The Maine stories you cared about in 2023

By Paul Koenig, Bangor Daily News Staff

As we near the end of the year, we’re revisiting the stories from 2023 you read the most.

The story that dominated headlines and turned the attention of the nation to our state was the October mass shooting in Lewiston, which left 18 dead, injured 13 and shattered a sense of safety for countless others across Maine. The shootings at a bar and bowling alley shocked the nation, but we later learned that there were numerous warning signs about the gunman before he committed Maine’s deadliest shooting.

Other topics in our most-read stories an invasive fish taking over lakes, the potential sale of Irving Oil, Bangor’s botched fireworks display, the world’s biggest pop star’s (very short) visit to Maine, a novel idea to help the homelessness crisis, a Bangor Daily News investigation into a police officer who shot two people and a couple surprising catches — an ancient anchor and an unusually beautiful splake.

Here’s a look back at the most-read BDN stories of 2023.

The mass shooting in Lewiston

At around 7 p.m. on Oct. 25, Robert R. Card II, a 40-year-old Army reservist from Bowdoin, walked into Just-In-Time Recreation and started shooting at patrons before going to Schemengees Bar & Grille and opening fire there, killing 18 in total. The shooting, the nation’s deadliest in 2023, and subsequent two-day manhunt for the killer that ended when he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, captured the attention of readers across the country.

Along with stories of tragedies as we learned about the victims, the shooting spawned stories of heroism, like that of Thomas Giberti, a worker at Just-in-Time Recreation who helped numerous children escape the building, even as he was shot multiple times in the legs.

There were stories of outrage over how military and law enforcement officials handled warnings about threats Card made and his apparent mental deterioration leading up to the shooting. Army Reserve leaders told local police one of Card’s fellow reservists was being an alarmist after he texted a superior to warn him that he believed Card would “snap and do a mass shooting” a month and a half before Card did that very thing.

Maine lobstermen catch ancient 7-foot anchor while hauling traps

A pair of midcoast lobstermen were almost done hauling on a day in November when they pulled up a large anchor covered in a thick layer of rust and sea coral had snagged on one of their traps.

Brothers Peter and Logan Aiken, who fish out of Cushing, found the anchor roughly 10 miles southwest of Matinicus Rock, some 300 feet underwater. From its size and design, Logan Aiken speculated that the anchor may have belonged to a sailing ship from the 18th or 19th century.

“You can definitely tell that it’s quite old, but other than that, there’s not any sort of identification or markings on it. It’s so corroded, there’s no way to see anything that would have been on it,” Logan Aiken said.

Invasive fish that took over lakes now threatens the rest of Maine

Long Pond, located in Belgrade and Mount Vernon, was once a salmon angler’s dream.

During the 1970s, the state managed Long Pond to focus on its salmon fishery, and it was common to land 5-pound salmon there. “If you lived in the Augusta area, you didn’t have to go all the way to Rangeley to go catch a nice salmon,” said Jason Seiders, a state fisheries biologist.

But the salmon are now long gone. Their numbers have plummeted in the Belgrade Lakes over the past 40 years thanks to the illegal introduction of invasive species, especially one apex predator that can reach 50 inches and 30 pounds: the northern pike. And the trend is spreading across Maine.

This Maine cabin is right out of medieval England

“It’s the coolest property I’ve ever listed,” said Lliam Perkins of a 900-square-foot cabin in rural Piscataquis County. Listed for just under $140,000, the property is on 18 acres of woodland with 550 feet of waterfront access to Kingsbury Stream, but it has no electrical wiring, running water or heating system.

However, its cordwood and mortar construction makes it look like a stone castle, and Perkins received dozens of calls about it in the first two days it was on the market in October.

“It evokes a feeling of a medieval house from, you know, 1400s England that you don’t see in typical American construction,” said Perkins, an associate broker with Realty of Maine. “It’s different. It’s not like anything else.”

Taylor Swift landed at Bangor International Airport

Yes, that’s Taylor Swift. Swift’s private jet arrived at Bangor International Airport around 11 p.m. on Dec. 1 en route from London and to Kansas City, Missouri.

