Author: Steve Robinson

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), embroiled in serial controversies related to its overtly political and unethical conduct, has found time to chase down the real threat to Americans’ safety and security: Barstool Sports’ podcast host Kirk Minihane. Minihane, host of the eponymously named and thrice-weekly podcast, the Kirk Minihane Show, revealed on Thursday that he’d received a phone call from a Lexington Police Department detective who said he was investigating a tip that Minihane had threatened a Florida health care executive. The Lexington PD gumshoe, in Minihane’s telling, said the alleged threat was made on his podcast (it wasn’t)…

The U.S. government has executed the fourth “large-frame charter removal flight” returning Chinese illegal aliens to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in less than six months, the Department of Homeland Security announced Wednesday. The Dec. 9 flight carried Chinese nationals who had no lawful basis to remain in the United States. Illegal immigration by Chinese nationals has increased exponentially during the Biden Administration, with a record 78,701 Chinese nationals attempting to enter the U.S. illegally in FY 2024, according to DHS data. In 2022, that number was just 27,756, growing to 52,700 in 2023. For comparison, DHS data shows…

A new trend sweeping Maine schools has parents concerned about the lack of transparency surrounding medical treatments — including sex-change related treatments and mind-altering prescription drugs — their children might be receiving without their knowledge or consent. The latest battleground is the Gardiner area school system, where school officials are looking to create a so-called “school-based clinic” — that is, a fully functional medical office colocated with a public school. Maine School Administrative District 11, which includes Gardiner, West Gardiner, Pittston, and Randolph, is currently reviewing a contract that would create medical office within the schools capable of prescribing drugs…

Despite the hysteria over rising sea levels, allegedly caused by anthropogenic global warming, a comparison of satellite imagery of some of Maine’s most iconic coastal communities shows virtually no change in the coastline. The lack of sea level rise, however, hasn’t stopped the flood of apocalyptic predictions. The most recent comes from Newsweek this Sunday, a hyperventilating story based on predictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). According to those predictions, New England can expect an increase in sea levels of between 10 to 12 inches over the next five decades. Newsweek somberly conveys this news with the…

The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) announced Thursday the arrests of six individuals on drug trafficking charges, including two foreign nationals from the Dominican Republic. The arrests followed a coordinated execution of two search warrants early Wednesday morning, according to Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss. The operation resulted in the seizure of illegal drugs, firearms, and suspected drug proceeds. The arrests include: Adrian Batson (60) — Charged with Class B Unlawful Trafficking of Fentanyl; bail set at $50,000 cash. Juancel Ledesma Pujols (20) of the Dominican Republic — Charged with Class A Aggravated Trafficking of Fentanyl, aggravated due to…

A Maine family developed unusual respiratory symptoms after touring a Monmouth home that had previously been used as an illicit Chinese marijuana grow. Unbeknownst to the family, the home had only been listed for sale after it was exposed by the Maine Wire as a former unlicensed cannabis grow and an active shipping hub for Chinese-made pesticides and fungicides. The property, located at 254 Academy Road in Monmouth, was placed for sale shortly after the Maine Wire published an Aug. 29 story identifying it as part of an illegal Chinese drug trafficking network with ties to California. According to a…

Maine Democrats confirmed their nominees for Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and State Auditor on Wednesday, with Republican only nominating alternative candidates for AG and Secretary of State. Following the votes taken by a unicameral body State Senators and State Representatives, Attorney General Aaron Frey, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, and State Auditor Matt Dunlap will continue on in their posts. State Rep. Joe Perry of Bangor will assume the role of State Treasurer after beating out former Gorham representative Maureen Terry to replace Henry Beck. Republican lawmakers offered no alternative candidates for State Auditor or State Treasurer…

There’s a special place in hell for fraudsters who target the elderly, but for 39-year-old Sohil Usmangani Vahora, of Des Plaines, Illinois, federal prison will have to suffice. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the legal permanent resident from India has been sentenced to nearly 16 years in federal prison for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar telemarketing scam that targeted predominantly elderly victims across the United States. Vahora pleaded guilty in October 2023 to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen sentenced Vahora to 188 months in prison, followed…

The FBI and Maine State Police are seeking the public’s assistance in locating Stefanie Damron, a 14-year-old girl from New Sweden, Maine, who has been missing since September 24, 2024. Authorities announced a reward of up to $15,000 on Monday for information that leads to her safe return or the arrest and prosecution of anyone involved in her disappearance. Damron was last seen walking into the woods near her home on West Road. She was wearing blue jeans, a long-sleeved blue shirt, and black Harley Davidson hiking boots. She is described as a white female with green eyes and shoulder-length…

Black Friday is typically a day when normal people relax with family and watch as hordes of materialistic zombies storm big-box stores to trample one another and get into fistfights over the latest flat-screen television. But this year is special. This year is special because the Kirk Minihane Show has offered perhaps the single greatest t-shirt ever sold as part of Barstool’s legendary Black Friday stream-a-thon. This magnificent artwork, for the uninformed, is inspired by the penultimate scene of “Triad Weed: How Chinese Mafia Infiltrated Maine,” which premiered in September at the Saco Drive-In Theater. Click here to get the…

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey (D), facing a surprise challenge from the left-wing District Attorney of Kennebec County and still reeling from a sexual misconduct scandal that embroiled his office last year, has come up with a plan to shore up his support among Democratic lawmakers. He’s going to sue “Big Oil.” Frey announced the last ditch effort to preserve his progressive street credentials in a press release this week. [RELATED: 8-Month Long “Error in Judgement” – Maine AG Aaron Frey Caught in Sex Scandal…] The litigation, at least as Frey’s office describes it, would be a sweeping case against…

Maine’s Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP) has for the first time released documents related to its investigations into marijuana operators who have fallen afoul of the agency and had their licenses revoked. The documents, which the Maine Wire has been pursuing for more than a year, offer a glimpse at how the cannabis regulatory agency has tried — and failed — to grapple with the scope of Asian transnational organized crime in Maine. The records show that the OCP has barely scratched the surface of the massive criminal networks surrounding the 270 illegal Chinese marijuana grows that the U.S. Department…

The Maine Wire has obtained a copy of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s list of 270 properties in Maine that federal law enforcement believes are affiliated with Asian Transnational Criminal Organizations. Additionally, we’ve obtained records from the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy that show, in a few limited cases, that the agency has revoked cannabis licenses acquired under the names of out-of-state operatives who are or were part of the illegal Chinese grows. At the same time, we have obtained Maine law enforcement records that show the Maine State Police have been aware of the activities of “Chinese gangs…

