AUGUSTA — More than 9,000 Maine residents have been removed from the state’s food stamp program since Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration began enforcing work and volunteer requirements late last year, officials said. The number of people that have been dropped from the program has exceeded even the administration’s expectations. About 12,000 adults who aren’t disabled […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Marijuana advocates file for legalization petitions
AUGUSTA — Maine residents who are campaigning for their state to legalize marijuana say they have filed their proposal for a statewide ballot question. The group calls itself The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol and it’s an effort of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project. The campaign submitted its initiative Tuesday to state officials, […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Sheila Pinette resigns from Maine CDC
AUGUSTA — Dr. Sheila Pinette has resigned as the state’s chief health officer a month after taking the job, hastening an organizational shakeup at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Pinette has served as the state’s top public health official since 2011. She oversaw the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention during […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage postpones news conference on drug enforcement budget
AUGUSTA — Republican Gov. Paul LePage has postponed a meeting with reporters to discuss additional law enforcement positions to address the state’s drug problem. The decision to postpone Tuesday’s press conference came moments before the governor announced that he had fired Brig. General James Campbell of the Maine National Guard. LePage was supposed to speak […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage dismisses Maine National Guard commander
Read the speech that Gen. James Campbell was to deliver before the Legislature AUGUSTA — Maine National Guard Adjutant General James D. Campbell, who was scheduled to address the House and Senate this morning, was relieved of duty shortly before the speech by Gov. Paul LePage. “Based on an internal review of General Campbell, I […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine.gov goes down again in denial of service attack
AUGUSTA — The Maine government website is being hacked for a second day, causing delays for people trying to conduct business. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said it’s a continuation of Monday’s “denial-of-service” attack in which someone floods the state server with spam, causing the system to overload and crash. He said no data is […]
Posted inMaine
Fund for Healthy Maine survives in unanimous committee vote
AUGUSTA — In a bipartisan and unanimous decision, the Legislature’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee beat back a proposed $7.2 million raid on the state’s tobacco settlement funds, currently used for community smoking cessation and prevention programs. The committee instead took about $2.4 million from the fund to use on other parts of the $28 million spending […]
Posted inMaine
Bill to return Maine jails to county control faces hurdles
AUGUSTA — Lawmakers on Monday said they want more details on a bill that dissolves the state’s Board of Corrections and returns control of county jails to county governments. The bill, LD 186, being offered by state Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, would see the state continue to fund the 15 county jails to the tune […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine.gov returns to service after suspected cyberattack
AUGUSTA — Maine’s government website is back online after it was briefly down due to an external cyberattack. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said a “denial-of-service” attack caused the website to become briefly inaccessible on Monday. That type of hacker attack occurs when external data requests overwhelm the server that hosts the website. The website came […]
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Ted Cruz announces 2016 bid for president
Also on this page: What Ted Cruz believes LYNCHBURG, Va. — Sen. Ted Cruz opened the first major campaign of the 2016 presidential season Monday with a kickoff speech courting cultural conservatives and declaring that he will devote himself to “reigniting the promise of America.” One of several Republican hopefuls to rise from the tea […]