or authorization. This abdication has eroded our system of checks and balances and concentrated dangerous amounts of power in the executive branch. If the Venezuela war powers resolution had passed, it would have allowed our elected representatives to reassert a basic truth: Congress is not a spectator. It is a co-equal branch of government designed to serve as a check on executive power. Furthermore, this congressional action would have gone a long way to reassert the founders’ view that Congress, and not the president, is the leading branch of government when it comes to the use of military force. The founders deeply understood that when this power is vested in one person, it creates the possibility for abuse. The presidency has mostly been occupied by men with deep respect for the Constitution, the separation of powers, the rule of law, and long-held customs of behavior. President Trump has increasingly ignored or violated these “rules of the road,” viewing them as annoying barriers to doing whatever he wants, regardless of what the people want or the price we pay for his actions. This is why the people’s branch, Congress, must once again reassert its constitutional role. Congress should take additional action by advancing the National Security Powers Act, which would restore Congress’ constitutional role over war-making, emergency powers, and military deployments. As a recent nationwide poll conducted by Issue One — a leading crosspartisan political reform group — revealed, American voters are…

When Alfred Russo moved to the Bangor area from Boston two years ago, he thought it would be easy to find a new doctor. Then he started calling primary care providers last summer. “I’ll just never forget like the way my jaw hit the floor when they said how many thousands of people were in front of me,” Russo said, adding that some providers told him there were more than 1,000 people on the waitlist and it might take a year or two to get an appointment. “I’m not eager to be the person who just goes to the ER or urgent care as their primary care,” he said, but until he finds a provider that can take him, he hasn’t had any other options. Many primary care offices in Bangor have monthslong wait times, far exceeding the national average. A 2025 study found that the average new patient family medicine appointment wait time in the U.S. is just over 23 days. A new primary care office, the urgent care company ConvenientMD’s first in Bangor, opened its doors in August. It already has more than 2,500 patients and an approximately six-month wait for first-time appointments. “The demand for primary care in Bangor and across northern Maine is clear. We’ve seen it in how quickly the Bangor practice has grown in just a few months,” ConvenientMD spokesperson Jennifer Harris said. The difficult landscape for Greater Bangor residents trying to find primary care is symptomatic of a provider shortage in Maine and across the country. “That demand for care really sort of continues to grow, and the supply of providers hasn’t really kept up,” said Dr. Lisa Billings-Lindsey, medical director for primary care at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center. This mismatch between supply and demand is especially challenging, Billings-Lindsey said, because primary care providers are an entry point to other health care. They’re often a patient’s first stop when they need help. Although Billings-Lindsey was unable to provide specific figures for primary care wait times at the health system’s offices, when a Bangor Daily News reporter called Northern Light Family Medicine and Residency office about getting a primary care doctor, an employee said the waitlist likely stretched until the end of summer 2026 — an approximately seven-month wait. Northern Light Internal Medicine is not currently accepting new patients, an employee told the reporter. When the reporter inquired with St. Joseph Hospital about getting on its primary care waitlist, an employee said it was about 1,800 people long. A spokesperson for the health care system did not respond to an email requesting confirmation. ConvenientMD is accepting new patients in Bangor with a wait time of about six months for a first visit, according to Harris. “There’s a lot of demand, and we want to be upfront about timing so we can bring on new patients at a pace that allows us to provide consistent, high-quality care,” she said. The practice’s three providers treat about 2,600 patients in total, Harris said, and a fourth provider is set to start next month. Penobscot Community Health Care has about 450 people on its waitlist for all locations, according to a statement from the organization. It has openings for new primary care patients in Belfast and is also accepting pediatric patients in Belfast, Bangor and Old Town. “Our patient intake specialist is contacting and scheduling patients every day,” PCHC said. Some patients may turn to smaller or more specialized clinics for their primary care as appointments remain difficult to come by. The Mabel Wadsworth Center, a reproductive health care provider in Bangor, is taking new primary care patients and scheduling out to April, according to Aspen Ruhlin, the center’s community engagement manager. Although Maine Family Planning, another reproductive health organization, was forced to close its primary care practices last year after the Trump administration barred it from receiving federal Medicaid funding, the Mabel Wadsworth Center is still providing primary care…