AUGUSTA — A legislative working group set up to make recommendations on how Maine should regulate drivers who use marijuana offered a divided report to lawmakers Tuesday. The majority of panel members agreed marijuana should be regulated like alcohol, including a blood-content test that sets limits for impairment, but a minority on the panel disagreed. The […]
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Handgun sales spike in advance of Maine permit change
AUBURN — An upcoming change in Maine law that allows adults to carry a concealed handgun without a permit is triggering a spike in gun sales at some local shops. John Reid, owner of J.T. Reid’s Gun Shop in Auburn, said Tuesday that sales of handguns are up and he’s ordered more firearms to keep […]
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Democrats: 51 more bills become law after Paul LePage fails to act
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Democratic lawmakers said Sunday that another 51 bills have become law after Republican Gov. Paul LePage missed his deadline to act on them. But LePage has said he won’t enforce the laws and is expected to bring the issue to the Maine Supreme Court. He says that because lawmakers adjourned last […]
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Recreational marijuana bills could forestall statewide ballot measures
AUGUSTA — For state Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland, it’s not a matter of if Maine will legalize marijuana for recreational use, but how it will do so. Also now at stake is whether Maine voters will get to weigh in this year or next. Russell and state Rep. Mark Dion, D-Portland, both have bills before […]
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Maine bill would make a pint a pint; Rumford lawmaker wants a full glass
AUGUSTA — Beer drinkers, you know how it goes. You’re looking forward to that tall, cold one after work and what you get instead is an almost full glass or a glass with three inches of foam, instead of beer. But you’re so thirsty you don’t bother to complain. You pay up and drink. But […]
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Officials say recycling laws successful in keeping Maine clean
AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine state officials say recycling laws are helping to keep the environment clean. The Department of Environmental Protection says it presented data Thursday showing millions of pounds of toxic materials in electronics have been kept from entering landfills and other facilities. The DEP said laws enacted in 2008 led to the reduction […]
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Success of Maine lawmakers varies widely for 2013
AUGUSTA — When it comes to making law in Maine, you win some, you lose a lot. Whether minor changes or sweeping reforms, state lawmakers had varying degrees of success in getting the bills they penned passed into law during the first half of 2013. In all, lawmakers and Gov. Paul LePage offered 1,577 bills […]
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There ought to be a law . . . or maybe not
AUGUSTA — If you want to drink a pint of Guinness before 9 a.m. on a Sunday when it’s St. Patrick’s Day in Maine you can now, thanks largely to a good story. One tavern owner — a long-time Republican — suggested the idea to Rep. Barry Hobbins, D-Saco, last winter, and just in the […]
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Ticket-to-work law designed to help welfare recipients get long-term employment
AUGUSTA — A bill meant to more quickly move families from welfare to sustainable long-term employment has become law, the Democratic Speaker of the House Mark Eves said Tuesday. The so-called, “Ticket-to-Work” law provides resources and assessment for those receiving state and federal financial aid and looks to determine what specific training or educational programs […]