AUGUSTA — Members of a state commission that studied problems with the Maine unemployment claims and appeals process said Thursday that a federal investigation into claims that Gov. Paul LePage pressured unemployment appeals hearing officers to be more “pro-business” is expected to wrap up next month. Former Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Daniel Wathen […]
politics
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Investigation shows Maine CDC officials ordered documents destroyed
AUGUSTA — A state investigation has concluded that supervisors at the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered their staff to destroy documents related to the redistribution of healthy community coalition state funding last year. In June 2012, over a two-week period after the state budget was enacted, the CDC surveyed Maine’s 27 Healthy […]
advertisement
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Friends of Maine Mountains blasts Maine Audubon over wind farm report
WELD — A group that has opposed wind power projects in Maine is attacking a report by Maine Audubon that concluded the state can develop wind power without harming wildlife. Friends of Maine Mountains on Thursday called on Maine Audubon to retract its findings. It also accused the environmental organization of being biased because it […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage, Bowdoin College students brainstorm on keeping youths in Maine
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage on Wednesday held a lunch meeting with more than 20 students from a Bowdoin College class on Maine politics and discussed, among other things, how to keep young people in the state. According to data from the Maine State Planning Office, Maine’s share of 20- to 59-year-olds is projected to […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Rotundo continues to press LePage administration on supplemental budget
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage’s refusal to submit a budget revision bill this fiscal year has spurred Democrats in the Legislature to take the lead in crafting a supplemental budget, something that hasn’t happened in Maine in recent memory. But by taking the budget reins, Democrats drew strong criticism from Republicans. Sen. Dawn Hill, D-Cape […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Auburn lawmaker draws fire for comments about truck drivers
The Maine Republican Party on Wednesday released an email in which State Rep. Brian Bolduc, D-Auburn, railed against noisy trucks and questioned the intelligence of truck drivers. “… one look at them and you can see they probably dont (sic) have a whole hell of allot (sic) of brains in their heads,” Bolduc wrote in […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
State police say not all towns do mental health checks for concealed carry permits
AUGUSTA — Four in 10 municipalities in Maine that issue permits to carry a concealed handgun are not running the legally required mental health background checks, said a Maine State Police representative on Wednesday. Lt. Scott Ireland told a subcommittee of the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee that a survey he conducted found […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Study says Maine needs to spend $327 million more per year on schools
AUGUSTA — Education reformers often say that you can’t improve student outcomes by simply spending more money on education, but an exhaustive study delivered this week to the Legislature’s Education Committee suggested Maine needs to spend at least $327 million more per year on public schools. Lawmakers who reviewed the report Tuesday seemed to be […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Lawmakers start crafting a supplemental budget
AUGUSTA — Maine lawmakers pushed forward with a plan to craft a supplemental budget Tuesday in order to address revenue shortfalls because Gov. Paul LePage says he won’t submit a proposal to fix a budget he tried to spike. The supplemental budget is typically submitted by the governor but LePage’s office says he doesn’t intend […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
GOP, Obama line up behind modest budget deal
WASHINGTON — Top Republicans and President Barack Obama are lining up behind a modest but hard-won bipartisan budget agreement that seeks to replace a portion of tough spending cuts facing the Pentagon and domestic agencies. The deal to ease those cuts for two years is aimed less at chipping away at the nation’s $17 trillion […]