State lawmakers are launching a new effort to overhaul Maine’s recreational pot law in January, hoping to find a political compromise to avoid another gubernatorial veto. The committee charged with launching the state’s commercial adult-use market already has reintroduced the bill that Gov. Paul LePage vetoed last month, changing just a few of the dates […]
politics
Posted inNation / World
Doug Jones wins Alabama Senate race; Roy Moore refuses to concede
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Democrat Doug Jones has won the special election to fill a Senate seat in Alabama, according to exit polls and returns – a shocking upset in a solidly Republican state, in which massive turnout among African-American voters helped defeat a candidate enthusiastically backed by President Donad Trump. The Associated Press called the […]
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Posted inMaine
Maine’s opioid crisis task force urges lawmakers to take action in 2018
AUGUSTA — Maine needs to expand access to treatment and prevention programs and do more to stop powerful opioid drugs from being diverted from legitimate uses. It also must raise awareness among youth of the dangers of opioids and increase the number of drug courts if it hopes to stem the opioid addiction crisis that […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Bates College president blasts proposed cuts for higher education in tax bill
LEWISTON — Bates College President Clayton Spencer blasted a controversial tax measure Tuesday that Congress appears poised to pass this month as “an assault on educational opportunity.” Spencer said the $71 billion the bill would take from higher education would hurt students, families and America’s colleges and universities. It would also undermine “the engine of […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine PUC opens inquiry into storm response by CMP, Emera
The Maine Public Utilities Commission voted Tuesday to open an inquiry into responses by the state’s electric companies in restoring power after last October’s destructive storm. It asked Central Maine Power and Emera Maine to file a report detailing their responses and lessons learned in 30 days. It also said it wanted to know how […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Congress could finalize deal to reconcile House and Senate tax bills as soon as today
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are on the verge of striking a tentative agreement that would reconcile tax bills passed separately by the House and Senate, and an announcement could come later Tuesday or sometime Wednesday, a top Senate Republican said Tuesday. Republican Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the No. 3 Senate Republican, said in an interview that […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Paul LePage reasserts his Medicaid expansion demands in letter to lawmakers
AUGUSTA — In a forceful letter to legislative leaders Monday, Gov. Paul LePage again laid down his demands for funding a voter-approved Medicaid expansion in Maine, emphasizing his position that the estimated $60 million a year cost be paid for without any tax increases. “The Legislature must now step up and identify a way to […]
Posted inNation / World
U.S. military to allow transgender people to enlist
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is allowing transgender people to enlist in the military beginning Jan. 1, despite President Donald Trump’s opposition. The new policy reflects growing legal pressure on the issue, and the difficult hurdles the federal government would have to cross to enforce Trump’s demand to ban transgender individuals from the military. Two […]
Posted inMaine
Maine CDC reports increase in hepatitis A cases
Maine has seen a recent increase in hepatitis A cases, with four during the past three months, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. While the year-to-date number of cases – six – is normal, “this increase in cases is unusual for this length of time,” the Maine CDC said in a […]
Posted inMaine
Maine’s high court weighing comments on limiting public access to digital records
Maine’s top judge has said she wants the state’s courts to be more open and accessible to the public — including allowing for online access to records the public would otherwise have to view at a courthouse. “The public deserves electronic access to its government,” Leigh Saufley, chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, […]