Bangor horror writer Stephen King’s perplexing attempt at music-making surfaced this week on X, and users were quick to react with acid tongues and mockery, with one user comparing King to their imaginary “elderly, liberal, lesbian, Subaru-driving aunt who owns a bakery for cats and dabbles in music.” https://twitter.com/JebraFaushay/status/1861571440761356608 The bizarre video of King bebopping at an undisclosed musical venue spawned a host of jokes at the horror novelist’s expense. https://twitter.com/MaineLogic/status/1861614713882186015 https://twitter.com/JamesPleickhar2/status/1861591098226839623 This isn’t the first time King, a New York Times best-selling author and literary icon, has conjured comments about his resemblance to someone’s aunt. In April, a viral…

As Maine Wire reporter Edward Tomic detailed on Friday, agents from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) have ordered longtime poultry farmers Scott and Tracy Greaney to destroy 300 turkeys or else face ruinous financial penalties. The Greaney Family Farm, in operation for more than 30 years, has never had this kind of trouble before. This year, however, DACF agents have decided that the Greaneys should destroy the birds or else face fines worth nearly $30,000. The DACF claims that the Greaneys have run afoul of labeling and licensure requirements, which necessitates the wonton destruction of enough…

A Franklin County man who was charged in an alleged marijuana conspiracy is taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the federal investigation into his licensed cannabis business has raised profound constitutional questions about the limits of governmental power. A federal grand jury indicted Lucas Sirois, 44, of Farmington, and his now-ex-wife Alisia in 2021. The indictment was based on federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents’ theory that he was the kingpin of a sprawling black-market marijuana conspiracy that had earned millions of dollars through out-of-state sales. The alleged out-of-state sales form the foundation of the federal…

Tom’s of Maine — a popular toothpaste brand celebrated for it’s use of all-natural ingredients — has violated federal rules around the safety and hygiene of facilities that produce food, drugs, and cosmetics, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for fail During a recent inspection, the Tom’s of Maine manufacturing facility, located in Sanford, was found to be out of compliance with the required rules for “methods, facilities, or controls for manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding” involved in toothpaste production. The news emerged from a Nov. 5 warning letter from the FDA. The letter, addressed to Colgate-Palmolive’s…

The Maine Secretary of State on Monday continued with a series of recounts in races for the State Legislature that were decided by thin margins on election night. But the process hit some bumps in the road as recount staff initially couldn’t account for nearly 100 missing, misplaced, or miscounted ballots in House District 98. Calling the discovery of missing ballots a “snafu,” Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) gave “kudos” to her staff for identifying the ballot deficit. House District 98, which includes Pownal, Durham, and parts of Topsham and Bowdoin, saw Democrat Kilton Webb named the winner over…

Maine Wire readers and talk radio listeners this week may have followed the imbroglio between me and the Secretary of State’s office this week regarding overseas voters. So I wanted to offer a simple explanation of what happened. For a more in-depth look, read our coverage here. But here’s the skinny: Under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), voters outside the U.S. get to register to vote by email or fax and can submit their ballots in the same fashion. The UOCAVA (pronounced: U-oh-KAVA by those in the biz…) votes typically slant left and usually make up…

Maine’s Second Congressional District is headed for a recount that could last weeks after incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden emerged as the winner following a controversial Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) tabulation. After Election Day, Golden held a slim lead over Republican challenger State Rep. Austin Theriault of roughly 2,000 votes. However, under Maine’s RCV rules, candidates for certain offices are required to receive more than 50 percent of the “first choices” in the ranked ballot system. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) determined that, due to a large number of “blank” first-choice selections and the presence of a declared write-in…

It’s been a while since Chris Busby libelously claimed that I’m a paid subscriber to The Bollard newsletter in an amusing piece that shows he may still have some fight left in him after all. But I did not want his Oct. 15 missive and subsequent hit pieces to pass without remarking. Sadly — and I do mean, sadly — I’m not a paid subscriber to The Bollard. I might have been 10 years ago when it was counter-cultural, sometimes investigative, and interesting. Now it’s become leftist drivel. Not even an interesting species of leftist drivel. The once-intriguing left-wing alternative…

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled against a motion filed by several anonymous men seeking to keep their identities concealed in an alleged sex-trafficking case spanning Greater Boston and the Washington, D.C., area. The decision, which upholds a previous ruling by a Cambridge District Court clerk magistrate, marks the third failed attempt by the defendants—described as high-profile clients of the alleged trafficking operation—to maintain anonymity. The Boston Herald was the first to report on the SJC’s decision Thursday. The ruling affirms that hearings will be open to the public, though records and preliminary documents remain sealed pending further court…

A Maine resident, who asked to remain anonymous, finally received a response to a Feb. 2024 request for public records submitted to Maine’s Secretary of State. The response, which came more than eight months after the request was submitted, included a “good faith” time and cost estimate of $15,075 in order to comply with the request. [RELATED: The Shenna Files: Freedom of Access Under the Democrat Uniparty…] The Secretary of State’s office requested a 50 percent down payment of $7,537.50 in order to begin preparing the public records. Under Maine law, such time and cost estimates are “non-binding.” So nothing…

In December 2023, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows made the unilateral decision to remove Republican President-elect Donald Trump from Maine’s 2024 ballots. The decision came in response to a complaint brought by a hodgepodge of Republican lobbyists and left-wing political operatives, including Sec. Bellows’ longtime friend and former employer, Ethan Strimling. Naturally, there were a lot of questions in Maine and across the country about this controversial decision. As a result, the Maine Wire submitted several Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) requests to the Secretary of State’s (SOS) office seeking records that would shed light on how Bellows arrived…

The Maine Secretary of State’s office responded Wednesday to inquiries from media, party officials, elected representatives, and political professionals about the role overseas votes played in Maine’s 2024 elections and how the office accounts for overseas Absentee Ballot requests in public data. Last week, Maine’s elections saw an unprecedented number of overseas votes cast by U.S. citizens living outside of the United States — 6,589 in the presidential election. The Reagan-era Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) allows military personnel and any U.S. citizens living abroad to cast votes in jurisdictions where they previously lived by fax, email,…

