Author: Steve Robinson

As far as Chapter 11 First Day Pleadings go, the FTX filing is an entertaining read. I know this story isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and I know a lot of retail investors lost a ton of money… but it’s a massive scandal that touches some of the most powerful people on the planet, from Silicon Valley leftists to academia to the Washington, D.C. elite. As you read this document, remember that FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was a D.C. darling. Regulators were poised to give FTX special status, an effective regulatory moat, that would have allowed FTX a virtual monopoly…

A London-based international non-profit has suspended its “sustainability” certification for the Maine lobstering industry over concerns about whales getting tangled up in fishing gear. The Marine Stewardship Council’s decertification of the Maine lobster is yet another escalation of the regulatory battle Maine lobstermen have been fighting all year long, as the federal government seeks to impose harsh new regulations on the industry and left-wing non-profits level accusations over threats to whales. House Minority Leader Rep. Bill Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor), a lobsterman, said MSC’s decision was an act of left-wing environmentalism that has no basis in science. “The decision by…

Congress is back in Washington, D.C., and so it’s back to business as usual. On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called for legal amnesty for every illegal alien present in the United States, including a pathway to citizenship. “Now more than ever, we’re short of workers,” he said. “We have a population that’s not reproducing on its own with the same level that it used to. The only way we’re going to have a great future in America is if we welcome and embrace immigrants.” “The DREAMers and all of them. Because our ultimate goal is to help…

Several Republican Members of Congress are escalating calls for a forensic audit of U.S. military and non-military aid to Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February. Those calls for transparency come as President Joe Biden’s White House just asked the U.S. Congress for another $37 billion for the war in Ukraine. But is an audit of all that aid, which includes not just cash transfers but loans, military equipment, and humanitarian supplies, even possible? To begin with, we need to answer a simpler question: how much money has the U.S. government sent to Ukraine? Try Googling the question to find…

Samuel Bankman-Fried’s bankrupt and scandal-plagued cryptocurrency empire gave $18.25 million to early COVID-19 researchers whose findings cast doubt on the benefits of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine for patients with COVID-19. The FTX Foundation provided initial funding worth $3.25 million and followed it with another $15 million grant, according to a press release issued May 16. “The FTX Foundation is excited to commit $15 million to funding additional trial arms in the TOGETHER Trial and its growing global network of sister trials,” said Ross Rheingans-Yoo, from the FTX Foundation. “Our initial $3.25 million grant to expand the trial network’s core infrastructure has helped bring the model from Brazil to…

The National Education Association (NEA), America’s second largest teachers’ union, set off a firestorm over the weekend with a tweet that said unionized teachers at government-run schools are the best and final authority on what’s best for children. https://twitter.com/NEAToday/status/1591587398109929473?s=20&t=nn8KnYLN9WjzVpuvPaVgHg The tweet may be an innocent quip from some social media intern, but it points to a broader divide between supporters of government-run schools and parents who are increasingly concerned with what’s being taught in the classroom. The teachers unions are a powerful political force in Maine and across the nation. Every election cycle, the teachers’ unions spend tens of millions…

The New York Federal Reserve Bank has entered a partnership with major global banks to test the concept of a digital dollar, according to a Reuters report Tuesday. The NY Fed’s “Innovation Center” will join Citigroup, Mastercard, Wells Fargo, HSBC, and other major financial players to run tests in a simulated environment. That might all sound like gobbledygook to you, but you should be paying attention. Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) constitute the single greatest threat to the future of economic liberty in our lifetimes. These tools, which come dressed as fancy financial innovations, are inimical to the principles of…

An authoritarian government that in recent years has cracked down on firearm ownership and cutoff political dissidents from the financial system is now pushing mentally ill citizens into physician assisted suicide. I’m not talking about some dystopian future government or a third-world dictatorship. I’m talking about Canada. More specifically, Justin Trudeau’s Canada. Next year, Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program will begin allowing citizens to be considered eligible for state-sanctioned euthanasia when their only underlying medical condition is mental illness. Under the law, a doctor or nurse practitioner is allowed to dispense lethal medication if the mentally ill patient…

Former Secretary of State Matt Dunlap is making another run at the position of State Auditor after he was forced to resign the post in 2021 when he failed to acquire the credentials necessary to hold the position. When Dunlap was first sworn into the job in 2021, state law provided him 9 months to become a certified public accountant, which he needed to do in order to keep the position. Dunlap failed the CPA tests, so Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Allagash) appointed Jacob Norton to keep the seat warm while he took another stab at the exam. Now, Norton…

At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) asked FBI Director Christopher Wray point blank whether the bureau had confidential sources or FBI employees (i.e. undercover agents) embedded with the crowd of Trump supporters during the January 6, 2021 riot at Capitol Hill. https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1592546346866823168 Wray refused to answer the question, instead saying he can’t comment on where FBI sources and employees might have been that day. He did, however, assure Higgins that FBI sources and agents had no role whatsoever in instigating the wide scale trespassing that occurred that day. President Donald Trump, whose actions…

The New York Times managed to get what is right now the hottest interview in the world: Sam Bankman-Fried, the embattled tech tycoon whose financial empire came crashing down last week amid allegations of fraud, misuse of customer funds, and widespread incompetence and treachery. Yet, after getting the man at the center of one of the greatest financial scandals in history on the phone, the New York Times reporter wrote story that made him seem like a down-on-his-luck entrepreneur who, through no fault of his own, had stumbled on hard times. It’s an embarrassing story to have written, but sadly…

Sam Bankman-Fried is a name you’re going to hear a lot about over the next year – and rightly so. The implosion of his cryptocurrency empire is like if Enron and Bernie Madoff had a baby, and that baby became the 2nd largest Democratic Party donor on his 2nd birthday while partnering with the World Economic Forum and the Bank of Ukraine. Bankman-Fried – or SBF for short – saw his net worth collapse by 94 percent or more last week when his cryptocurrency firms (FTX and FTX US) and trading company (Alameda Research) turned out to be shambolic ponzi…

