Paul Bagnall

Poetry and Hummus brings stories of humanity amid Gaza war Former Virginia Poet Laureate Zeina Azzam and her brother read poetry that details their family’s history and its connection to Gaza and Palestine.

I covered the return of the Poetry and Hummus event at the Chocolate Church Arts Center, where Virginia Poet Laureate Zeina Azzam and her brother, Fateh, shared stories of the Palestinian American experience.

#Palestine #Gaza #thetimesrecord #maine #localnews

www.pressherald.com/2025/10/02/p...

Wrote a piece in The Times Record about a local fire station raising funds for a piece of firefighting history in Maine.

#localnews #historywriting #bath #maine #portlandpressherald

www.pressherald.com/2025/08/07/b...

We Can Still Save the Institute for Museum and Library Services Act now to help save the Institute for Museum and Library Services and ensure the well-being of public libraries nationwide.

We can still save the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Here's a practical guide to what to do right now to save not just the agency's funding but its future all together: bookriot.com/we-can-still...

Bowdoinham receives grant to plant trees at new riverfront park Bowdoinham has received Maine Forest Service Canopy grant funding to support reforestation efforts at the new Riverfront Park, aiming to address shoreline erosion, reduce stormwater runoff, and provid...

A look into river restoration in rural Midcoast Maine in the town of Bowdoinham.

#localnews #portlandpressherald #environment #resoration #bowdoinham #maine

www.pressherald.com/2025/06/26/b...

“No Kings” rally draws 3,000 protesters to Bath A few months into Trump's second term, hundreds of protesters gathered along the length of the Sagadahoc Bridge in Bath to speak out against the administration's policies and actions.

The news does not stop on the weekends, especially for "No Kings Day." I felt the need to take a drive over to see if they could span the Sagadahoc Bridge.

#portlandpressherald #nokingday #protest #bath #maine

www.pressherald.com/2025/06/17/n...

Midcoast Youth Center’s transitional housing receives $15,000 grant The Midcoast Community Alliance was awarded the private funding for its transitional housing program for young adults through the Midcoast Youth Center.

One of my latest stories about Midcoast Youth Center receiving the John T. Gorman grant to benefit the transitional housing program in Bath, ME.

#localnews #bath #maine

www.pressherald.com/2025/06/11/m...

Expert chef cooks up fish lunch for Freeport students Barton Seaver, an expert sustainable seafood chef and educator, volunteered his culinary expertise to cook a flounder-based dish for Morse Street School.

A local news piece about an award-winning chef cooking a school lunch for elementary school kids in Freeport, ME.

#localnews #freeport #schoollunch #seafooddiet

www.pressherald.com/2025/06/02/e...

Bath residents worry shipyard parking changes will lead to more traffic issues Bath Iron Works leadership goes over the plans for the improved parking for the Washington Street corridor project and answers Bath residents' concerns during a presentation at the Maine Maritime Muse...

The latest Times Record and Portland Press Herald update on what the largest employer in the city of Bath, ME, plans to do with its employee parking and how city residents are reacting to it.

#localnews #portlandpressherad #bath #maine

www.pressherald.com/2025/05/07/b...

I'm pretty sure the court ordered the administration to return him, which we can debate the word "facilitate" until we are blue in the face, but that's what the court has ordered.

Federal funding cuts trickle down to Midcoast libraries Local libraries face a reduction in online resources, with rural libraries being hit the hardest. The cut in federal funding for the Maine State Library has already led to layoffs and a temporary clos...

An important story is unfolding in local libraries in Maine, one worth keeping an eye on to see what changes emerge.

#localnews #bowdoinham #maine #publiclibrary

www.pressherald.com/2025/04/17/f...

‘Hands Off!’ protesters gather in Brunswick Brunswick is one of many municipalities and cities across Maine and the country that witnessed the "Hands Off!" rallies in reaction to the current president of the Untied States' actions.

The news doesn't rest, especially for the weekend. On my day off, I went to the protest in Brunswick, ME, to take photos of one of the largest protests I have seen so far.

#localnews #nationalnews #photography #thetimesrecord #maine #activistprotest

www.pressherald.com/2025/04/07/h...

Group of Bath residents want fewer cruise ships A presentation on the Maine Maritime Museum and American Cruise Lines' use of the Deering Pier is scheduled for Bath City Hall on Wednesday.

A story about citizens' concerns with cruise ships in Bath, ME, that I plan to follow up on in the evening.

#localnews #bath #maine #cruiseshiptourism #municipalgovernment #mainetrustforlocalnews

www.pressherald.com/2025/04/01/g...