Ranked Choice Voting was sold to Maine voters as a silver bullet that would clean up Maine politics, eliminate spoiler candidates, discourage negative campaigning, and have all kinds of other wonderful benefits. Instead, the reality has been increased confusion, electoral chaos, and diminished trust in the electoral process. As evidence, look no further than the drama currently on display in Maine’s Second Congressional District. The guys at the Maine Policy Institute (of which, full disclosure, the Maine Wire is a project) did a podcast episode today covering the topic that’s worth listening to as well. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4fvranytgqcn6FnHi60i8B?si=6xcHJCcgT3iMeXK2uZm0Cw Yesterday, about two hours…

Editor’s Note: The first version of this story misinterpreted the “blank” vote totals as ballots that had been cast blank across the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd ranking spots — in other words, as ballots that would be tossed out immediately during the first round of Ranked Choice Vote tabulation. However, it appears that the “blank” votes recorded in the Secretary of State data include only ballots where the 1st option was left blank but a 2nd and/or 3rd option was entered. This means that any of the 12,635 ballots categorized as “blank” in the Secretary of State’s initial data release…

Maine’s Second Congressional District race between incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden and Republican State Rep. Austin Theriault is headed into uncertain territory after the final results from the Secretary of State’s office found neither candidate won more than 50 percent of the votes. Under Maine’s recently adopted ranked-choice voting system, congressional candidates must win more than 50 percent of the total vote in order to win the election in the first round. In the late stages of the counting, with more than 95 percent of precincts reporting, Golden had maintained a lead of more than 2,400 votes — less…

Republicans in the State House of Representatives—fresh off yet another disappointing election cycle—are poised to cast votes for leadership positions within the minority caucus for the 132nd Legislature. Although former House Republican Leader Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) easily won his re-election fight on Tuesday, holding onto his leadership post may prove more challenging. State House sources tell the Maine Wire that Rep. Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips) and former Assistant Republican House Leader Rep. Amy Arata (R-New Gloucester) are both jockeying for the top leadership position, while Rep. Katrina Smith (R-Palermo), Rep. David Boyer (R-Poland), and former Republican leader Rep.…

Republican State Rep. Austin Theriault will demand a recount of the election results from his race against Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep Jared Golden, the Maine Wire can confirm. Currently, Golden holds a lead over Theriault of less than one percent, 50.3 percent to 49.7 percent, and he has been declared the victor by many media organizations as more than 95 percent of precincts have reported vote totals. https://twitter.com/AustinTheriault/status/1854628088069419134 In terms of raw numbers, Golden earned 192,154 votes while Theriault earned 189,751 votes, meaning more than 2,400 votes will need to be reversed or newly discovered in order to change the…

Former President Donald J. Trump survived coordinated lawfare, two assassination attempts, collusion among major tech companies, and a sustained negative campaign from the Washington, D.C., establishment and Vice President Kamala Harris to become the 47th president of the United States. By 2:00 a.m., most major media outlets had called the election in President-elect Trump’s favor, with major victories in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Georgia. Late Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for Vice President Harris announced to disappointed supporters that Harris would not be issuing a public address on Nov. 6 as the results became increasingly…

In the spirit of transparency, here are the emails exchanged with the Boston Globe reporter who covered the Maine Wire’s investigative report showing that noncitizens are registered to vote in Maine and that votes are being illegally cast in their names. Exclusive: Records Show Votes Cast Under Names of Non-Citizens in Multiple Maine Elections Since 2016 The Blob: Maine Wire Exposes Non-Citizen Voting and Election Vulnerabilities Created by Paroled Illegal Aliens [PODCAST] Top Maine Democrats Decline to Investigate Full Scope of Legal and Illegal Aliens Voting in Maine’s Elections Why the Maine Wire Won’t Turn Over Records Proving Non-Citizens Are…

The Boston Globe on Monday published a front-page story featuring the Maine Wire’s investigative report which found noncitizens are registered to vote in Maine and votes have been cast in their names since 2016. For context, here’s the reporting the Maine Wire has done so far showing that non-citizens are registered to vote in Maine and that votes are being cast in their names: Exclusive: Records Show Votes Cast Under Names of Non-Citizens in Multiple Maine Elections Since 2016 The Blob: Maine Wire Exposes Non-Citizen Voting and Election Vulnerabilities Created by Paroled Illegal Aliens [PODCAST] Top Maine Democrats Decline to…

David M. Rollins, the former Democratic mayor of Augusta and a longtime city councilor, is denying allegations leveled by a lifelong resident of Maine’s capital city that he spied on her through her bathroom window in 2018. “I recall, back a few years ago, in my own home, in the privacy of my own home, getting out of the shower and in my bathroom window I see Dave Rollins looking through my window,” Pamela M. Dumas, 55, said in a video posted to Facebook last week. “I was mortified,” said Dumas. Dumas made the claims about her interaction with Rollins…

John L. Martin, the longtime Democratic politician and master State House strategist, was found unconscious Sunday morning in his driveway and is currently hospitalized in Bangor, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation. No information was available on his current status. Martin, 83, is currently running for re-election to the State House of Representatives for the District 1 seat vacated by State Rep. Austin Theriault (R-Fort Kent), who abdicated the seat to challenge Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden for Maine’s Second Congressional District seat. One of Maine’s most influential and longest-serving politicians, Martin is known by his nom…

Maine’s top Democratic officials are declining to make any new efforts to secure Maine’s elections against non-citizen voting in the wake of an exclusive report from the Maine Wire showing that non-citizens are registered to vote in Maine. The Maine Wire’s Oct. 10 report used leaked data from Medicaid, known in Maine as MaineCare, that showed the alien status of 18 individuals living in southern Maine and compared that data to voter registration information from the Maine Secretary of State’s office. Medicaid documents list the alien status of all patients according to three options: 1-U.S. Citizens, 2-Legal Alien, or 3-Other.…

Maine voters in the Second Congressional District received campaign mailers this week from the Center for Voter Information (CVI), a 501(c)4 nonprofit group that claims to promote nonpartisan voter education. However, a deeper look into CVI’s materials reveals that the mailers are thinly disguised political advocacy for incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Jared Golden with claims that bear little resemblance to the truth. The official-looking mailers, which were sent to Mainers in the middle of a tight race between Golden and Republican State Rep. Austin Theriault, accuse Theriault of wanting to offshore jobs, discourage small business investment, and weaken gun restrictions.…

Could former Republican President Donald Trump win not only the Electoral College but also the popular vote in 2024? It’s a possibility that CNN is preparing its predominantly left-wing audience to face. https://twitter.com/i/status/1849835724243083694 In a segment on Friday, the network brought on polling guru Harry Enten, who cautiously informed viewers that Vice President Kamala Harris is severely underperforming her Democrat predecessors in the aggregate national poll margin. In 2016 and 2020, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then-Vice President Joe Biden entered the final week of October with, respectively, a six point and a nine point lead in the…

