AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The furious debate over vaccine exemptions that has divided parents and lawmakers across the country will rear its head in Maine this week, when the Legislature begins to consider proposals designed to make it harder for people to forgo inoculating their children. The measures face fierce criticism from those who are […]
Maine
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Free-range chickens luring predators to town, warden says
BELFAST, Maine — Foxes and other varmints have developed a taste for free-ranging backyard chickens, and that means trouble in Maine neighborhoods, according to Chris Dyer of the Maine Warden Service. “People need to know, when they let chickens out, they’re attracting predators to their home or field,” he said recently. “Foxes, fishers, bobcats — […]
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Pingree: Let consumers buy Canadian prescription drugs
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree has introduced a bill that would let Americans buy prescription drugs from Canada. The Democrat from Maine’s 1st Congressional District said that “it’s time the federal government got out of the way” and let consumers buy the lower-priced drugs. Her bill would allow residents to buy prescription […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Nichole Cable’s killer to serve 60 years for murder, kidnapping
BANGOR, Maine — Nichole Cable’s mother is still waiting for her daughter’s killer “to man up” and admit that he strangled the 15-year-old girl two years ago. “I need him to tell me and own up to what he did,” Kristine Wiley said on Friday outside the Penobscot Judicial Center after Kyle Dube was sentenced […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Obama to nominate Lewiston native to lead Highway Administration
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — President Obama plans to nominate Lewiston native Greg Nadeau to lead the Federal Highway Administration. Nadeau is currently deputy administrator of the agency. In Maine, he served as the state Department of Transportation’s deputy commissioner for policy, planning and communication under the Gov. John Baldacci’s administration. He also was the senior […]
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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 inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Poliquin says federal government should reform welfare programs
LEWISTON — U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin is backing legislation that would give states more latitude to make their own rules for welfare programs that are fueled by federal taxes. Poliquin, a Republican who represents Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, touched on a range of subjects during a short interview with the Sun Journal on Thursday prior […]
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Labor Committee rejects Maine right-to-work bill
AUGUSTA — The latest effort to make Maine a right-to-work state stumbled Wednesday, when lawmakers on the Legislature’s Labor Committee narrowly rejected a bill that would have allowed employees who benefit from collective bargaining to opt out of paying unions for those services. The committee voted 7-6 to recommend the full Legislature kill the bill. […]
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Bill aims to increase teacher pay and expectations
AUGUSTA — Lawmakers are weighing a bill that would raise the minimum teacher salary by $10,000 per year and would require teachers employed by public schools to obtain a master’s degree. LD 1370, An Act to Improve the Quality of Teachers, proposed by Sen. Rebecca Millett, D-Cumberland, went up for public hearing Wednesday during a […]
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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.” […]