AUGUSTA — Republicans on the Legislature’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee on Thursday defended a controversial no-bid, $1 million contract with a Rhode Island company to study and issue an analysis of Maine’s welfare programs. The contract, issued to the Alexander Group, the group’s CEO, Gary Alexander, and Republican Gov. Paul LePage have come under withering criticism […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Auburn lawmaker draws fire for comments about truck drivers
The Maine Republican Party on Wednesday released an email in which State Rep. Brian Bolduc, D-Auburn, railed against noisy trucks and questioned the intelligence of truck drivers. “… one look at them and you can see they probably dont (sic) have a whole hell of allot (sic) of brains in their heads,” Bolduc wrote in […]
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Posted inMaine
Advocates say Riverview fix not working
AUGUSTA — A former chief justice for Maine’s high court told lawmakers Tuesday a bill they passed to resolve safety and funding problems at the state-run Riverview Psychiatric Center did not work. The bill, LD 1515, passed during an emergency session in August and signed by Republican Gov. Paul LePage, expanded the capacity of a […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Plans for new Maine National Guard HQ hit a snag
AUGUSTA — Plans for a new Maine Army National Guard headquarters building are on hold because the state does not own the property that officials plan to use to gain access to the site. The Maine Army National Guard proposed to build a 100,000-square-foot headquarters between Civic Center Drive and Maine Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in […]
Posted inMaine
Maine health committee reviews $1 million no-bid contract
AUGUSTA — Lawmakers on the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday reviewed a $925,000 contract awarded to a Rhode Island-based consulting firm to study the state’s welfare system. The no-bid contract, awarded to the Alexander Group by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, has come under fire by Democratic leaders in […]
Posted inMaine
Lawmakers to review Maine Medicaid study contract
AUGUSTA — The Auditor General for the State of Pennsylvania said Monday that he has his doubts about how well the Maine Department of Health and Human Services vetted a company that it awarded a nearly $1 million no-bid contract to in September. Meanwhile, two committees of the Maine Legislature are expected to discuss the […]
Posted inBethel, Franklin, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, Oxford Hills, River Valley, The Franklin Journal
Animal tales: A home for backyard chickens
AUGUSTA — Bill Carey and Karen Barker rescue unloved chickens. Most were backyard egg layers — until those eggs stopped coming. Some were headed for the dinner table. At Barker and Carey’s house, no one is dinner. “These birds all think I’m Daddy,” Carey said. “When I walk out I just yell to them; I […]
Posted inMaine
Ethics panel tables case
AUGUSTA — Two Lewiston men who helped organize a statewide campaign aimed at bringing a casino to that city’s downtown endured a barrage of questions Thursday before the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. The commission tabled action on the case because it did not hear from all of the witnesses it had […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Dad of son, 4, who brought loaded gun to day care pleads guilty
AUGUSTA (AP) — The father of a 4-year-old boy who brought a loaded gun to day care has pleaded guilty to reckless conduct. Adam Keene of Madison said Tuesday he’s grateful nobody was harmed when his son brought the gun to Rollins Family Child Care Center in Hallowell in April. Day care workers found the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Organizer of Augusta pharmacy robbery sentenced to nearly 4 years
BANGOR (AP) — An Augusta woman described by authorities as the driving force behind a pharmacy robbery in the city has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison. Stephanie McCormick was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Bangor to three years and 10 months behind bars and three years of probation. She was fined […]