Gambling board nominee

Gov. John Baldacci recently announced his nomination of Joseph Laliberte of Lewiston to the Gambling Control Board. The board was created in 2004 to oversee Maine’s slot machine gambling industry, which currently consists of Bangor’s Hollywood Slots. The five-member board meets monthly in Augusta.

Laliberte is the owner and chief executive officer for Corporate Intelligence Inc. in Lewiston. He served more than 16 years in the U.S. Air Force at the Office of Investigations at the Pentagon, according to a release. He was also the Androscoggin County Sheriff from 1980 to 1985. 

The Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee will review the nomination, and Laliberte must be confirmed by the state Senate.

Silver alert

On Tuesday the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee will hold a public hearing on a bill that would set up a “silver alert” for missing senior citizens, similar to the system known as “amber alert” for missing children. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston, would enable law enforcement to more quickly search for missing elderly persons. 

Rotundo has said that a series of incidents last year involving missing seniors, who sometimes wander out of care due to dementia, prompted her to look into helping law enforcement and the public become involved more quickly in searches.

Energy efficiency talks

The recently formed Efficiency Maine Trust, a quasi-governmental agency charged with overseeing all of Maine’s energy efficiency programs and developing triennial plans for achieving the state’s energy goals, will hold a board meeting in Augusta on Wednesday at 1 p.m. 

The group has also scheduled three public hearings to allow for citizen comment on the decisions before them. The first was held last Friday in Orono at the University of Maine. The next is scheduled for this Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Portland at the University of Southern Maine’s Abromson Education Center. The final public hearing will be held Friday, Jan. 29, at the Cross Building in Augusta from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

For more information on the trust, visit http://efficiencymainetrust.org

State of the State

Gov. John Baldacci is scheduled to make his State of the State address at 7 p.m. on Thursday evening at the State House in Augusta.

The annual event typically includes the governor’s discussion of the state’s economy and his plan for a balanced budget solution, as well as his broader vision for the state. He may also include newsworthy announcements, such as his expansion of the state’s school laptop program to all high school students.

 
— Rebekah Metzler