By Lauren McCauley | Editor
“The vision was good, but the execution is just not there yet.” - Craig Coolidge, principal engineer and president of Summit Geoengineering, on recently updated regulations for shoreline erosion projects.
Machinery sits idle at a quarry in Gorham, Maine. (Photo by John Patriquin/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images via Inside Climate News)
ENVIRONMENT
By Emmett Gartner, Inside Climate News
The number of permits to develop new quarries have more than tripled in Maine over the past five years compared to the prior decade, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Meanwhile, quarry owners in Gorham and beyond are looking to expand their existing pits, potentially bringing more Maine residents into the pathway of the quarries’ shockwaves.
ECONOMY
By Ashley Murray, States Newsroom
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on American goods kicked in Tuesday, escalating a trade war with one of the largest U.S. trading partners that President Donald Trump continued to antagonize over the holiday weekend.
ELECTION 2026
By Jacob Fischler
All 47 members of the U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus, 199 current House Democrats and 15 former House Republicans signed the friend-of-the-court brief opposing President Donald Trump’s policy to add several requirements to mail ballots.
Maine’s Jared Golden was among the handful of current Democratic members of Congress who did not sign on.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
FEMA is off the chopping block. But disaster aid is still a guessing game. | Alex Brown, Stateline
On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, States Newsroom editor remembers the heroes of Flight 93 | Shalina Chatlani, Stateline
Thanks for reading Top of the Morning. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.