The cost for a gallon of heating oil in Maine has hit a record high. Mainers should expect to pay an average of $5.71 per gallon for number two heating oil and $7.07 per gallon of kerosene, according to Gov. Janet Mills’ energy office. That’s the highest price in three decades for home heating fuel in Maine, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which keeps price records going back to 1990. Most Mainers will need about 1,000 gallons to get through the winter, which works out to $5,710 dollars. That’s an increase of more than $2550 over what the…

The Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) on Nov. 7 voted to dismiss a Woolwhich transgender student’s complaint of discrimination against the University of Southern Maine (USM). That complaint alleged that USM discriminated against Ann Casavant by offering an optional health insurance product to students that did not initially cover transgender health care services, including an Adam’s Apple reduction surgery and voice feminization treatments. At the Nov. 7 meeting, Casavant’s mother and attorney reiterated the case against USM. USM’s attorney, Deirdre Salsich, restated USM’s rationale for appealing MHRC investigator Courtney Burne’s original conclusion, which found that USM had discriminated against Casavant.…

The former executive director of Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy left state government this year to start a new joint helping pot businesses navigate the same regulations he helped develop. Erik Gundersen, a native of Bangor, left his state job behind in October to form ERG Strategies LLC. He is also employed as a senior adviser to Cannabis Public Policy Consulting. Gundersen’s no greenhorn to the marijuana industry. He worked as senior policy advisor to former House Speaker Sara Gideon in 2017 and 2018, where he influenced the Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on Marijuana Legalization and Implementation. From there, Gov.…

Maine Republicans have already decided on who will lead the 13-member Republican caucus in the State Senate, but the contest to decide who will become Minority Leader in the House of Representatives is going to be a bit messier. Right now, four Reps have thrown their hats in the ring: Billy Bob Faulkingham, Laurel Libby, Mike Lemelin, and Josh Morris. Faulkingham, a lobsterman from Winter Harbor, has spent much of the last year in the spotlight thanks to the ongoing federal assault on the lobstering industry. He’s a portrait of the Downeast blue-collar guy, a 6th generation lobsterman who got…

President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, which many viewed as an illegal ploy to court millennial voters, has gone up in flames after a federal judge ruled that the program was an unlawful encroachment on Congress’ authority. US District Judge Mark Pittman said the program, which was done without the consent of Congress, was unconstitutional. “In this country, we are not ruled by an all-powerful executive with a pen and a phone,” Pittman wrote. “Instead, we are ruled by a Constitution that provides for three distinct and independent branches of government.” The Biden administration had been sending out emails…

Sam Bankman-Fried, known in the cryptocurrency community simply as SBF, became a poster child for the industry after he cozied up to Washington, D.C. regulators and spent a whopping $39.8 million on Democratic political campaigns. The doughy geek even said on a podcast earlier this year his “soft ceiling” for spending cash to help Democrats get elected was $1 billion. Now, instead of help liberals fight for office, he’s fighting to stay solvent — and perhaps out of a jail cell. SBF’s crypto firm filed for bankruptcy Friday after he resigned as CEO following a whirlwind week that saw his…

Senators-elect Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) and Lisa Keim (R-Oxford) have been elected to leadership positions in the 13-member Republican Senate caucus. Both are wildly popular within their districts and won the leadership spots unopposed. Keim won re-election Tuesday with 62 percent of the vote in her district, while Stewart won with 70 percent. Keim has been in the Maine Senate since 2016 and this is Stewart’s second term. Outgoing Senate Minority Leaders Sen. Jeff Timberlake (R-Androscoggin) and Sen. Matt Pouliot (R-Kennebec) both supported the new leaders. The pair will have their work cut out for them as they lead a small…

Less than two days after the 2022 midterm elections, the paper of record for the American left is already signaling the start of a push to bring child masking back into public schools. The story published Thursday morning looks at an experiment in the Boston school system where one school imposed masks on children while another did not. “The bottom line: Masking mandates were linked with significantly reduced numbers of Covid cases in schools,” reporter Roni Caryn Rabin writes. The study appeared on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. In Maine, only four people under the age of…

Maine Gov. Janet Mills was ecstatic Tuesday night after it appeared she’d sailed to victory over former Republican Gov. Paul LePage to win a second term in the Blaine House. Amid her victory speech, something odd happened: a phone call from U.S. Sen. Angus King, who is unenrolled but who caucuses with and endorses Democrats, including Mills. Political watchers immediately flagged video of Mills taking the call on stage for The Maine Wire. Curiously, Mills never looks down at her phone before announcing to the crowd that it is “Angus” calling. Mills sister immediately steps in to say, “Oh, is…

The Lewiston Sun Journal’s Steve Collins wrote a gushing profile about a young Lewiston community organizer, Mana Hared Abdi, who won an unopposed election for the State House of Representatives. Collins, who last year won the prestigious Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year award, failed to mention that his son Kiernan Innes Majerus-Collins, was Abdi’s campaign treasurer. https://twitter.com/thekiernanmc/status/1552307416745795588 “One of the stars of Lewiston’s immigrant community, 26-year-old community organizer Mana Abdi, won election Tuesday to a state House seat that will make her the first Somali-American lawmaker in Augusta,” said Collins. Collins describes another member of the immigrant community…

President Joe Biden gave the green light Wednesday to federal authorities to begin investigating Elon Musk following his acquisition of Twitter, a social media platform that is influential due to its use by almost every member of the news media. “I think that Elon Musk’s cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at,” Biden told reporters at the White House. “Whether or not he is doing anything inappropriate — I’m not suggesting that — I’m suggesting it’s worth being looked at. And that’s all I’ll say,” he continued. Biden’s comments lend the Commander-in-Chief’s stamp of…

Less than 24 hours after the polls closed on Election Day, the surviving House Republicans have already begun throwing their hats in the ring for minority leadership positions. First in: Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) and Rep. Josh Morris (R-Turner). [RELATED: 2022 Autopsy: Maine Republicans Need Fundamental Transformation and New Leaders…]See their announcement emails below:

The Maine State Police arrested 56-year-old Jason Follette on Wednesday in connection with the sexual assault of a now 47-year-old woman in Hancock that has gone unsolved for more than 25 years ago. The arrest was made possible by genetic testing equipment that was not available to law enforcement in 1996 at the time of the assault. The then-21-year-old victim was sexually assaulted in her Hancock apartment on August 11, 1996. According to MSP, evidence collected at the scene of the crime that day allowed them to obtain a warrant for an unidentified male in 2002. More recently, the DNA…

