Fridays with Fossel

The weekly update for Friday, August 22, 2025

Welcome to this week’s recap, everyone - for Friday, August 22, 2025.

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🗳 Maine News & Politics🗳

Susan Collins has another potential opponent you’ve never heard of, a Bernie bro who’s an Afghanistan and Iraq veteran - and oyster farmer - named Graham Platner. Thank you for your service, Graham, but you really should’ve run for something else first. There are plenty of other Democrats already running against Collins, also for the most part people nobody has ever heard of. Despite liberal wishcasting, no real candidate has yet emerged. Surprise, surprise.

In other head-scratching news, Nirav Shah, the former head of the Maine CDC during the COVID pandemic, is thinking of running for governor. He’s not from Maine, he’s never held elected office before, but he’s thinking of running for governor, for some reason. Based on the social media reactions I’ve seen, even Democrats who admired his performance during the pandemic don’t seem particularly thrilled with the idea. It’s particularly curious because Mills has an obvious chosen successor, former Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree, but hey - you do you, buddy. Good luck with that one.

There was a shooting in Windham, and the Maine State Police sent out a statewide alert by accident two hours later. The Maine State Police won’t say who was responsible for the false alert, or why it was so late. Great job, guys. This is right in line with their response to the shooting at Schemengees Bar and Grille in Lewiston two years ago. I’m still annoyed that we never got a true bipartisan investigation - or much of an explanation - for that incident and the response, by the way. We generally have good, heroic police in this state, but we need to do more to hold them accountable - and improve the bureaucracy overseeing them.

The mid-decade redistricting plan by Texas Republicans has been getting a great deal of national attention. It’s also prompted a flurry of planning in Democrat-held states, most prominently California, to at least consider following suit to try and offset those gains. California has proposed a map that would negate Texas’ new map nationally, but it must be approved. Maine will not be drawn into that morass, however. We only have two congressional districts, both of which are already held by Democrats, so there’s any gains to be made. Sure, Democrats could buttress the Second District to help incumbent Jared Golden, but he probably doesn’t need the help. Moreover, Maine needs two-thirds approval of the Legislature for new maps, and unlike with the budget, there’s no sneaky way for Democrats to gimmick their way around that. In order to change the process, they’d have to amend the state constitution, which also requires approval by two-thirds of the Legislature and a majority of the voters. So, it’s not going to happen.

The City of Portland may have signed a contract with the US Department of Transportation that requires them to cooperate with ICE to enforce immigration laws in order to receive federal funds. Or, maybe, if you believe Mayor Mark Dion, it doesn’t actually require that, because a federal judge has put that clause on hold - but that’s only temporary. Either way, the whole situation is a mess, and Portlanders were rightfully pissed.

🏀 Sports 🏀

The Boston Red Sox are back to muddling along, going 4-6 in their last ten and back to 5.0 games behind in the A.L. East, barely clinging on to a Wild Card spot. This weekend they play the New York Yankees in a four-game series in Yankee Stadium, which will be crucial; fortunately they started it off with a wild win. Indeed, these will be the first important Red Sox-Yankees regular-season games in years. This weekend will determine their fate.

The New England Patriots have made a number of roster moves as the regular season approaches, but none have been particularly notable. That will really come over the weekend, as the deadline for teams to submit their 53-man roster to the NFL is next Tuesday, August 26. The Patriots played the New York Giants last night, handily defeating them in their final preseason game.

🍺 What I’m drinking 🍺

The Substance (6.6%), Bissell Brothers’ flagship IPA, is one of the beers that helped launch the New England hazy IPA as a category and defined the second wave of the Maine craft brewing revolution. I remember lining up for cans at Bissell’s original Industrial Way location. Now, you can grab a four-pack at your friendly neighborhood Hannaford. It’s a dank, citrusy IPA with a flavor profile that holds up today, still sitting proudly as one of the hallmarks of the IPA scene.

🎵What I’m listening to 🎵

Barenaked Ladies, a favorite of mine in high school and a band I still enjoy today, released an acoustic version of their most recent album, 2023’s In Flight. If you haven’t listened to that one yet, you should go check it out as well. You may not have thought about them for a while, but they’re still around, touring, and releasing new albums.

Jim is also a weekly columnist for the Portland Press Herald, Maine’s largest daily newspaper. Follow him on X, BlueSky, and on Facebook.