Author: Maine Wire Staff

A poll obtained The Maine Wire late on Thursday shows Robert “Bobby” Charles currently leading the growing field of Republicans seeking their party’s nomination next June to compete against a Democrat and an Independent for the Blaine House in 2026. According the survey of 300 likely Republican primary voters, Charles enjoys the support of 28 percent versus 24 percent who say they would vote for Shawn Moody, four percent who say Jonathan Bush – who has announced an exploratory committee, three percent for former South Paris selectman Robert Wessels, two percent for Falmouth businessman David Jones, Gorham entrepreneur Owen McCarthy…

In the sort of cross-river rivalry known best perhaps to citizens of Lewiston and Auburn, there has long been ‘brewing’ an often unspoken competition between the ‘Queen of the Penobscot,’ Bangor, and the city of the ‘Witches,’ aka Brewer. Proud of their timber capital history and various civic endowments, Bangorians have long been thought to have the upper hand in this match-up, but a recent Maine Wire man on the street survey suggests the tide may be changing. Today, many seem to agree that while Bangor — the recent scene of public fornication and broad-daylight assaults and grocery snatchings (in…

If you’re in the Midcoast region and you’re looking for some family-friendly fun this Saturday afternoon, you might check out the ‘Great American Picnic’ that Waldoboro Republicans are hosting at the Trump Wall between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., their Facebook page invites. Located at 979 Washington Road, or Route 220, a few miles north of Moody’s Diner, the event offers a special “inflation reduction” price of just $9.47 and children under 12 without cost. Menu offerings include hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, salad, assorted other sides, desserts, drinks and watermelon. For children, there will be a “Bouncy House” as well…

Anyone who thinks Augusta is woefully out-of-shape with ballooning state budgets and piddling performance on everything from the quality of public education to the off-putting Maine business environment is in for some welcome news next week when fitness executive Ben Midgely is set on Tuesday to join the fray of candidates running for the Republican nod for Governor of Maine. Kennebunkport resident Midgely is a Maine native who built a name for himself as chief executive and founding partner of Crunch Fitness and, prior to that, as president of Planet Fitness — both national gym chains. Midgely will be the…

Eric Small is not a typical politician. When he decided to run for Congress earlier this week, there was no fanfare or bunting – just a couple mentions in statewide press since Monday. Because his day-job is serving as Sanford’s chief of police, Small has his hands full with more important things than websites or press releases. “Words may sound good, but its the streets that tell the truth,” Small told The Maine Wire earlier this month, before his foray into politics. “Politicians love phrases like ‘treatment over incarceration’ and ‘harm reduction,’ but slogans aren’t solutions. Slogans don’t pick up…

U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) wants the U.S. government to suspend its assistance to Israel, America’s key ally in the Middle East, until the Jewish state changes its policies with respect to Gaza, Maine’s junior senator announced on Monday. “I cannot defend the indefensible. Israel’s actions in the conduct of the war in Gaza, especially its failure to address the unimaginable humanitarian crisis now unfolding, is an affront to human decency. What appears to be a deliberately-induced famine among a civilian population—including tens of thousands of starving children—can never be an acceptable military strategy,” Sen. King said in a statement.…

An attempted firearms purchase led to the arrest of a Jamaican citizen who the town of Old Orchard Beach had hired as a police officer, FOX News reported on Monday afternoon. Jon Luke Evans entered the U.S. legally in September 2023, but overstayed his visa, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) stated. He was due to return top Jamaica on October 1 of that year but never boarded his flight home. The Maine Wire contacted the Old Orchard Beach Police Department seeking information about when Evans was hired, the status of his employment and what type of vetting the…

A Phillips community activist played ‘Karen’ earlier this month and hectored Franklin County State Representative Michael Soboleski (R-Phillips) out of a local chamber of commerce meeting, going so far as to accuse the elected official of ‘trespassing’ for attending a meeting of the town’s business boosting group. Susy Sanders of the Phillips Children’s Foundation demanded on July 6 that Rep. Soboleski leave a Phillips chamber of commerce meeting that was being held in a building she owned. “You threw this town under the bus,” she reportedly told him, referring to an effort the lawmaker had made some years back to…

17-year-old Deven Young of Frankfort appeared in court on Friday morning via Zoom from the Long Creek Youth Detention facility in South Portland and denied responsibility in the killing of 47-year-old Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart on a pond in Union just over two weeks ago. Young’s court appearance confirmed online speculation that he was the suspect Maine State Police took into custody late Wednesday evening. He had been staying with family at the Mic Mac Cove Campground on Crawford Pond in Union where the victim was also a seasonal camper. Young was a student at Hampden Academy. Those contacts of his…

News that the Maine State Police have made an arrest in the murder of Tenants Harbor resident Sunshine “Sunny Stewart, 47, on a pond in Union may allow the surrounding community to breathe a sigh of relief, but questions persist in the tragic killing. According to multiple news outlets, police arrested a 17-year-old male at approximately 10:30 pm on Wednesday, though specific charges remain unknown. Because the suspect is a minor, his name has not been released, but he was staying with family by the pond for the summer, as Stewart had also planned to do. Stewart’s cause of death,…