It’s difficult to overstate just how horrible last night went for Maine Republicans. Truly, the 2022 Maine elections will go down in history as one of the most humiliating defeats ever suffered by the Maine Republicans. For the next two years, Republicans in Augusta will be mere spectators to one-party rule. A few days ago, they were plotting which of them would ascend to Speaker of the House, but now the few GOPers who remain are an endangered species, operating an insurgency from remote outposts in the Great North Woods and Aroostook County. At times like these, it’s traditional and…

The Maine Republican Party lost early, often, and everywhere Tuesday despite predictions of nationwide backlash against an unpopular president and the Democrat Party. Republican Gov. Paul LePage fell to incumbent Democrat Janet Mills, 42.9 to 55. Former Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin lost outright to incumbent Democrat Jared Golden (ME-CD2), 48.7 to 44.5, and Republican long shot Ed Thelander lost to Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME-CD1), 62.6 to 37.4. Republicans in Augusta suffered similar defeats, flipping a few seats but failing to retake either House. When the dust settles, Maine Democrats may even gain a seat in the Senate. The implications of…

The Maine Democratic Socialists of America viewed Portland as a proving ground for progressive city reforms, but even the overwhelmingly Democrat city rejected most of the socialist proposals. City voters rejected an $18 per hour minimum wage increase that also eliminated the tip credit for restaurant workers. And the city blocked new limits on short-term rentals like Airbnb and VRBO. The one socialist victory came by way of rent control. Billed as “tenant protection,” the initiative will impose strict rent controls pegged to the Consumer Price Index. Annual rental increases will now be limited to 70 percent of CPI rather…

UPDATE 10:26 pm: A disappointing night for Republicans across the state of Maine. State Senate and House races will be some of the last ones called this evening, and those races will determine the next two years of Maine politics. Mills enters a second term with a commanding victory of LePage, but if Republicans came manage to win a majority in the House, Mills could face for the first time a legislature that isn’t eager to do her bidding. A Republican House could also upend the elections for constitutional officers. UPDATE 10:20 pm: Gov. Janet Mills will win a second…

UPDATE: Republicans Blake Masters and Kari Lake have filed suit against Maricopa County to keep the polls open following ballot machine errors this morning which slowed voting. An Election Day disaster is unfolding for election officials in Maricopa County, Arizona, where voters are casting ballots in a widely watched gubernatorial race and a pivotal Senate race that may decided the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. Maricopa County, the largest county in Arizona, began seeing issues early this morning as ballot tabulating machines started malfunctioning. Voters reported an inability to cast their ballots and confusion on the part of…

The national Democratic Party is staring down a wave election that could see its majorities in the House and Senate swept away. An unpopular president, beset by economic malaise and high inflation, is unlikely to run for re-election. The all-powerful House Speaker is signaling readiness for retirement. The vaunted rise of the post-Dobbs abortion voter may not materialize. In former Democratic strongholds, like New York, Republicans are on the offensive. So what’s the communications strategy on the eve of Election Day? Enter: The Red Mirage. The late radio host Rush Limbuagh used to be an expert at noticing when talking…

One of the most watched U.S. Senate contests is playing out in Pennsylvania, where Democratic candidate and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman faces Republican celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz. On the eve of Election Day, Fetterman’s campaign joined a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Secretary of State arguing that mail-in ballots with no date or incorrect dates should be counted just like any other ballot. The campaign is asking a federal judge to quickly rule that election officials count tens of thousands of so-called spoiled ballots. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled last week such ballots should not be counted and should instead be…

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, in response to increasing home heating prices and dropping temperatures, has eased air pollution rules concerning the importation of non-low sulfur kerosene. However, Mills is hedging her bets on whether she’ll also bend the rules for the import of non-low sulfur No. 2 heating oil. According to an Oct. 31 guidance memo issued to Maine kerosene importers and distributors, the Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection has re-interpreted laws regulating air pollution to allow for kerosene with a higher sulfur content than previously allowed to be imported into the state. Jeffrey S. Crawford, director of the Bureau…

The New York Times, just a few days before Florida’s gubernatorial election, dug deep into incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ background for some titillating hearsay from people who knew him when he was a schoolteacher at a private school. “At a private school 20 years ago, the future Florida governor was a popular history teacher and coach,” reads the report. “But some students were taken aback by his comments on the Civil War and abortion.” Yikes! You hear that? Some students were… taken aback. In more than 1,500 words, NYT crack scribes Frances Robles and Patricia Mazzei plow deep into…

A major national think tank that promotes left-wing policies is warning Democrats that the Democratic Party is out of touch with voters on key issues, unpopular, and far too extreme. Third Way, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank created in 2015, published a clarion call Monday warning Democrat voters and party insiders that the groups research shows Democratic politicians are failing to tap into voter angst over the economy, inflation, and immigration. Further, the group suggests that the issues that have dominated Democratic party messaging heading into the 2022 election. On issues like the economy, Third Way’s polling finds voters trust…

Taxpayer funding for Out Maine, a far left nonprofit group, increased significantly during Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ first term as governor, tax documents show.  Out Maine, a Rockland-based organization, reported receiving more than $215,000 in taxpayer money in 2020, according to the organization’s most recent Form 990. The group also reported income worth more than $37,000 on “training and youth registration fees” as well as $485,000 in private contributions. Taxpayer dollars flowing to Out Maine have increased every year since 2016, the first year it reported receiving government funding. In 2019, the group got $112,690 in government grants. In 2018,…

Maine school kids have been receiving their very own Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards as the result of Pandemic Era programs under the U.S. Department of Agriculture aimed at ameliorating child hunger. Although the final benefits for 2022 were supposed to have been issued in September, at least one parent says their 9 and 12 years olds came home with fresh EBT cards this week. According to the State website, Maine has been authorized to issue the P-EBT cards to children under the age of 6. Eligibility for the EBT cards is determined by enrollment in the Supplement Nutritional Assistance…

