Some residents are proud of the city’s open-arms approach, while others question what the long-term obligations will be.
Randy Billings
Staff Writer
Randy Billings is a government watchdog and political reporter who has been the State House bureau chief since 2021. He was named the Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2020. He joined the Press Herald in 2012 as the Portland City Hall reporter, where his beat touched on a wide range of topics, including municipal government, immigration, homelessness, housing and social services. Prior to that, he worked at various weeklies as well as business and arts publications. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine, Orono. He lives in North Yarmouth with his wife and two children and enjoys the outdoors and playing his upright bass.
Posted inMaine, News
Portland’s new asylum seekers settle in as community offers help
More than 170 asylum seekers from Africa spend their first day in a makeshift shelter as more arrive and the city receives over $63,000 from over 700 donors.
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Posted inMaine, News
Portland responding to ‘a very critical emergency’ as scores of asylum seekers arrive
The city will set up 350 cots at the Portland Expo to provide temporary shelter, and USM’s president says he’s willing to open up a 200-bed dorm in Gorham through Aug. 7.
Posted inMaine, News
Portland Expo to serve as emergency shelter as influx of asylum seekers creates ‘a very critical situation’
Portland receives 86 asylum seekers from the southern border in 3 days, and the city manager says the city manager of San Antonio, Texas, told him to expect as many as 150 more to arrive soon.
Posted inLife & Culture, Maine, News
Portland wants gamers gone from Evergreen Cemetery
City officials are asking the gamemaker to remove the coveted Pokemon Go icons sought by players.
Posted inMaine, News, Uncategorized
Police: No reports of domestic violence between couple found dead in Lebanon
State police believe that Thomas Doyon, 27, shot and killed Allyson Parker, 30, before shooting himself Saturday afternoon.
Posted inMaine, Uncategorized
Two men pulled from Portland harbor by ferry crew
The Wabanaki ferry had about 207 people aboard when a Casco Bay Lines crew member spotted the men in the water near a capsized canoe off Peaks Island.
Posted inMaine, Uncategorized
Police seek Massachusetts man in York home invasion and shooting
The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries, police say.
Posted inMaine, News
Portland council votes 5-4 to reject earned sick time requirement
The majority believes a statewide policy would be better and that a local ordinance might inadvertently affect workers with existing paid time off benefits.
Posted inMaine, News
More asylum seekers arrive in Portland from southern border as city debates assistance
Portland’s human resources director criticizes comments by Mayor Ethan Strimling welcoming the arrival of more immigrants, a sign of the tensions as Maine’s largest city sees another influx of asylum-seeking families.