Author: Steve Robinson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Courtesy of NetRightDaily

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PORTLAND – The three candidates in Maine’s hotly contested race for governor gathered Wednesday morning at Portland’s Holiday Inn by the Bay for the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce gubernatorial debate. Public polling on the race so far has shown Republican Gov. Paul LePage virtually tied with Democratic candidate U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, while independent candidate Eliot Cutler’s campaign has struggled to recreate the momentum-building it saw in the final weeks of his 2010 bid. The format of the debate included six policy questions, a three-minute closing statement for each candidate, no opening statements and no rebuttals. Portland Regional Chamber of…

Mainers are familiar with S. Donald Sussman — the billionaire hedge fund manager whose largesse has propped up the liberal-leaning Portland Press Herald, the Maine Democratic Party and a consortium of Democratic non-profit groups and political action committees. But there is another liberal billionaire from away who has set his sights on Maine: Thomas Steyer. Few knew of Steyer until he announced grand ambitions to spend $50 million of his own money and raise another $50 million from like-minded donors to influence elections across the country. The news was welcomed by liberal Democrats, who would be the primary beneficiaries of Steyer’s…

ORONO – First Lady Michelle Obama touted the health of the U.S. economy as she visited Maine on Friday to campaign on behalf of Democratic candidates at the University of Maine in Orono. “I remember some of you were with us back when we were out in Iowa and New Hampshire talking about hope and change and getting all fired up and ready to go,” Obama told a packed crowd of students and Democratic supporters. “Let’s go back for a moment, because I want you to remember how bad things were back then,” said Obama. “When Barack first stepped into office this…

The national unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent in September as the percentage of Americans not in the workforce reached a 36-year high, according to a Friday report from the U.S. Labor Department. “Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 248,000 in September, and the unemployment rate declined to 5.9 percent,” the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Employment increased in professional and business services, retail trade, government employment and health care, according to the labor report. That’s the lowest national unemployment rate since July of 2008, but the report is not all good news. The national workforce participation rate — a measure…

Portland Press Herald columnist Alan Caron says Republican Gov. Paul LePage isn’t the worst governor in Maine’s history, but he’s a close comparison to Gov. Ralph O. Brewster — a man notorious for his ties to the Ku Klux Klan. “Ralph Owen Brewster is a closer comparison to LePage,” Caron wrote in a column published Thursday. “Elected in 1924, Brewster was strongly supported by the Ku Klux Klan, which then occupied the anti-immigrant, anti-poor far right of the political spectrum in the same way that the tea party does today.” According to his LinkedIn profile, Caron is the president of Envision…

The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., released its 2014 Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors. Maine Gov. Paul LePage received top marks from Cato with a score of “A”. Only three other governors — Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas, Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina, and Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana — received the same top score. “The recession of 2007–2009 knocked the wind out of state government budgets, but revenues and spending have grown steadily in recent years,” wrote Cato’s Nicole Kaeding and Chris Edwards. “As revenues have risen, some governors have pursued…

PORTLAND – Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Shenna Bellows sought to tie incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins to Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at a press conference on Wednesday. The event, which took place at Rising Tide Brewery in Portland, coincided with the one-year anniversary of the 2013 partial government shutdown and followed efforts by Bellows’ campaign to blame Collins for causing the sixteen-day partial closure of some federal agencies. “You cannot rewrite history,” Bellows said. “Mainers know that the Republicans, lockstep, Susan Collins joining Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz, are responsible for last year’s government…

A top union boss spoke out in favor of Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud’s gubernatorial campaign on Wednesday as media reports indicated the United Steelworkers will dump another $230,000 into the congressman’s gubernatorial campaign. USW Works, the United Steelworkers Union’s super political action committee (super PAC), has reportedly purchased $230,000 in television advertisements. Details of the ad buy have not yet been reported to the Federal Communications Commission Website as required under law, but the dollar amount of the purchase was reported on Wednesday afternoon by the liberal-leaning Portland Press Herald. On the same day, AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka made a scheduled campaign…

Nate Silver, polling aficionado for ESPN’s FiveThirtyEight.com, published a comprehensive ranking of American polling houses last week. According to Silver’s analysis, Maine People’s Resource Center, the polling organ of the liberal Maine People’s Alliance, scored in the bottom fifth of all polling houses with a “C-“. According to FiveThirtyEight.com, “pollster ratings are calculated by analyzing the historical accuracy of each firms’s polls along with its methodology. Accuracy scores are adjusted for the type of election polled, a firm’s sample size, the performance of other polls surveying the same race, and other factors.” Another Maine-based polling house, Pan Atlantic SMS Group,…

