AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage’s $6.8 billion, two-year state budget proposal, released Friday night, would reduce Maine’s state employee workforce by approximately 500 and shift Maine to a flat income tax by 2020. The budget proposal for the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years was released on Friday with little fanfare. The LePage administration posted it […]
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Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Intelligence report predicts Russia to target U.S. again
WASHINGTON — Updated coverage a newly declassified report on Russian hacking during the U.S. election (all times EST): Updated 5:10 p.m.: U.S. intelligence officials are predicting that Russia will continue to develop capabilities to help President Vladimir Putin target the United States. A new declassified report says that immediately after Election Day, Russian intelligence began a spear-phishing […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
DHHS workers get layoff notices
AUGUSTA — A state employees union representative said ’s administration has notified workers in the Maine Office of Aging and Disability Services that it wants to lay them off, likely signaling a priority in the governor’s two-year budget to be released on Friday. It’s just an initial move from the Maine Department of Health and […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
FEC looks into Linda Bean’s PAC supporting Donald Trump
Updated 5:34 p.m.: AUGUSTA — L.L. Bean heiress Linda Bean made excessive contributions to a political action committee she bankrolled to support Republican President-elect Donald Trump, the Federal Election Commission said. Making America Great Again LLC was limited to individual contributions of $5,000, according to a Wednesday letter from federal regulators obtained by The Associated Press. […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
USDA awards $11 million to 6 rural Maine communities
FORT KENT — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing grants and loans totaling more than $11 million to six communities in rural Maine to improve infrastructure and facilities. The largest of the awards is $4.6 million to Winter Harbor Utility District to upgrade the district’s wastewater treatment facility and collection system. Half of the […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
U.S. adds 156,000 jobs; unemployment rate rises to 4.7 percent
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added 156,000 jobs in December, capping a year of slower but solid hiring and providing the last major snapshot of the economy President-elect Donald Trump will inherit from President Barack Obama. Friday’s report from the Labor Department portrayed a job market that remains durable 7½ years after the recovery from the […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Trump on border wall: Mexico will repay U.S. taxpayers
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday tweeted that Mexico will reimburse American taxpayers for a new border wall and that U.S. money spent will be for the “sake of speed.” His tweet came as congressional Republicans and his top aides consider a plan to ask Congress to ensure money is available in U.S. […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Gov. Paul LePage set to unveil 2-year budget to Maine legislators
AUGUSTA (AP) — Republican Gov. Paul LePage is set to unveil a budget that he says will reduce spending and cut taxes for the state’s highest earners. LePage has expressed deep concern about Maine voters’ approval of a new 3 percent surtax on the state’s highest earners to fund schools. In recent radio interviews, he […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Stephen Wood, GOP rep from Greene, may leave Republican party
AUGUSTA (AP) — The Republican minority in the Maine House of Representatives is getting smaller because a lawmaker says he is leaving the party. Rep. Kevin Battle of South Portland says he is going to become an independent. He was recently elected to his second term. The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/2hVRlAt ) reported that Rep. […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
GOP plan to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood in Obamacare repeal concerns Collins
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that Republicans would slash federal dollars for Planned Parenthood as part of the GOP effort to repeal the health care law. Ryan spoke a day after a special House panel issued a report criticizing the organization, which provides birth control, abortions and various women’s health services, for […]