@lvaligra.bsky.social
Investigative environment reporter at Bangor Daily News in Maine; writer; traveler; log cabin lover
Reposted
Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a freshman at Brown, had a condition as a child that required brain surgery. The experience created an unshakable ambition to become a brain surgeon, his sister said.
He died after being shot on campus on Saturday.
He died after being shot on campus on Saturday.
Brown shooting victim was pursuing dream of becoming brain surgeon
Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, was one of two people killed at Brown University on Saturday.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, a freshman at Brown, had a condition as a child that required brain surgery. The experience created an unshakable ambition to become a brain surgeon, his sister said.
He died after being shot on campus on Saturday.
He died after being shot on campus on Saturday.
A conservationist gets caught up, unwittingly, in Maine’s PFAS crisis. Here’s how he remembers starting the company that has evolved into one of the state’s most polluted sludge-composting locations: www.bangordailynews.com/2025/12/01/m...
A celebrated conservationist's unwitting role in Maine's PFAS crisis
Conservationist Bill Ginn is mad about what happened at the Hawk Ridge Compost Facility that he started 35 years ago as a recycling center.
www.bangordailynews.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:17 PM
A conservationist gets caught up, unwittingly, in Maine’s PFAS crisis. Here’s how he remembers starting the company that has evolved into one of the state’s most polluted sludge-composting locations: www.bangordailynews.com/2025/12/01/m...
Reposted
To experience fellowship life for yourself, start your application soon and submit before January 9, 2026
Academic-Year Fellowship:
https://ksj.mit.edu/fellowships/academic-year-fellowship/
Fellowship for Africa and the Middle East:
https://ksj.mit.edu/fellowships/africa-middle-east-fellowship/
Academic-Year Fellowship:
https://ksj.mit.edu/fellowships/academic-year-fellowship/
Fellowship for Africa and the Middle East:
https://ksj.mit.edu/fellowships/africa-middle-east-fellowship/
November 23, 2025 at 1:29 AM
To experience fellowship life for yourself, start your application soon and submit before January 9, 2026
Academic-Year Fellowship:
https://ksj.mit.edu/fellowships/academic-year-fellowship/
Fellowship for Africa and the Middle East:
https://ksj.mit.edu/fellowships/africa-middle-east-fellowship/
Academic-Year Fellowship:
https://ksj.mit.edu/fellowships/academic-year-fellowship/
Fellowship for Africa and the Middle East:
https://ksj.mit.edu/fellowships/africa-middle-east-fellowship/
Reposted
The @bostonglobe.com reports that @wgbh.org is laying off another 15 people. Awful, but none of them are in news. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/06/b...
GBH lays off 15 employees following loss of federal funding, its fourth round of job cuts this year - The Boston Globe
Employees working on children’s programming as well as business and operations staff in marketing, finance, and technology were among the job cuts.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:16 AM
The @bostonglobe.com reports that @wgbh.org is laying off another 15 people. Awful, but none of them are in news. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/06/b...
Maine’s largest landfill, operated by Casella, is pushing ahead for a leachate pre-treatment plant in 2027. Currently, the untreated leachate goes to another facility where it is dumped into the Penobscot River, the state’s second-longest river system: www.bangordailynews.com/2025/10/28/m...
Maine landfill plans to finally treat contaminated water that runs into the Penobscot River
The state is requiring a treatment system for PFAS chemicals as part of a controversial 61-acre expansion plan at Juniper Ridge.
www.bangordailynews.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Maine’s largest landfill, operated by Casella, is pushing ahead for a leachate pre-treatment plant in 2027. Currently, the untreated leachate goes to another facility where it is dumped into the Penobscot River, the state’s second-longest river system: www.bangordailynews.com/2025/10/28/m...
Casella’s compost facility in Maine will close after regulations, PFAS contamination hobble business. My latest BDN story. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/09/05/m...
A Maine compost operation heavily contaminated by PFAS is closing
For almost four decades, Hawk Ridge, the state’s largest composting facility, turned sewage sludge into compost used in Maine and beyond.
www.bangordailynews.com
September 8, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Casella’s compost facility in Maine will close after regulations, PFAS contamination hobble business. My latest BDN story. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/09/05/m...
