Instead, some counties have taken it upon themselves to develop electronic monitoring programs, scattering the effort and creating different approaches across the state. In addition, jail populations have remained stubbornly high, not because of an increase in sentenced prisoners but because of an increase in prisoners unable to bail out before their trial. Read More
The contracts that would govern power sold over the completed transmission line “undermine the original intent and purpose” of the project to bring new amounts of clean, renewable power into New England, the Massachusetts attorney general and environmental groups said. Hydro-Quebec, which would sell electricity over the line, called the idea “illogical.” Read More
Research shows that requiring cash to bail out of jail is no more effective than just releasing people with no financial requirement, and it fundamentally disadvantages those of lesser means. Meanwhile, the number of people unable to bail out has reached unprecedented heights in Maine. Read More
That finding could influence discussions about the prospects of youth in Maine, which has seen its number of working-age people steadily decline. Read More
The growth of Maine's jail population has been driven not by an increase in people serving sentences for crimes but an increase in the number of prisoners like this woman who are being held prior to their conviction. Read More
Chipping away at the stigma that blocks too many people addicted to drugs and their loved ones from seeking recovery options emerged as the priority Wednesday in a gathering that included three candidates for governor. Read More
This is an email that was sent to faculty at Thomas College in response to the Bangor Daily News' reporting about the school’s handling of several sexual misconduct cases. Read More
“It all goes back to the social determinants of health, which is really where the prevention work will happen. If you don’t address trauma and health and housing and all of those things, we’re going to continue to be where we are or worse in the years to come,” said Patty Hamilton, director of Bangor's public health department. Read More
Central Maine Power ranked dead last among 85 utilities for business customer satisfaction last year, at the same time that its net income increased 88 percent over 2007 levels. The Bangor Daily News reviewed hundreds of pages of documents, and interviewed current and former employees, regulators and customers to understand the specific decisions that led the company to this point. Read More
One student secretly recorded her conversation with an administrator who shared various avenues for dealing with the case in such confusing terms — even describing the process as “vague” and “gray” — that the student said she felt like she was “being thrown in circles.” Read More
Four current female students described experiencing unwanted sexual contact and were surprised when administrators didn’t take initiative to investigate their complaints, instead leaving it up to the women to decide how to proceed. Read More
CBS News has produced an online documentary about sex education and consent that features the University of Maine at Farmington’s ongoing conversation about sexual assault. Read More
Acadia has assured its patients that its error was an isolated mistake. But such blunders are more common in the health care industry than people may think. Read More
The blunder reflects the ongoing vulnerability of sensitive patient information in a digital age, even with rules in place to secure its privacy. It could lead to an audit of the hospital’s privacy and security protocols, and expose it to lawsuits from affected patients. Read More
A BDN investigation shows all the billing issues still plaguing Maine’s largest electric utility and that the company tried to have customer complaint cases closed before they were actually resolved. Read More
Soon people with an addiction to opioids will be able to walk into a health care clinic in Bangor and receive medication that day to help them in their treatment and recovery process. Read More
In addition the group didn’t tell the IRS what it was doing, prompting a former IRS official to say it was “weird in the sense that it’s not the way a well-run or even a poorly run tax-exempt organization operates.” Read More
