State Fee for Reinstatement of a Suspended Driver's License Set to Increase Effective July 1st
AUGUSTA, MAINE -- Secretary of State Matt Dunlap reminded motorists today that the cost of restoring a suspended license or registration in Maine will go up significantly on July 1st following action taken by the Maine Legislature. This increase applies to all restorations on or after July 1st.
Jun 17, 2009 - 11:13:15 AM
State TABOR NOW Chair: "Politicians Will Never Have Enough"
AUGUSTA, MAINE -- Augusta politicians continue to prove their contempt for Maine taxpayers and their refusal to answer calls for less government spending and lower taxes.
Jun 6, 2009 - 1:00:20 PM
State Fort Knox Needs Park Day Volunteers
PROSPECT, MAINE -- On Saturday, April 18, 2009, from 10 AM until noon, volunteers are needed to team up with the Friends of Fort Knox and the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) to help clean the Civil War era State Historic Site. The nationwide effort - dubbed Park Day - is underwritten with a grant from The History Channel. In 2008, over one hundred and eleven sites took part in Park Day throughout the country.
Apr 4, 2009 - 10:36:55 PM
State Spring Flood Potential Near Normal - For Now
AUGUSTA, MAINE -- This winter 's snowpack, ice conditions, stream flows and headwaters storages have combined to create flood potential that is near normal for the time of year, according to Maine's River Flow Advisory Commission. However, flood potential may elevate in the coming weeks. The Commission, meeting today in Augusta, reviewed information on current hydrologic conditions across the state, as well as short-term weather forecasts.
Mar 5, 2009 - 5:10:23 PM
State A New, Revised Taxpayer Bill of Rights is Coming to You on Election Day
AUGUSTA -- Two years after the Maine Taxpayer Bill of Rights received 46 percent of the vote in the 2006 election, Mainers will once again have an opportunity to vote for responsible government spending and voter approval of tax increases this November.
Feb 27, 2009 - 1:04:10 PM
State Mainers Oppose Card Check: Broad Coalition to Speak Out Against the Employee Free Choice Act
BANGOR, MAINE -- A coalition of business trade associations, Maine businesses, and Maine employees plan to hold a joint press conference on Wednesday, February 25, to denounce the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Participants are hoping to make it clear to the people of Maine and to Maine’s U.S. Senators and Representatives that Card Check is not productive legislation, and will be damaging to all sectors of Maine’s economy.
Feb 24, 2009 - 11:16:11 AM
State Status of Storm Recovery
AUGUSTA, MAINE -- Governor John Baldacci received a briefing from the State Emergency Operations Center late today.
Feb 23, 2009 - 9:23:18 PM
State Secretary of State Matt Dunlap Announces Results of Certification of Five Citizen Initiatives; Four Initiatives Move on to Legislature
AUGUSTA, MAINE -- Officials at the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions today completed work on preparing certification of five proposed citizen-initiated efforts to bring bills to the Maine Legislature. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap finalized his decisions today in accordance with provisions of Maine's Constitution and notified proponents of the initiatives of his findings, based on the concluded process conducted by department staff.
Feb 23, 2009 - 6:05:00 PM
State Civil Marriage Legislation Submitted to Maine Legislature
AUGUSTA -- The drive to end marriage discrimination against same-sex couples shifted into high gear Tuesday as leaders from Maine's civil rights community joined with several Maine families to outline plans for legislation to be introduced in this session of the Legislature.
Jan 13, 2009 - 12:27:55 PM
State Senator Smith Introduces Energy Bills
AUGUSTA -- Senator Doug Smith (R-Piscataquis County) has unveiled a series of bills designed to move Maine toward greater energy efficiency and save Maine taxpayers money.
Jan 12, 2009 - 12:32:06 PM
State Excessive Force Case Against Cop Reinstated
PORTLAND -- Yesterday, a Maine woman was granted her day in court, when a federal appeals court reinstated her excessive force case against a South Portland police officer. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated a lower-court decision insulating the police officer, Steven Webster, from a civil rights complaint by Rosanna Morelli.