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills doubled down Thursday on her mandate that healthcare workers in Maine get the COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of working the state. In August of 2021, the Mills Administration declared that all healthcare workers would have to get the experimental mRNA injections or else be fired from their jobs by Oct. 1, 2021. Unlike mandates in other states and municipalities, Mills rejected exemptions for religious reasons. [RELATED: Fight Over Mills’ Vax Mandate for Health Care Workers Lingers…] At the time, there was little evidence that the vaccine limited transmission of the virus, yet stopping the spread…

Moderators in Thursday’s gubernatorial debate for some reason spent 4.5 minutes on the subject of the “gender pay gap” but failed to mention that Democratic Gov. Janet Mills pays her female staffers less than her male staffers. https://twitter.com/TheMaineWire/status/1588531667425116160 The Maine Wire’s analysis of state payroll data revealed a glaring gap between the pay men and women working for Mills receive. “We’re doing a lot to try and equalize the pay,” Mills said. As Governor, she has control over the salaries paid to employees working in her office. Although progressives use the gender pay gap as a rhetorical device to attack…

Gov. Janet Mills said in a debate Thursday Maine needs more asylum seekers and refugees in order to provide businesses with labor. “Do I encourage them to come? Interesting question. I haven’t done anything to encourage or discourage them. But we have tried to make Maine a welcoming place,” said Mills. “Because, look, I go around the state of Maine and business tell me what they need is more workers. These people have work credentials, they have experience, we need them to be here to work,” she said. https://twitter.com/TheMaineWire/status/1588562577743052800 Under federal law, only those granted asylum status and permanent residency…

The Portland Press Herald, Maine’s largest newspaper, filed an op-ed Sunday advocating the curious position that politicians have no control over monetary inflation, so voters shouldn’t concern themselves with complicated ideas like the destruction of the U.S. dollar’s value. “When we act as if elected officials have responsibility for the host of economic variables that got us here,” the Herald’s editorial writers inveigh, assumably with their eyes closed, noses in the air, “we let the ungovernable distract us from the governable.” Inflation, in the distinguished editorial board’s view, is something like an earthquake or a lightning strike, a natural phenomenon…

Opponents of Gov. Janet Mills’ COVID-19 vaccination mandate for Maine health care workers are vowing to continue fighting the policy, even if it means arguing the case before the Supreme Court, the same court that has twice thwarted attempts to halt or challenge the mandate. Liberty Counsel, a non-profit that litigates in defense of religious liberty and is representing several plaintiffs in Maine, thinks the tide is turning against mandates as governments and other organizations increasingly back away from mandates and restore fired employees. “Those who enforced vaccination mandates in Maine or in any place should be very concerned,” said…

Mainers will find the State’s heating assistance program difficult to navigate this heating season because long waitlists, bureaucratic handwringing, and delays in the creation of an online application portal. The Maine Wire’s investigation of the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) program found that the non-profit agencies administering the program in partnership with the Maine House Authority rarely answer the phones, often don’t return phone calls, and, when they do, appointments to determine eligibility for the program can’t happen for three months or more. The application process was supposed to be an easy online experience following an emergency bill passed in…

Parents read from a sexually explicit LGBT-themed book found in Maine’s schools in a new ad from Maine Families First PAC airing online and on TV stations in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. The ad began airing last night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=5-Sb9QooKBE&feature=youtu.be “I’m actually horrified that this is in our schools,” says one parent. “It’s not the schools’ job to introduce pornography to our children,” says another. In the finally days of the gubernatorial contest between former Gov. Paul LePage and Gov. Janet Mills, the ad draws a direct line between the graphic books popping up in Maine schools in recent years and…

Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said Wednesday that “woke” doctors who are “mutilating” minors should lose their medical licenses, be cut off from federal funding, and sent to prison. https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1587763851314929666 Although Gabbard doesn’t specify which procedures she’s talking about, it’s pretty clear the tweet is aimed at doctors who perform surgeries related to gender transitions. Such surgeries have exploded in popularity in the last decade, with many cosmetic surgeons in the country specializing in so-called “gender affirming care.” Gabbard, a former Democrat from Hawaii and a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, has regularly drawn attention for opinions that…

Former Republican President Donald Trump is preparing to launch his 2024 campaign for president after next week’s midterm elections, according to a report from the Associated Press. “Aides to the former president are making quiet preparations for a 2024 presidential campaign that could be launched soon after next week’s midterm elections as Trump tries to capitalize on expected Republican wins to propel himself toward becoming the front-runner for his party’s nomination,” wrote AP. Whether Trump will pull the trigger on another run for the White House has been the subject of intense speculation by Republican voters and conservative media. Florida Gov. Ron…

Members of a commission in Augusta are proposing the creation of a new rental assistance welfare program that would cost Maine taxpayers more than $182 million per year — or $500,000 per day. The push for a new state welfare program comes as funding for the federally funded Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program expires at the end of November. The program, which began under former President Donald Trump and was funded again under President Joe Biden, sent more than $270 million to landlords and hotel operators to help renters remain sheltered during the government lockdowns. Now that ERA recipients are…

Maine Gov. Janet Mills spent more than $500,000 to mail physical checks, rather than make $850 instant electronic deposits, so she could also include a signed letter taking credit for the payments days before Election Day. “You — the people of Maine — are our greatest asset, and I will always fight for you,” Mills wrote in the letter. The campaign-style mailer on official letterhead also touts what the governor claims are indications Maine’s economy is recovering from the government lockdowns and encourages recipients of the letter to find out whether they qualify for other forms of government assistance. Republicans…

If it’s brown, it’s down! Maine’s 2021 hunting season resulted in plenty of overstuffed deep freezers, according to the new report from Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW). Maine hunters bagged 21,697 whitetail bucks and 11,066 whitetail does in 2021, according to MDIFW. Another 3,313 adolescent males and 2,871 adolescent females were tagged. Archers accounted for 3,124 adult deer and muzzleloaders took down 1,595, while the vast majority were dropped with regular firearms: 33,177. According to the results of a survey MDIFW sends out to hunting license holders, Maine hunters reported spending more than 7 days hunting for…

The Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program, a short-term program designed to protect Maine renters from the economic harm caused by government lockdowns, will run out of funding in November. “Based on our current estimates we believe program funding will expire by the end of November 2022,” MaineHousing Communications Director Scott Thistle said in an email Thursday. Under the ERA, Mainers could apply to receive government support to pay unpaid rent and ongoing support keeping current with payments. More than 33,000 people in Maine took advantage of the program, which ensured that landlords didn’t have to deal with widespread evictions in…

The Maine Department of Corrections (DOC) had employees take an hour off of work on Thursday for a lecture from a little-known left-wing activist, and they’re refusing to answer questions about whether the event was mandatory and how much it cost the taxpayers. Roy King, a diversity equity and inclusion manager for the DOC, last Monday said he would talk with The Maine Wire by phone about the jail system inviting activist Nick Wagner to speak with employees. The phone didn’t ring. Instead, King later referred us to Anna Black. Questions submitted to Black about whether attendance for the left-wing…

Maine Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, told college students Sunday widespread and increasing inflation of the U.S. dollar was a distraction and a Republican talking point, according to audio obtained and circulated by the Maine Republican Party. “I watched Meet the Press this morning, and more talk about: ‘Well now Republicans have this inflation issue’ — people, it’s a distraction,” Mills told an audience at Bates College in Lewiston. “They’re distracting people from the issues they really want to vote on when they get in office,” she said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJsLhCODrFI The audio appears to be edited, but Mills’ statement is easily…

Former Gov. Paul LePage and State Sen. Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) are calling for an investigation into whether a phone call from former State Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook) played a role in potato mogul Sue McCrum’s decision to drop out of a State Senate race in March 2020. McCrum, whose husband Jay is the owner of Penobscot McCrum, a major potato processor in Aroostook County, has never publicly said why she left that race on March 6, 2020 less than 24 hours after filing to run. But the move has kindled rumor, speculation, and whispered conversations from The County to…

Hillary R. Clinton, former U.S. Senator, U.S. Secretary of State, and candidate for President of the United States, cut a video promoting the Maine Democratic Socialists of America’s Portland minimum wage ballot initiative for a Twitter account with 57 followers. The 45 second Twitter video featuring Clinton was posted to social media on Thursday and has received less than 4,000 views. The video was also posted to a Maine DSA “Youtube Shorts” account. Although users can’t see how many views the short got on the 27-subscriber YouTube channel, the endorsement did get six “likes.” https://twitter.com/onefairwageme/status/1585754144819728386 On Election Day, residents of…

Maine Gov. Janet Mills reversed her position on mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for school children Thursday night during her third debate with former Republican Gov. Paul LePage. On Monday night, when asked whether she supported mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for school children, Mills left open the possibility that she would impose mandates after the elections. “No, not at this time,” she said, in response to a question about imposing the mandates. https://twitter.com/TheMaineWire/status/1584701370980237313 During Thursday night’s debate, Mills struck a markedly different message, in substance and tone. “No, because it’s still emergency use authorization,” she said, when asked a similar question. She did…

It’s a genuine Aroostook County Mystery: What happened to Sue McCrum, the matriarch of the powerful Penobscot McCrum potato empire, that led her to drop out of the District 2 State Senate race just 24 hours after she filed papers to run? On March 5, 2020, McCrum filed to enter the race. Before her paperwork had even appeared on the state ethics website, she’d already terminated her candidacy. For more than two years there have been questions and speculation surrounding McCrum’s aborted candidacy, and the real story is, as several political insiders told me, an open secret in The County. That secret has been…

Despite home heating oil prices surging to about $5.40 per gallon, Maine Gov. Janet Mills told a few dozen University of Maine students this week that she opposes increasing domestic oil and natural gas exploration. “I don’t think the answer to the crisis here is to give them more money or to drill for more oil,” Mills told a small rally in Orono. The comments were recorded by the Maine Republican Party and uploaded to Facebook. Mills’ comments mirror those made by President Joe Biden during his 2020 campaign for office. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slszva6kk90 Biden said numerous times that he wanted to…

The University of Southern Maine is headed before the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) on Monday, Nov. 7 to appeal charges of discrimination because it offered a student from midcoast Maine an optional health insurance plan that did not cover “voice feminization” treatments. “The University of Maine System has appealed the decision and will appear before the commission on Nov. 7,” Margaret Nagle, interim director of communications for the University of Maine System said in an email. “UMS does not comment on pending investigations,” she said. The student who filed the original complaint against USM underwent two cosmetic procedures in…

In both of the gubernatorial debates, Republican Gov. Paul LePage has brought up changes to Maine’s fentanyl trafficking laws made under Gov. Janet Mills and the Democrat-controlled state legislature. On Monday, Mills said it was “just a lie” to suggest that fentanyl trafficking rules were softened under her watch. Here’s the transcript from that moment during the debate: LEPAGE: Under her administration, you can have nearly 2,000 doses of fentanyl and that’s considered personal use, it’s not a felony, it’s been decriminalized. MILLS: That’s just not true. I mean, that is just a lie. So what’s the truth? The law…

Let me say at the beginning, Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman deserves very little of the blame for what happened last night on the debate stage with Republican candidate Mehmet Oz. Fetterman is clearly incapacitated and not capable of making decisions. The blame for the train wreck last night in Philadelphia rests squarely on his wife, Gisele Fetterman, and the cabal of Democratic consultants who have continued to push him forward as someone capable of holding the office of U.S. Senate. They have exploited Fetterman out of a craven lust for power. For those of you who haven’t been following…

With the 2022 midterm elections already underway in most parts of the country, thanks to early voting, President Joe Biden’s unconstitutional unilateral student loan bailout application is landing in former students email inboxes in Maine and across the country. It’s vote buying, plain and simple. Naked, audacious vote buying. All financed by more debt piled onto future generations of middle and lower class workers. Biden has taken to claiming he worked with Congress to get the plan passed, but that is a lie. He did not. This was an unprecedented executive action. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was the brainchild of…

Maine Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) joined her fellow members of the Congressional Progressive Congress in signing a now-retracted letter to President Joe Biden that one of her fellow Democratic Members of Congress described as an “olive branch to a war criminal.” The letter Pingree signed urges President Biden to enter direct negotiations with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin as he continues to persecute a war in Ukraine. “[W]e urge you to make vigorous diplomatic efforts in support of a negotiated settlement and ceasefire,” the letter said. The Progressive Caucus retracted the letter within hours, but the proverbial cat was already out…