The Foundation for Government Accountability, a Naples, Florida-based think tank focused on developing state and national health care policy, on Tuesday released a powerful — and hilarious — video highlighting the priorities of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion provisions. Maine is one of a handful of states that have not expanded Medicaid pursuant to the ACA, also known as Obamacare, but the issue will almost certainly return in the 127th Legislature next year. Republican Gov. Paul LePage vetoed Medicaid expansion bills five times, but both of his opponents — Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud and independent Eliot Cutler –…

Senate President Justin Alfond (D-Portland) has taken more than $23,000 from taxpayers under Maine’s Clean Election Act — despite being personally wealthy as the result of an inheritance stemming from his grandfather Harold Alfond’s sale of Dexter Shoe Co. According to Alfond’s campaign finance report filed last week, the Democratic leader has raised $500 in seed money contributions — a requirement under the law — and has received a total of $23,580. Alfond’s not the only upper-class candidate looking to taxpayers to foot the bill for his campaign. Assistant Senate Minority Leader Roger Katz (R-Kennebec), an Augusta-based attorney, is also…

AUGUSTA – Gov. Paul R. LePage on Monday called upon the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to intervene in New England to address rising energy prices before a winter gets underway — a step he said is necessary because of recent actions taken by Massachusetts. “New England households and our businesses are about to experience a catastrophic increase in electric bills,” LePage said in a press release. “We need action now. It’s well past the time that New England should have added natural gas pipeline capacity,” he said. “FERC must step up and address the unprecedented situation that liberals in Massachusetts…

Contradiction:  In a CBS “60 Minutes” interview, President Barack Obama admitted that his foreign policy plans in Syria were based on a contradiction. The president’s efforts to “degrade” Islamic State forces may have the undesired effect of helping the brutal Syrian dictator, Bashar Assad, regain control of the country.  “I recognize the contradiction in a contradictory land and a contradictory circumstance,” said Obama.  “We are not going to stabilize Syria under the rule of Assad.”  Congress has no plans to debate or approve of the president’s authorization of military force in Syria, and the president has stated that such approval is…

A new public opinion poll shows Republican Bruce Polquin leading Democrat state Sen. Emily Cain (D-Orono) by 10 points in Maine’s Second District congressional race. The poll was paid for by the liberal-leaning Portland Press Herald, whose majority owner, S. Donald Sussman, has donated to Cain. It was conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. The margin of error on the poll, which surveyed 220 likely voters on landlines and cellphones, was 6.2 percent. The big margin of error may be attributed to the small sample size. Just 3 percent of respondents said they would vote for independent candidate…

BANGOR – Maine Democrats on Friday drew attention to Republican state Senate candidate Cary Weston’s lawful campaign finance activities. The attack mailer, which landed in Penobscot County mailboxes this week,  criticizes Weston for paying his print company, Sutherland Weston, to produce mailers for his campaign against incumbent Sen. Geoff Gratwick (D-Penobscot). Weston’s business partner, Elizabeth Sutherland, responded to the strange attack on Friday in a press release. “Our company and our employees are supportive of Cary’s run for office. We wish him the best of luck. And many of us have offered to volunteer to help get him elected,” said…

AUGUSTA – Maine Republicans expressed outrage Friday over campaign literature sponsored by the Maine Democratic Party that attacks Sen. Brian Langley (R-Ellsworth) and Republican candidate Eric Brakey. The Democratic mailers accused Langley of failing to protect children from toxic chemicals and Brakey of opposing women’s access to breast-cancer screenings. “Maine Democrats have been lying their way into office for decades,” said David Sorensen, communications director for the Maine Republican Party. “But now, with [Gov.] Paul LePage in the Blaine House, they see the dysfunctional state government they created being reformed and they don’t like it.” “Democrats have pulled out all the…

AUGUSTA – The Democratic candidate running against Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins told reporters at a Thursday press conference she will bring libertarians on board with President Obama’s plans to hike the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. “On the minimum wage issue [Shenna] Bellows said, if elected, she would work with members of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party to move a federal wage hike forward,” according to a report in the Lewiston Sun Journal. “Bellows said President Barack Obama’s proposal to move the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour had popular support and would widely…

