NEWSLETTER | Follow Your Bliss – BIDDEFORD GAZETTE

It looks like spring is finally springing here in Biddeford.

Spring is exciting and refreshing, but it also means we have to come out of hibernation and begin some hard tasks, including spring cleaning, yard work and the arduous task of preparing local, county and state budgets for the next fiscal year.

The Gazette is continuing its comprehensive coverage of the annual budget season.

When it comes to the city and local school budget, we have created a special section on our website, where you can find detailed information that allows you to compressively review and even download detailed budget documents.

You can find that special section here | Biddeford Budget FY ‘27

We believe that an informed citizenry is a health citizenry.

The Gazette will also soon publish stories about both the pending York County budget and the state budget. We would like to thank our elected leaders (county commissioners, legislators, city councilors and city officials) for their assistance in helping us share that information with you.

This is not an easy time of year to be a public servant. Economic concerns and tensions make an already difficult and challenging job much harder.

NEW FACES | NEW OPPORTUNITIES

We are especially proud to announce this week that three new people have agreed to serve on the Biddeford Gazette’s Community Advisory Council, including a former Journal Tribune editor, a 19-year-old University of Maine student from Biddeford and a communications professional and former journalist with deep ties to the community.

Look for the formal announcements soon.

LOOKING BACK AND AHEAD

This week, the Gazette was proud to publish the first in a series of stories regarding development and expansion of the University of New England campus in Biddeford. IN-DEPTH | The city, the convent and the university: What happened?

These stories are complex and take lots of time to include a variety of perspectives. This is the kind of reporting we believe is important for the community because too often these policy discussions become mired in misinformation, speculation and innuendo.

We published Part One of that series on Thursday.

We plan to publish Part Two (and perhaps more) in the days ahead.

A COMMUNITY FOCUS

The Gazette was also proud to share some very good news this week, including information about Biddeford students who will be participating in the world finals of the Odyssey of the Mind tournament, a profile of an outstanding BHS student; and a poignant letter to the editor from a local Eagle Scout.

We also published an editorial in support of the McArthur Library’s funding request and reported on the first public hearing on the proposed city budget.

Another public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14.

We also published a story this week about an exciting 40-unit affordable housing project that is currently under construction on the Barra Road in Biddeford. Not to mention our weekly updates to the Community Calendar, our Pet of the Week and our weekly Fun Fact.

A very busy week!

FUN AHEAD | I really hope that we can get our candid and fun interview with City Councilor Brad Cote out the door this week. We will be profiling each member of the Biddeford City Council and assigning each of them a special nickname to join Councilor Jake (Mr. Small Potatoes) Pierson and Councilor Patricia (Batgirl) Boston.