AUGUSTA — Republican leaders in the Maine Legislature on Friday made official their proposal for the state’s next two-year budget that includes an income-tax cut they say will save Mainers $380 million. Parts of the proposal, first leaked Thursday, shows a plan that diverges significantly from what Republican Gov. Paul LePage had asked for in his […]
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Posted inFuneral Services, sj-web
Jeanne Starkey
AUGUSTA — Graveside committal prayers honoring the Life of Jeanne Starkey, who died Wednesday, May 6, were held Tuesday, May 12, at the Maine Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery with the Rev. Mark Nolette presiding. Online condolences and sharing of memories may be expressed at www.lynchbrothers.com. Arrangements by Pinette Dillingham & Lynch Funeral Home of Lewiston.
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Lewiston lawmaker wants to limit cash withdrawals of welfare benefits
LEWISTON — A Lewiston Democrat is offering a bill that would limit the amount of cash welfare recipients could withdraw on state-issued electronic benefit transfer cards to 25 percent of their monthly benefit amount. The bill, LD 1097, proposed by state Sen. Nate Libby, also would restrict the use of Maine-issued EBT cards to Maine […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage heads to Washington to testify on federal energy policy
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage is en route to Washington, D.C, where he’ll testify Wednesday before to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on energy and power. The hearing, chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Kentucky, will focus on Republican-backed proposals to expedite the interstate natural gas pipeline permitting process and streamline hydropower licensing and […]
Posted inObituaries, sj-web
Jeffrey F. Wade
1938 – 2015 WEST GARDINER — Jeffrey Fitzherbert Wade passed away peacefully on Monday, May 4, while in the caring hands of the Togus VA Hospice Unit. He was born on Nov. 4, 1938, in Norway, the eldest son of Geneva and Lee Wade. He joined the Air Force in 1958 and spent most of […]
Posted inMaine
Maine bill brings OUI test for marijuana
AUGUSTA — Lawmakers on the Legislature’s Transportation Committee will consider a bill Tuesday that allows police to test drivers for operating under the influence of marijuana or, more precisely, the plant’s active ingredient, THC. The bill calls for a blood-level limit that’s modeled on alcohol blood-level limits now set in Maine law and would allow […]
Posted inMaine
Oversight committee reviews report on workplace culture at Maine DHHS
AUGUSTA — The state’s largest agency may include “unfit” supervisors and the occasional “despicable” boss, but most employees of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services are satisfied with the workplace culture. A recent report issued by the nonpartisan Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability received close scrutiny from the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage moves to cut all funding for defunct Board of Corrections
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage is proposing to slash funding for the mothballed state Board of Corrections in the coming budget — a move that could all but ensure the group’s permanent dissolution. The board has been defunct since 2014, when member departures and LePage’s unwillingness to appoint new members rendered the body incapable of […]
Posted inFranklin, Lewiston-Auburn, Oxford Hills
Teachers from Lewiston, Paris, Wilton named top county teachers
AUGUSTA — The top teacher from each of Maine’s 16 counties was announced Thursday during a Teacher Appreciation Week celebration at the State House. The 2016 Maine Teacher of the Year will be selected this fall from the 16 honorees. The Maine County Teachers of the Year for the tri-county area are: Androscoggin County, Debra […]
Posted inMaine
Maine jail consolidation debate leaves legislative panel shackled in deadlock
AUGUSTA — A forced marriage that didn’t work out. That’s the way one state lawmaker Wednesday described the failed 2007 effort to merge the operations of Maine’s county jails with the state’s prison system. “I feel like we’re a marriage counselor,” said state Rep. Tim Theriault, R-China. “Thank goodness they don’t hate each other yet.” […]