Blown transformers and $10,000 power bills can make cannabis grow houses easy for utility companies to identify, but Maine utilities question if flagging what might be illegal activity is their responsibility.
Dylan Tusinski
Staff Writer
Dylan Tusinski is an investigative reporter with the Maine Trust for Local News' quick strike team, where his stories largely focus on money, drugs and government accountability. He has written about international drug trafficking rings, Maine's housing crisis, political polarization and much more. He previously worked for the Morning Sentinel in Waterville from 2023 to 2025. When he's not on the clock, Dylan can often be found at the nearest Grateful Dead cover band show or minor league hockey game.
Posted inCops & Courts, Local & State, News
Woman sentenced to 9 months in prison for embezzling $800,000 from Waterville lawyer
Sarah Nale, 39, of Winslow stole more than $800,000 over 20 years from the Waterville lawyer for whom she worked, officials said.
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Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Central Maine councilor-elect threatens resident with legal action over social media post
Doris Labranche, who won election to Winslow’s Town Council in the past week, said screenshots of her posting anti-transgender rhetoric were ‘taken out of context’ and threatened a resident with a cease and desist order for posting them online.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Norridgewock woman searches for ‘guardian angel’ who pulled her husband from wreck
Jessy Forney veered off the road and hit a tree that crushed half of his SUV. He suffered serious injuries in the crash but is expected to make a full recovery after being pulled from the wreck by an anonymous good Samaritan.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Winslow considers demolishing former junior high, but environmental cleanup must come first
The town will soon begin accepting bids to demolish the nearly 100-year-old schoolhouse, but hundreds of thousands of dollars must first be spent to remove oil and asbestos from the building.
Posted inCops & Courts, Local & State, News
Toxic cannabis is being shopped to Maine dispensaries, with little to stop it
Toxic pesticides were found in cannabis grown at licensed grow houses and offered to medical dispensaries. Under current regulations, no one can stop it from hitting the shelves but the budtender behind the counter.
Posted inCops & Courts, Local & State, News
‘Gray market weed’: Illegal grow house operators and their tainted product take refuge in Maine’s legal market
With a little paperwork and scant oversight, investigators say illegal grow houses tied to Chinese organized crime are increasingly shifting to the medical market, avoiding oversight in the process.
Posted inCops & Courts, Local & State, News
Update: Several people, including juveniles, arrested by U.S. Marshals on gun charges in Skowhegan
Two juveniles and one 18-year-old were arrested in connection to violent weapons offenses out of Massachusetts, officials said.
Posted inLocal & State, News
‘This will help a little bit’: Couple provide Sidney farmland for solar array to fight climate change
Carl and Janet Quirion allowed their land to be used for a new solar array in Sidney that is expected to produce enough electricity to power about 500 homes.
Posted inCops & Courts, Local & State, News
Clinton man charged with murder in Waterville shooting
Authorities investigated a shooting on Highwood Street that prompted school officials in Waterville, Oakland and Fairfield to take lockout precautions Tuesday morning. On a video from a nearby porch camera, below, what appears to be gunshots can be heard.