AUGUSTA — Maine’s Senate is overriding Republican Governor Paul LePage’s veto of a bill that would allow the state to let a hunter transfer a coveted moose hunting permit to a family member in certain cases. The Republican-controlled Senate unanimously voted to override LePage’s veto on Tuesday. LePage vetoed the bill and issued a statement […]
politics
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Smart meter opponents file state supreme court challenge
PORTLAND — The debate over the safety of so-called smart meters installed by Central Maine Power is going back before the state Supreme Court, setting up a legal clash over regulators’ conclusion that they pose no risk. Opponents are challenging a December conclusion by the Maine Public Utilities Commission that 600,000 smart meters installed in homes […]
advertisement
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine gets an extra 4 days to file federal tax returns in 2016
WASHINGTON — Maine residents can wait until April 19, 2016, to file next year’s federal tax returns. Taxpayers in most states will get an extra three days to file their federal returns in 2016, the IRS said Tuesday. The filing deadline is being delayed because the District of Columbia will celebrate Emancipation Day on April […]
Posted inMaine
Maine Senate approves bill for bicentennial license plate
AUGUSTA — History buffs and others who are excited about the state being free from Massachusetts for two centuries can show it with a new license plate, if a bill approved by a unanimous vote of the state Senate on Tuesday becomes law. The bill, LD 1273, sponsored by Sen. Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon, would allow […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Federal review of Blue Bird buses a win for Twin Cities’ system
LEWISTON — Twin Cities transit officials are calling a recent change to the federal declaration on the longevity of their Blue Bird buses a vindication. “It’s recognizing that we have been doing the best we can to keep these buses on the road,” Phil Nadeau, Lewiston’s deputy city administrator and chairman of the Lewiston-Auburn Transit […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine Senate approves funding for cold-case unit
AUGUSTA — An effort to fund a unit of law enforcement officers to reopen unsolved homicide cases advanced Tuesday in the Maine Senate. The Legislature passed a bill last year to create the cold case homicide unit in the attorney general’s office but failed to appropriate the necessary funding. With no state money available, the […]
Posted inMaine
Bill aimed at helping cities fight blight hits roadblock
AUGUSTA — A bill that seeks to give Maine cities and towns more power to deal with abandoned and blighted properties is held up in a legislative committee because of opposition from bankers. The bill, LD 1203, sponsored by state Sen. Nate Libby, D-Lewiston, places a host of new requirements on financial institutions once they begin […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Irving lowers Martin’s debt while he pushes another Irving firm’s mining interests
An Irving family company agreed to reduce by $150,000 the debt a leading Democratic legislator owed to the company – the same legislator who has been pushing to loosen state environmental regulations so that another Irving company can mine Bald Mountain in northern Maine. Irving Oil, according to a bankruptcy filing, said state Rep. John […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
UMaine freezes tuition with $518 million budget
BANGOR — University of Maine System trustees approved a nearly $518 million budget on Monday morning, but had to balance it by dipping into reserves to the tune of $7 million in spite of recent cuts across the system. The budget also holds in-state tuition steady for the fourth consecutive year — the longest tuition […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage wants to screen all TANF recipients for drugs
AUGUSTA — ’s plan to prevent anyone with a felony drug conviction from collecting cash welfare benefits advanced Monday in Augusta with a bill that would extend a program launched earlier this year. In January, LePage and his administration began administering drug tests on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families applicants who have had felony drug […]