A national group that says it monitors and counters threats to our constitutional rights and promotes government transparency and constitutional government honored the Wells, Maine, police chief earlier this month for her “outstanding commitment to upholding the rule of law and protecting citizens,” the American Constitutional Rights Union (ACRU) said in a statement on July 3. Wells Police Chief Jo-Ann Putnam is the recipient of the ACRU’s ‘Defender Award’ for exceptional leadership, the group said. Wells is currently the only Maine municipality that has an active working agreement with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, though other towns…

The outcome of a stand-off on a Bangor roof Wednesday was up in the air for seven hours as a man claiming his drugs were in the chimney of a 14th Street home refused to surrender his high position, multiple reports indicate. According to Bangor police, 39-year-old Stephen Nason climbed on to the roof of Veronica Levesque’s house at around 4 a.m. On hearing noises, Levesque contacted authorities who responded to the scene and discovered Nason on the roof, uttering nonsense and refusing to come down. As the day wore on, temperatures hit 91 degrees, but Nason remained on the…

Wednesday was a grim, two-week mark since the killing of Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart, 47, a Tenants Harbor resident who went paddle-boarding on Union’s Crawford Pond on June 2 but never returned to the campground at which she intended to spend the summer. While authorities have said little about their investigation, small details have come to light in recent days about Stewart’s mysterious homicide. According to the Midcoast Villager’s Stephen Betts, Stewart’s body was discovered on the southeast part of 100 Acre Island, which occupies much of the center of the pond. Separately, it has been established that her body did…

Four Maine high school students will be joining the ranks of approximately 800 selected nationally this month who will be getting a little extra help towards the ever-rising costs of college this fall, thanks to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). Each year, tens of thousands of students nationally apply for NMSC scholarships, and awardees are selected based on their academic performance and essays submitted to the philanthropic organization. NMSC, a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance, wasfounded in 1955 to conduct the National Merit Scholarship Program. Over the past 70 years, approximately 389,000 outstanding young individuals have won…

The same people who decry the role of money in politics — ie. the media — are often the same ones who avidly report on campaign fundraising as a metric of how the respective candidates are faring. With the today’s deadline for publicizing financial filings over the first six months of next year’s race for governor, the cumulative sums each committee has raked in since January are one indication of enthusiasm for various candidates — and of their campaign’s viability in the months ahead. While several campaign committees’ reports have yet to post on the Maine Ethics Commission website, by…

Republican candidate for Governor of Maine Robert “Bobby” Charles issued an early statement on Monday about his fundraising results for the first quarter of his campaign for the 2026 election. In the 75 days since announcing his candidacy, Charles has raised $325,000, he said. “This top-line number reflects unprecedented statewide support,” Charles said in his announcement. “It’s not just record setting, it’s a statement. Our fundraising is a message to Janet Mills and her far-left Democrat sycophants that the days of soft-on-crime, high-tax, big-government chaos are coming to an end.” Campaign finance reports for the committees will be publicly released…

Louis Sigel, a Kennebec County Democrat has submitted paperwork with the Federal Elections Committee (FEC) to challenge incumbent Congressman Jared Golden (ME-CD2) for the Democratic Party nomination, a filing on Monday shows. The Gardiner-based “Legal with Sigal” committee is listed as registering party. Sigel is a former secretary of the Kennebec County Democratic Committee and ran unsuccessfully for a state senate seat in 2014. He studied Chinese at Harvard, is originally from Elmira, NY, and has been a party activist at the county level for many years. Earlier this year, Sigal was seen at an anti-Trump protest in Augusta wearing…

New poll findings released on Thursday give former Maine Governor Paul LePage (R) a three-point lead over incumbent U.S. Representative Jared Golden (D) in a match-off that is still more than a year away. Fielded between June 19-23, the University of New Hampshire’s Pine Street Poll sampled 394 residents of the 2nd District. 50 percent said they would vote for Gov. LePage were the elected held tomorrow, and 47 percent voiced their intention to support Rep. Golden. Given the sample size, the poll’s margin of error among these respondents is 4.9 percent, meaning it pegs the race at this moment…

Maine’s House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to remove an effective gag order and restore the floor speaking privileges of Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn), which were stripped of her by Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) in February after she refused to apologize for a social media post. The post in question featured a publicly available photograph of a trans-identifying male student who had won a female track competition. Rep. Libby sued Speaker Fecteau for a violation of her rights, and while a U.S. District Court ruled against her suit, she appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which restored her voting –…

While the Maine chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are busy lamenting the fact that their party’s national convention later this summer has eased its mask mandate, their brother in the Big Apple did something actually extraordinary on Tuesday and won the New York City Democrat mayoral primary — putting him, a pro-Palestinian anti-capitalist, in spitting distance of running America’s biggest city after the November election. “Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night, and he put together a great campaign,” Democrat rival Andrew Cuomo said. “He touched young people and inspired them and moved them and got them to come out…