AUGUSTA – On the same day opponents of Republican Gov. Paul R. LePage gathered at the State House to attack him for problems at Riverview Psychiatric Center, the 92-bed state-run forensic psychiatric hospital received full accreditation from the Joint Commission. “As a result of the accreditation activity conducted, there were no requirements for improvement identified,’’ the Joint Commission’s Chief Operating Officer Mark G. Pelletier wrote, according to a Department of Health and Human Services press release distributed Thursday. The Joint Commission, a non-profit organization responsible for accrediting more than 20,000 health care facilities in the United States, announced Riverview’s full accreditation following…

In a surprising move, Eric Holder Jr. will step down as Attorney General, the White House announced Thursday. From NPR: Two sources familiar with the decision tell NPR that Holder, 63, intends to leave the Justice Department as soon as his successor is confirmed, a process that could run through 2014 and even into next year. A former U.S. government official says Holder has been increasingly “adamant” about his desire to leave soon for fear he otherwise could be locked in to stay for much of the rest of President Obama’s second term. Holder’s tenure as America’s top law enforcement has…

For a few years now, I’ve been closely following and commenting on state and local level circumstances relating to the Amtrak Downeaster, and in particular, its extension to Brunswick. Not to mention the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) that operates it, and their closely affiliated lobbying organization, TrainRiders/Northeast. For those who aren’t aware, in spite of its name, NNEPRA is a creature of Maine State Government, defined statutorily in 1995 during the Angus King administration. The law mandates that NNEPRA create passenger train service in Maine, bypassing any thought of analyzing public transit needs, and then synthesizing and…

AUGUSTA – The administration of Gov. Paul LePage on Wednesday released information regarding new welfare reforms and enforcement procedures. “In the last year, we have added more accountability to the system in a number of ways,” LePage said in his weekly address. “We put photos on EBT cards; we eliminated the unauthorized out-of-state use of [Electronic Benefit Transfer] cards; and we put more resources in our welfare to work programs.” According to the administration, 14,000 Mainers have voluntarily signed up to have photo identification placed on their EBT cards under an initiative that began in April. [LISTEN: Robinson talks welfare…

With all the talk of debates this year, we thought readers might be interested in watching a collection of previous debates in Maine politics. Check out the “greatest hits” of Maine’s gubernatorial and congressional debates. Michael Michaud vs. John Frary No collection of Maine debate clips would be complete without clips from Michaud’s 2008 congressional debate against professor and internationally renowned orator John Frary. The clip was produced by a labor union hack, so it doesn’t show much of Michaud talking. But credit goes to the Michaud for maintaining his composure during this bewildering spectacle of political discourse. Michael Michaud vs.…

The National Rifle Association has endorsed Republican Gov. Paul LePage in his reelection bid, the group announced on Tuesday. “Based on his leadership on Second Amendment issues, LePage has earned an “A+” rating from the NRA-PVF in the 2014 general election,” the NRA wrote in a press release. “An “A+” is the highest possible rating and is reserved for elected officials with an excellent public record on critical NRA issues who have also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment.” [RELATED: LePage, Poliquin post top grades from Maine sportsmen group…] “As Governor, Paul LePage has been…

Sen. Ann Haskell (D-Portland), assistant majority leader in the state senate, went on the George Hale and Ric Tyler radio program Tuesday morning to talk about a press conference Democratic lawmakers held about their plans for the next legislative session. After trotting out Democratic talking points about Maine’s job creation over the past three and half years, and getting rebuked by Tyler, Haskell defends Democratic plans with a Nancy Pelosi-style you’ve-got-to-pass-it-to-see-what’s-in-it: Tyler: “What promises do you have — what promises do the Democrats have for the state of Maine — that if given the majority in the senate and the…

When the Bangor Daily News published a story about Gov. Paul LePage’s vacation policy for political appointees, Democratic operatives thought they had found campaign gold. From the BDN: “A new policy instituted by Gov. Paul LePage in February substantially increased paid vacation time for 54 political appointees and governor’s office staff, by crediting prior, relevant work experience into how their time is accrued.” Operatives from the Maine Democratic Party and U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud’s gubernatorial campaign seized on the story to accuse LePage of favoritism, corruption, and all manner of malfeasance. Let them eat cake! @Governor_LePage plays favorites, gets caught…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following new developments in the Veterans Affairs health care corruption scandal, U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, the ranking Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee, is struggling to answer questions about how the committee is only now addressing problems in the system that have been brewing for nearly a decade. In May, a preliminary report from the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs shocked the country by pointing up systemic delays in care for U.S. military veterans, delays that some say contributed to the deaths of former servicemen and servicewomen. But last Wednesday, the VA Committee…