Jan 8, 2009 - 2:49:28 PM
State Cost per Degree: Measuring Inputs and Outputs at Maine's Public and Private Colleges
PORTLAND -- The Maine Heritage Policy Center, a Portland-based public policy think tank, has released the second publication in a new series dedicated to Fiscal Sanity in Maine. The new paper, "Cost per Degree: Measuring Inputs and Outputs at Maine's Public and Private Colleges," introduces a new way of analyzing higher education performance and efficiency in Maine and suggests possible cost saving reforms.
Jan 6, 2009 - 12:27:45 PM
State Wintry Mess Expected: Stay Tuned and Stay Safe
AUGUSTA -- The Maine Emergency Management Agency urges Mainers to put safety uppermost as a mixed wintry mess of weather moves through the State over the next few days.
Dec 10, 2008 - 6:38:47 PM
State MCLU Defends Privacy Rights of ATV Riders: Amicus Curiae Brief Argues For Fourth-Amendment Protection
PORTLAND -- Today, the Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation filed an amicus curiae brief with the Maine Law Court in support of the Fourth Amendment rights of All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) riders. The case, Maine v. McKeen, involved an ATV rider who was stopped by a game warden without justification. The State claimed that Maine statute authorizes game wardens to detain ATV riders for any reason, but the Superior Court in Aroostook County said that game wardens were bound by the Fourth Amendment prohibition on "unreasonable search and seizure." The State of Maine has appealed the order.
Nov 14, 2008 - 9:40:46 PM
State MCLU Investigates Maine Fusion Center, Calls for an End to Costly Bush-Era Surveillance Systems
PORTLAND -- In response to reports of significant domestic surveillance abuses across the country under the auspices of state-level "fusion centers", the Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation announced its investigation of Maine's fusion center, the Maine Information Analysis Center (MIAC) today. The MCLU seeks information to ascertain whether Maine's fusion center is complying with state and federal privacy laws and whether further civil liberties safeguards are needed.
Nov 12, 2008 - 2:45:54 PM
State Maine Leads, The Maine Heritage Policy Center Advance Three New Citizen Initiatives to Promote Economic Freedom in Maine
AUGUSTA -- Some 200,000 signatures were delivered to the Maine Secretary of State's Office today for three citizen initiatives championed by Maine Leads and The Maine Heritage Policy Center. Each initiative will appear on the November 2009 ballot, and would promote greater financial security and economic freedom for Maine families and businesses.
Nov 3, 2008 - 2:16:15 PM
State Local Church Holds "Campaign for Christ"
AUGUSTA -- The Augusta First Church of the Nazarene is in the midst of a "Campaign for Christ." Two-thousand palm cards along with 250 lawns signs are being disseminated across Maine's capitol city. This divine initiative is being administered by the Church's pastor, Kevin O'Brien, and Church board member, David A. Knorr.
Oct 28, 2008 - 10:16:51 PM
State USDA Requires Treatment for All Firewood From Canada to Protect Against Invasive Species
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today issued a federal order, effective immediately, requiring heat treatment for shipments of all firewood made of hardwood species entering the United States from Canada.
Oct 28, 2008 - 11:38:04 AM
State Penobscot County SWCD to Hold Elections for Board of Supervisors
BANGOR -- Persons desiring to run for the office of District Supervisor for the Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District should contact the District Office at 1423 Broadway, Suite #2, Bangor, ME 04401, telephone (207) 990-3676 to obtain nomination papers.
Sep 22, 2008 - 1:23:46 PM
State Study Finds Mainers Outgoing but Stressed
People in Maine tend to socialise more than many of their fellow-Americans, but are also often more stressed, new research from the University of Cambridge (UK) suggests.
Sep 11, 2008 - 7:01:00 AM
State Maine's Insurance Superintendent Faces A Critical Test
PORTLAND -- To date, Governor Baldacci's Dirigo Health experiment has been funded by estimated "Savings Offset Payments" (SOPs) collected as a tax on health claims. These wildly fluctuating figures are based on the theoretical savings that hospitals and doctors have passed along to insurance companies and individuals because of Dirigo Health's coverage of previously uninsured patients and its so-called cost containment regulations. The hearings before the Insurance Superintendent on the estimated "Savings Offset Payment" happen today, September 9, 2008.
