While recycling in Maine is in the dumps with a tough market and a need for recycling education, there’s a bright spot: Maine’s 40-year-old bottle bill. The bin collecting bottles and cans is in many Maine kitchens. Mainers have been paying deposits and religiously returning cans and bottles for nickel or 15-cent paybacks since 1978. “It’s […]
politics
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Question 4: UMF would get $8.5M for upgrades
FARMINGTON — The University of Maine at Farmington’s Olsen Student Center and Sweatt-Winter Childcare and Education Center could get millions of dollars in renovation and upgrades if voters approve a bond question as part of a statewide referendum Tuesday. Question 4 asks voters to approve a $49 million bond for the construction and remodeling of existing […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn
State officials fuzzy on DA's race scenario
LEWISTON — The law license of the Republican candidate for district attorney in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties is under suspension. Depending on the outcome of a sanctions hearing later this month, he could be disbarred. So, what would happen if he were to win Tuesday’s election? Could he be sworn into office if he […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Fact or fiction: Checking claims from Maine’s 2nd District congressional race
Trying to find the truth among the cacophony of competing claims in advertisements and mailers in Maine’s 2nd District congressional race is a challenge for even the most well-informed voters. To lend a hand before Tuesday’s election, the Sun Journal is checking up on some of the assertions to find out which ones have merit […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Hotly contested 2nd District race may decide control of the U.S. House
Perhaps U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin put what’s at stake in his re-election bid as succinctly as anyone. Behind closed doors, the two-term Republican told a conservative gathering in 2017 there are “two dozen swing districts in the country” that will determine which party controls the U.S. House after the Nov. 6 election. The one he’s […]
Posted inBusiness
US economy added 250,000 jobs in October; unemployment stays at 3.7 percent
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added 250,000 jobs in October, federal economists reported Friday. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7 percent. The latest job market snapshot from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is the last before the midterm elections, and it arrived three weeks after Hurricane Michael pummeled the Florida panhandle and Georgia, knocking some […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine gubernatorial debate gets feisty
The three candidates for governor sparred over negative advertising Thursday, accusing each other or their supporters of making false and disingenuous statements in the final days of the campaign. The tense exchanges came during the final time the three contenders — Democrat Janet Mills, Republican Shawn Moody and independent Terry Hayes — shared a stage […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Question 5 would provide money for community college upgrades
Maine Community College System officials are hoping voters will support Question 5 on the Nov. 6 ballot, which proposes a $15 million bond to upgrade facilities at each of the state’s seven community colleges. “In the past, we’ve been successful with the voters,” Maine Community College System President Derek Langhauser said. “I think the voters […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Fact or fiction: More claims from Maine’s 2nd District congressional race
As campaign operatives fill the airwaves with a barrage of commercials that often make astounding claims, it can be tough for voters in Maine’s 2nd District congressional race to know what’s true and what’s not. The Sun Journal is checking up on some of the advertising and mailers to help voters make sense of what […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Paul LePage rips into Jared Golden, predicts he’ll lose to Poliquin
Despite working with 2nd Congressional District candidate Jared Golden this year to help returning military medics, Republican Gov. Paul LePage assailed the Lewiston Democrat on Thursday as a partisan do-nothing. Speaking on Portland radio station WGAN, LePage said Golden told “a bald-faced lie” in a radio advertisement that mentioned their cooperation on legislation. But the […]