In case you missed it, thousands of climate change activists gathered in New York City over the weekend to protest global warming, corporations, capitalism, and, well, just about everything. Reason Magazine’s Kmele Foster took a camera to the march to interview participants about their views on climate change and potential solutions. The folks Foster interviews seem full of outrage and indignation, but they don’t seem to have much to offer by way of solutions. Check out his video here: Other skeptics who observed the march wondered why activists that are ostensibly committed to saving the environment left behind so much…

In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Republican Gov. Paul R. LePage called on the embattled head of America’s most loved sports league to join him and other governors in forming a coalition to oppose domestic violence. The NFL “has an opportunity to take a high-profile stand against domestic violence by making it a national priority,” LePage wrote in the Sept. 19 letter to Goodell. This is the second letter LePage has written to Goodell regarding domestic violence.  Goodell has recently been at the forefront of a seemingly unending controversy involving NFL athletes and domestic violence. “If you are willing…

The Maine Democratic Party is issuing mailers on behalf of a Democratic state senator from Androscoggin County. The mailers tout a record on welfare reform that doesn’t exist and attack the Republican candidate using sources that also do not exist. According to Maine campaign finance records, the Maine Democratic Party has spent more than $10,000 dollars on the Senate District 20 race, where Incumbent Sen. John Cleveland (D-Androscoggin) is facing a challenge from up-and-comer Eric Brakey, a former chairman of the libertarian Defense of Liberty PAC. Cleveland is running as a taxpayer-funded candidate and has received more than $23,000 from…

The Washington Free Beacon has unearthed never-before-seen correspondence between the late left-wing radical Saul Alinsky and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, a front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. “Previously unpublished correspondence between Hillary Clinton and the late left-wing organizer Saul Alinsky reveal new details about her relationship with the controversial Chicago activist and shed light on her early ideological development,” WFB’s Alana Goodman wrote in an article published Sunday.  The letters show the strength of Clinton’s relationship with Alinsky, author of the infamous Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, a relationship she has sought to downplay in her own writings. The Clinton-Alinsky letters…

The campaign for U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud,a Democrat, is in hot water after a supporter published a video that includes a lewd sex joke about Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. “I’m the King of Maine, I’m the King of Maine, I’ve got Susan Collins giving everyone brain,” the soundtrack on the video says as Michaud is depicted climbing out of a black GMC Suburban.  According to the Maine Republican Party, which first found the vulgar lyrics, “brain” is a pop culture reference to oral sex. “The song is called “King of Maine” and the artist, Spose, is known for his obscene lyrics,” the Maine…

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s former chief of staff, has abandoned plans to name a new high school after his old boss. The short-lived Barack Obama College Preparatory High School, which is slated to open in the fall of 2017, will now go by a different name, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Over the last few months, my team has listened to questions and concerns from the community, ranging from location of the building to the naming of the school,” Emanuel said in a statement, according to DailyCaller.com. “We take that community input seriously, which is why — as…

The Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group Judicial Watch has uncovered documents showing that senior officials with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) were seriously concerned with the security of HealthCare.gov, the Affordable Care Act’s online portal, in the weeks prior to its disastrous launch. The documents were obtained, according to Judicial Watch, pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on March 18, 2014, after HHS failed to respond to a December 20, 2013 information request. From Judicial Watch: Judicial Watch today released 94 pages of documents obtained from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) revealing…

As we mark the 50th anniversary of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, the U.S. Census Bureau is set to release information showing that America’s most costly war — $22 trillion has been spent on the anti-poverty effort — has been a abject failure. “Since its beginning, U.S. taxpayers have spent $22 trillion on Johnson’s War on Poverty (in constant 2012 dollars). Adjusting for inflation, that’s three times more than was spent on all military wars since the American Revolution,” says Robert Rector, a Heritage Foundation senior research fellow, in a Daily Signal article Tuesday. This welfare spending has come through…

The Maine GOP has released video of Sen. Eloise Vitelli (D-Bath) saying she supports providing tax-payer funded welfare benefits to illegal immigrants. Vitelli was elected in an August 2013 special election over Republican Paula Benoit. Her remarks on welfare policy came during a recent town hall event. An unidentified citizen asks a question about whether Vitelli agrees that the state should be funding welfare payments to “illegals.” The question is awkwardly phrased, and Vitelli attempts to rephrase it, but it’s pretty clear she knows what her constituent is asking. After clarifying the question, Vitelli answers, “Yes.” Check out the video…

