AUGUSTA — Bills relating to abortion await House and Senate action in Maine. How they’ll fare is in question, given divided committee sentiment. On Wednesday, activists plan a news conference to ask lawmakers to reject a bill that would create a new class of crime for harming a fetus. The Family Planning Association of Maine […]
Maine
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Report: Jail followed correct procedures in handling inmate’s death
MADISON — A report by the Maine Department of Corrections says the staff at the Somerset County Jail followed correct procedures in its handling of the death of an inmate. Sixty-one-year-old Richard Bruce Greco of Dixfield was serving a 90-day sentence at the Madison jail for his involvement in a 2009 fatal crash in Wilton […]
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Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Maine marine’s death ruled suicide
YUMA, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities say a U.S. Marine from Maine found dead in a southwest Arizona irrigation canal two months ago committed suicide. Yuma police say 22-year-old Cpl. Joshua Barron had a gunshot wound to the head and their investigation determined it was self-inflicted. Barron’s civilian-clothed body was discovered March 21. He was reporting […]
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Auburn’s iPads deserve chance to prove worth
Anyone who doubts the potential for iPads to engage young minds in learning has probably not yet tried one. But even test-driving an iPad2 at the local Best Buy is unlikely to demonstrate the full learning potential of the light, slim computers. That’s why we hope the Auburn School Department can raise enough money — […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Busy time coming at Maine Legislature
AUGUSTA — With health insurance reform and a $6.1 billion state budget topping the list of major issues still ahead, Maine lawmakers are facing a deadline barely a month away to finish business. Majority Republicans say they’re confident lawmakers can wrap up business by June 15, the date set in statute. House Speaker Robert Nutting […]
Posted inLocal & State
Who will pay for your health care? Vermont tries single-payer system (it’s a red-state, blue-state thing)
While the equivalent of a legislative brawl broke out in Augusta last week over Republican efforts to roll back two decades of health insurance regulations, things were a lot quieter over in Vermont. There at the capital, Montpelier, lawmakers were putting the final touches on a single-payer health care plan that would ultimately centralize administration […]
Posted inOur View
Three ideas for making driving safer and easier
People feel passionately about cars and about the bad driving habits of other people, judging by the periodic “Gripes” column in the Sunday Sun Journal. We probably get more mail on driving issues than any other subject. With that in mind, we have collected three opinions on automotive ideas and innovations for your reading — […]
Posted inOur View
MaineCare cut would result in phony savings
Message to governor: A budget cut is not a cut if taxpayers end up paying the bill, anyway. And that, we fear, would be the result of Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to remove as many as 30,000 adults from the state’s Medicaid program. This is a new budget cut the governor is proposing to deal […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Turnpike Authority needs to be reined in, panel told
AUGUSTA — The Maine Turnpike Authority for years has been able to waste money and hide its expenses from public scrutiny while its board was “asleep at the switch,” sponsors of a bill to overhaul its administrative and financial procedures told a legislative committee Tuesday. “The authority has become a kingdom of its own,” Sen. […]
Posted inLocal & State, sj-web
Ex-official banned from City Hall in Westbrook
WESTBROOK — The former finance director of the Maine city of Westbrook has been banned from City Hall for another year. On Saturday, the Westbrook police served Susan Rossignol with a trespass notice at the request of Mayor Colleen Hilton and City Administrator Jerre Bryant. Rossignol had served as the city’s finance director for 32 […]