Augusta
LePage to Maine mayors: I made tough choices, so can you
AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage on Tuesday dismissed three suggestions by a group representing mayors of 12 Maine cities that they say improve upon his plan to balance the next state budget by suspending municipal revenue sharing for two years. In a letter Tuesday to LePage, the Mayors’ Coalition ...
Public, professors to rub elbows at Augusta summit, discuss role of humanities in Maine
AUGUSTA, Maine — Understanding the ethical implications of science is an art. That’s one of the messages representatives of the University of Maine Humanities Initiative hope to convey during a free summit Friday at the Governor Hill Mansion in Augusta. The goal of the summit is to bring together scholars, ...
Republican lawmaker to propose major amendment to marijuana legalization bill
AUGUSTA, Maine — The face of a bill that would clear the way for legalizing recreational marijuana in Maine could change drastically Tuesday at the hands of a Republican-led amendment at the committee level. Rep. Corey Wilson, R-Augusta, said he will present an amendment to LD 1229, An Act to ...
West Gardiner Firemen’s Association president says fired chief not qualified
WEST GARDINER, Maine — Vicki Dill, who became the town’s first female fire chief in March after agreeing to drop a 2009 sexual discrimination lawsuit against the town, was fired because she was unqualified for the job, a fire official said Tuesday. “There is no way she’s qualified to be ...
House vote sustains LePage veto of rule allowing superintendents to live outside school district
AUGUSTA, Maine — More than 30 legislators in the House of Representatives voted Tuesday against overriding Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill they originally supported. The vote sustains the veto of LD 6, An Act to Prohibit a Requirement That a Superintendent Reside in a School Administrative Unit, which ...
GOP: Flaw in Obamacare language should delay decision on expanding Medicaid
AUGUSTA, Maine — Republicans and Gov. Paul LePage have drawn attention to a drafting error in the federal Affordable Care Act in recent days as they resist attempts by Democratic legislative leaders to tie an expansion of Maine’s Medicaid program to one of LePage ’s top priorities: repayment of the ...
Democrats push bill to stall virtual charter schools in Maine
AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine would impose a moratorium on virtual charter schools and require that all charter schools function as nonprofit organizations if three measures endorsed Monday by the Legislature’s Education Committee become law. The committee voted 8-4 along party lines, with Democrats in the majority, to recommend passage of ...
From the community
New veterans recreation center needs volunteers, donors
Bangor Daily News on May 13, 2013, at 6:03 p.m.
BELGRADE, Maine — Volunteers and donations of materials, time and trade skills are needed to help a National Veterans Recreation Center for severely disabled veterans come to fruition on Salmon Lake at Camp Kennebec in Belgrade. Veteran Travis Mills, an Afghanistan combat quadruple amputee, and his wife Kelsey and family ...
Bill to temporarily ban tar sands oil in Maine turns into plan to study transport across state
AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill that would have set a 2-year moratorium on the transportation of oil sands crude in Maine left the Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Monday as a resolve directing state officials to expand a study already in the works. The committee vote was unanimous. ...
Traffic stops planned on Maine Turnpike due to utility work
HALLOWELL, Maine — Overnight traffic stops on the Maine Turnpike will be conducted late Monday, May 13 into early Tuesday, the Maine Turnpike Authority announced in a press release. The traffic stops of up to 20 minutes will occur in both directions at Mile 108 in Hallowell starting at 10 ...
LePage accuses union of lying, ‘manufacturing a crisis’ over shutdown planning
AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage on Monday said he has no plans to shut down state government and accused Maine’s state employees union of “lying” and “manufacturing a crisis” by claiming state agencies have been instructed to prepare for a shutdown. In a letter LePage sent Monday to the ...
Lawmakers stand squarely behind measure to audit Maine military sex assault laws
AUGUSTA, Maine — Lawmakers showed strong support Monday for a resolve that directs the Maine National Guard to bring the state in line with federal guidelines related to the investigation, prosecution and adjudication of sexual assault in the military. The Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee took the unusual step ...
Calais woman hits turkey, shattering windshield, on I-95 in Sidney
A woman driving a Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck that she just bought hit a wild turkey while driving in the southbound lane of Interstate 95 in Sidney on Saturday. The turkey shattered her windshield, but the driver, Jessica McCook of Calais, was uninjured. McCook was heading to Augusta to meet ...
Maine Air National Guard veteran retires after nearly 30 years of service
AUGUSTA, Maine — Chief Master Sgt. Jerard “Marty” Lurz joined the U.S. Marines in 1984 and has spent the last three decades in uniform, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar and Oman as part of the Maine Air National Guard’s 243rd Engineering Installation Squadron of South Portland. Lurz of Minot, who ...
State may pursue food stamp ban on junk food even if bill dies in Legislature
AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage’s administration can move ahead with its efforts to keep food stamp recipients from using their benefits on soft drinks and junk food even if a bill pending before the Legislature fails. The bill, LD 1411, would require the state Department of Health and Human ...
Legislative oversight panel OKs probe of document shredding allegation
AUGUSTA, Maine — The Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee has approved the scope of an investigation into the Maine Center for Disease Control, including whether CDC workers unfairly distributed program funding or destroyed public documents. The committee also decided to let the federal government finish its investigation into concerns over a ...
Olympia’s List makes its first campaign donation — to Maine Sen. Susan Collins
AUGUSTA, Maine — Former U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, announced on Facebook on Friday her political action committee, Olympia’s List, would be donating to the re-election campaign of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. In the post Snowe writes the contribution is the Olympia’s List’s first “major gift of the 2014 ...
Central Maine Power Co. employees vote to unionize
on May 10, 2013, at 1:35 p.m.
AUGUSTA, Maine — A small group of employees at Central Maine Power Co. recently voted to join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Six fiber microwave technicians at CMP voted in an election administered by the National Labor Relations Board to join IBEW Local 1837, the largest existing bargaining unit ...
Is 2013 the year for tax reform in Maine?
A plan to overhaul Maine’s tax code introduced earlier this month by a bipartisan group of 11 lawmakers relies on the same broad principles that have defined at least five other tax reform attempts in the state: extend the sales tax to more goods and services to fund income and, ...
VIDEO
LePage school grading system could hurt international student recruitment
AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage’s new A-through-F school grading system will likely make it harder for Maine public schools to enroll international students, educational recruiters say. Many Maine schools, especially in the northern part of the state, have been recruiting students from Asia to offset dropping enrollments. “In Asia, ...
Police find remains believed to be Nichole Cable, 15, in Old Town woods
Orono man charged with murder in death of Glenburn teen
LePage hopes to eliminate income tax by end of second term
Family remembers Nichole “CoCo” Cable, warns of social media dangers
Nichole Cable: In our minds, hearts
Obama’s boyfriend line
Ignore LePage politics, get to root of DHHS funding needs
Basketball season never ends for Worcesters of Washburn, a family of 1,000-point scorers
UMaine narrows candidate list, hopes to name men’s hockey coach next week
Eastport teen notches first ‘Bandolero’ racing victory
Former Dexter, Nokomis coach Pratt takes Mount View football post
Fun, informative or just plain strange: 8 museums in Maine worth a road trip
Not even chemotherapy could quell Maine woman’s longing to be in the kitchen
Keyboardist Ray Manzarek of The Doors dies at age 74
Microsoft unveils new Xbox One game console
