Author: Seamus Othot

The Maine State Legislature next year will consider establishing a “Civil Rights Unit” to educate the public on hate and bias following approval by the Legislative Council of a bill from House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland). The proposal, which is only a draft at this point, states “This bill would establish a civil rights unit within the Office of the Attorney General to provide public education on issues regarding hate and bias.” Talbot Ross previously served as the director of equal opportunity and multicultural affairs in Portland, a position she left after an altercation with a parking attendant. The…

The Sanford City Council is considering eliminating two polling locations in future elections, a move Republicans say will disproportionately inconvenience GOP voters. “Since I became the town clerk in 2011, I have had a dream to narrow down the voting places in Sanford and Springdale,” said Sue Cote, the Sanford city clerk, speaking from behind a mask at the City Council meeting. The city council is now considering reducing the number of polling locations in the town from three to one. Sanford is Maine’s eighth largest municipality by population. At the start of her time as city clerk, the town…

Maine’s electrical utilities will not be seized by the state and placed under the control of a quasi-governmental body following the overwhelming rejection of Question 3 by Maine voters on Tuesday. Question 3 asked Mainers “Do you want to create a new power company governed by an elected board to acquire and operate existing for-profit electricity transmission and distribution facilities in Maine” The new, state-owned company was to be called Pine Tree Power. Question 3 would have dissolved Maine’s two leading, privately owned power companies, Central Maine Power (CMP), and Versant, and replaced them with the state-run Pine Tree Power…

More than 200 colleges across the country, including two in Maine, collectively received billions in funding from foreign powers, including authoritarian, Middle Eastern states, and failed to properly disclose the donations, according to a study conducted by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI). The University of Maine in Orono and Bates College in Lewiston were both listed among institutions that received the funding and failed to report it to the U.S. Department of Education, as is required by federal law. “In 2019, the Department of Education developed an online portal and issued a call to institutions of higher learning to…