Penelope Overton

Press Herald

Penelope Overton writes about the lobster and marijuana industries in Maine, a mix of the iconic and the emerging, the economic powerhouse and the mysterious darkhorse. Just the right mix of old and new for a Maine transplant. Penny joined the Press Herald in 2016. She has covered politics and government, the environment and Indian Country in Florida, Connecticut, Arizona and Washington, D.C. Her favorite stories are when she gets to dive into a world where readers seldom venture. When she’s not newspapering, Penny and her young daughter like to hike, body surf, travel and explore new books, places, poems and people. She is plovertonpph on both Instagram and Snapchat.

Latest

Published
October 10, 2023

UMaine developing interactive tool to track PFAS nationwide

A university team is creating a tracker that strives to connect state and federal testing data back to the likely source of contamination, note the potential impacts on food and water supplies and map out how PFAS travels through the environment.
Published
October 9, 2023

Grandson of Bangor teacher and former state senator among those killed by Hamas

Howard Trotsky’s grandson Aryeh Ziering was a captain with the Israel Defense Forces.
Published
October 6, 2023

Gulf of Maine logged its 8th-hottest summer on record this year

But conditions in the gulf this summer were unusually cool when compared to recent years, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute said.
Published
October 6, 2023

Contaminated farm in Unity to become PFAS research site

Songbird Farm is one of a growing number of farms found to be contaminated with so-called forever chemicals from sludge fertilizer spread on fields, once a common, state-sanctioned practice.
Published
October 2, 2023

Lawmakers hear how other states are catching up to Maine on PFAS regulation

Thirty-three states have introduced about 200 new PFAS policies or laws this year alone.
Published
September 29, 2023

Maine awards $2.4 million in climate grants to 53 communities

The funding was announced at a meeting of the Maine Climate Council, which is resuming its work amid growing urgency to reduce carbon emissions and prepare for warming impacts.
Published
September 28, 2023

Army Corps finalizes Camp Ellis jetty proposal to mitigate coastal erosion

But a shoreline restoration nonprofit says Saco shouldn’t sign the agreement, arguing it doesn’t provide the city with as much beach replenishment sand as promised and requires the city to assume liability if the jetty doesn’t work.
Published
September 22, 2023

Kelp connection: Maine studies seaweed’s power to slow climate change

While Maine already measures the green carbon storage capacity of its forests, it is one of the first states to consider the potential seaweed has to store carbon when it breaks apart and falls to the ocean floor.
Published
September 19, 2023

Maine lobstermen and environmentalists welcome $82 million investment in right whale recovery

Fishermen say support for increased tracking will prove their gear isn’t a threat to the endangered species. Wildlife advocates also applaud the funding, but say stronger protections are needed now.
Published
September 18, 2023

Effort to save right whales gets $82 million federal grant

Biden administration officials say the investment in new and emerging technologies represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect the species.

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