Maine is one if the most heavily forested states in the US, but attracting a factory to process wood into an environmentally friendlier timber has eluded the Pine Tree State. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/08/25/m...
Why Maine is losing out on a wood building boom
Cross-laminated timber has long been used in Europe but is relatively new in the U.S., and Maine only recently added it to its building code.
www.bangordailynews.com
August 25, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Maine is one if the most heavily forested states in the US, but attracting a factory to process wood into an environmentally friendlier timber has eluded the Pine Tree State. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/08/25/m...
Another massive energy project proposed in Maine. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/07/23/m...
Maine’s 1st energy storage project using manmade ponds proposed in Oxford County
When there is high demand for power on the grid, water from the upper reservoir will be released through turbines that generate electricity down to the lower reservoir for distribution on the grid.
www.bangordailynews.com
July 23, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Another massive energy project proposed in Maine. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/07/23/m...
What happens with tariff uncertainty? www.bangordailynews.com/2025/07/03/m...
Donald Trump’s tariffs test a legacy Maine industry that global trade decimated
The president’s frequently changing tariffs have left Maine businesses uncertain about investing in new product lines and markets.
www.bangordailynews.com
July 9, 2025 at 2:02 PM
What happens with tariff uncertainty? www.bangordailynews.com/2025/07/03/m...
My most recent story in the Bangor Daily News on how the stop and start of tariffs is affecting the few traditional Maine wood turners that are left: www.bangordailynews.com/2025/07/03/m...
Donald Trump’s tariffs test a legacy Maine industry that global trade decimated
The president’s frequently changing tariffs have left Maine businesses uncertain about investing in new product lines and markets.
www.bangordailynews.com
July 3, 2025 at 2:15 PM
My most recent story in the Bangor Daily News on how the stop and start of tariffs is affecting the few traditional Maine wood turners that are left: www.bangordailynews.com/2025/07/03/m...
Reposted
NEW YORK (AP) — Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary turned prize-winning TV journalist, has died at 91.
June 26, 2025 at 8:06 PM
NEW YORK (AP) — Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary turned prize-winning TV journalist, has died at 91.
My latest story in the Bangor Daily News as Mainers prepare for the moose permit lottery today www.bangordailynews.com/2025/06/21/m...
Conditions are perfect in the Maine woods for moose-killing ticks
Changes in Maine’s North Woods have caused tick populations to boom, killing off large numbers of moose calves and worrying scientists who are experimenting with ways to preserve the health of the ico...
www.bangordailynews.com
June 21, 2025 at 12:42 PM
My latest story in the Bangor Daily News as Mainers prepare for the moose permit lottery today www.bangordailynews.com/2025/06/21/m...
Wildlife tunnels reduce vehicle-animal collisions in Maine, even for turtles @sejorg.bsky.social www.bangordailynews.com/2025/05/22/m...
The secret tunnels keeping Mainers safe from dangerous animal crashes
Maine is quietly embracing methods long used the western U.S. to divert animals around high-strike roads and areas reshaped by development.
www.bangordailynews.com
May 22, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Wildlife tunnels reduce vehicle-animal collisions in Maine, even for turtles @sejorg.bsky.social www.bangordailynews.com/2025/05/22/m...
Struggle for clean water continues in Maine town with some of highest PFAS levels in nation www.bangordailynews.com/2025/04/14/m...
Maine lawmakers pitch a new way around forever chemicals
A bill before the Maine Legislature’s energy committee seeks $10 million to extend Fairfield’s public water to residents with PFAS-contaminated wells.
www.bangordailynews.com
April 16, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Struggle for clean water continues in Maine town with some of highest PFAS levels in nation www.bangordailynews.com/2025/04/14/m...
Hundreds of people lined Main Street in the western maine town of Bridgton Saturday morning as part of the nationwide “Hands Off” protests. John Morris, carrying a sign reading “Wake Up,” said he came because, “You can’t rely on the politicians.” A handful of people supported the president.
April 5, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Hundreds of people lined Main Street in the western maine town of Bridgton Saturday morning as part of the nationwide “Hands Off” protests. John Morris, carrying a sign reading “Wake Up,” said he came because, “You can’t rely on the politicians.” A handful of people supported the president.
