Saturday, November 21, 2009 in Lewiston, Maine
Speaking at a housing conference Monday, Baldacci said developments in Augusta and Houlton are generating about 175 jobs. A new seniors' housing development scheduled to start soon in Bangor will employ about 120 people.
The Maine Affordable Housing Conference at the Augusta Civic Center highlighted innovations to address housing issues during the recession. Maine housing programs have been fueled in part by national stimulus funding.
Augusta Fire Chief Roger Audette says some of the city's emergency medical service employees were vaccinated against the swine flu on Monday. He says about 50 employees will be vaccinated.
Dr. Dora Anne Mills of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention tells the Kennebec Journal most vaccine doses set aside for health care providers are for those who have frequent, direct contact with patients.
The voluntary collection program was run by the South Portland and Cape Elizabeth police departments, with help from local civic groups. Police wanted to make people aware of the dangers of improperly disposing of unused, outdated prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs.
Bishop Richard Malone read a letter Saturday to parishioners at St. Francis Xavier Church in Winthrop that said the incidents involving the Rev. Joseph R. McGowan took place between 1936 and 1949 while McGowan served as pastor at the church.
Michael P. Joyce was arrested Saturday night.
Police say the bank was robbed at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Police did not say how much money was taken.
Otten made the statement Monday as he formally threw his hat into the ring for governor. He joins a field of at least 10 others who've announced their intentions to run for the Blaine House.
Otten launched American Skiing Co. and served as a part-owner of the Boston Red Sox. He also chaired Gov. John Baldacci's Wood to Energy Task Force. He is former owner of Sunday River Ski Resort.
Gov. John Baldacci is also among the speakers to address the conference on affordable housing, scheduled for Monday.
Three experts on the current state of Maine's housing market are to address panels. Weatherization and energy conservation will also be big topics at the conference.
AUGUSTA — Lawmakers learned Friday that September revenues were about $28 million under budget, bringing the year-to-date deficit to more than $40 million.
The Appropriations Committee also heard from Gov. John Baldacci's administration about plans to formulate a supplemental budget in the face of declining revenues.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Leaders of a new group that's launching a new effort to win approval for a casino in western Maine is ready to begin collecting signatures to force a referendum next year.
Black Bear Entertainment LLC hopes to collect 80,000 signatures before Feb. 1. That would be more than enough to ensure that the casino goes to a vote in November 2010, spokesman Peter Martin said.
Baldacci will join other state and local government officials and builders of TransCanada's project at the remote Franklin County site. The ceremony will mark completion of the first 22 windmills and the start of their production of power, which will flow to Central Maine Power Co. and through its interconnections to the New England grid.
Businessman Les Otten of Greenwood plans to make an announcement Monday about the 2010 governor's race. In June, he announced formation of an exploratory committee. The owner of four businesses, Otten chaired Gov. John Baldacci's Wood to Energy Task Force. He is former owner of Sunday River Ski Resort.
News conferences are scheduled Monday and Tuesday in Scarborough, Bangor and Presque Isle.
A bill that was awaiting President Barack Obama's signature Thursday provides $5 million for offshore wind studies at the University of Maine. In addition, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced federal stimulus funding of $8 million for UMaine's work on two floating offshore turbine prototypes.
The money was included in an energy and water bill amendment authored by Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. He and Vermont's two senators, Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders, are hailing the announcement.
The Northern Border Regional Commission will seek to improve infrastructure, spur economic development and bring new jobs to the border regions of the four states.
Forty-four-year-old James Grindel had served more than six years in prison until his release last November. Within a few months of his release, prosecutors said the Bar Harbor man was using a stolen credit card to make repeated gasoline purchases. In March, prosecutors said Grindel was caught burglarizing a Pretty Marsh home he had burglarized years ago when a caretaker for the property was notified about a silent alarm at the home that had been tripped.
The Justice Department's Office of Violence Against Women awarded the grant to a project proposed by Susan Fineran, an associate professor of social work.
The Portland Press Herald reports the program is a collaborative effort of the Muskie School of Public Service, the Division of Student and University Life and campus police.
LEWISTON — More than 60 people turned out for a debate on Question 1, the referendum to reject Maine's law allowing same-sex marriage, during a Great Falls Forum lecture at the Lewiston Public Library on Thursday.
Marc Mutty, who is on leave from his job with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and is chairman of the Stand for Marriage Maine group, faced off against Shenna Bellows, the executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union and a leader in the No on 1/Protect Marriage Equality campaign.
AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine state government is facing another revenue shortfall — this one adding up to $200 million.
The Baldacci administration is asking state departments to recommend ways to cut their budgets to account for the lower-than-expected revenues. Finance Commissioner Ryan Low the largest departments will face the deepest cuts.
The $5.8 billion budget passed last spring included numerous program cuts to address falling revenues. It calls for government shutdown days and state worker pay freezes among other saving.
LEWISTON — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Wednesday that she is willing to work toward "responsible" health care reform, but she's not ready to support any of the committee-passed legislation at this point.
"I share the goal of passing responsible health care reform," she said in a statement. "Our goal should be legislation that protects affordable health care choices, safeguards Medicare and reduces costs to the consumer and the taxpayer at a time when we simply cannot afford to pay more."
LEWISTON — A citizen trade commission, made up of small business owners, environmentalists, human rights advocates and other public-interest groups, has scheduled a public hearing at 6:30 p.m Thursday at the State House in Augusta to examine whether Maine's groundwater ownership laws will be affected by international trade agreements.
The Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commission was created to monitor how Maine laws interact with trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Four people suffered minor gunshot wounds in small-game hunting accidents in 12 days this month. State hunting safety officials say the incidents were coincidental.
In the most recent, a 17-year-old Pennsylvanian was struck by pellets in the mouth and leg on Oct. 12 when his uncle fired at a rabbit. The uncle didn't realize the youth had knelt to scan the undergrowth for the rabbit while hunting in Mayfield Township in Somerset County.
LEWISTON — A poll released Wednesday says Mainers planning to vote on Election Day favor keeping Maine's law allowing same-sex marriage and enacting state spending caps.
LEWISTON — If you ask U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe why she voted in favor of a bill that her party opposes, that she doesn't like all that much and that didn't even need her vote in order to pass, she says the answer is simple.
Two wildlife advocacy organizations filed a motion in federal district court on Wednesday to stop Maine's early coyote and fox trapping season, set to begin this weekend.
The Animal Welfare Institute and the Wildlife Alliance of Maine want to protect Canada lynx from leg-hold traps. The animal has been listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 2000.
Police said they confiscated over $350 worth of beer kegs and bottles of whiskey, vodka, rum and tequila from the Saturday party at a house in Kittery. They said organizers were charging $7 per head to attend and involved several pickup points so as not to draw attention to the event.
Police said the teenagers all knew each other from having attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover, N.H.
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