The Legislature is sending a bill to launch the adult-use marijuana market to Gov. Paul LePage Tuesday. LePage now has 10 days to take action on the bill – sign it, allow it to go into law without his signature, or use his gubernatorial veto to try to kill it, which is what the two-term […]
politics
Posted inNation / World
IRS electronic filing system breaks down on Tax Day
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service’s electronic system that allows Americans to submit their tax returns online has partly failed Tuesday, complicating filing for the millions of taxpayers attempting to meet the midnight deadline. “On my way over here this morning, I was told a number of systems are down at the moment,” IRS Acting […]
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Posted inMaine
Supreme Court strikes down law authorizing deportations for violent crimes
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Tuesday that part of a federal law that makes it easier to deport immigrants who have been convicted of crimes is too vague to be enforced. The court’s 5-4 decision — an unusual alignment in which new Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the four liberal justices — concerns a […]
Posted inMaine
Donny Christen urges marijuana advocates to work to change law
SKOWHEGAN — Fighting off the ravages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Monday, marijuana advocate Donny Christen told an assembly of supporters outside the Somerset County Courthouse to keep up the fight for free access to pot and to work to change the laws in Augusta. “The reason we’re here is the fact the plant’s been […]
Posted inLetters, sj-web
A balanced-budget amendment
On April 7, a Sun Journal front page headline read “ Democrats question balanced-budget bill.” The article noted it was “a move that immediately drew criticism on the campaign trail” of U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, who favored an upcoming vote on a balanced-budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Instead of criticism, Poliquin should be praised […]
Posted inMaine
LePage says he will veto retail pot bill
Gov. Paul LePage plans to veto the recreational marijuana bill once it reaches his desk because it would not combine Maine’s medical and adult-use marijuana programs. The two-term Republican has problems with having two regulatory systems and tax structures for different uses of the same plant, according to his press secretary, Julie Rabinowitz. If the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Supreme Court will not hear Lewiston pastor's lawsuit on abortion protest
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal from a Lewiston pastor who challenged a Maine law’s noise limit that was used to restrict his anti-abortion protest outside Planned Parenthood’s Portland clinic in 2015. The decision by the nation’s highest court not to hear arguments in the case effectively affirms the constitutionality of the noise limit […]
Posted inBusiness, Nation / World
Starbucks and police on the defensive after 2 men were arrested
Starbucks, which has touted its progressive values and its “social impact” agenda, faces fierce criticism and calls for a boycott after two black men were arrested at a Philadelphia store, sparking accusations of racial profiling over what the company’s chief executive called a “reprehensible” incident. In a statement, CEO Kevin Johnson offered “our deepest apologies” […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Democratic challengers together raised more cash than Bruce Poliquin
The four Democrats jostling in a primary for the opportunity to challenge U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in the general election collectively raised 25 percent more campaign cash this year than the Republican incumbent. Filings with the Federal Election Commission Sunday show the four candidates together raised more than $550,000 from January through March, with Lewiston […]
Posted inNation / World
James Comey says Donald Trump is possibly susceptible to Russian blackmail
Former FBI Director James Comey said in his first televised interview since being fired that he believed Donald Trump was “morally unfit to be president” and that it was “possible” that the Russians had material that could be used to blackmail him. In a wide-ranging conversation with George Stephanopoulos broadcast on ABC late Sunday, Comey […]