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
August 20, 2021

Truck driver arrested following crash that closed Interstate 95 in Augusta

The driver of a tractor-trailer that rolled over on Interstate 95, shortly before 8 a.m. Friday in Augusta, has been charged with operating under the influence of drugs and drug possession.
Published
August 19, 2021

Kennebec County launches grant program with COVID relief funds

Under the American Rescue Plan Act, Kennebec County will get $23.7 million to help recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Published
August 18, 2021

Gardiner to celebrate longtime owner of Harvey’s Hardware

Bill Harvey is being celebrated for his decades of contributions to the Gardiner community as the owner of Harvey’s Hardware, his efforts in sustaining Gardiner’s downtown and his civic activities.
Published
August 16, 2021

Health care workers protest vaccine mandate in Augusta

Nearly 400 people, many in scrubs, lined both sides of State Street in front of the Maine State House to protest the requirement to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1 or have a medical exemption.
Published
August 16, 2021

Second man indicted in Waterville drive-by shooting pleads guilty

Jeremiah D. Gamblin pleads guilty Monday to elevated aggravated assault in the shooting of a Waterville girl in February 2020.
Published
August 13, 2021

Hot, humid weather in central Maine ripens fruit and brings cries for relief

This week’s hot, humid weather sent people across central Maine looking for relief, and people in the Richmond area looking for ripe peaches at Pleasant Pond Orchard, where owner Shane Patrick advises people to stop by early in the day.
Published
August 9, 2021

Central Maine communities wrestle with adopting remote meetings policies

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Maine didn’t allow virtual public meetings or remote participation for local governments, but after a newly passed state law, municipalities and counties are deciding whether and how to allow remote participation.
Published
August 6, 2021

Johnson Hall continues fundraising ahead of expected 2022 construction start

Anonymous donors have pledged to match ticket sales at a special performance of the The Maine Dead Project on Sept. 11, as a fund request under federal Community Project Funding program advances.
Published
August 5, 2021

Gardiner City Council chooses Rusty Greenleaf to fill council vacancy

Under the Gardiner City Charter, the City Council fills a council vacancy until the next election, when city residents choose who will fill out the remaining year of the two-year council term.
Published
August 2, 2021

Gardiner’s downtown master plan taking shape with residents’ input

In mid-July dozens of city residents who took part in the Heart of Gardiner workshop, part of the city’s process in drafting a master plan to guide decision making in the city’s downtown for the next decade.