AUGUSTA — Leaders in the Maine Legislature have proposed funding most of a $4.8 million package aimed at curbing the state’s drug epidemic with money gained in a settlement with a Wall Street ratings agency. The funding mechanism is supported by Attorney General Janet Mills, the Democrat who controls the money, but Gov. Paul LePage, a […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Paul LePage nominates Col. Douglas Farnham to lead Maine Army National Guard
AUGUSTA — A week after his first choice removed himself from consideration, Gov. Paul LePage has nominated a Brewer native to lead the Maine Army National Guard. LePage announced Tuesday that he has nominated Col. Douglas A. Farnham as the Guard’s adjutant general and commissioner of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management. For the past three […]
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Posted inLivermore Falls Advertiser, Maine
Sen. Tom Saviello offers Medicaid expansion bill to fight addiction
AUGUSTA — Hoping to tap readily available federal funding that could help fight Maine’s heroin addiction crisis, a pair of state GOP lawmakers is again proposing legislation to expand Maine’s Medicaid system. Sen. Tom Saviello, R-Wilton, who has previously supported an expansion of the state and federally sponsored health insurance program for low-income families and […]
Posted inMaine
Maine weighs marijuana and highway safety
LEWISTON — As advocates for legal marijuana close in on a signature-gathering campaign likely to force a statewide ballot question in 2016, Maine lawmakers, law enforcement officers and elected officials are more seriously contemplating the broader implications of what legal weed would look in the Pine Tree State. Topping their concerns is a possible increase […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Gov. Pau. LePage quietly releases Land for Maine’s Future report
For months, as you know, LePage blocked the sale of nearly $11.5 million in voter-approved conservation bonds administered by the Land for Maine’s Future program. LePage weathered months of criticism for the move, but largely defused the issue earlier this month when he suddenly decided to release the bonds. Still hanging out there was an […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
AG won’t investigate Paul LePage in Good Will-Hinckley spat
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage won’t face a criminal investigation for threatening to withhold funding from a nonprofit that hired House Speaker Mark Eves, said Attorney General Janet Mills and another Democratic prosecutor in a Tuesday letter. But that letter to three legislators who are pursuing impeachment charges against LePage — Reps. Jeffrey Evangelos, I-Friendship, Ben […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Council, school candidates close books on November election
LEWISTON — Most of the city’s candidates for local office in November’s election closed the books on their campaigns this week, filing their final campaign finance reports. All candidates for City Council, School Committee and the losing candidates in the mayor’s race needed to account for any spending and donations between Oct. 21 and Dec.8, […]
Posted inMaine
Stavros Mendros ousted as Androscoggin GOP chair after dust-up over missing funds
LEWISTON — In the wake of a scandal involving $8,000 in missing cash, the Androscoggin County Republican Committee during a private meeting Thursday voted to remove its chairman, Stavros Mendros of Lewiston. Earlier this month, Mendros alerted the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office and the media that he had discovered the money missing when he […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Androscoggin County GOP Committee meets on leadership
The fate of the Androscoggin County GOP Committee leadership remained uncertain Thursday as a meeting to decide on the committee leadership continued late into the night. At issue was the fate of Stavros Mendros, the beleaguered committee chairman who was asked to step down earlier this month. The committee was expected to decide on the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Group says DHHS misinterprets General Assistance for immigrants
AUGUSTA — New rules proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services for the disbursement of General Assistance to immigrants and asylum seekers defy the intent of a law enacted earlier this year, according to numerous speakers who testified against the rules Thursday at the State House complex. The proposed rules are the latest […]