Election officials in Lancaster County, Penn., have uncovered approximately 2,500 instances of voter registration fraud, the county’s Board of Elections disclosed in a press release Friday morning. Staff detected the fraudulent applications during routine processing and quickly alerted law enforcement. [RELATED: Exclusive: Records Show Votes Cast Under Names of Non-Citizens in Multiple Maine Elections Since 2016…] The fraudulent forms were submitted to the Board of Elections in two separate batches near the deadline for registration. While the specific nature and scope of the fraud are still under investigation, officials have confirmed that the suspect registrations were flagged during the county’s…

A new report released by the Republican House Oversight Committee warns that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is intensifying its political warfare against the United States, while the Biden-Harris administration lacks a cohesive government-wide strategy to confront the threat. The report, published on October 24, 2024, asserts that federal agencies have largely failed to respond adequately to CCP influence operations that target American institutions, industries, and members of the political elite. Titled “CCP Political Warfare: Federal Agencies Urgently Need a Government-Wide Strategy,” the report accuses the CCP of waging “unrestricted warfare” against the U.S. and highlights failures across 25 federal…

The Franklin County Sheriff’s office made back-to-back traffic stops last Wednesday and Thursday that led to involvement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the deportation of more than a dozen illegal aliens. According to the police log from the Sheriff’s Office, Franklin County officers stopped a van carrying eight occupants who could not speak English in Kingfield on Wednesday. The next day, a deputy stopped a “large van” in New Vineyard carrying six occupants who were determined to be illegal aliens who had entered the U.S. illegally from Ecuador. On both occasions, federal immigration authorities were called in to…

Vice President Kamala Harris’s high-profile CNN town hall with Anderson Cooper quickly turned into a viral social media spectacle Wednesday night. As an example, here’s one of the Democratic presidential candidate’s responses when Cooper asked a question every teenager interviewing for a job at McDonald’s is typically prepared for, Tell me about a mistake you’ve made: COOPER: Is there something you can point to in your life, political life, or in your life in the last four years that you think is a mistake that you have learned from?HARRIS: I mean, I’ve made many mistakes, um, and they range from,…

On Friday, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey sent a second letter to the Maine Wire reiterating Maine Democratic leaders’ request for us to turn over information that would expose a source. The letter came in response to our reporting that non-citizens are illegally registered to vote in Maine and that votes have been cast in their names since 2016. Our report was based on Medicaid records provided to us by a whistleblower. Those records contained descriptions of 18 Maine residents as non-citizens. When cross-referenced with voting data, the results show six of those individuals are registered to vote and five…

The State of Maine welfare office in Portland attempted to help a Venezuelan illegal alien vote on Sept. 23, according to the non-citizen’s Spanish-language interpreter, who works with immigrants in Maine seeking welfare benefits. “She was applying for MaineCare and Food Stamps, and they asked her if she wanted to register to vote,” said the interpreter, Doris Rodriguez, a 72-year-old resident of the greater Portland area. Rodriguez, who intervened to prevent her client from potentially committing a deportable offense, said a Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) employee told her that welfare clerks had been instructed to offer voter…

Whistleblower records obtained by the Maine Wire, along with voter registration records from the Maine Secretary of State’s office, show that multiple votes have been cast in Maine under the names of legal and illegal aliens who should be ineligible to vote in U.S. federal, state, and local Maine elections. The records include state-managed Medicaid billing profiles showing the names, addresses, social security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, and immigration statuses of legal aliens and illegal aliens. The records show the legal and illegal aliens billing Medicaid, known in Maine as MaineCare, for hundreds of thousands of dollars in…

The transgender Maine high schooler who assaulted a high school girl on Friday was the subject of previous sexual harassment complaints at a different Maine school just months before video emerged showing him viciously attacking a classmate outside Mount Desert Island High School in Bar Harbor. The video, one of two showing the violent attack, did not capture the entirety of the altercation or the animalistic brutality of the assault on the smaller female student, who spoke to the Maine Wire along with her parents on the condition of anonymity. According to the victim and her parents, the attacker—a biological…

Maine cities and towns — but not all of them — have already begun voting in the 2024 elections, with some municipalities opening elections for in-person absentee ballots as early as August. According to a list from the Maine Secretary of State’s office, as well as emails obtained by the Maine Wire, the process for beginning voting in Maine’s various cities and towns has begun on a rolling, supposedly random basis. Under Maine law, in-person absentee voting begins on Oct. 7, and state law requires that election clerks have ballots in hand for 30 days prior to Election Day. [RELATED:…

Maine Democrats who welcomed Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff to Maine and appeared alongside him at a Portland abortion clinic for a political campaign event have remained silent in the face of credible allegations from three women that Emhoff physically assaulted them. Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, has been a prominent figure in promoting a “new masculinity” and advocating for women’s rights, as he supports his second wife’s campaign for president. According to a report by the Daily Mail, Emhoff allegedly assaulted a former girlfriend during an altercation in Cannes, France, after attending a high-profile gala. Three friends of…

Incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Jared Golden faced off against State Rep. Austin Theriault (R-Fort Kent) last night in the first debate amid their race for Maine’s Second Congressional District. Golden, who first won Maine’s more conservative congressional seat in 2018, is facing is toughest re-election fight yet in a district that former Republican President Donald Trump won in both 2016 and 2020. In the only poll that has been made public to date, Pan Atlantic Research found Theriault holding a slim three-point led over Golden — the first time the Democrat has ever found himself trailing a Republican opponent at…

The National Border Patrol Union endorsed State Rep. Austin Theriault (R-Fort Kent) Thursday in his bid to unseat incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. Jared Golden in the race for Maine’s Second Congressional District. “We proudly endorse @AustinTheriault in Maine-02,” the Border Patrol Union tweeted from its official account on Thursday. “Austin will assist in cleaning up the Biden-Harris border mess and help secure our border again!” https://twitter.com/BPUnion/status/1841946846710972870 Under the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. has experienced extraordinary levels of illegal immigration, primarily over the southern border with Mexico. [RELATED: Golden Voted for Blank Check…

A Democratic State Representative published an op-ed bragging about the 2023-2024, Democrat-led state spending spree just hours before the Mills Administration quietly disclosed that the State of Maine is projecting a nearly one billion dollar funding shortfall for 2026-2027. Without any Republican support or votes, Democrats created, approved, and signed into law the most recent two-year spending package, Rep. Drew Gattine (D-Westbrook) bragged. What Gattine didn’t know when he was writing the post — or what he declined to acknowledge — is that Maine’s top budget officer now says the State must confront a $949.2 million “structural gap” for the…