Maine House Republicans teamed up with the Sportsmen’s Alliance of Maine (SAM) on Tuesday to propose a counter-measure to a “Red Flag” bill that finally came to light last week after a sustained effort to compel majority Democrats to adhere to the law and legislative procedure and hold a hearing about it. “Red Flag” laws, a form of Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs), allow law enforcement to seize firearms from those said to be a risk to themselves or others. By contrast, Maine’s existing “Yellow Flag” law establishes a due process mechanism that involves mental health professionals working in concert…

Businessman Owen McCarthy, 37, threw his hat into the widening ring for Maine governor on Wednesday, announcing the launch of his bid for the Republican nomination through a press release and campaign advertisement. “When I look around Maine today, it’s become totally unaffordable for working class people – my people,” McCarthy says in his introductory ad. “These people wake up each morning, put in an honest day’s work, but have to fight just to make ends meet. It doesn’t have to be this way.” The Patten native is the first in his family to attend college and graduated from the…

Former director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) and daughter of First District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Hannah Pingree, launched her campaign for governor on Tuesday. She is the fifth person, and fourth well-known name to join the primary field one year before Democrats will choose their nominee. Kicking off her anticipated run to succeed Maine Governor Janet Mills (D) in Rockland — the mainland city closest to her home on the island of North Haven — Pingree, 48, is no stranger to Maine politics. She served four terms in the Maine House of Representatives, where…

Advocates of gun control measures often speak of a “cooling off period” — usually in reference to a delay on firearm purchases — but after a heated debate on the Maine State Senate floor Wednesday night, Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R-Aroostook) said he thought it best to his counterparts across the aisle the rest of the night to think about where their steadfast refusal to hold a public hearing on an initiative-proposed “Red Flag” law might lead. [RELATED: Maine Legislative Republicans Denounce Democrat Ploy to Block Public Hearing on “Red Flag” Gun-Grab Bill] “No matter which way you look at…

An Egyptian man using a makeshift flamethrower and incendiary devices attacked a peaceful event on Boulder, Colorado’s Pearl Street pedestrian mall in support of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas on Sunday injuring at least eight people, including a Holocaust survivor, multiple media sources report. A shirtless Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was captured on camera by onlookers ranting about Israel and screaming “Free Palestine” after throwing Molotov cocktails at runners and walkers and dousing some with a flammable liquid which he then lit ablaze. Soliman was in the United States illegally, having overstayed a visa. The FBI is investigating the…

A joint operation by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday at two locations in Roque Bluffs and Centerville led to the arrests on drug-related charges of 11 individuals from the local area, New York state, and the Dominican Republic, Maine’s statewide drug task force said in a statement. The Maine State Police Tactical Team and various federal law enforcement agencies assisted with the raids at 75 Duck Cove Road in Roque Bluffs and 43 Mitten Mountain Road in Centerville. At the first location, tactical units reportedly found one suspect hiding in a…

Four years ago, a founder of Maine Stands Up addressed a standing room only crowd in a Topsham church during a monthly meeting of the Sagadahoc County Republican Committee and outlined her lawsuit against then-Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah alleging that the state had wrongly elevated its testing regime to generate false positive results for COVID 19. Despite the momentum her group awakened across the state, a sign of victory would be deferred. While a Maine judge then denied her complaint, on Tuesday evening Dr. Northrup addressed a smaller group in Topsham on the same day that U.S. Secretary of…

Civic, law enforcement, legislative leaders and subject matter experts will hold a conference in Brewer on Friday evening to discuss what needs to be done to address Maine’s current drug crisis across multiple lines of action, organizers at the Concerned Citizens of Eastern Maine said. “This escalating issue is driven by a confluence of critical factors: foreign infiltration, a law enforcement crisis, government silence, and the absence of public outcry and response,” an informational brochure about the conference reads. While state authorities trumpet the year on year decline in fatal drug overdoses in Maine from 606 in 2023 to 490…

In what appears to be a sign of spiking anti-semitism in America, an Illinois man allegedly murdered two Israel diplomats in Washington, DC on Wednesday evening as they left a cultural event hosted by a museum in the nation’s capital. A young couple who were planning to get engaged next week, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, were attending an event Wednesday evening at the Capital Jewish Museum when Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago allegedly shot them both at close range. While police were taking the shooter into custody, he shouted “Free Palestine,” DC’s police chief said. “This was…

Realtor and developer David Jones announced his candidacy for Maine governor on Tuesday, joining a field that currently includes former assistant secretary of State Robert “Bobby” Charles, former Paris selectman Robert Wessels, program manager Steven Sheppard, and former Democrat Ken Capron. Others are also expected to enter the GOP primary race. Jones, 69, lives in Falmouth and briefly ran for governor as an independent in 2006. He is the owner of F.O. Bailey, a real estate brokerage and one of Maine’s oldest, continually-operating businesses. He has restored commercial building, developed a retirement community, and owned a construction company that built…

