AUGUSTA — The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation providing nearly $2.5 million in new funding to the state’s county jails. The bill, LD 1614, was amended to cover the costs using part of an anticipated increase in federal Medicaid matching funds the state expects to receive for 2016. It does not, however, offer a […]
Maine
Posted inLocal Sports
Have gun, will fix it: Gunsmith Morrison the real McCoy
It is easy to say that someone’s passing marks the end of an era. Truly, though, the passing last month of Bradford gunsmith, Bill Morrison, at age 94, without a doubt marks the closing chapter of his unique breed of craftsman. When it came to guns, repairing them, creating them, and appreciating them, Morrison was, […]
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Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Lewiston-Auburn, Maine
Frank Perham’s many-faceted career is a gem
Frank Perham has closed one door and opened another. “I gave that talk last night and that was the end of one facet of my career,” he said, referring to his presentation at West Paris’ Mann Memorial Library on March 10. Any career that has facets must be a gem, and it’s an apt metaphor […]
Posted inMaine
Lewiston consultant was paid more than $760,000 for failed casino campaign
AUGUSTA — A Lewiston-based political consultant and former state lawmaker was paid more than $760,000 in a recent effort to collect voter signatures for a failed ballot question campaign for a Southern Maine casino. According to records filed with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, Olympic Consulting, headed by Stavros Mendros, a […]
Posted inMaine
Last-minute budget plan panned by legislative Democrats
AUGUSTA — An 11th-hour House Republican supplemental budget, and conditions attached to it, were being rejected by Democrats in the Maine Legislature late Thursday. House Speaker Mark Eves, D-North Berwick, said House Minority Leader Ken Fredette, R-Newport, offered the budget proposal that includes almost all of the items that were in a budget package that […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Maine
Families worried DHHS cuts could leave thousands of Maine autistic children in lurch
AUGUSTA — A legislative committee voted Thursday to move forward with a bill that would seek a moratorium on rule changes that could cut millions of dollars to agencies that provide services to children with autism and their families. The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee voted 6-5 along party lines to block a Maine […]
Posted inMaine
Hayride victim Cassidy Charette’s family disappointed by state report
AUGUSTA — The family of an Oakland teen who died in a hayride accident in 2014 said they were disappointed with the findings of a legislative working group that was set up to examine ways to regulate farm amusement rides. Cassidy Charette, 17, died Oct. 11, 2014, when a trailer she was riding on in a […]
Posted inMaine
State budget bill faces stiff GOP resistance in Maine House
AUGUSTA — Lacking the two-thirds support necessary to overcome a possible Gov. Paul LePage veto, an $11 million supplemental state budget appeared all but dead late Tuesday. The measure, which among other things would boost the pay of state law enforcement officers and workers at two state-run mental health hospitals, gained a strong 30-4 vote in […]
Posted inMaine
Report: Maine has no capacity to regulate hayrides
UPDATE: Hayride victim Cassidy Charette’s family disappointed by state report AUGUSTA — A new report from the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office says there’s little the state can do to improve safety when it comes to farm hayrides in the Pine Tree State. The report from a working group set up in 2015 to review regulations for […]
Posted inMaine
Overhaul of Maine tree growth tax credit chopped down by committee
AUGUSTA — Legislation designed to dramatically overhaul Maine’s tree growth property tax credit program fell largely on deaf ears Monday as lawmakers on the Legislature’s Taxation Committee unanimously rejected the proposal offered by Republican Gov. Paul LePage. Among other provisions in the bill, LD 1632, is one that would have excluded from the program, which […]