The State of Maine is projected to face a massive shortfall of nearly $1 billion for fiscal years 2026 and 2027, the first two years after Gov. Janet Mills (D) will leave office, according to Maine’s budget officer. The $949.2 million shortfall includes a $636.7 million projected deficit in the General Fund and a Highway Fund gap of $312.5 million for the 2026-2027 biennium, according to a recent four-year budget forecast report released by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS). According to DAFS, these projections are based on current laws and economic trends. Based on those conditions, DAFS’…

Electric Vehicles (EVs) have become a flashpoint in Maine politics over the past year thanks to an effort by the Mills Administration and left-wing outside groups to impose pro-EV mandates on car dealerships in the state. Those mandates, which Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) considered but narrowly rejected, would have led to Maine adopting California-style regulations requiring 82 percent of new vehicles sold in the state to be electric by 2032​. [READ MORE on the proposed EV mandates here…] The mandates, introduced via petition by environmental advocacy groups funded by left-wing billionaires, sparked widespread debate, especially in rural regions…

Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, has been heralded by Democratic politicians and left-wing media as offering America a “new masculinity.” But reports emerged Wednesday that Emhoff once drunkenly assaulted an ex-girlfriend because he thought she was flirting with another man. The Daily Mail reported Wednesday that Emhoff has been accused of slapping a former girlfriend during an altercation in 2012, according to allegations made by friends of the woman involved. The alleged incident occurred in Cannes, France, after the couple attended a star-studded gala, and comes as Emhoff has presented himself as a strong advocate for women’s rights…

The Bollard, a monthly newspaper published in Portland, has dubbed attempted murderer Leo R. Hylton, 34, Maine’s “foremost justice advocate” in an October issue alongside the question, “Who’s Afraid of Leo Hylton?” Hylton (MDOC#70199) is currently housed in Maine State Prison, where he’s slated to remain until July 27, 2050, for robbery, burglary, and attempted murder. Hylton was sentenced in Kennebec County Superior Court in Feb. 2010 after he was found guilty of participating in a brutal home invasion and violent attack targeting former Maine State Rep. William Guerrette and his ten-year-old daughter. [RELATED: Parole Reform Poster Child Tried to…

The Hampden Police Department in Massachusetts busted a large-scale illegal marijuana growing operation on Tuesday. Hampden Police Department along with Massachusetts State Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) found more than 1,000 after executing a search warrant at the property, according to WWLP. The property — located at 41 Thresher Road — was purchased in Aug. 2020 by Lily Zhong, 33, according to Hampden County Property Records. [RELATED: Maine Gov. Janet Mills’ Brother Helped Transfer Nine-Acre Black Market Cannabis Grow to Chinese National “Mother” Living in Guangdong Province…]

The Mills Administration has taken the unusual step of channeling $117,300 in taxpayer dollars to the Maine Trust for Local News, the operator of Maine’s most sympathetic far-left content publishers. These payments were not delivered in an envelope stuffed with cash at a smoky bar but via a no-bid contract, as disclosed on the state’s website. The details were discovered and reported exclusively by the Maine Wire’s Edward Tomic. In exchange for doling out taxpayer money, the Mills Administration receives what can only be described as paid applause for its education policies, a self-congratulatory attempt to convince readers that Maine’s…

Following the Portland City Council’s unanimous vote to divest public funds from companies that do business with Israel, the law office of a Jewish attorney was vandalized — for the second time in a year — and vandals painted a local elementary school with swastikas. So far, there have no official statements about the anti-Israel vandalism from Maine’s top elected officials or the members of the Portland City Council. Maine’s largest city has been a hotbed for anti-Israel and anti-semitic activities following the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks, in which the Palestinian terror group Hamas stormed into Israel and murdered…

The Portland Press Herald, one of Maine’s news websites, published a letter Sunday asking whether former President Donald Trump faked the second attempt on his life in order to raise campaign donations. “Is it possible that he staged the latest event to bamboozle gullible supporters into giving him even more cash?” asked Leonard Freeman of Falmouth. “Could it be true? Just wondering,” Freeman wrote. It’s unclear why the Press Herald, which is owned by the George Soros-funded Maine Trust for Local News, decided to run the letter, which could easily be debunked with some basic journalistic fact-checking. Ryan W. Routh,…

A new poll by Pan Atlantic Research shows the race for Maine’s Second Congressional District is leaning in favor of the Republican challenger. Republican State Rep. Austin Theriault, of Fort Kent, leads Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden 47-44 percent with a slight edge among registered votes. (See full poll below) The survey, conducted from September 5th to 15th, carries a margin of error of 3.5 percent, indicating that the race is very tight. Pan Atlantic Research found just nine percent of likely voters remained undecided in the race. Although Theriault’s lead falls within the margin of error for the poll,…

Asian restaurant owners in Maine have become targets for sophisticated and often lucrative burglaries at the hands of well-organized, highly advanced home invaders. Apart from their nationality and their ownership of small-businesses, the victims in this crime spree also have one other thing in common: police suspect they have ties to the black-market marijuana trafficking operations that have proliferated throughout Maine in the past four years. What’s more, law enforcement believe the perpetrators of these break-ins are members of criminal organizations with insider knowledge of where to find large stockpiles of cash. “We’re asking anyone with knowledge of these burglaries…

Missouri Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley released a report Monday detailing the failures of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) that contributed to the nearly successful July 13 assassination attempt on former Republican President Donald Trump. The failures detailed in the report represent “the most stunning breakdown in presidential security since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy,” according to Hawley’s office. [RELATED: Trump Targeted in Second Assassination Attempt at Florida Golf Club…] In an X post, Hawley said the report detailed “multiple failures of Secret Service & [Department of Homeland Security] – including new allegations & numerous unanswered questions due…

An alleged ABC News employee has stated that the news outlet struck an agreement with Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign to give the Democratic candidate preferable treatment during the Sept. 10 presidential debate, according to social media posts that circulated broadly on Sunday. The social media posts included images of what are purported to be a sworn affidavit from the alleged ABC News whistleblower dated Sept. 9, the day before the debate. Some of the allegations against ABC News, as well as the employees’ personal information, are redacted from the images that spread throughout social media on Sunday. ABC…

