LEWISTON — Gov. Paul LePage’s proposal to allow more publicly funded charter schools in Maine is getting mixed reviews. LePage wants to change the state law that caps charter schools at no more than 10 statewide. How many more, and whether they get approved, would be up to the Maine Charter School Commission, which has […]
politics
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Civil servants troll Donald Trump and leak info
WASHINGTON — Across the government, an unprecedented digital insurrection is taking shape. President Donald Trump spent much of his campaign bashing the federal government, a system he described as awash in “waste fraud and abuse.” Now, the bureaucracy is biting back. In response to Trump’s hiring freeze for federal agencies and a communications blackout, some […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Advocates turn in petitions to put Medicaid on ballot
AUGUSTA — Health care advocates in Maine say they have more than enough signatures to get a referendum to expand Medicaid coverage on the November ballot. Now it’s up to the Secretary of State’s office to verify the signatures. The Mainers for Health Care campaign said Wednesday the additional federal funding would cover tens of thousands […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
AG Janet Mills says a new psych unit needs legislative approval
PORTLAND — Gov. Paul LePage’s administration needs legislative approval to build a secure, privately run facility for patients in state custody with mental illness who no longer need hospital care, the state attorney general said. Democratic Attorney General Janet Mills sent a letter to the Republican governor’s administration Tuesday. The legislature’s appropriations committee discussed the letter […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Draft executive order seeks review on terror interrogations
Updated 3 p.m.: President Donald Trump says that he believes torture works, saying that “we have to fight fire with fire.” In an interview with ABC News, the president says he will confer with Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA director Mike Pompeo to determine what can and cannot be done legally to combat the spread […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Analysis: Gov. Paul LePage resumes town hall meetings
Republican Gov. Paul LePage is heading back into the public fray tonight when he resumes his series of town hall meetings in Biddeford. LePage held dozens of similar meetings last year all over Maine, using the opportunities to advocate for the three-legged policy stool he has fought for through much of his tenure: Lower taxes, […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Sen. Angus King to vote against Betsy DeVos as education secretary
AUGUSTA — Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine will vote against President Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary because of her views in favor of school choice. “Her whole career has been school choice to the exclusion of the basic public education system, and I am just such a firm believer in public education […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Donald Trump moving forward with border wall, weighs refugee cuts
Updated 3:34 p.m.: WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump moved aggressively to tighten the nation’s immigration controls Wednesday, signing executive actions to jumpstart construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall and block federal grants from immigrant-protecting “sanctuary cities.” “Beginning today the United States of America gets back control of its borders,” Trump declared during a visit to the […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Political roundup: Washington reacts to Donald Trump’s actions
Trump: ‘We’re going to save lives on both sides of the border’ Updated 3:10 p.m.: President Donald Trump says in a speech at the Department of Homeland Security that his executive actions on immigration show that “beginning today,” the U.S. will get back “control of its border.” Trump says his administration will be working in […]
Posted inMaine
Trump lawyers, Dunlap certain there was no voter fraud in 2016 election
President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for “a major investigation into voter fraud” that seeks to probe a number of issues that Maine Gov. Paul LePage has also raised repeatedly. Neither man has provided a single provable example to back up their claims that election results were tainted. Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, who called […]