Jessica Lowell

Kennebec Journal

Jessica Lowell covers business and economic development and general news in the Gardiner area. After short but intense aspirations to be an opera singer (age 4) and a deep-sea diver (age 6) her most enduring passion has been telling stories. A University of Maine graduate, she worked for newspapers in New Hampshire, upstate New York and Wyoming, where she has won awards for investigative and explanatory journalism. She’s a fellow of the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources. After several years out of journalism, she returned to Maine and to writing, where she spends her free time enjoying both trees and the ocean, two commodities that Wyoming lacks.

Latest

Published
July 29, 2023

State ends ferry service between Richmond and Swan Island after more than 6 decades

Visitors are allowed to access the wildlife management area using their own watercrafts, and the state is no longer charging fees to use the island or camp there.
Published
July 27, 2023

More than 2,200 athletes to compete in Ironman half-triathlon as race returns to Augusta area

The event was a boon to the local economy last year, bringing $2.6 million to central Maine hotels, restaurants and other businesses.
Published
July 26, 2023

Dresden man who was fatally shot had sought armed confrontation with police

Frank Foss Jr., 28, had evaded police for nearly three weeks before a Maine State Police detective killed him Sunday in Chelsea.
Published
July 24, 2023

Fireman’s muster helps kick off a longer Richmond Days celebration for the town’s bicentennial year

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of its founding, town officials stretched the traditional celebration to a week, including the fireman’s muster, which showcases the restored hand tubs that were instrumental to fighting fires before steam engines replaced human powered pumpers.
Published
July 23, 2023

Dresden man, subject of Saturday search, shot and killed by police Sunday in Chelsea

Frank Foss Jr. was shot and killed after police say he pointed a gun a member of the Maine State Police Tactical Team that was searching a wooded area in Chelsea Sunday afternoon.
Published
July 22, 2023

Popular Augusta restaurant reopens a day after closure over health, safety violations

The 99 Restaurant on Civic Center Drive reopened Friday after several serious code violations and health hazards were identified by the Augusta Fire Department and Code Enforcement Bureau.
Published
July 20, 2023

Bonds forged at Gardiner High School keep unusual class connected 70 years later

Members of the class of 1953 credit their original class president, the late Jimmy Ronco, for keeping them in touch long before social media.
Published
July 19, 2023

Police: Man who caused Hallowell standoff threatened to start fire at apartment building

A neighbor said the 49-year-old man, who took his life after the hourslong standoff at 61 Water St., was a military veteran.
Published
July 18, 2023

Hallowell standoff ends when man takes his own life

Police from Hallowell, the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office, Capitol Police and the Maine State Police responded Tuesday to an armed standoff on Water Street; it ended when the man took his own life.
Published
July 5, 2023

The Christmas Tree Shops closure news leaves customers disappointed

The Massachusetts-based discount home goods store announced last week it would shutter its operations, after initially planning to reorganize the company, and its closure in Augusta will open up more space for leasing at the Turnpike Mall on Western Avenue.