Former Scarborough Schools Superintendent Julie R. Kukenberger has another acrimonious school departure in her wake as she leaves her job with the Melrose, Mass. public schools. “The School Committee has been notified that Superintendent Julie Kukenberger will not seek a successor contract with the Melrose Public Schools beyond the current year,” Melrose School Committee Chair Jen McAndrew wrote in a letter to fellow committee members Tuesday. Kukenberger, who has worked in education since 2005, was the superintendent of the Scarborough Schools from 2016-2019 and the interim superintendent in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District. In the spring of 2020, she won…

As Maine retail heating oil prices surge to $5.43 per gallon and some market analysts predict rationing, Maine’s oil dealers say Gov. Janet Mills could ease pressure on Maine families this winter by issuing a waiver to allow them to import and sell non-low sulphur products, which have been banned in Maine since July 2018. Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, told Bloomberg Monday that fuel oil wholesalers are putting retailers on allocation, which limits the amount of fuel they can obtain and in turn constrains the amount of fuel they can deliver to customers. The move…

It was a small moment with big implications. Last night during the second major gubernatorial debate, Maine Gov. Janet Mills said that she does not support imposing a vaccine mandate on Maine school children “at this time.” https://twitter.com/TheMaineWire/status/1584701370980237313 Mills did not elaborate, nor did the moderator ask her too. But the implication is clear: Mills is leaving the door open to impose vaccine mandates on Maine schools after Election Day. The comment follows last week’s vote by Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah in support of adding the controversial COVID-19 shots to the federal schedule of vaccinations. Shah, who is a…

Government lockdowns following the COVID-19 outbreak caused unprecedented declines in American students’ math and reading test scores, according to new findings from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” the NAEP report is the Department of Education’s biennial measure of the health and effectiveness of American schools as measured by student performance. This year’s report is bleak. Math and reading scores fell significantly in almost every state from 2019 to 2022, according to the report. Reading scores dropped to the lowest level in three decades, while nearly 40 percent of eighth graders could not…

A conservative political action committee on Sunday announced a $600,000 TV ad buy to draw attention to the inclusion of left-wing, hyper-sexualized books in Maine’s public school classrooms and libraries. The ad connects those books directly to the policies of Maine Gov. Janet Mills. Maine Families First PAC’s 30-second television advertisement features “Gender Queer” — a controversial illustrated novel the ad describes as “a graphic, explicit, how-to manual on gay sex.” “While Maine’s students’ scores plummet, Janet Mills distributes books like gender queer that are so pornographic this station cannot show you what’s inside,” the ad’s narrator says. According to…

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced a total ban on the sale of handguns in the country, including private transfers between individuals. “The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced the national freeze on the sale, purchase, and transfer of handguns comes into effect,” said a statement on the Prime Minister’s website. The action is not the product of a legislative process but rather a regulation promulgated by the Trudeau government. The move marks an escalation of Trudeau’s authoritarian streak, following his government’s crackdown on pro-liberty activists in the Freedom Convoy. In February, those activists descended on the nation’s…

Maine Center for Disease Control (MCDC) Director Nirav D. Shah on Thursday joined fellow members of the federal Center for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (CDC’s ACIP) voting 15-0 to support the addition of COVID-19 vaccinations to the federal schedule of child and adolescent vaccinations. The controversial move adds to the national debate over whether vaccines should mandated for public school children. But Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Shah, state health officials, and the Department of Education won’t say whether they’ll support or oppose adding the vaccine to the schedule of shots children are required to get in order…

Boston Globe sports writer Ben Volin told the low-rated WEEI morning radio show “someone that would know” told him everyone in the New England Patriots organization hates Mac Jones. The alleged journalist appears to be the victim of a dastardly DMing trickster. https://twitter.com/TheGregHillShow/status/1582722953602826241 Host Greg Hill and his producer pressed Volin hard on where the information came from after he made the initial claim about Mac Jones’ reputation within the broader Pats organization. Volin appeared to backpedal, but by the end of the segment he confirmed that the person who sent the DM was “someone who would know” — appearing…

The Oxford Hills school board provisionally approved new rules for the district on Monday that will require school officials to withhold information about changes to a child’s “gender identity” from parents. The proposed rules will also require school officials to coach students on how to keep details of gender identity changes secret from parents by avoiding official paperwork that would trigger record changes, thereby opening up the information for parental inspection as allowed under federal law. The new policy includes the following (emphasis added): “In case of a student who has not yet informed their parent(s)/guardian(s), the administrator shall first…

Maine, and the rest of New England, may face energy blackouts this winter due to sky prices for liquified natural gas (LNG) imports, New England’s power grid manager has warned. “The most challenging aspect of this winter is what’s happening around the world and the extreme volatility in the markets,” ISO New England COO Vamsi Chadalavada told the Wall Street Journal. At the time this post was written, natural gas supplied 37 percent of New England’s electricity, up from an average of 15 percent in 2000, according to ISO New England, which manages the New England power grid and provides…

Gray-New Gloucester Middle School Teacher Ann Cook’s politically charged conversation with an 8th grader, first reported on by The Maine Wire, was unacceptable and unkind, MSAD 15 School Board Chairman Sam Pfeifle said Monday. “I’m disappointed,” Pfeifle said in a phone interview. “It’s clearly unacceptable for a teacher to be saying those things to students in their classroom. It doesn’t follow our controversial topics policy. I don’t think it follows our mission. I don’t think it’s kind.” “We try to lead with love and kindness,” Pfeifle said. Pfeifle said that due to privacy laws the district can’t always be fully…

The State Representative from New Gloucester on Monday called on MSAD 15 officials to launch an investigation into allegations that a middle school teacher at Gray-New Gloucester Middle School discussed her sexuality with an 8th grade student. Audio secretly recorded by the student revealed that resource room instructor Ann Cook had subjected the student to a one-sided political rant filled with questionable claims and left-wing opinions. The parent who provided the recording to The Maine Wire said his child also told him that Cook had conversations about her own sexuality with the child and showed the child confidential files on…