Maine’s top newspapers offered short shrift Monday morning to the second apparent assassination attempt on former Republican President Donald Trump, an attempt that was foiled by U.S. Secret Service agents protecting the 2024 Republican nominee at one of his Florida golf courses. [RELATED: Trump Targeted in Second Assassination Attempt at Florida Golf Club…] As of Monday morning, the Bangor Daily News and the Portland Press Herald both featured local stories—including a piece about a dangerous intersection in Bangor and an in-depth investigation into the piping plover—while downplaying the attempt by suspected gunman Ryan W. Routh, 58, to gun down Trump…

The suspected gunman, arrested Sunday in Florida after his assassination attempt on former Republican President Donald Trump was foiled by the U.S. Secret Service, has been identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh. [RELATED: Trump Targeted in Second Assassination Attempt at Florida Golf Club…] Routh, who was apprehended on I-95 after fleeing his sniper post alongside a chain link fence surrounding the Palm Beach golf course, was described by law enforcement as living in Hawaii. Online records suggest Routh most recently maintained a residence on Kamehameha Highway in Kaaawa, HI. Although Routh had previously tweeted about having supported former President Trump…

Former President Donald Trump is safe after what the FBI is calling an apparent second assassination attempt unfolded on Sunday at his Florida golf club in West Palm Beach. Trump’s campaign confirmed the incident shortly after reports surfaced, stating that the former Commander-in-Chief was “safe following gunshots in his vicinity.” Multiple state and federal law enforcement agencies later confirmed that the U.S. Secret Service had opened fire on a gunman who was positioned with a line of sight that would have potentially allowed for an open shot on the former president. At a press conference following the incident, the Sheriff…

After we published a story regarding the University of Maine’s decision renege on a deal to sell the Hutchinson Center in Belfast to Calvary Chapel Belfast, an official from the University of Maine system reached out to complain about our characterization of the move as “caving” to anti-Christian pressure. So enjoy this opinion editorial underscoring precisely why the University of Maine’s decision is not only anti-Christian, but a despicable act of cowardice and a disservice to Mainers. The “chancellors” of the taxpayer-funded university can claim to have discovered some new financial reason why Calvary Chapel Belfast’s purchase offer actually isn’t…

The University of Maine can couch their decision to rescind the sale of the Hutchinson Center to Calvary Chapel Belfast in whatever legalese helps them sleep at night (or avoid a lawsuit), but there’s no mistaking this for what it is: brazen anti-Christian discrimination. More than that, it’s pure cowardice on the part of the University of Maine System (UMS) administrators who went along with this sham. [RELATED: UMaine Rescinds Offer to Sell Hutchinson Center to Belfast Church…] For those who haven’t been following the drama, UMS decided to sell the Hutchinson Center, they accepted multiple bids, and Calvary Chapel…

As legions of you noted in emails to me, Thursday morning’s Maine Wire newsletter malfunctioned. As the political aphorism goes, mistakes were made. By way of explanation, we’re actively working on ways to improve our website and our email newsletter, so there are going to be some bumps in the road. We’re good at exposing corrupt politicians and vast foreign criminal conspiracies, but it turns out email newsletters are more challenging. Bear with us, because I can assure you our goal is to improve and streamline the delivery of our news product. As always, you can direct your complaints, tips,…

An Edgartown man has pleaded guilty to charges related to an armed bank robbery on Martha’s Vineyard, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Miquel Antonio Jones, 33, admitted in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery and one count of armed bank robbery and aiding and abetting. U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled Jones’ sentencing for Dec. 2. Jones was initially indicted in March 2023, and additional charges were brought in April, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Prosecutors say Jones, along with co-conspirators Omar Johnson, Tevin Porter, and allegedly…

Four individuals from Massachusetts and New York face charges in connection with a health care fraud scheme that allegedly involved submitting false insurance claims for more than $1 million in medical expenses purportedly incurred during international travel, federal prosecutors said Monday. The phony medical events the individuals claimed to have had while traveling overseas were no run-of-the-mill visits to the doctor’s office. According to the Department of Justice, the suspects fabricated gun shot wounds, hit-and-run accidents, and stabbings as part of a scheme to collect unwarranted payouts from insurers. Henry Ezeonyido, 36, of Brockton, Massachusetts, has been indicted on one…

A 59-year-old man was found dead in an apparent suicide at a state park in Washington County on June 8, according to a report from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. The man, identified as Zhiwei “Jerry” Xiao, was discovered in his vehicle with a gunshot wound to the head. The handgun, a Beretta M92FS, was found in his right hand, and authorities determined the shot was self-inflicted. Washington County Deputy Matthew Carter, who responded to the scene, noted that a single round had been fired from the weapon. A 9mm shell casing was found in the back seat of the…

The city of Portland has ordered a property owner to clean up a hazardous waste site left behind by an intravenous drug user — including recently used hypodermic syringes — or face unclear enforcement actions by the Department of Public Works. According to an email exchange obtained by the Maine Wire, a city official instructed the owner of 257 Oxford Street to clean up the trash behind an apartment building — which included used needles, clothing, food waste, a big screen TV, and empty alcohol containers. [RELATED: Triad Weed: The Movie – Everything You Need to Know…] The property owner…

A 36-year-old New York man is facing multiple charges following a pursuit and altercation with Portland police early Monday morning. Francis O. Olukogbon, of Uniondale, N.Y., was arrested after a vehicle pursuit that ended in a foot-chase on Everett Street. At around 2:36 a.m., a Portland police officer attempted to pull over Olukogbon’s sedan after he allegedly ran several blinking red lights. Despite police lights and sirens, the suspect continued driving until he eventually stopped, according to the police report. When officers approached the vehicle, Olukogbon reportedly became combative and fled on foot. Following a brief chase, officers apprehended him,…

The Mills Administration and the Maine Service Employees Association (MSEA-SEIU Local 1989) have reached an agreement Thursday to resolve a labor complaint that will see state employees receive a one-time $2,000 payment and initiate a classification study aimed at modernizing pay structures. Although state workers will receive what amounts to a consolation prize via the cash payment, the settlement is a clear victory for Gov. Janet Mills (D) and yet another embarrassing defeat for MSEA leadership, including its new president Mark A. Brunton and the union negotiating team. The agreement, announced on Sept. 5, 2024, follows months of strained negotiations…