An effort to draft the leadership of the Wabanaki Alliance into taking a position on the war in Gaza is raising some eyebrows not only among those who believe its inappropriate for the assembly of Native American tribes to choose sides in the Mideast, but also among Maine politicians whose images, they say, are being used to misrepresent their positions. In a change.org petition that seeks to pressure Wabanaki leadership to show their “solidarity with Palestine,” organizers used a 2023 photo depicting three Republican lawmakers who most likely do not back such an initiative. Former Rep. John Andrews, pictured in…

Second District Congressman Jared Golden (D-ME) put to rest speculation about his 2026 plans on Tuesday morning when he declared that he will seek a fifth term, which also means he will not be throwing his hat into the growing field of those seeking the Democrat nomination to run for governor. “While the election is still 18 months away and I remain focused on my responsibilities to my constituents and my family, I also know the path to the majority runs through Maine,” wrote Golden in a statement. “And I am going to do what it takes to make sure…

Former Maine Senate president Troy Jackson announced Monday morning that he is officially running for governor and plans to launch his campaign in Kittery at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard at 11:30 a.m., according to a statement. Mainers, he says, are “under attack from billionaires, special interests, and their friends who control Washington.” Jackson pledged he would “fight for working people from day one.” “Too many Democrats have lost touch with working people or shown they’re not up to the fight,” Jackson wrote. “All while Mainers struggle as prices rise, wages stagnate, and greedy corporations rake in record profits to buy…

Almost everyone agrees doing business in Maine is much harder than it needs to be. According to the Maine Jobs Council, it is the ninth worst state in America, and unless you loathe capitalism as much as Hallowell’s cafe society does, this is the sort of statistic that ought to be flashing red for trouble. So when the new one percent tax on employers to fund a Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) program went into effect at the beginning of this year, businesses sat bolt upright at yet another fiscal and regulatory burden laid across their shoulders. Will the PFML…

(From L-R David Jones, Robert Wessels, Garrett Mason, Owen McCarthy, Bobby Charles and moderator Ray Richardson)

Following an investigation into a shots fired incident on Grant Street in Portland on Sunday night, city police made an arrest on Tuesday, taking 31-year-old Brandon Michael Lafler into custody. The discharge of a firearm in the vicinity of 33 Grant St. put the urban neighborhood on edge, and according to Portland Police, members of the community came forward afterwards with useful information allowing authorities to secure a search warrant for a residence at 288 State Street. On Tuesday morning, officers from the Portland Police’s Criminal Investigation Division paired with its Special Reaction Team executed the warrant and arrested Laffler.…

On a wall outside the State House in Augusta, 90 names of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty are carved in memorial. On Tuesday, the Maine Chiefs of Police Association held an annual ceremony there to honor the men and women in blue who gave their greatest sacrifice for the communities they serve. This year two names joined the others — Richard Betters of the Portland Police Department who died in 2009 and Herbert Tarbox of the Falmouth Police Department who died in 1959. “I don’t feel lonely when I come here. I feel like part…

Following a traffic stop at the intersection of Hammond and Union Streets Monday evening, Bangor Police arrested Thomas Pope, 48, of Orono initially on charges of violating the conditions of his bail. On further investigation, police, utilizing a K9 unit, found a plastic bag containing what they believe to be cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamines. While being transported to the Penobscot County jail, an officer noticed Pope fidgeting suspiciously in the back seat. When they reached their location, officers searched the cruiser and found another bag containing drugs. In reviewing footage from the passenger compartment afterwards, police say Pope had…

Maine’s Second District Congressman Jared Golden must be feeling his seat’s gotten a little hotter after current State Auditor Matthew Dunlap said on Monday that is considering challenging the three-term incumbent in a Democrat primary next year. According to multiple media sources, Dunlap, 60, said he is considering running for Congress because he says he is concerned about the country’s direction. Having served four terms in the Maine House of Representatives representing Old Town and as secretary of state from 2005-2011, Dunlap is currently the state auditor. He made waves in Augusta two months when he issued a report expressing…

Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) may face daunting challenges from the majority of Maine’s legislature, and even the state’s attorney general, but her appeal for emergency review by the U.S. Supreme Court drew the support of attorneys general from 15 other states this week. In an amicus brief, the chief law enforcement officials About two months ago, a modern American judge found that a similar effort to impose an ‘indefinite suspension of voting rights’ was a ‘severe’ and unjustifiable ‘burden on voting rights,’ the group led by West Virginia’s AG John McCuskey pointed out in defense of Rep. Libby’s plea for…

Maine State Attorney General Aaron Frey filed an 11-page response on Thursday to the civil action the U.S. Department of Justice filed against the state three weeks ago with the U.S. District Court in Portland. In this filing, AG Frey denies that Maine’s policy allowing trans-identifying males to participate in female school sports is out of compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as the Justice Department’s suit claims, and asks the court to dismiss the federal complaint. [RELATED: DOJ Files Civil Suit Against Maine, Rep. Libby and Two Maine Students Join AG Bondi in Live Presser]…

