AUGUSTA (AP) – Lawmakers are near an agreement on a modification to a Maine law that makes it illegal to remove a prescription drug from its original pharmacy container until the time it is consumed.

The current law is designed to help police as they go after illegal drug traffickers by helping investigators to verify that the drugs belong to the person possessing them.

But critics of the law say it makes a criminal of anyone who temporarily puts a prescription drug in a shirt pocket or a separate container.

The sponsor of a bill to change the current law, Rep. George Bishop, said putting prescription drugs in pill boxes that include separate containers for each day of the week is technically illegal. The pill boxes are widely used by elderly people who take multiple medications so they can keep closer track of their dosages.

A compromise bill up for a committee vote Thursday would allow a person to put their prescription drugs in a container other than the original, said Bishop, R-Boothbay. If questioned by police, that person would get an opportunity to produce a prescription for those medications, Bishop said.

The Health and Human Services Committee is reviewing the bill.

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AUGUSTA (AP) – A high-tech version of hunting in which computers and cameras are used would be illegal if a bill that received Senate approval Wednesday wins final enactment.

Senators endorsed a measure that bans remote-control hunting, in which clients hook up online to a set of cameras at a ranch, then sight game and fire a rifle. Such operations targeting game or birds in Maine locations would be illegal.

Maine hasn’t had any remote-control hunting, but Rep. Roderick Carr said it’s a good idea to have a law to prevent it. The Republican from Lincoln is a registered Maine guide and sponsor of the ban proposal, which has support of animal welfare as well as hunting groups.

Carr’s bill faces further House and Senate votes. It was prompted by a Texas businessman’s plan to test computerized hunting in his home state.

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AUGUSTA (AP) – The snowmobile season may have wound down in Maine, but lawmakers want operators to get the message in time for next season: Keep your sleds to the right.

A bill that received Senate approval Wednesday makes operating a snowmobile to the left of the center of a trail when approaching or navigating a curve, corner, grade or hill a civil violation.

The measure faces final House and Senate votes. It’s been modified from the original version, which would have made operating a snowmobile on the left of a private or public way punishable by a fine of up to 100 dollars.

Operators using trails in many states are already encouraged to keep to the right as a safety measure.

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AUGUSTA (AP) – Gov. John Baldacci proclaimed Wednesday as Mitchell Scholars Day as George Mitchell, the former U.S. senator from Maine, announced to assembled lawmakers the latest round of scholarships for Maine students.

Mitchell said more than 1,000 students have received financial awards so far and 130 more of them were being named as this year’s recipients. One student is chosen from each Maine public high school, said the former Democratic Senate majority leader.

Mitchell said the scholarships, which have totaled $4.5 million so far, fill a demonstrated need. Maine students amass an average educational debt of $17,000 upon graduation from college, he said. On the brighter side, 95 percent of the Mitchell scholars “finish their degrees and graduate as planned,” he told House members.

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