AUGUSTA — Officials at the Maine Department of Corrections say they want to change the rules for attempted prison breaks at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. Unlike guards at the Maine State Prison in Warren, guards at the Windham facility are not allowed to shoot to kill if a prisoner makes a break for […]
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Bill to arm Maine forest rangers moves towards House vote
AUGUSTA — An issue that’s ricocheted around the State House for nearly two years appears to be on its way to a vote before the Legislature soon. On Thursday, members on the Legislature’s Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee agreed Maine Forest Service rangers should be allowed to carry firearms — much like other law enforcement […]
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Maine pays lawyers $300 to $333 per hour to defend CDC officials in whistle-blower case
AUGUSTA — The private attorneys hired by the state to defend the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention from a federal whistleblower lawsuit filed by a former employee are being paid $300 per hour. Maine Attorney General Janet Mills has authorized the state’s Department of Health and Human Services to spend up to $50,000 […]
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Advocates push bill to restore solar rebates for Maine
AUGUSTA — Solar energy advocates, state lawmakers and companies that install solar-energy systems said Tuesday that Maine should catch up with the rest of New England. The group, including the Natural Resources Council of Maine, touted a bill that restores a $2,000 rebate for those who install solar-energy systems. But state Rep. Sara Gideon, D-Freeport, […]
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Maine DHHS seeks to steer conversation away from $1 million welfare report
AUGUSTA — Officials within the Maine Department of Health and Human Services appear to be working behind the scenes to change the public and political discussion about an expansion of Medicaid. Email messages, published by the Portland Press Herald, after they were inadvertently sent to the newspaper, suggest DHHS officials may be trying to downplay the […]
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Committee postpones meeting on CDC review because of weather
AUGUSTA — The Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee postponed its Friday meeting because of the snowstorm that started Thursday morning. The committee will meet at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 21, to continue its review of the Report on Healthy Maine Partnerships’ FY13 contracts and funding. It is scheduled to meet again on Friday, Feb. 28. Both […]
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Maine panel OKs ban on virtual charter schools
AUGUSTA (AP) — A Maine legislative committee has approved a bill that would ban virtual charter schools while the state works on offering online learning resources to all students by the fall. The Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee approved the amended bill Wednesday. The Portland Press Herald reports that under the legislation a stakeholders […]
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Jails ask Legislature for bailout
AUGUSTA — Officials from Maine’s jail system asked legislators Wednesday for a $2.5 million bailout, saying the money would help jails make it to the end of June. But more will be needed next year, they said. This year’s flat-funded budgets weren’t enough to operate the system’s 15 jails, Mark Westrum, chairman of the State […]
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Corrections chief calls for state takeover of county jails
AUGUSTA — The state corrections commissioner is calling for a state takeover of Maine’s 15 county jails, saying the system is “on the verge of collapsing.” In a three-page letter distributed Wednesday to the Legislature’s Criminal Justice Committee, Corrections Commissioner Joseph Ponte said the state corrections system is “well-positioned to take over the jail operations […]
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Lawyers ask state committee to suspend CDC shredding investigation
AUGUSTA — Lawmakers on the Government Oversight Committee on Tuesday were asked to suspend their investigation into the destruction of public documents by officials at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention in June 2013. The request came via a letter from private lawyers hired by the state to defend the Department of Health […]