During a Lewiston City Council meeting on April 15, the Council voted 4-3 in support of a $5 million project to replace three burned out buildings in the downtown area. My husband and I oppose the project and we are starting a petition to stop it. There are about 300 empty apartments in Lewiston now; […]
housing
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston approves minimum thermostat level increase to 68 degrees
LEWISTON — A plan to require landlords to turn up the heat by two degrees won City Council approval Tuesday. Councilors voted 7-0 to make some housekeeping changes to the city’s building maintenance code to match state rules on minimum heat. State building ordinances require landlords to heat their buildings to 68 degrees year round. […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
UMaine to give underclassmen higher housing priority over juniors, seniors
UMaine makes it mandatory for freshmen who live more than 30 miles from the school to live on campus. Since the number of first-year students has been steadily increasing over the last few years through a concerted effort to stabilize the university’s financial troubles, less dorm space is available to the upperclassmen. In the past, […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Budget battle, shutdown delay Maine heating aid
PORTLAND (AP) — Federal heating aid to low-income Mainers has been delayed primarily because of the federal budget battle and government shutdown last month. A spokeswoman for MaineHousing, which oversees the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program in Maine, said the agency usually knows by October how much funding it will receive. By Friday, the […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
AP source: JPMorgan to pay $13B under tentative deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. has tentatively agreed to pay $13 billion to settle allegations surrounding the quality of mortgage-backed securities it sold in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, a person familiar with the negotiations between the bank and the federal government said Saturday. If the agreement is finalized it would […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine State Housing Authority won’t ban medical marijuana users yet
AUGUSTA — A lack of federal guidance on the use of medical marijuana in federally subsidized apartments led the Maine State Housing Authority board of commissioners on Tuesday to delay a decision on the issue for up to another year. Commissioners and MaineHousing Director John Gallagher expressed deep frustration that despite repeated attempts to secure […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston landlords challenge housing project
LEWISTON — A group of landlords hope to challenge the city’s approval of a low-income housing project downtown. “We already have a lot of low-income property, and this won’t contribute to our tax base,” Darcy Reed, who owns two units downtown, said. “Just as a taxpayer, this concerns me,” Reed said. “Even if I were […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Councilors confident about Pierce Street housing project
LEWISTON — Councilors said they hoped a public housing project proposed for downtown lots where apartment buildings burned on May 3 would make the area better. Volunteers of America Northern New England would bring meals, counseling and financial education to public spaces at their proposed Pierce Place development, Vice President of Business Development Julia Wilcock […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Housing project seeks to reclaim units lost in May fire
LEWISTON — A proposed downtown project would resurrect 30 housing units lost in a May 3 fire that burned four apartment buildings and left dozens homeless. Volunteers of America hopes to build a housing development on lots at 110 and 114 Pierce St. and 145 and 149 Bartlett St. The buildings there were part of […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Obama pitches mortgage overhaul as housing rallies
PHOENIX — Buoyed by an improving housing market, President Barack Obama on Tuesday proposed a broad overhaul of the nation’s mortgage finance system, including winding down government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He declared that taxpayers should never again be left “holding the bag” for the mortgage giants’ bad bets. Obama outlined his proposals in […]