SOUTH PARIS — The Oxford County Board of Commissioners heard from a state official Tuesday that rural municipalities might choose to lose their incorporated status because the residents can’t afford taxes to maintain or replace their infrastructure. Some small communities in Aroostook and Franklin counties have chosen to dissolve their local government through deorganization. “We’ve been […]
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Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Lewiston-Auburn, Oxford Hills
Oxford County locked up by short jail funding
“The past three weeks have been bizarre,” said Capt. Ed Quinn, jail administrator for the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office. “In my discussions with other jail administrators around the state, they, too, have faced certain challenges we’ve never faced before. All of us. “Right now, the biggest issue is the head counts of the population that […]
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Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Oxford Hills
Computer hackers target Oxford County
SOUTH PARIS — The Oxford County commissioners learned Tuesday that the county dodged a bullet from a probable computer-system hacker. “We’re still monitoring and I think we’ll always be on alert,” Register of Deeds Patricia Shearman told commissioners about a hacking attempt on county computers that began March 3. Shearman emphasized that another system which […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Bolduc resigns; Democrats seek nominees for register of probate
AUBURN — Less than a year on the job, Androscoggin County’s Register of Probate Brian Bolduc has resigned. Bolduc, a Democrat who was elected in November 2014, offered his one-sentence resignation letter in October. “Please (accept) this letter as my formal notice of resignation from Androscoggin County as the Register of Probate,” the letter reads. […]
Posted inMaine
Key to jail funding eludes lawmakers
AUGUSTA — A final fix to problems with the way the state helps fund county jails could be put off for another year, according to lawmakers who said Tuesday neither of a pair of bills that could settle the matter will gain the support of Republican Gov. Paul LePage. “Our bills, no matter which one passes, […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage moves to cut all funding for defunct Board of Corrections
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage is proposing to slash funding for the mothballed state Board of Corrections in the coming budget — a move that could all but ensure the group’s permanent dissolution. The board has been defunct since 2014, when member departures and LePage’s unwillingness to appoint new members rendered the body incapable of […]
Posted inMaine
Maine jail consolidation debate leaves legislative panel shackled in deadlock
AUGUSTA — A forced marriage that didn’t work out. That’s the way one state lawmaker Wednesday described the failed 2007 effort to merge the operations of Maine’s county jails with the state’s prison system. “I feel like we’re a marriage counselor,” said state Rep. Tim Theriault, R-China. “Thank goodness they don’t hate each other yet.” […]
Posted inMaine
Bill to return Maine jails to county control faces hurdles
AUGUSTA — Lawmakers on Monday said they want more details on a bill that dissolves the state’s Board of Corrections and returns control of county jails to county governments. The bill, LD 186, being offered by state Sen. Paul Davis, R-Sangerville, would see the state continue to fund the 15 county jails to the tune […]
Posted inLocal Sports
H.S. Football: County proof that nice guys do last, prosper
LEWISTON — Most of the Leavitt Area High School football community was satisfied with Doug Conn’s self-appointed successor prior to the 1992 season. Hard to believe now, but one principal and assistant superintendent in the system balked ever-so-slightly at the nomination of Bill County. “When I first got hired, one of the knocks was, ‘I […]