It’s not unusual for private or chartered jets to land in Bangor, first airport customs post on the East Coast, to clear customs or refuel when flying from Europe to cities farther west in the U.S. Swift was in Bangor for about an hour, less time than it would take to listen to her latest rerecorded album, “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” in its entirety. 

What Irving Oil’s potential sale means for Maine

An announcement from Irving Oil, the Canadian company that supplies about two-thirds of Maine’s gas, diesel and heating oil, in October that it was undertaking a strategic review that could lead to a full or partial sale surprised the industry. The potential sale, which has not yet happened, would cast a broad impact across Maine.

The disclosure from the privately held refinery giant, which opened its first Maine gas station in Bangor in 1972 and has about 150 throughout the state, prompted industry watchers to speculate about the timing and reasons behind sharing its plans.

Analyst Dan McTeague said he feared Irving was signaling deeper problems, such as government policies to move from fossil fuels to net-zero technologies including electric vehicles. In Maine, the natural gas and oil industry supports 37,530 jobs and contributes $4.4 billion to the state’s economy.

Botched fireworks display mars Bangor’s Fourth of July celebration

You had to be there to see it — or not see it, which was the case for many spectators gathered at the Maine Savings Amphitheater and along the Bangor Waterfront for the annual Fourth of July fireworks

Organizers promised that would be the “best view” in Bangor for the annual display. But when the fireworks were set off, people there could only see the very tops of the explosions. The amphitheater walls and stage blocked the view of much of the show.

“We noticed a few shells going off at the start that were some distance away, but just thought those were amateurs. After a few minutes we discovered they were in fact the Bangor fireworks,” said one resident who was on the waterfront. “Many people were upset and either left or attempted to find a better viewing location.”

The Bangor Fourth of July committee, which puts on the parade, pancake breakfast, concert and fireworks, issued a statement apologizing for the obstructed views saying organizers were forced to relocate the fireworks to Bass Park. In prior years, the fireworks have been set off from either the shore on the waterfront or from a barge in the Penobscot River.

Maine town bans campgrounds to block plan for homeless commune

Bradford residents voted in October to temporarily halt development of a wide array of houses and shelters after learning about a Bangor man’s plans to house homeless people in a rural commune there.

Michael Tuller, president of nonprofits Bangor Friends of Affordable Housing and Bangor Friends of People in Need, bought 35 acres in Bradford and intended to develop it into a safe community for people who don’t have homes. His specific plans were unclear because he never submitted a building proposal to the town, but he was attempting to tackle the pervasive homelessness crisis and housing shortage in the Bangor region.

Maine police officer who shot 2 people has a history of not following the rules

Dixfield Police Officer Dustin Broughton was driving his patrol car through the Oxford County town on March 19, 2019, when he decided to veer off his route and patrol neighboring Mexico town without permission. That decision, which violated the officer’s obligation to his town, led him to lose his job in Dixfield.

Despite knowing about his misbehavior, the town Mexico then hired him. 

The details about Broughton’s misconduct reported by the BDN in February came from previously undisclosed public records filed with the Maine Human Rights Commission. Broughton later drew scrutiny for a different reason: shooting two people in a span of 12 months.

In October 2021 in Dixfield, he shot Matthew Marston, who later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the chief medical examiner. About a year later, in October 2022, Broughton shot Daniel Tibbetts in Mexico. Tibbetts survived the encounter.

I thought I’d hooked a prize brookie. Here’s what I caught instead.

Outdoors contributor Chris Sargent was ice fishing last January when he caught a fish on one of his traps. When he caught his first glimpse of the fish as it passed by the hole in the ice, he saw beautiful snow-white leading edges on orange fins and a dark-colored back that led him to believe he’d hooked a beautiful, trophy-worthy brook trout.

“In the excitement, I was convinced I had finally caught a brookie that would marry a moose antler and live for eternity on the wall of our log home,” Sargent wrote. “But something wasn’t right.”