Second District Congressman Jared Golden (D-ME) is taking friendly fire from a national group that commits itself to resisting the Trump agenda and fighting for progressive politics, which has for months been assailing the maverick Democrat for not holding town hall meetings. In addition to waging war with President Donald Trump and Republicans generally, the so-called Indivisible is also calling out Democrats who do not meet its purity test, their Maine activities show. Rep. Golden, who supports tariffs and has bucked his party’s leadership regularly over his three terms in Congress, is the sort of Democrat the group believes needs…

Ed Martin, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, is unlikely to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee and make it to the floor for a vote, Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday. One Republican senator and the panel, Thom Tillis (R-NC), told the White House earlier today he won’t back Martin. “I think that would suggest he’s not going to get out of committee,” Sen. Thune said afterwards. The clock is ticking on Martin’s nomination, which now has less than two weeks to clear the committee. If it…

There’s a new Angus in Maine’s political arena and he’s gunning for the seat his father held for two terms before moving on to the U.S. Senate. Three guesses who it is and the first two don’t count. That’s right, Angus King III is running for governor, and unlike his father who claims to be an Independent but votes with Democrats all the same, the son is dropping all pretense. Young Angus, 54, has thrown his hat into the ring for the Democrat nomination together with Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, though others are likely to join the Democrat primary…

In two days, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin enforcing a long-expected deadline for airline travelers to producer Read IDs before boarding their flights. But as of April 1, only 27 percent of Mainers had the required form of identification that will, as of May 7, be required for air travel and to enter federal buildings. Days before the deadline, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows was asking for yet another extension of the deadline for enforcing this requirement. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles, which falls under the area responsibility in her job description, had been charged with issuing…

Former two-term Republican Governor Paul LePage has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and is expected to announce his bid for Maine’s second congressional seat today, a knowledgable source indicates. First elected governor in 2010, LePage went on to cinch a second term four years later. In 2022, he challenged incumbent Governor Janet Mills (D) but fell short by about thirteen points. Maine’s Second Congressional District skews Republican and has voted for President Donald Trump in three elections. Originally from Androscoggin County, LePage could lay claim to a significant portion of Republican voters in the district easing his path…

It appears Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has been taking counsel from the late troubadour Kenny Rogers, who famously sang: “You gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em/Know when to walk away…,” according to a Joint Status Report filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine which indicates the state is dropping its suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In return for Maine’s dropping its lawsuit, the USDA agreed to lift its freeze on $3 million of funding, multiple sources reported. The settlement appears to bring an end to one of…

Thursday saw an array of anti-gun bills debated in public hearings before the Maine State Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, but an intriguing outlier came in the form of a proposal from a Piscataquis County Republican who believes non-violent felons who’ve served their sentences should have a shot at getting their Second Amendment rights restored. Setting the table for what some Augusta insiders called “Gun Day” in the Judiciary Committee were two measures by Freeport Democrat Rep. Melanie Sachs to destroy “forfeited” (read: seized) firearms — which she promoted with a glint in her eye — and another to prevent the auctioning…

The Maine Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee held a work session April 30 at which it considered slate of bills that will have work sessions to potentially change Maine law with regard to criminal charges and mandatory minimum sentencing. Representative David Sinclair (D-Bath), a lawyer who focuses on the underprivileged according to his biography on the Maine Legislative Democrats webpage, has introduced various measures this session that would loosen the strictures on criminal defendants or those convicted of a crime. Three of this bills up for consideration on Wednesday would impact mandatory minimums for sentencing, and require the right…

While Maine already has in place a Yellow Flag law that includes a due process element before authorities may strip of gun owner of their firearm, anti-gun activists are now gearing up for a campaign to support passage of a more restrictive Red Flag law. Otherwise known as an “Extreme Risk Protective Order” (ERPO), a Red Flag law empowers law enforcement to disarm an individual who family members, friends or others say poses a risk to themselves or the community at large. 21 states currently have Red Flag, or ERPO, laws in effect. Prior to the October 2023 mass shooting…

Maine’s Secretary of State will imminently release the ballot wording for a referendum question to go before voters this November asking whether or not they approve of requiring some form of identification to vote. If Shenna Bellows’ initial draft of that wording is any indication, she is banking on deceptive language to kill the measure. Last month, Bellows’ office released the following wording for comment: “Do you want to change Maine election laws to require voters to show ID before voting, end ongoing absentee voting for seniors and people with disabilities, ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes, prohibit…

Does your heart pound with dread every time the electric bill lands in your mailbox? If so, you’re not alone. With electricity rates in Maine rising more than 50 percent over the past decade — more than twice the national average — policymakers are missing the boat when it comes it why ratepayers keep getting stuck with higher bills, energy experts and concerned legislators say. While the state is increasingly vulnerable to storm damage to its distribution network, too little is being done to amp up generation capacity. Less than a third of the electricity Mainers use is generated in…

