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Portland’s Quick-Hit News

Inter-city showdown: South Portland issues violation to the Jetport

The City of South Portland issued a violation to the Portland Jetport this week over an illegal clear-cut of a lot on Dawson Street that’s just on the other side of I-295 from the Jetport. The Jetport got permission from the city to selectively cut some trees in this location in 2019.  The City of South Portland, however, alleges that the Jetport cut far beyond what was permitted, carrying out a clearing that left the wetland-adjacent lot devoid of vegetation.

A clear cut removes all trees and vegetation, completely altering the land and habitat. Residents on Dawson St reportedly described the scene as one of complete wildlife and habitat destruction.

It's an unusual step for a city to essentially sue another city entity. While the Jetport is in South Portland, it's owned and operated by the City of Portland. The two entities, as well as the Catholic Diocese in Portland — which technically owns the land the Jetport leases — will now negotiate fines or ecosystem rehabilitation for the lot. 

Live Nation tries to sweeten its mega-venue deal downtown

Facing strong opposition from residents and the vast majority of Maine arts organizations, the proposed 3,000+ capacity LiveNation venue in downtown Portland struck a deal with the owner of the Custom House and Temple Street garages to offer discounted parking to concert-goers. The gears of LiveNation’s corporate machine are turning, and according to sources with knowledge of the situation — the company is considering making a sizable donation to Portland's Housing Trust Fund to make their concert-killer more palatable to residents.  

Meanwhile, City Councilors Anna Bullett and Wes Pelletier are proposing a short-term moratorium on new concert halls with capacities of more than 2,000, which if passed would delay the project. The city council is likely to vote on that proposal in the coming weeks. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department’s monopoly suit against Live Nation is still alive after a judge refused to dismiss it last month. The Justice Department's suit describes in detail the ticketing giant’s coercive, mafia-esque tactics, like aggressively buying smaller regional concert promoters, locking venues into long-term agreements with “carrots and sticks,” and forcing exclusive agreements with smaller concert venues, ensuring total dominance over the music and entertainment market. 

Syringe buyback is working

The City of Portland piloted a new syringe buyback program this winter, and early signs show the program is helping with the problem of needle waste. Using money from the opioid settlement fund — money given to towns and cities as a result of a massive federal lawsuit against the large pharmaceutical companies — Portland pays people ten cents for every needle that's returned to its program. In its March report to the Health and Human Services committee, Portland's needle exchange program reported a 91 percent increase in the amount of needles properly disposed to the city in the four weeks after starting its buyback program. 

Franklin Street getting a facelift

Once a tree-lined residential neighborhood, Franklin Street today is a sprawling, four-lane, mega street connecting I-295 to Portland's waterfront. Decades after city officials cited it as a “barrier” between neighborhoods and six years after the project was put on hold by then-city manager Jon Jennings, a fresh redesign of the longstanding “arterial” may soon be upon us. Reimagining Franklin Street, a campaign by the city’s Planning and Urban Development office, has its own website, has engaged a spiffy consulting firm, and will hold an open house on the process on April 17th. 

Rise in grinds: Portland's pricey coffee here to stay

It might be easy to conclude that coffee is more expensive in Portland thanks to gentrification and now to tariffs. It’s true that many of our shops offer more premium coffee than the average grungy bean joint did in 2011 — and tariffs will likely have a sizable effect on coffee prices. But there’s more to the story.

Coffee roasters and shops around Portland are sending notices to customers about anticipated price increases (including this notice from 44 North, obtained at Coveside Coffee recently.) Short and simple explanations are hard to come by. But here's one: coffee shouldn't be cheap.

As detailed in Speckled Ax's recent nine-post Instagram explainer, and echoed by other local business owners, cheap coffee is a commodity that relies on an exploitation of the people who actually grow the beans. Much like chocolate or vanilla, the story of the global coffee trade is one of colonial extraction, with roots in the slave trade. A trifecta of climate change, speculation by capitalist vultures, and now the uncertainty and chaos caused by Trump's tariffs are destroying the forces that previously held the price of a drip coffee at artificially low prices. 

For coffee lovers (and count us among them), the news is not all bad. As Speckled Ax's post states, "we're excited to contemplate an industry that approaches something along the lines of sustainability for the folks who have been growing coffee." The realignment in the coffee market isn't just creating more leverage for growers, it's revealing the many roasters who talked a big talk about "ethical sourcing" while continuing to buy the same cheap beans that impoverish growers. To those performative roasters, Speckled Ax hopes "their business models blow up in their respective faces." We can only imagine which roasters they are referencing.

Quotes of Note

An illustrative ode to the controversial forestry practice of clear cutting by environmentalist and author Edward Abbey.

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Authors and Editors

Em Burnett wrote this edition of The Burn, with editing from Nick Schroeder and Emma Reynolds.