Advertisements from the Republican Governors Association are significantly affecting the race for Maine governor, causing a panic on the left and setting off a desperate attempt to contain the damage to Democrat U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud. According to The Maine Wire’s recording of the conference call, liberal activists believe Mainers with strong Democratic voting records are having second thoughts about Michaud because of ads highlighting his position on welfare for undocumented immigrants. The conference call, held Thursday, included nearly a dozen representatives of liberal non-profits and was organized by Maine Equal Justice Partners, a 501(c)3 non-profit that has been a relentless critic of the LePage…

In a secret recording released by the Maine GOP Tuesday morning, a Democratic state senator questions Democratic governor candidate Michael Michaud’s intelligence and tells a constituent he prefers independent Eliot Cutler. “So, Michaud is… much Michaud is.. umm he’s not the… he’s good, he’s good, he’s strong; high average, but he’s not a brain guy,” said Sen. Geoff Gratwick (D-Penobscot), in the one-minute edited recording. “Appears I would have probably if it were Michaud and Cutler, I probably would have probably voted for Cutler, because I think he’s probably more measured and brighter,” Gratwick said.

An ad released by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins on Saturday criticized Democratic Senate candidate Shenna Bellows for “flip-flopping” on a proposed constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United. The ad centers on a video clip from November 2013, showing Bellows responding to an audience member questioning her support for a constitutional amendment overruling Citizens United — a Supreme Court ruling that critics say opened the flood gates for the entry of money into politics. “I’ll be honest, as someone who has spent much of my career defending the constitution, constitutional amendments give me some concern, and…

The biggest question this year on the national political landscape is whether Republicans can capture the U.S. Senate and further check President Barack Obama. Nate Silver, polling guru (or wunderkid, or wonk, or whatever we’re calling him these days), released the results of the latest FiveThirtyEight election model on Wednesday, and his prediction gives Republicans the edge. “Republicans are favored to take the Senate, at least in our view; the FiveThirtyEight forecast model gives them a 64 percent chance of doing so,” Silver wrote. The model is based on an analysis of 869 polls conducted on Senate races to date. …

Ray Richardson, conservative radio show host for the LOB statewide Lobster Radio Network, has published this week a new book, “Rebuilding Maine’s Future,” about Republican Gov. Paul LePage. The book is a quick read written from the perspective of a LePage ally with the goal of showcasing the outspoken governor’s record of reform. “Although Maine has historically avoided so much of the nasty political rhetoric that is rampant in more populous areas, I have personally witnessed an obsession by Governor Paul LePage’s opponents that is designed not only to defeat his ideas but to destroy him personally,” writes Richardson. “They…

Michael McKee reported in a Bloomberg TV segment that Maine internet speeds are drastically slower than in other parts of the country. McKee said that internet speeds in Maine are measured at approximately 9 megabytes per second (Mb/s), as opposed to in New York where internet speed is around 150 Mb/s. The problem, according to McKee, is that Maine’s population is too sparse for internet providers to make a profit in providing access to higher speeds.  The panelists in the Bloomberg segment agreed that the speeds are comparable to developing countries. “The problem of course for Maine is that it…

An “overwhelming” majority of Americans believe the U.S. is on the wrong track, according to a poll from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. “Though the American public is as divided as it has been all year, as we head into the 2014 general elections the advantage among likely voters is flowing toward Republicans,” said Christopher Arterton, poll director and GW professor of political management, in a press release. “Despite the public’s antipathy toward Congress, particularly toward the Republican leadership in the House, President Obama has become a lightening rod for discontent on a number of fronts,” he said. “Strong…

The Daily Caller News Foundation obtained a 2007 email revealing that Lois Lerner, a former IRS official at the heart of the tea party audit scandal, ignored a failure by unions to report their political expenditures. At the time, major unions were reporting significant political contributions to the Department of Labor while neglecting to report the same contributions to the IRS.  Lerner acknowledged in the 2007 email that expenditures reported in a Form LM2 to the Department of Labor should also be reported to the IRS.  “The definition of political campaign activity required to be reported on Form LM2 coincides…

The Republican Governors Association has released a new ad criticizing Democratic candidate for governor U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud for his position on allowing illegal immigrants to collect welfare benefits. “Michaud would put Maine taxpayers on the hook for over $1 million in payments to illegal immigrants, and make Maine more attractive to illegal immigrants who can’t get benefits in other states,” the narrator says. The ad attacks Michaud for statements he has made to Maine media about providing welfare benefits to illegal immigrants, a practice that Gov. Paul R. LePage has stopped in order to comply with federal law. “Don’t be fooled when liberal…