After Russia escalated its assault on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to be shifting the focus of his criticism over the stalled peace talks over the war between the two former Soviet countries from Ukraine’s President Voldymyr Zelenskyy to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!” President Trump posted on TruthSocial Thursday morning. Those strikes came in tandem with a statement from the chairman of Russia’s national…

Noting an uptick of crime in Maine committed by individuals out on bail for a previous offense, Sen. David Haggan (R-Penobscot) wants to roll back provisions of a 2021 law that made it easier for those being held under suspicion of committing a crime to get released on bail. LD 1536, “An Act to Amend the Laws Governing Bail,” would, Sen. Haggan said in testimony before the legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, “correct bail reform’s over-reach because Maine’s current bail laws are not working.” Supported by five Republican co-sponsors, Haggan’s measure would also, he said, give…

U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) is undeterred by the “No Kings” signs that have become prominent at recurring ‘Hands Off’ rallies around the state and has launched a speaking program to raise the alarm about America’s democracy being in peril. Never one to let a low-hanging news hook pass by, Sen. King pegged an op-ed in TIME magazine on Saturday’s 250th anniversary of patriot Paul Revere’s famous freedom ride in which he warned Massachusetts rebels that “the British are coming.” “I believe that what is happening now is the most serious challenge to the Constitution and the bedrock principle of…

Rhode Island-based U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose reportedly issued a ruling late on Friday denying Maine State Rep. Laurel Libby’s (R-Auburn) claim for declaratory and injunctive relief against the terms of the censure Maine Democrats imposed against her last month. Those terms strip Rep. Libby of the right to vote or speak on the floor of the Maine House of Representatives. Libby’s lawsuit contested what it called violations of her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution, and specifically named Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) as the defendant. Judge DuBose on Friday ruled that Speaker Fecteau…

Former New York City police sergeant Mike McMahon, 57, will pay a price for aiding the Chinese government in tracking down a U.S. resident Beijing wanted to coerce into returning to China to serve a prison sentence, a Brooklyn judge ruled on Wednesday. McMahon was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of New York in 2023 for acting as an illegal agent for the Peoples’ Republic of China and for interstate stalking. “This type of crime really does threaten our country’s national security,” U.S. District Court Judge Pamela Chen said as she sentenced McMahon to 18 months in…

America’s youngest national security advisor, former Hillary Clinton and Amy Klobuchar aide Jake Sullivan, took center stage at Harvard University on Tuesday to share with Kennedy School of Government professor Graham Allison some of his greatest hits from the Biden administration. Sullivan’s appearance preceded President Donald Trump saying on Wednesday that the venerated American university has “lost its way” and may be stripped of its tax exempt status. Harvard has named Sullivan the inaugural Distinguished Kissinger Professor in Residence, and Allison, whose 1971 book ‘The Essence of Decision’ detailed the brinksmanship inside the Kennedy White House during the Cuban Missile…

An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent who was the subject of retaliation by the agency for coming forward to Congress in 2023 about former First Son Hunter Biden’s tax violations has on Tuesday — the deadline for Americans to file their tax returns — been named an acting commissioner, or temporary head, of the federal agency that tried in recent years to force his resignation. Gary Shapley’s promotion drew immediate praise from his attorney, and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has long fought to strengthen whistleblower protections. https://twitter.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1912493902323462286 “It’s GR8 NEWS will b taking over as Acting IRS Commissioner,”…

Just two weeks after Waldo County Hospital closed its maternity and birthing unit citing declining birth rates, on Monday Rep. Jan Dodge (D-Belfast) testified before the legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee on her bill to mandate that Maine high schools expand a condom giveaway program statewide. “My students were grateful for the availability of condoms in the nurse’s office,” Rep. Dodge told the committee, quoting an area educator in support of her bill LD 217. Dodge’s proposal, she said, is based on a program in Vermont and she initiated it at the request of a local, retired school nurse.…

While Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his family slept after celebrating the Seder, a solemn Passover meal, at their home early Sunday morning, a man broke into their residence and tried to set it ablaze using gasoline from a lawnmower. That attacker, state authorities now believe, was Cody Balmer, 38, who has now been charged with terrorism, attempted murder and arson. Had he not been apprehended by state police, Balmer reportedly said he would have bludgeoned Gov. Shapiro to death with a hammer. Coming just one week after a Maine man approached a plainclothes Federal agent at a Bridgton restaurant…

As the deadline set in a letter of impasse the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights had sent to Maine state officials two weeks ago drew down to its final hours, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office issued a response saying the state would neither sign a resolution agreement nor propose an alternative, setting into motion a referral to the U.S. Department of Justice. [RELATED: Mills’ Continued Defiance of Trump’s Deadline for Title IX Compliance Could Cost Maine Hugely] “Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulation prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on…

