Posted inMaine, sj-web

LePage administration continues regional schools push

AUGUSTA — The Maine Department of Education said this week it has received nearly two dozen proposals from 102 schools that want to launch new regional centers. Maine’s shrinking, largely rural schools have been working to share resources with other schools for years. But Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration pushed lawmakers this year to create […]

advertisement
Posted inMaine, sj-web

Medical marijuana caregivers see hardships but good news in new regulations

AUGUSTA — Medical marijuana caregivers say Maine’s new program rules may not be as bad – or require as much work to follow – as they had initially feared. Some caregivers say the new rules may even help the industry by legitimizing certain practices that were once considered legally murky, like patient cycling, a method […]

Posted inMaine, sj-web

Maine House upholds Paul LePage’s veto of recreational marijuana regulations

AUGUSTA — The Maine House voted Monday to sustain Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill that would create the legal framework for retail sales of recreational marijuana. The bill was the result of more than nine months of work by a special committee tasked with implementing the law that voters narrowly approved last November, […]

Posted inMaine, sj-web

Paul LePage vetoes retail marijuana bill

Gov. Paul LePage vetoed the adult-use cannabis bill today, saying he couldn’t support expansion of legal marijuana in Maine while its federal future remains so uncertain. In his veto letter, LePage said the conflict with federal law was only one of his concerns about the bill that would launch the state’s recreational market. He said […]

Posted inMaine, sj-web

Legislature delays and potentially repeals ranked-choice voting

Secretary of State Matt Dunlap, center, listens in on the special session in the House of Representatives in Augusta on Monday. (David Leaming/Morning Sentinel) AUGUSTA – A citizen-backed law that made Maine the first state in the nation to adopted a ranked choice voting system will be delayed and possibly repealed, following a series of […]

Posted inMaine, sj-web

Maine House approves bill to allow marijuana sales

Rep. Kenneth Fredette, R-Newport, looks up at the electronic voting board during Monday’s special session of the Legislature. (David Leaming/Morning Sentinel) Lawmakers in the Maine House of Representatives passed the marijuana regulatory bill, and nixed a Republican bid to delay implementation, but fell short of the number of votes needed to override a gubernatorial veto […]

Posted inMaine, sj-web

Paul LePage rescinds request to withdraw judicial nominations

AUGUSTA – Gov. Paul LePage withdrew his request to withdraw the re-nominations of five judges on Monday but, once again, provided no immediate explanation for the change of course. On Friday, LePage sent letters to legislative leaders notifying them that he was withdrawing the nominations of three Superior Court and two District Court judges. Legislative leaders received […]

Posted inMaine, sj-web

Paul LePage unexpectedly withdraws renominations of 5 Maine judges

Gov. Paul LePage Without saying why, Gov. Paul LePage withdrew the nominations of five judicial reappointments on the eve of their scheduled confirmation Monday during a special session of the Legislature. In September, the governor nominated justices Robert Murray of Bangor, MaryGay Kennedy of Brunswick and Ann Murray of Bangor for reappointment to the Maine […]