Reposted
"Don't become like him. Be an American that says I look to the future. Yes, things are scary right now. But we can overcome."
MORE. OF. THIS. 👏👏👏👏👏
#CoryBooker
MORE. OF. THIS. 👏👏👏👏👏
#CoryBooker
April 1, 2025 at 9:23 PM
"Don't become like him. Be an American that says I look to the future. Yes, things are scary right now. But we can overcome."
MORE. OF. THIS. 👏👏👏👏👏
#CoryBooker
MORE. OF. THIS. 👏👏👏👏👏
#CoryBooker
My latest story in the BDN about a chemical that was banned in childrens’ bottles but still is in widespread use www.bangordailynews.com/2025/02/18/m...
This toxic chemical is more common in Maine groceries than you think
More than a decade after Maine restricted its use, the chemical is still widespread and doesn't always have to be disclosed.
www.bangordailynews.com
February 18, 2025 at 7:13 AM
My latest story in the BDN about a chemical that was banned in childrens’ bottles but still is in widespread use www.bangordailynews.com/2025/02/18/m...
Here’s what Maine is doing amid concerns over more PFAS reg rollbacks: www.bangordailynews.com/2025/02/14/m...
Maine to eye protecting limits on PFAS in water as Trump scraps rules
The Trump administration already has rolled back some limits on the toxic forever chemicals.
www.bangordailynews.com
February 14, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Here’s what Maine is doing amid concerns over more PFAS reg rollbacks: www.bangordailynews.com/2025/02/14/m...
The US gives tariff breaks to companies making outerwear containing PFAS. Reps Chellie Pingree of Maine and Blake Moore of Utah introduce bill to change that. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/02/04/m...
PFAS-free outerwear has arrived in Maine. Be prepared to pay.
The U.S. gives tax breaks to companies making clothes with PFAS. Rep. Chellie Pingree and Sen. Angus King want to change that.
www.bangordailynews.com
February 4, 2025 at 2:52 PM
The US gives tariff breaks to companies making outerwear containing PFAS. Reps Chellie Pingree of Maine and Blake Moore of Utah introduce bill to change that. www.bangordailynews.com/2025/02/04/m...
EPA testing for PFAS source at Maine Superfund site, pressaging more discoveries at other Superfund locations www.bangordailynews.com/2025/01/27/m...
A new threat emerges at Superfund sites in Maine
The federal government plans to do more tests to determine if plumes of chemicals, like toxic PFAS, are spreading.
www.bangordailynews.com
January 27, 2025 at 2:52 PM
EPA testing for PFAS source at Maine Superfund site, pressaging more discoveries at other Superfund locations www.bangordailynews.com/2025/01/27/m...
My latest story in the Bangor Daily News: How far the smoke form the California wildfires might travel: www.bangordailynews.com/2025/01/08/m...
California wildfire smoke unlikely to reach Maine, for now
Air quality specialists in New England are monitoring the smoke, which can carry thousands of miles via the jet stream.
www.bangordailynews.com
January 8, 2025 at 9:03 PM
My latest story in the Bangor Daily News: How far the smoke form the California wildfires might travel: www.bangordailynews.com/2025/01/08/m...
My latest story in the Bangor Daily News: dams vs endangered salmon www.bangordailynews.com/2024/06/10/m...
World weighs in on fate of 4 Maine dams blocking passage of endangered salmon
The stakes couldn't be higher, pitting the potential survival of a species against business interests.
www.bangordailynews.com
June 10, 2024 at 2:03 PM
My latest story in the Bangor Daily News: dams vs endangered salmon www.bangordailynews.com/2024/06/10/m...
Reposted
Breaking News: Terry Anderson, a U.S. reporter who was abducted in 1985 and held hostage by Islamic militants for more than 6 years, has died at 76.
Terry Anderson, Reporter Held Hostage for Six Years, Dies at 76
The Beirut bureau chief for The Associated Press, he was kidnapped in 1985 by Islamic militants. He was the last of 18 hostages to be released.
www.nytimes.com
April 21, 2024 at 10:16 PM
Breaking News: Terry Anderson, a U.S. reporter who was abducted in 1985 and held hostage by Islamic militants for more than 6 years, has died at 76.