The U.S. Justice Department is intensifying its efforts against Chinese organized crime networks operating in Maine, following a series of raids targeting illicit marijuana cultivation sites throughout rural communities in the state. On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney of Maine Darcie McElwee’s office filed lawsuits seeking the seizure of two properties raided earlier this year by county sheriffs, one on the Douty Hill Road in Sangerville and another on Upper Main Street in Norridgewock. All told, the Department of Justice is now aiming to confiscate six properties suspected of being part of a sophisticated criminal enterprise operated by Chinese criminal organizations. The…

Two men were arrested on Thursday in Farmington following a significant drug bust that resulted in the seizure of cocaine, fentanyl, firearms, and suspected drug proceeds, according to state police. Jason Robbins Miguel Alvarez Jason Robbins, 42, of Farmington, and Miguel Alvarez, 39, of Webster, Massachusetts, were taken into custody by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) and the Farmington Police Department. Both men face charges of aggravated trafficking in cocaine and fentanyl. The arrests culminated a three-month investigation by the MDEA’s Western District Task Force and the Farmington Police, which involved undercover drug purchases. Investigators determined that Robbins was…

Maine Wire Reporter Seamus Othot contributed to this story. The small family home at 254 Academy Road in Monmouth may appear like any other Chinese-controlled blackmarket drug house in Maine. The windows are obscured, security cameras dot the perimeter, and a dumpster sits near the driveway for disposal of marijuana detritus. The house and attached garage are both hooked up to independent 200-amp power entrances. Multiple mini split heat-pumps – far more than a typical 2,000 square foot home would need — speckle the exterior. Then there’s the odor of marijuana and rotting plant debris, the food and drink rubbish…

Former House Democratic Leader Maureen Terry of Gorham scoffed at then-Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) for proposing a 2021 bill to increase Maine’s Homestead Exemption to $50,000 on the basis that “taxation is theft.” The bill would have increased Maine’s Homestead Exemption from $25,000 to $50,000, thereby lowering the amount of property taxes many Mainers are required to pay. As Faulkingham was introducing his bill, Rep. Terry could be seen in the Zoom recording of the committee hearing sneering, making faces, and laughing, as if the idea of helping reduce the property taxes was too ridiculous for the Taxation…

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. narrowly met the Maine Secretary of State’s deadline to withdraw his name from the Pine Tree State’s presidential ballot on Tuesday evening. The development will likely work to the benefit of former President Donald Trump, as Kennedy’s candidacy was largely regarded as taking votes away from the Republican candidate, whom Kennedy endorsed last Friday. As of 4:30 p.m., Kennedy had not submitted the necessary paperwork to have his name removed from the Nov. 5 ballots. [RELATED: Former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard Joins RFK in Endorsing Trump…] The deadline for submitting the forms was 5:00…

The director of Maine’s Bureau of General Services has resigned his position with the state less then two months after the Maine Wire reported on a state contract he awarded to a landscaping company owned by his brother. William J. Longfellow, a longtime state employee, had served as the director of the Bureau of General Services for several years, a role that tasked him with evaluating and approving vendor contracts. In March, Longfellow signed off on a landscaping contract that was awarded to Longfellow Holdings, LLC, a company that is owned and operated by Longfellow’s brother. [RELATED: Maine Awards State…

The Bangor Daily News, the media arm of marketing firm Bangor Publishing Company, on Tuesday published its latest report into the boogeyman of anti-government extremism in Maine. From Christopher Polhaus, the Biden-backing pro-Ukraine war Wyoming man whose business partner raised $100,000 for a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016, to Tom Kawczynski, a former town manager who posted ridiculous things on social media, the Bangor newspaper has developed a fetish for identifying, publicizing, and “exposing” anyone in Maine who can be vaguely connected with a person or group the Southern Poverty Law Center claims is bad. It’s a strategy that’ll generate…

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has accused the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of pressuring the company in 2020 to censor accurate reporting about then-Democratic candidate for president Joe Biden. The allegation, which Zuckerberg made in an Aug. 26 letter to the House Judiciary Committee, raises the prospect that America’s top law enforcement agency coerced a private company into censoring truthful information about Biden in order to influence the outcome of a presidential election. In the letter, Zuckerberg addressed the controversy surrounding Meta’s handling of a New York Post story involving corruption allegations against President Biden’s family. [RELATED: CIA Contractors Colluded…

Bill Belichick, the longtime head coach of the New England Patriots foot team, has cited Massachusetts’ income surtax as a significant hurdle in his efforts to recruit top NFL talent. Speaking on the Pat McAfee Show, Belichick said the so-called “Millioniare’s Tax” levied by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts works against the New England Patriots organization when they’re trying to recruit players, even practice squad players. “It’s taxachusetts, yeah,” said Belichick, when asked about the penalty successful people pay for the luxury of living in Democratic Gov. Maura Healey’s state. [RELATED: ICE Arrests Brazilian Illegal Alien Charged in Massachusetts with Attempted Murder,…

Top Republican budget officials have called for a thorough review by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) of a recent proposal from the Biden administration that would provide financial relief to Medicare insurers. While the Biden administration has described the one-time payments to insurers as a “demonstration program,” Republicans have alleged that bailout is an attempt to use taxpayer dollars to protect vulnerable Democrats on Election Day. In a letter sent Monday, House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) and Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) demanded and CBO review and highlighted Republicans’ criticism of the Medicare payouts. [RELATED:…

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has said its investigating after Democrats attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago made a disgusting discovery: there food was infested with maggots. According to a local TV station, the Chicago Police and the FBI are investigating to determine whether someone intentionally slipped the maggots into the Democratic food chain prior to Wednesday morning’s breakfast. https://twitter.com/BenBradleyTV/status/1826322519541878832 It’s unclear whether any DNC attendees ate any of the food that was reportedly contaminated with fly larvae. “Our team acted immediately to clean and sanitize the area, ensuring that the event could continue without further incident,” a spokesperson…

The new leader of the Democratic Party, Vice President Kamala Harris, has unveiled a slate of economic proposals that would do nothing but harm the American economy and make Americans poorer. In case you haven’t been following along, Harris has endorsed price-controls for grocery stores, subsidizing housing demand with $25,000 credits to new home-buyers, raising the corporate income tax to 28 percent, and adopting a 45 percent tax on longterm capital gains. Harris even went so far as propose a 25 percent tax on unrealized capital gains for some high net-worth individuals. If Harris set out to craft a set…

Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, is expected to unveil a slate of economic proposals on Friday in North Carolina, including a plan to offer new homebuyers as much as $25,000 in downpayment assistance. The plan to subsidize housing demand followed an earlier announcement that Harris wanted to impose government-controlled pricing on grocery stores in order to protect American consumers from greedy grocery store operators. Harris’s housing proposal, which may seem enticing to young people in the market for their first homes, led many political observers to ask the obvious question: Won’t every home-seller just increase…

