We're Baaaaaack: City Government Returns from Summer Lull

After a slower summer, both The Burn and Portland city government are back! Lots happening this week, and more coming.

Portland Police Want to Buy a Drone

The Portland police are looking to spend $45,000 to buy a drone, ostensibly to help with "critical staffing shortages" within the department. The drone discussion first appeared a year ago, and it's now back up for discussion after several changes to the policy. 

This discussion will be brought to the Health and Human Services committee meeting today: Tuesday, September 9th at 5:30 pm on Zoom.

From the documents provided to the HHS Committee, notable changes to the policy include removing a mention of using the drones for "real time monitoring of mass gatherings" and now includes guidance that the drone will not be used for “surveillance of private citizens peacefully exercising their constitutional rights of free speech and assembly."

Who defines "peaceful" in the context? That’s a good question for tonight’s discussion. If you're curious to read more about this particular issue, check out this piece that Burn editor Leo Burnett wrote for Maine Morning Star last year.

Live Nation Attempts to Reconsider Moratorium

Despite the city council's passage of a 180-day moratorium on live music venues in August, lawyers for the corporate ticketing monopoly Live Nation are making one more attempt to grease the wheels before the moratorium officially goes into effect. They allege that the city’s planning board “had no legal basis to postpone the [August 12] hearing because the moratorium is not yet in effect.”

The Planning Board will hear a last-minute request tonight, Tuesday night, at 4:30 pm to hold a public hearing, reconsidering the board's decision to postpone a public hearing on the Live Nation music venue. The moratorium officially goes into effect tomorrow, September 10th. 

Cruise Ships Might Have to Stop Dumping Pollutants in Portland Harbor

A new proposal to limit cruise ship pollution is up for discussion Wednesday, September 10th at 5pm at the Sustainability and Transportation Committee meeting. The proposal, spearheaded by the advocacy group Portland Cruise Control, would ban docking ships from discharging so-called "scrubber wash" into Portland harbor. 

Scrubbers are devices on cruise ships that take the ungodly amount of air pollution — sulfur dioxide, namely — and turn it into… water pollution. Rather than spewing sulfur dioxide into the air (or simply using cleaner fuel), the scrubbers on cruise ships instead take that pollutant and discharge it into the water. Scrubber discharge is highly acidic and damaging to marine life, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation. 

Good Maine Reads

Quality local news is hard to come by, and we'd like to highlight local journalism and small newsletter contributions as well. Check out these stories:

• Maine towns are experimenting with AI without policies to govern its use: The Maine Monitor reports on how Maine towns are experimenting with AI usage with few guardrails in place governing its use. This is a more critical and responsible take when compared to local media coverage that often takes the claims of AI companies at face value (ahem, sadly, this describes most of the coverage.)

• They called 911 after a man drowned in Papoose Pond. The sheriff’s office called Border Patrol: The Press Herald released solid, in-depth reporting on a June incident where Scarborough police colluded with Border Patrol, reportedly holding men without probable cause long enough for nearby Border Patrol agents to then take eight men into custody.

• Camden Offers $5,000 Reward for Parking Kiosk Vandal: Curious about the posts that are making the rounds about the vandal that destroyed Camden’s newly installed parking kiosks? Is it stupid? Reckless? Heroic? Read the story and decide for yourself, courtesy of the Midcoast Villager.

Preview of next issue

We won’t give you too many clues on this one, but here’s an old news clipping to keep you wondering until the next issue comes out. Where is it from? What’s the context? Subscribe and you’ll find out.

Authors and Editors

Leo Burnett, Emma Reynolds, and Nick Schroeder are founding editors for the Burn.