More than 120 Republican candidates for the Maine State House and Senate vowed Monday to oust Attorney General Aaron Frey if the Republican Party takes control of the State Legislature in November. The pledge follows his refusal to sue the federal government in defense of Maine’s lobstering industry. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a federal environmental regulatory agency within the Commerce Department, has proposed whale entanglement rules that the lobstering industry says will be expensive and unproductive, harming Maine’s lobstermen while doing little more to protect wildlife. Opposition to the rule has engulfed Maine’s state and federal elections,…

AUGUSTA – Maine Gov. Janet Mills’s male employees are making more money than their female counterparts, according to The Maine Wire’s analysis of employee wage and benefits data for last year. The top 15 highest earning male employees made an average of $115,055 in total compensation, while the top 15 highest earning female employees made, on average, only $110,437. If you take the median compensation for both sexes but only for employees making more than Maine’s annual minimum wage, the median male makes $106,200 and the median female makes $91,003 – a gap of $15,197. (See an important note about…

Shocking audio obtained by The Maine Wire reveals a Maine public school teacher subjecting a student to a racially charged political rant and telling the middle schooler his conservative parents only support former President Donald Trump because they are uneducated. The audio, which was recorded in April, features the voice of Ann Cook, a resource room instructor for Gray-New Gloucester Middle School. It was recorded in secret by a middle school student who was concerned with some of the conversations he had had with Cook, including conversations about her and other students’ sexuality. In the audio, the teacher tells the…

Maine’s congressional delegation has voted to increase funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) by more than $6 billion under Democratic President Joe Biden, according to an analysis by The Maine Wire. NOAA has come under increased scrutiny in Maine as the result of a series of regulatory actions aimed at limiting lobster fishing in the Gulf of Maine. Maine’s lobstering industry, already pressed by low prices for their catch, has been raising hell at public meetings. The recent NOAA spending increases were contained in the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill, Biden’s massive infrastructure spending bill, and the…

Inflation in the U.S. economy hit 8.2% in September, a sharper rise than some economists predicted, while the Core Consumer Price Index rose to 6.6%, the highest level since 1982, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The prices Americans are paying for food, shelter, cars, and clothing have all increased significantly since September 2021. Airline fares are up 42.9%, eggs are up 30.5%, gasoline is up 18.2%, chicken is up 17.2%, and milk is up 15.2% since this time last year, according to BLS data. In June of 2021, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he believed…

Maine’s Second Congressional district is receiving national attention, which isn’t a great sign for incumbent Democratic Rep. Jared Golden (CD-2), because only competitive races get that kind of love. “House Republicans are eyeing New England as a path to the majority, working to pick up seats in a region that has been mostly inhospitable to the GOP at the federal level since the Democratic wave election in 2006,” the Washington Post wrote this morning, along with a photo featuring former two-term Congressman and current challenger Rep. Bruce Poliquin. The Cook Political Report calls the race a Democrat Toss Up. Nate Silver’s 538…

A Maine state agency met Tuesday for the first of several hearings that will determine whether an Ellsworth doctor who was an outspoken critic of state and federal COVID-19 policies will ever be able to practice medicine in the state again. The Board of Licensure in Medicine (BOLIM), a state agency that regulates medical licensing in Maine, suspended Dr. Meryl Nass’s medical license on January 12 following an investigation that started with an activist’s complaint that she was spreading misinformation in media interviews and on the Internet. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, Nass, who practices internal medicine,…

Imagine you’re a Maine reporter. And imagine you get the following press releases: Environmentalists for Open Pit Mining submit 10,000 petition signatures to the Legislature! Hunters for 2nd Amendment Repeal rally in Augusta! Loggers Urge National Park Designation for All Maine Forests! That’s absurd, you’d say, not serious. You might do a little digging and determine that these groups are phony. Somehow that’s not the case when it comes to phony groups that fit the progressive narrative. Such is the case with the Maine People’s Alliance’s “Maine Small Business Coalition.” According to the Maine Secretary of State, the “Maine Small…

Courtesy of NetRightDaily

When one of Maine’s government-run schools was caught recruiting students to advocate for Hillary Clinton, I figured you would be hard-pressed to find a more loathsome act in a Maine classroom. I mean, who could imagine taxpayer-funded employees using children to advance the political interests of a corrupt near-septuagenarian currently under FBI investigation for violations of the Espionage Act? But they proved me wrong last week when a teacher at South Portland High School – an actual fully-grown adult teacher, I’m told – was exposed for bullying a student because of his political beliefs. An unnamed teacher targeted Sophomore Connor…

It was supposed to be a love for the ages. Yet, tragically, billionaire Democratic mega-donor S. Donald Sussman and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) are having what someone at the Bangor Daily News described as an “conscious uncoupling.” That is, for those not following Gwenyth Paltrow on Twitter, a divorce. You may remember that the marriage was a shotgun wedding of sorts, expedited by the revelation that Pingree was flying on Sussman’s private jet in violation of federal campaign finance regulations. (Honestly, who could forget her jet-setting to the Virgin Islands with none other than former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank during…

The headline in my Facebook newsfeed belonged to Ethan Strimling. “Decision to fire Eves deserves further investigation” Surprisingly, I agreed! We should demand further investigation into how a mediocre politician with no school administrative experience whatsoever almost attained employment at a charter school whose very existence he opposed as a lawmaker. We should look into the influence that Bill Brown, an employee of Mr. Eve’s official office and a board member of Good-Will Hinckley, may have exerted over the Speaker’s political actions and eventual hiring. We should get to the bottom of how Rep. Erik Jorgensen (D-Portland) landed a coveted…

What is going on with the Maine Democratic Party? Former Democratic Rep. Stan Short has quit the party. Former Rep. Brian Bolduc, a Democrat, has called them out. The Party’s leadership has left. Former Democrat and current State Treasurer Terry Hayes has laid bare some of the Party’s problems. But these are just anecdotes… we can also point to recent elections, especially Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s stunning and historic re-election. What could possibly explain the desertions, the defections, the electoral trouncing? Surely it’s not all Eliot Cutler’s fault. Treasurer Hayes hit on the problem when she described what she saw as a…

