Here is a list of highlights sponsored by tri-county delegation lawmakers in bills 851-950. * Sen. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston, has a bill that would create a task force to review ways to deal with a projected increase in Alzheimer’s disease and related illnesses. The task force in LD 859 would report its findings and suggest […]

Last month the Maine Turnpike Authority announced that it was immediately canceling all its contracts with outside lobbyists. The move was a response to a watchdog report and high-profile legislative hearings that raised questions about the quasi-governmental agency’s spending practices. Officials for the MTA said eliminating the contracts would save about $27,000 per year. The […]

AUGUSTA — A bill that would allow concealed weapon permit holders to bring their handguns into the State House and nearby areas has won approval from the Legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. The panel voted 7-4 last week to pass an amended version of LD 692, a bill sponsored by Rep. Dale Crafts, […]

Here is a list of highlights sponsored by tri-county lawmakers in bills 751 through 850. * Rep. Stephen Wood, R-Sabattus, has a bill that would require school districts to report legal disputes between districts and parents of students in special education programs to the state Department of Education. LD 775 also requires the DOE chief […]

AUGUSTA — Francisco Gonzalez is a supervisor at the DeCoster-owned Quality Egg farm in Turner. He says he works between 70 and 80 hours a week. Gonzalez said Friday that he was asked by management to tell the Legislature’s Labor Committee about his positive work experience at the plant. The Lewiston resident said he was […]

AUGUSTA — Bill Fournier’s testimony to the Legislature’s Labor Committee on Wednesday was slow and deliberate. As the former Auburn police officer described the gruesome scene he encountered at an Auburn tenement in 1984, Fournier’s words emerged intermittently, as if stopping to steady themselves from the emotions that still rock the former cop 27 years […]

AUGUSTA — A bill designed to upgrade the water quality standard for the lower Androscoggin River appears to be heading toward a compromise. Originally LD 154 set out to reclassify the lower Androscoggin River from C status to B status. Environmental groups say reclassification will ensure that the river keeps moving toward ecological recovery and […]