AUGUSTA (AP) – Novice drivers in Maine may soon be barred from having radar detectors in their cars.

The state Senate gave final approval Tuesday to a bill prohibiting anyone under 18 who has an intermediate license from driving a vehicle that’s equipped with a radar detector. The bill goes to Gov. John Baldacci for his signature.

But the House rejected another bill that would have made it more difficult for teenagers who skip school to legally drive.

By a 94-48 vote, representatives rejected legislation that would have prevented public school students under 17 from applying for a permit or license unless they show proof that they have not been declared habitually truant.

In a fast-moving session that covered dozens of bills, lawmakers also killed a measure that sought to more closely regulate political campaigning at polling places.

The bill rejected in the House would have barred a candidate, a candidate’s spouse or surrogate from communicating in a “repetitive or systematic way” within 100 feet of an open voting place.

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House rejects bill to give parents more say on sex-ed

AUGUSTA (AP) – A bill to give parents more details on what their children are hearing in sex education classes in Maine schools has been rejected by the Maine House.

Lawmakers voted to defeat Rep. Brian Duprey’s bill following a brief debate, during which young pages working on the House floor were asked to leave the chamber because of the nature of the discussion.

The bill sponsored by Duprey, a Hampden Republican, would require school districts to give parents details of what their children are being taught in school sex education, and give parents an opportunity to withdraw their children if they don’t approve of the content.

Duprey said some sex ed classes go into details and practices parents wouldn’t approve.

The bill was sent to the Senate. But it was unlikely to win enactment because, as a mandate, it would need a two-thirds majority vote.