Harry Reid gave us a warning. In a video produced to announce his retirement, Reid told us not to be too elated: he would continue doing what he has always done, for twenty or so more months.  As frightening as that thought is, Reid’s real warning for the American people came when he told CNN’s Dana Bash that he had no regrets for infamously lying about Mitt Romney’s taxes during the 2012 presidential election. “Romney didn’t win, did he?” Reid said, in defense of his McCarthyism.  That should be a warning to all of us. Reid was the top dog of…

Checkmate, Mr. Mayor. With the revelation that Portland’s homeless shelters have knowingly been giving shelter to frequent stayers who have more than $20,000 in their checking accounts, Mayor Michael Brennan has effectively been muted in all discussions of Governor LePage’s budget and General Assistance reform. What’s that you say? Portland would be hit hardest by the elimination of revenue sharing? Well, Mr. Mayor, you probably should stop letting those wealthy one-percenters mooch off the system. Brennan’s defense is that these individuals probably have mental health issues or drug addictions — as if that excuses this blatant example of the welfare…

Liberals in Maine and Washington, D.C. are suffering a new psychological condition, one that started very recently, in November. Symptoms include denial of reality. Specifically, the wholesale forgetting that liberal politicians and their policy prescriptions were rejected by voters in spectacular fashion. The denial of reality was on full display during President Obama’s fantastical State of the Union address. And I’m not talking only about his naive allusions to a state of international affairs that exists only in his imagination. The Commander-in-Chief offered no Bill Clinton-esque pragmatic pivot to the center, just a laundry list of expensive, far-left ideas that…

A group of medical professionals submitted a letter to Maine’s newspapers warning against Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s quarantine on nurse Kaci Hickox this week. Many of those medical professionals also happen to donors to Democratic candidate U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud. “[Q]uarantining of all health care workers without symptoms upon their return from caring for Ebola patients in the affected countries may be well intended, but is not supported by the science or experience,” the letter states. “Ultimately we need to be guided by science and not emotion.” Hickox’s refusal to follow the Center for Disease Control’s recommendations regarding individuals who…

The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting has produced an analysis of the top political donors in Maine, and Portland Press Herald owner S. Donald Sussman tops the list. Other major Maine donors include Sussman’s wife, Democrat U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, Ed Bosarge, Paul Coulombe, Daniel Hildreth, Stephen King, and Senate President Justin Alfond (D-Portland). From the Center: “Eight of the top ten donors are on the liberal side of the political spectrum and support Democrats almost exclusively. Of the $3.95 million, all but about $344,000 went to Democratic and traditionally liberal causes, such as the Planned Parenthood PAC that…

Conservative muckraker James O’Keefe has struck again, this time in North Carolina, where State House Speaker Thom Tillis, a Republican, is up against incumbent U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat. In O’Keefe’s undercover video, multiple Democratic campaign workers affiliated with Hagan are willing to help non-citizens vote — a potential felony under North Carolina law.

Monday marked the 50th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s famous speech, “A Time for Choosing,” delivered on October 27, 1964, in support of Barry Goldwater. Here’s a transcript of the speech:  Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you and good evening. The sponsor has been identified, but unlike most television programs, the performer hasn’t been provided with a script. As a matter of fact, I have been permitted to choose my own words and discuss my own ideas regarding the choice that we face in the next few weeks. I have spent most of my life as a Democrat.…

LEWISTON – A Lewiston Democrat and former Maine People’s Alliance co-chair  has been caught falsely claiming that she is a physician. Although Heidi Brooks, who is running for the Maine State House of Representatives, has sent out mailers portraying herself as a medical doctor, a Sun Journal investigation found that her medical license was revoked ten years ago. From the Sun Journal: Brooks is not licensed to practice medicine in Maine. According to the state’s Board of Licensure in Medicine, her license was revoked in 2004 and her application for renewal was denied the following year based on personal health…

At Wednesday’s gubernatorial debate, U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, the Democratic candidate, suggested U.S. policymakers should combat the the spread of the Ebola virus by giving West African immigrants Medicaid once they arrive in America. “Any contagious outbreak like this one is a real cause for concern. When you look at what’s happening in West Africa, they have a lack of their health care system. Maine cannot solve this problem alone. But Maine can actually play an important role in this issue. The first Eboli, uh, Ebola patient showed up at the Dallas hospital with a 103 fever, at that hospital. Because he…

More than 3,000 Mainers are set to lose their current health insurance plans due to President Barack Obama’s unpopular and controversial health care law. The newest round of cancellations has affected or will affect nearly 400 small businesses and 3,289 employees and family members. According to the Maine Bureau of Insurance and a form letter from one major insurance company, the cancellations have been spurred by provisions of the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, which dictate what type of insurance plans employers can offer employees. This latest cancellations in the small-group market have been staggered throughout the year due to the nature…

Bangor Daily News blogger Chris Shorr on Thursday published an outlandish and illogical attack against Uber, an innovative ride-sharing service based in San Francisco. As my colleague Nathan Strout has written, Uber just launched in Portland. You can read more about that here. But Shorr’s outrageous smear of a company that will offer valuable employment to Mainers needs to be addressed. Smearing Uber In his post, “Why Uber ain’t so uber,” Shorr admits that he was prejudiced against Uber after hearing the company was expanding to Maine. So he did a quick “Google search” (singular, not plural) and – surprise! – his…

The race for Maine’s Second Congressional District between state Sen. Emily Cain (D-Orono) and Republican Bruce Poliquin is drawing national attention. On Thursday, Republican strategist Ford O’Connell and Democratic strategist David Mercer analyzed the race for FOX News. Watch the segment below: Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

Maine’s top-rated pollster on Thursday released a new poll showing Republican Gov. Paul LePage leading the race for Maine governor by almost six points. Polling on the race so far has shown LePage statistically even with Democratic candidate U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, while independent Eliot Cutler has trailed in third place. But according to Pan Atlantic SMS’s poll of 400 Maine residents, LePage now leads the pack with 39 percent of respondents saying they would vote for him. Thirty-three percent of respondents said they would vote for Michaud and 19 percent said they would pull the lever for Cutler. The…