Sep 9, 2008 - 10:42:02 AM
State $400,000 Budgeted for Maine Lighthouses Cared for by the American Lighthouse Foundation
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The American Lighthouse Foundation announced today that U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) have secured $400,000 in federal funding in the fiscal year 2009 Transportation-HUD spending bill as reported by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill will now go to the full Senate for its consideration.
Sep 3, 2008 - 12:51:21 PM
State Senator Doug Smith Seeks Reelection to the State Senate
AUGUSTA -- Senator Douglas M. Smith, a veteran Probate Judge, lawyer, and businessman, announced Friday that he is running for reelection to the State Senate in District 27, covering Piscataquis County and parts of Somerset and Penobscot Counties. He will be running for a second term.
Sep 1, 2008 - 2:40:25 PM
State Senator Doug Smith Joins Energy Task Force
AUGUSTA -- Senator Doug Smith (Piscataquis County) was chosen to join the newly formed Presiding Officer Emergency Energy Task Force. The task force was created by legislators to study and examine energy issues confronting the people of Maine.
Aug 28, 2008 - 11:59:26 AM
State Time Running Out For Disaster Buy-In Waiver
BANGOR -- Heidi Nelson, Acting County Executive Director of USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Penobscot and Hancock counties says producers who would otherwise be ineligible for the disaster assistance programs available through the 2008 Farm Bill have only a few weeks left to pay a fee so they can become eligible. The buy-in fee is due no later than Sept. 16, 2008, 90 days after the date of enactment, as required by the 2008 Farm Bill.
Aug 15, 2008 - 9:36:12 PM
State Genealogy Conference September 6, 2008
WINSLOW -- The 7th Annual Genealogy Conference will be held Saturday, September 6, at Winslow Congregational Church, on Lithgow Street, next to Taconnett Library.
Aug 12, 2008 - 10:54:24 AM
State Think Tank Comments on Maine's "Lower" Tax Burden
PORTLAND -- The Maine Heritage Policy Center, a non-partisan group that advocates a return to free-market principles to build long-term prosperity in Maine, includes tax burden rankings among many factors when studying the unsustainable levels of government spending in Maine.
Aug 8, 2008 - 10:07:54 AM
State Snowe, Collins Announce in $789,445 in Rural Business Enterprise Funding for Three Maine Organizations
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development program has granted $789,445 in funding for three Maine organizations. The grants will come from the Rural Development's Rural Business Enterprise Grant program.
Aug 7, 2008 - 10:03:23 PM
State 30,000+ Seniors, Veterans, People with Disabilities and Others Have Yet to Claim Federal Stimulus Checks
AUGUSTA -- There are 30,819 low-income seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities in Maine that have yet to claim their economic stimulus payments from the federal government, Maine Center for Economic Policy announced today. Residents have until October 15 to file a tax return in order to receive a stimulus payment. These payments could put a total of $9,245,700 into residents' hands and boost the local economy.
Aug 7, 2008 - 10:29:07 AM
State Help Put Pemaquid Point Lighthouse Over The Top
BRISTOL -- The JELD-WEN window and door company holds a lighthouse challenge each year. The lighthouse that wins the challenge gets new windows and doors installed courtesy of JELD-WEN. This year Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in Bristol, ME is one of the 12 finalists. Winning this challenge would certainly be a fitting tribute to the lighthouse on the 2003 quarter issued for the State of Maine. Currently Pemaquid is in sixth place and needs the help of everyone in Maine to help push it over the top.
Aug 7, 2008 - 10:20:16 AM
State Frary Calls for Northern Maine Oil Refinery
FARMINGTON -- Professor John Frary (R)Farmington, a candidate for US Congress, called today for a unified effort by Maine business and government to build an oil refinery at the former Loring AFB. "I've talked to a number of influential area leaders" said Frary "who are all very interested in the very real economic development potential to Northern Maine from a project like this. It's time. There hasn't been a new refinery built in the US in 30 years, so why not Maine, and why not now? The pipeline from Searsport ot Loring are already in place, the Loring facility is ripe for more development, and there is NO REASON for us to sit around twiddling our thumbs while Irving builds two refineries just over the border in Canada.
Aug 7, 2008 - 1:37:06 AM
