Rebar Quoted in MPBN, WVII Reports on Bond for Disease, Insect Lab
John Rebar, executive director of the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension, was quoted in reports by the Maine Public Broadcasting Network and WVII (Channel 7) about representatives from the state’s agriculture, dairy and veterinary industries urging Maine voters to support Question 2 on the November ballot. The bond would give $8 million to UMaine Extension to build a new animal and plant disease and insect control laboratory. Rebar said the lab currently is spread across two locations that were built in the 1940s and 1970s. The lab is not bio-secure, meaning it can’t be used to test pests that may have infectious diseases. Rebar also spoke of the economic impacts a new lab would have on the state, such as being able to improve the health of Maine’s moose population.