The attempt by an out-of-state dreamer to start a new version of Maine’s once-popular liberal weekly has apparently gone up in smoke.

“This fundraiser is no longer accepting donations,” David Lide announced on his GoFundMe campaign page.

Lide had tried to relaunch the former weekly newspaper by incorporating the venture not in Maine but in tax-friendly Delaware.

He was, by all accounts, doing so to avoid the high-tax rates in the Pine Tree State.

So he was planning to run his Maine newspaper out of Delaware.

What could possibly go wrong?

Though Lide had claimed he expected to raise $100,000 via GoFundMe, he netted a grand total of $50 before pulling the plug on the newspaper’s search for financing.

Two people anonymously contributed $25 each through GoFundMe to try to revive an old Maine-alternative-newspaper name that first began in 1968 in Topsham.

But it wasn’t to be, judging from the utter lack of public interest in Lide’s fantasy.

Nonetheless, he’s a die-hard and is still advertising on JournalismJobs.com for reporters.

The job ad points out that “Maine Times is published by Maine Times, LLC, a Delaware-registered company.”

What a way to inspire converts.

Lide’s website appears to be all but inactive, though full of hope.

“Sign up for our newsletter as we build our website!” it blares. “Journalists apply for jobs by emailing your resume and examples to [email protected].”

The time-honored journalistic editor’s cry of “tear up Page 1” lives on, in more ways than one.

In other related (failing newspaper) developments from the Pine Tree State, the troubled Maine Trust for Local News has issued what it’s calling its first “Impact Report.”

Sorry, but if you need to recap for readers how you’ve allegedly improved their lives since buying a bunch of newspapers in Maine, might be time to find a new CEO.

Oh, wait, that’s right, you just did that. You hired the guy who’s refusing to disclose – even to your own reporters – how much you’re going to be paying him.

Now that’s a cute tidbit you can include in your next “Impact Report,” eh?