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Maine AG wants Obama to reverse contraception policy; women’s groups cry foul
AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine’s attorney general has joined several other state attorneys general in signing a letter recently that asks President Barack Obama to reverse his administration’s stance on requiring health insurance companies to provide contraception coverage. “A recently proposed federal mandate requiring religious employers that provide health insurance coverage ...
Snowe primary challenger unenrolls from Maine GOP after caucus
AUGUSTA, Maine — A primary challenger to U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe and a self-proclaimed tea partier has unenrolled from the Republican party in the wake of the state GOP’s recent caucuses. Andrew Ian Dodge of Harpswell announced on Tuesday that he was severing ties with his party but said he ...
Head of Maine National Guard stepping down
AUGUSTA, Maine — Maj. Gen. John W. “Bill” Libby, head of the Maine National Guard since 2003 and commissioner of the state Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management, is stepping down. Libby, 67, informed Gov. Paul LePage this week that he would retire effective March 16. No reason was ...
Bill would clarify rules on double dipping by state workers
The Associated Press on Feb. 22, 2012, at 9:35 a.m.
AUGUSTA, Maine — A Maine state senator has proposed changing the rules that restrict educators and other state workers from collecting retirement benefits at the same time they are getting a full paycheck. Cape Neddick Democrat Dawn Hill says a money-saving law passed last year restricting so-called “double dipping” missed ...
POLL QUESTION
Is the Pine Tree zone tax break corporate welfare?
By John Christie and Naomi Schalit, senior reporters, Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting on Feb. 22, 2012, at 5:09 a.m.
Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series examining the state’s 8-year-old Pine Tree Development Zone program. Some people call tax breaks for businesses “economic development.” Others call them “corporate welfare.” In Maine, one of the names they go by is Pine Tree Development Zones. The premise of ...
Head of Portland Catholic Diocese thanks Maine lawmakers for service
AUGUSTA, Maine — Bishop Richard J. Malone, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, thanked lawmakers Tuesday for their service at an annual reception held in their honor. Malone also explained why the church takes positions and lobbies on political issues, but he did not urge legislators to support ...
Hours of testimony heard over bill that would allow property owners to sue if regulation cuts value of property
AUGUSTA, Maine — It seemed as if decades of simmering frustrations over Maine’s private property rights and environmental regulations came to a boil Tuesday afternoon during a public hearing on a controversial takings bill at the State House. Lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee heard hours of passionate testimony both in ...
Cianbro has 150 job openings
PITTSFIELD, Maine — Cianbro Corp. is looking to hire 150 Maine construction workers. Cianbro President Andi Vigue said the company had a backlog of projects and needs workers to help fill job openings. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to employ our fellow citizens,” said Vigue. “We’re bullish on hiring Maine ...
Maine bill removes union rights for egg workers
The Associated Press on Feb. 21, 2012, at 4:41 p.m.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine’s House of Representatives has passed a bill that eliminates the right of workers at the former DeCoster egg farms to unionize. The bill passed 73-69 along party lines Tuesday, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. It still faces more votes in the House and Senate. ...
Rosa Scarcelli suing stepfather for not firing her mother
PORTLAND, Maine — Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Portland businesswoman Rosa Scarcelli is suing her stepfather and his company, in part because he refused to fire Scarcelli’s mother. In her complaint, Scarcelli argues her mother — the defendant’s wife — should have been dispatched over her mismanagement of low-income housing ...
POLL QUESTION
Gambling board approves Maine’s first casino: Hollywood Slots becomes Hollywood Casino Bangor
AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Gambling Control Board on Tuesday unanimously approved the state’s first full-fledged casino in Bangor. The board approved both a gaming license for Hollywood Slots Hotel and Raceway and a name change for what will now be known as Hollywood Casino Bangor. “Our official opening date ...
Maine heating oil prices up for 5th straight week
The Associated Press on Feb. 21, 2012, at 2:08 p.m.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Heating oil prices went up 2 cents a gallon on average in Maine last week, the fifth week in a row that prices have gone up. Maine’s energy office said Tuesday that the average statewide price of No. 2 oil was $3.79 a gallon. Northern Maine had ...
Gov. LePage marks domestic violence awareness day, previews legislation
AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage, flanked by advocates from across the state, marked Tuesday as the second annual Domestic Violence Awareness Day in Maine — one day before he was expected to unveil legislation aimed at strengthening state laws. The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence welcomed to the ...
Maple syrup producers concerned about mild winter
By Holly Ramer, The Associated Press on Feb. 21, 2012, at 11:51 a.m.
TEMPLE, N.H. — A mild winter across the Northeast is injecting extra uncertainty into maple syrup season, but many producers say they’ll just go with the flow, whenever it starts. Temperatures have been up and snowfall totals have been down throughout the region this winter, raising some concern for the ...
USDA honors Washington County’s Whitney for wreath business venture
WHITNEYVILLE, Maine — David Whitney has come a long way from a wrestling match with an older cousin at a family Thanksgiving Day gathering when he was only 8 years old. “He clamped his hand over my face, and I wondered what that smell was,” Whitney recalls. “It was balsam, ...
Bill would exempt first responders, such as police, from Maine’s texting-while-driving ban
The Associated Press on Feb. 21, 2012, at 9:55 a.m.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine lawmakers are considering a bill that would exempt police, emergency medical personnel and firefighters from the state’s ban on texting while driving. The Legislature’s Transportation Committee is holding a public hearing Tuesday on the proposal. Maine’s ban on texting while driving went into effect in September. ...
Hollywood Slots to get Maine’s 1st casino license Tuesday
The Associated Press on Feb. 21, 2012, at 5:22 a.m.
AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine officials are poised to issue the state’s first casino license. The Gambling Control Board is slated to issue the license to Hollywood Slots in Bangor when it meets Tuesday in Augusta. Hollywood Slots is now licensed as a slots operator, but it requires a casino license ...
Maine charter school panel seeking public feedback
The Associated Press on Feb. 21, 2012, at 5:17 a.m.
AUGUSTA, Maine — The newly formed Maine State Charter School Commission is taking to the road to hear the public’s ideas on what they want to see in a charter school. The commission can authorize up to 10 public charter schools during the first decade of Maine’s charter school law, ...
Bill would allow Maine property owners to sue if regulation cuts value of property
AUGUSTA, Maine — Should Maine give landowners more recourse when state regulations affect what they can do with their property? Lawmakers expect many people to testify Tuesday at the State House in Augusta during a public hearing on LD 1810, “An Act To Implement Recommendations of the Committee To Review ...
Lawmaker seeks no time limit on sex crime lawsuits against perpetrators who are authority figures
AUGUSTA, Maine — Prosecutors would have longer to bring criminal charges and all victims of sexual assaults would have no time limit on bringing lawsuits if the perpetrator was a person in authority over the victim, under a measure before lawmakers. “It does limit it to people who have committed ...
Rosa Scarcelli suing stepfather for not firing her mother
Man shot in Hermon home invasion arrested for second time Friday, released Tuesday
Bangor police looking for Florida firefighter
Scarborough boy, 11, rocking open mike nights at Lewiston restaurant
What’s more important — presidential or party preference?
Toilet-papering spree in Bangor neighborhoods a result of high school swimmers’ success
No. 8 Houlton stuns No. 1 Orono, will face Stearns in semifinal
Cianbro has 150 job openings
Gambling board approves Maine’s first casino: Hollywood Slots becomes Hollywood Casino Bangor
Maple syrup producers concerned about mild winter
Maine inspires chefs and foodies nationwide
Photos of Mainers who served in Vietnam War needed for national center
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