Two days after Christmas 2023, the bodies of Jean C. Robinson, 76, and her daughter, Allison “Joy” Cumming, 53, were found dead at 274 Red School Road in Farmington, the location of Joy’s small business, the Pawsitive Dog Kennel. The Maine State Police (MSP), two weeks later, said the Chief Medical Examiner had ruled that both Robinson and Cumming died as the result of homicide. The MSP said an autopsy for both women had been completed on Dec. 28, but the state police agency gave no further information about the investigation into the killings, including the way the women were…

Vice President Kamala Harris will unveil a plan to use the federal government to control grocery stores prices at Friday campaign event in North Carolina. The plan will include a federal ban on “corporate price-gouging,” according to reporting NBC correspondent Yamiche Alcindor. Harris also wants to grant new authority to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Justice Department attorneys to impose harsh penalties on companies suspected of violating these rules. The price-control scheme is an attempt by Harris, the presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, to rein in the inflation the U.S. economy has experienced under the Biden-Harris administration. Food, energy,…

The White House wants to give an estimated $5 billion in taxpayer money to health insurance companies in order to prevent Medicare premium increases caused, in part, by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. The controversial move is intended to stop private health insurers from raising Medicare Part D prescription drug premiums, but Republican critics argue the timing suggests the potentially illegal move is purely political. Proposed Medicare rate increases are typically submitted during the summer and announced in September. If it moves forward, the White House’s gimmick could prevent seniors from getting alerts about prescription drug cost increases…

A Maine mother says her daughter, Nicole M. Dunham of Orrington, was called up to join the Minnesota National Guard as a convoy support medic in 2005—the same year Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz retired from the Minnesota National Guard in order to skip a deployment to Iraq. “Nicole Marie Dunham went to war in place of the Governor of Minnesota,” said Mary Dunham in a Monday morning interview with WVOM’s George Hale and Ric Tyler Show. “Maybe not his rank, but my daughter from Maine went to war, and he didn’t, he didn’t fulfill his commitment. Nicole’s commitment was over.…

A lawsuit filed in federal court on Thursday challenges the constitutionality of Maine’s Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program, alleging it violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of lawyers and their clients. The complaint, filed by Dedham resident E. David Wescott and the limited liability company Russell Johnson Beaupain, contends that the mandatory IOLTA program forces them to support causes they oppose. The plaintiffs are suing several state entities, including the Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, the State Court Administrator, the Maine Justice Foundation, and the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar. According to…

Peter Mills, the former executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority, emerged this week as one of the top faces of “Republicans for Harris.” The group mirrored in Maine the sudden emergence of a supposed Republican outpouring of support nationally for far-left Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. But in secretly recorded audio obtained by the Maine Wire from a citizen journalist, Peter Mills revealed that the entire group is astroturf organized by Amy Cookson, a campaign staffer for Vice President Harris’s campaign. In the recorded audio, Mills, who is the brother of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and is himself…

The latest case of fighting racism with racism comes with an added dash of climate change hysteria-induced mental illness, courtesy if the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardners Association (MOFGA). On Aug. 24 from 9:00am to 12:00pm, MOFGA will host “Ecology of Grief: Mourning and Celebrating Changing Forests,” a workshop intended to help people cope with their neuroticism over climate change. The event is free to attend… unless you’re white. For whites, the cost of admission is between $50 to $125; MOFGA members are asked to chip in $75. Leading the grief counseling session are Elizabeth Grey, a professional facilitator with…

Once upon a time, a newspaper editorial was a beacon of thought, a voice that carried weight and commanded respect. It was an instrument of intellect, raising unconventional ideas and stirring action towards noble goals. Nowadays, the Bangor Daily News’ editorials bear an uncanny resemblance to the impassioned rants you might find on your boomer aunt’s Facebook page, especially after she’s indulged in a marathon of MSNBC and a bag of wine. Here’s a suggestion for the publisher: consider replacing the entire editorial team with ChatGPT. Simply feed the OpenAI language model this prompt: “Write an opinion editorial about [insert…

A declassified report by the Canadian National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) revealed earlier this year extensive foreign interference in Canada’s elections and legislative affairs. According to a new report from independent journalist Sam Cooper of The Bureau, the NSICOP report, taken together with non-public intelligence documents obtained exclusively by Cooper, show that Chinese nationals, backed by the Chinese Communist Party, have engaged and are engaging in sophisticated efforts to infiltrate and manipulate all levels of Canada’s economy and government. The Special Report was prepared by NSICOP — the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee –…

A Canadian-born illegal alien with outstanding warrants for grand theft and armed robbery was caught stealing more than $3,000 of food, booze, and lobster from Hannaford in Damariscotta. Cristian Ariza-Padilla, 49, the culinary hand behind Ann’s Book Bistro and Koko’s Sandwich Bar, was nabbed by Damariscotta police on July 17, according to a story broken Aug. 1 by the Lincoln County News, a locally owned weekly newspaper. [READ LCN HERE] According to LCN’s reporting, Ariza-Padilla is allegedly Canadian-born illegal alien, whose illegal presence in the U.S. was only uncovered after his arrest on theft charges. The Damariscotta lugging and subsequent…

Protesters sympathetic to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas descended on Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, at one point torching several American flags in apparent protest of Israeli Prime Minister’s Benjamin Natanyahu’s address to Congress — and address Maine Sen. Angus King and Rep. Chellie Pingree both boycotted. Although Maine-based far left groups attempted to organize bus trips for activists to attend the anti-Israel activities in the nation’s capital, some remained behind to attend low-energy demonstrations in Augusta and Portland. https://twitter.com/TheMaineWire/status/1816181954712412641 Outside of the fringe left Democratic circles, Netanyahu’s speech was generally regarded as pro-American and pro-democracy, a rousing call to defend…

The Maine Democrat’s candidate for State Senate District 19 was charged with Operating Under the Influence (OUI) in May, according to records obtained by the Maine Wire. Bruce S. Bryant, 62, of Rumford was summonsed and had his initial court appearance on July 8 in South Paris District Court following an incident involving an officer from the Rumford Police Department just after 11:30 pm on Friday, May 10, according to police records. Democrat Bruce S. Bryant The incident occurred on Route 2. Although Bryant’s campaign registration documents list an PO Box in Dixfield, Oxford County property records show Bryant owns…