As a single guy looking for a significant other, this is NOT the way to do it. So creepy😬

🙄

Bath drugstore shutting doors after 109 years in business Wilson's Drug Store is closing, to the disappointment of locals and loyal commuters.

Not the greatest thing in the world to cover a business closing its doors after over 100 years of service to the community was the sense I got from my street interviews.

#smallbusiness #pharmacy #bath #maine #localnews

www.pressherald.com/2025/03/20/b...

Hiring freezes, Trump’s plan for shipbuilding office send mixed signals to shipbuilders Lawmakers representing districts with some of the nation's largest naval shipyards are concerned the recent hiring freezes send mixed messages with the president's recent commitment to "Make Shipbuild...

One of my latest stories is about the executive branch's mixed messages and how they are currently affecting the business of building ships. It took longer than I expected, but it was worth it in the end.

#localnews #bath #shipbuilding #jobmarket

www.pressherald.com/2025/03/17/h...

Midcoast group protests federal workforce cuts Indivisible Sagadahoc gathered in Bath to protest the slashing of the federal workforce by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency run by billionaire Elon Musk.

My short coverage of an Indivisible Protest over the prior weekend with people concerned over the recent actions center around the Department of Government Effiency.

#localnews #bath #maine #publicprotest #thetimesrecord

www.pressherald.com/2025/03/10/m...

Following the trend happening across the nation and how it affects people locally.

#bigboxstores #closure #localnews #thetimesrecord #midcoastmaine

www.pressherald.com/2025/02/20/t...

Shortened work day for covering local news with some community outreach thrown in for scheduling interviews next week.

Bath group launches ‘banned’ book club The increasing number of book bans and challenges across the nation inspired Bath Pride to begin a different kind of book club for anyone to attend and host conversations at the Patten Free Library.

My coverage of the LGBTQIA group Bath Pride hosting a banned book club inspired by the book bans happening in other parts of the United States.

#bannedbooks #localnews #LGBTQIA #Bath #Maine

www.pressherald.com/2025/02/13/b...

‘Bloodbath by design’: Trump’s Russia negotiators criticized for ‘almost no experience' After a week of disastrous messaging by U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, resulting in a 180-degree turn and leaving European leaders and some Americans wondering what U.S. foreign policy is, th...

“The American team has almost no experience in high-level international negotiation, no regional expertise on Ukraine and Russia, and no relevant foreign language knowledge."

With everything going on in the world right now, combined with the winter season, is frankly depressing. So, I will reorganize my office space to face the window instead of a wall.

Hmm, I don't remember Musk being on the ballot during the 2024 election.

Midcoast Youth Center funding to expand homelessness prevention The new state funding will allow the Bath-based nonprofit to expand existing programs and hire more staff to prevent kids and young adults from experiencing homelessness in Sagadahoc County.

New state funding will allow the Bath-based nonprofit to expand existing programs and hire more staff to prevent kids and young adults from experiencing homelessness in Sagadahoc County.

#nonprofit #localnews #thetimesrecord #midcoast #maine

www.pressherald.com/2025/01/30/m...

Midcoast food nonprofit regains access after brief funding pause Mid Coast Hunger Prevention recently regained access to its allocated federal funding after almost a week of being cut off from it. The Trump administration's planned freeze on federal funding leaves ...

What happens when federal funds already allocated to a nonprofit get frozen with very little communication coming from the reshuffled federal agencies?

Especially when a local nonprofit whose main goal is to prevent hunger in Maine.

#federalfunds #nonprofit

www.pressherald.com/2025/02/03/m...

Congrats on the win and recognition!

I want to thank my neighbor for letting me know that my car was marked for towing because of last night's parking ban. I appreciate her help that I can write the news without distractions.

#localnews #winterparkingban #workflow

National Science Foundation suspends salary payments, leaving researchers unable to pay their bills An NSF online payment system remained down after the federal funding freeze was lifted, leaving early-career scientists scrambling to pay bills

“If the freeze is not stopped, I might lose my house."

Some NSF-funded postdocs are having trouble paying rent and credit card bills because their salaries were paused this week, even though the federal funding freeze memo was rescinded.

www.statnews.com/2025/01/30/t...

I mean, you got to keep the lights on somehow. While freelancing, I was operating at a loss and wish I had turned to Patreon sooner.

The importance of having Union representation is making sure managers and CEOs don't leave you hanging out to dry, especially since the cost of everything is going up and seems to keep going up at this point.

#unionworkers #teamsters #retail #employeerights