AUGUSTA — House members shot down a proposal Tuesday that would have allowed people with concealed carry permits to carry their firearms on public colleges except in dorms and in entertainment facilities that post signs barring their possession. By a 90-56 vote, House members turned aside a plea by the measure’s sponsor who worried that […]
politics
Posted inNation / World
How the NSA connected leaked document to Reality Winner
Criminal investigations into national security leaks tend to be long, complicated and delicate affairs. Sources generally cover their tracks, especially in an era when even the most innocuous computer activity leaves an electronic trail. Edward Snowden took extraordinary precautions when he leaked troves of classified information on surveillance activity by the National Security Agency to […]
advertisement
Posted inNation / World
White House attempts to regroup complicated by Trump’s twitter blitzes
WASHINGTON (AP) — In its effort to regain control of its message, the White House has curtailed press briefings, redirected questions on the Russia investigation to an outside lawyer and planned a major infrastructure policy rollout for this week. But as long as President Donald Trump has a smartphone, no White House strategy is safe. […]
Posted inMaine
Analysis: Legislature to choose among 5 options for ranked-choice voting
AUGUSTA — Protected by Maine’s high court, a key group of Democrats looks open to eventually joining Republicans in repealing the state’s pioneering ranked-choice voting law before the 2018 election. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued a unanimous opinion in May finding the law unconstitutional after it passed with 52 percent support from voters in 2016, saying it violates […]
Posted inNation / World
Leaked report suggests Russia hackers breached voting software firm
WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian hackers attacked at least one U.S. voting software supplier days before last year’s presidential election, according to a government intelligence report leaked Monday that suggests election-related hacking penetrated further into U.S. voting systems than previously known. A Kremlin spokesman denied the report. The classified National Security Agency report, which was published […]
Posted inMaine
Mary Mayhew announces she will run for governor in 2018
After leading Maine’s effort to overhaul its welfare programs, former Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew is taking aim at the state’s highest office. In morning radio interviews Tuesday, Mayhew declared her intention to seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2018. Mayhew, the most widely known of the handful of contenders […]
Posted inMaine
Democratic lawmakers try to soften welfare rules proposed by Paul LePage
AUGUSTA — Democrats in the House of Representatives supported bids to make social services easier to acquire for veterans, homeless people and elderly Mainers, but the bills are unlikely to be enacted with most Republicans and Gov. Paul LePage leaning hard against program expansions. In preliminary House votes, LD 689 and LD 1538 were supported 80-66 and 78-68, respectively. LD 689 would […]
Posted inNation / World
White House: Trump will not try to stop Comey testimony by asserting executive privilege
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will not attempt to stop former FBI Director James Comey from testifying in a public hearing Thursday by asserting executive privilege, the White House said Monday. “The president’s power to assert executive privilege is well established,” principal deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters during the daily press briefing. […]
Posted inMaine
Jared Kushner cooperating with Senate Intelligence Committee, may testify
Presidential advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner may wind up testifying in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee about his connection to Russian officials. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who serves on the panel, said Monday that Kushner’s attorney is cooperating with the committee. “We’re at the early stages of the discussion,” Collins said. […]
Posted inNation / World
Supreme Court sides with religious hospitals in pension dispute
WASHINGTON (AP) — Religious hospitals don’t have to comply with federal laws protecting pension plans, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case that affects retirement benefits for roughly a million workers nationwide. The justices sided with three church-affiliated nonprofit hospital systems being sued for underfunding their employee pension plans. The hospitals — two […]