After Democrats in Augusta passed a partisan biennial budget for an unprecedented third time in a row, Representative Gary Drinkwater (R-Milford) is pushing back with an initiative for a People’s Veto of the budget. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has quickly joined in on the partisan fight. People’s Veto efforts have gone to referendum 29 times in Maine since 1909. The wording of the question that goes on the ballot in each instance is critical to understanding whether they were ultimately successful or not. Rep. Drinkwater has submitted the required paperwork for a People’s Veto to repeal $11.3 Billion biennial…

When Kevin Bell, 46, told a plainclothes law enforcement officer last weekend that he wanted to kill U.S. President Donald Trump, it wasn’t the first time the Bridgton man mused publicly about his desire to inflict violence on others. While it might be tempting to write off such declarations as the ravings of a madman, his profile is not entirely dissimilar from the man arrested with a weapon in the woods adjoining then-candidate Trump’s golf course in Florida last September. Bell, a.k.a. Ronen Stoloff, announced his intention to kill his psychiatrist to a help line operator in January of this…

Statehouse Republicans blasted the Mills administration on Tuesday for what several suggested could be criminally-negligent stewardship of public funds in the latest fall-out from an official report from the State Auditor that highlighted lax controls and potential abuses of its contracting process. “My hat is off to (State Auditor Matt Dunlap, a registered Democrat) for doing the right thing, not the partisan thing,” Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (D-Aroostook) said of the auditor’s recent bombshell report, adding that “what we’re looking at is really just the tip of the iceberg, looking just at a random sample of state contracting and…

One of two Venezuelan nationals arrested by U.S. Border Patrol in Brunswick on March 30 was determined to be connected to the criminal gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), authorities announced on Friday. Earlier this year, the State Department designated TdA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. After the two Venezuelan citizens were detained in connection with a theft investigation, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) became involved, the agency said. Both detainees had entered the United States illegally but then been released on their own recognizance, USBP determined. “The days of catch and release are over, and violent criminals, gang members, and terrorists…

The Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services referred the State of Maine to the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday — one day after the Maine Principals’ Association (MPA) and Cumberland’s Greeley High School announced they refused to sign a voluntary resolution agreement the federal agency proposed after finding Maine schools to be in violation of Title IX protections earlier last month. On March 17, HHS’ civil rights bureau found that Maine had violated the protections girls in school sports should be afforded against discrimination, which the participation of biological boys, or trans-identifying…

An Auburn Democrat has introduced a bill that would prevent Maine voters in the northern, more rural part of the state from awarding an electoral college vote to a presidential candidate other than statewide popular vote winner. If passed, the bill would ensure that Maine’s Second Congressional District would not be able to award one electoral college vote to a Republican candidate if southern Maine voted by a wide enough margin for the Democratic candidate, as happened in 2016, 2020, and 2024. The bill, filed by Rep. Adam Lee (D-Auburn), would make Maine’s Electoral College votes winner take all going…

Majority Democrats in the Maine Legislature approved an $11.3 billion budget in the late hours of Thursday night after repeated and unsuccessful efforts by minority Republicans in both chambers to force spending curbs on the runaway costs of various programs, including Medicaid. The budget now being sent to Governor Janet Mills (D) for approval marks a near doubling of the 2016-17 $6.3 biennial budget of less than a decade ago. One contentious issue over the past two attempts to pass a supplemental spending bill in the last several weeks has been the $118 million shortfall in Medicaid spending which Democrats…

Somali-American Abdullahi Ali has had a prolific life since arriving in Lewiston, Maine as a refugee in 2009. Ali has become a U.S. citizen, started a nonprofit to help fellow immigrants, started several businesses, including a multi-million dollar MaineCare-funded migrant services agency, and even — according to an interview he gave to Kenyan media — managed to raise money in the U.S. to buy weapons, munitions, and supplies for a paramilitary force he had hoped to lead as president of Jubaland, Somalia. But his knack for running a celebrated migrant agency out of Portland didn’t translate into electoral success last…

A French member of European Parliament made headlines on Sunday when he said it was time for the United States to return the Statue of Liberty to France because America no longer deserves it, drawing return fire from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who essentially said ‘no way!’ “We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty,’” Raphael Glucksmann said to a meeting of his relatively small, center-left Place Publique party in Paris. Ever since 1886,…

The Maine Legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee considered a bill from State Rep. Nina Milliken (D-Blue Hill) to restrict the coyote hunting season in the state this week that pitted hunters and state wildlife officials against those seeking to save the animal that farmers and others consider a threat to their livestock. When presenting her bill on March 3, Rep. Milliken stated that it is her understanding that “deer don’t tend to go up north,” in Maine — drawing astonished and amused response from the public. Focus on that debatable statement drew more attention in subsequent days that the…

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a limited 30-day ceasefire in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine after a nearly two hour phone call with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, the White House announced. The offer by the Russians refers only to attacks on energy and infrastructure targets, falling short of President Trump’s goal to broker a more comprehensive pause in the fighting, is nonetheless more than was expected after Trump’s special envoy Steven Witkoff visited Moscow last week. [RELATED: Russia Sends Mixed Signals as Talks Proceed for U.S.-Proposed Peace Gambit] Putin also said on the call with Trump that…

A 13-year-old Cassidy Carlisle got an unwelcome shock when she encountered a biological male in the girls’ locker room at her school in Presque Isle years ago. When she complained to the school administration, she was told that if she chose to change in a private bathroom instead, she might be late for class. Years later, Carlisle lost a Nordic skiing competition to a biological male who, because he identified as female, was able to compete as such. Recently back from a visit to Washington, D.C., where Carlisle relayed these experiences to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, she addressed a…

Terri Cooper, the superintendent of the RSU 21 district that includes the town of Kennebunk, ended her controversial five years at the helm of the York County school district on Wednesday by resigning to the local board, which quickly accepted her notice of departure. “I’m sobbing with relief,” said Kennebunk parent Melissa McCue-McGrath. “My child has suffered under the leadership of this administration,” she added. “We are hurting,” another long-time teacher said at a school board meeting last year. A school board member in charge of human resources resigned last year saying she felt her family’s safety was in danger,…

A senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin threw cold water on a ceasefire overture that U.S. Special Envoy Steven Witkoff brought to Moscow on Thursday even before U.S. President Donald Trump’s negotiator got out of his plane. “It seems to me that no one needs any steps that imitate peaceful actions in this situation,” Yuri Ushakov said, adding that this was his personal opinion. A former Russian ambassador to Washington from Putin’s first term, Ushakov has long been seen as a hard-liner with close ties to the Russian president. At the same time, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia’s ministry…

Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau in the U.S. District Court of Maine for violating her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by censuring her last month for posting a publicly-available photograph of a trans-sexual identifying high school athlete and stripping her of her ability to speak or vote on behalf of her constituents in the legislature. Rep. Libby’s suit seeks declaratory relief that her censure violated her rights, and injunctive relief against her silencing and the removal of her voting privileges. It also seeks legal expenses from the defendant for the…

Already reeling from recent bad news in rankings on national scales when it comes to educational performance and overall tax burden per citizen, Maine received more discouraging news this week when the Maine Jobs Council unveiled the results of a recent study: Maine now ranks among the least productive states in America. According the study conducted by the Washington, DC-based Porter Development Initiative, Maine ranks 46th in the nation for Gross Domestic Product per worker (and 41st for GDP per capita). While the average national annual salary in 2023 was $67,692, Maine trailed this by over $13,000 at $53,876, the…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)’s Office of Civil Rights has found Maine to be in violation of Title IX protections of girls in school sports, according to a letter it sent to Maine Governor Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey. Late last month, the federal office announced it was investigating the Maine Department of Education’s refusal to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order barring transgender athletes from playing on girls’ teams. “It is shameful that Governor Mills refuses to stand with women and girls. Her rejection of the anti-discrimination obligations that Maine voluntarily accepted…

Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland) outside Shusha, Nagorno-Kabarakh

Substantial tariff hikes for goods from Canada, Mexico and China went into effect at midnight on Tuesday, and China has already reciprocated, as the threats underpinning U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policy reached their deadline on March 4. Canada and Mexico now have 25 percent tariffs imposed on their goods (though it’s only ten percent for Canadian energy), and the tariff on Chinese goods was increased on Monday from ten to 20 percent. Beijing has already retaliated with a 15 percent tariff on U.S. agricultural imports, early reports indicate. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged reciprocal tariffs on U.S.…

After his first full month in office, President Donald Trump can point to at least one key statistic to show he’s already delivering on a core campaign promise: attempted, illegal crossings of the United States’ southern border are down over 70 percent for the month of February, initial figures show. In light of such a dramatic drop — coming in tandem with substantially increased enforcement — if securing America’s borders has always been a priority, why hasn’t this happened sooner? Among the first executive orders President Trump signed on inauguration day, January 20, was a twelve-point policy directive stepping up…

With a turnout estimated at over 500 Mainers, demonstrators gathered outside the State House in Augusta on Saturday to show their support for protecting girls in school sports from transgender athletes unfairly impacting the playing field, protestors and speakers at the event said. “We will protect our girls and we will NOT back down!” Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith (R-Palermo) said, explaining “They are the ones who have pushed their agenda on us and we have struggled to be heard … they have belittled biological facts and they have declared war on our girls,” referring to Democrats in the…

Maine’s senior U.S. senator, Susan Collins (R), signed on to allocate a nominal amount of federal funds to a uniquely targeted program for domestic violence prevention training for cosmetologists. “No state, no community, and no family is immune to the horrors of domestic violence. In Maine, domestic violence has historically been involved in approximately half of annual homicides. That’s unacceptable,” said Sen. Collins. The bill, the Supporting the Abused by Learning Options to Navigate Survivor (SALONS) Stories Act sponsored by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), drew bipartisan support from Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.),…