In his weekly address, Governor Paul R. LePage criticized Governor Deval Patrick on Thursday for backing out of a plan to alleviate high energy costs in New England by developing infrastructure that would increase the supply of natural gas. “This is not rocket science, folks,” said LePage.  “Bad public policy and politics are blocking progress.” New England energy costs are almost fifty percent higher than the national average, he said — hitting consumers hard during the winter months and substantially raising production costs for businesses.  Earlier this month, the Old Town Fuel and Fiber mill shut down, citing high energy costs as…

Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins blasted President Barack Obama’s administration on Wednesday for stymieing public watchdogs throughout the federal government. “It is unacceptable that the Obama administration is hindering the efforts of inspectors general,” Collins said. “These independent watchdogs are indispensable in preventing waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars, and they are an invaluable resource for conducting congressional oversight.” Collins’ statement follows a highly unusual Aug. 5 joint letter to some members of Congress — signed by 47 out of 78 federal inspectors generals — condemning the Obama administration for obstructing investigations. According to a report in the Washington Post, the IGs accuse at…

Emails from the federal bureaucrat at the heart of the IRS corruption scandal do exist, according to government lawyers and the watchdog group Judicial Watch. The revelation, which runs directly contrary to almost a year of testimony from Obama administration officials and other IRS officials, emerged Monday as a result of Judicial Watch’s work to uncover evidence related to the tax agency’s discrimination against President Obama’s political opponents. “Department of Justice attorneys for the Internal Revenue Service told Judicial Watch on Friday that Lois Lerner’s emails, indeed all government computer records, are backed up by the federal government in case of…

The Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine (SAM) announced Thursday its unanimous decision not to endorse any candidates for Maine governor, U.S. House and Senate. SAM is one of Maine’s largest special interest groups and represents sportsmen, firearm owners, and conservationists across the state.  The non-profit is dedicated to defending gun rights and the interests of hunters and outdoorsmen. The organization’s largest project this year is to defeat Question 1 on the November ballot, which is a referendum to outlaw Maine’s traditional methods for managing the bear population. Although SAM chose not to endorse any candidates, the group did release a scorecard…

Advocates for a big increase in the minimum wage say Maine’s poor will benefit, but some Maine small business owners believe the policy will harm the very people it’s supposed to help. Steve DiMillo is the manager of DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant and Marina in Portland. And he’s concerned about Portland Mayor Michael Brennan’s push to establish a local minimum wage that would exceed President Obama’s proposed goal of $10.10 per hour. “A minimum wage hike to $9.50 per hour in 2015 and possibly even to $10.75 by 2017 would create economic hardship on locally owned businesses that will hurt job…

A new advertisement from the Republican Governors Association (RGA) contrasts Gov. Paul LePage with “blow-dried” politicians. “Some people like their politicians blow dried. Others prefer the cookie cutter model. Or those who always have the perfect sound bite. And then there’s Paul LePage,” a female narrator says as images of LePage and Maine workers flash on screen. According to a source with detailed knowledge of RGA’s communications strategy who asked not to be identified, the group has already purchased as much as $3 million in television time for ads supporting LePage. “Governor LePage is no run-of-the-mill politician, and he has shown…

Following the controversial policing tactics employed in Ferguson, Mo., and heightened concern over the militarization of American police departments, the Department of Defense has released data detailing equipment it gives police departments throughout the United States. Police departments across the State of Maine have taken advantage of this program, receiving approximately $12 million in military equipment, according to The New York Times, which placed the DoD data in an interactive database. Maine police departments have obtained 463 assault rifles, 37 pistols, 32 shotguns, 8 armored vehicles, and 2 planes. In addition, police departments have received items such as first aid…

Gov. Paul LePage joins Maine Wire Editor Steve Robinson for the latest episode of The Robinson Report, a joint venture with As Maine Goes. In a rare interview, LePage talks about the current governor’s race, his hopes for his political future, and what he’s learned about himself — and his state — over the past three and half years. Check out the interview now on As Maine Goes! LePage talks about his plans to further reform Maine’s welfare system and how he would eliminate Maine’s income tax if elected to a second term. The governor also speaks candidly about his penchant…

AUGUSTA – Maine’s unemployment rate remained at 5.5 percent for the month of July – the lowest since August of 2008, according to the Maine Department of Labor. “Since we took office, almost 22,000 private-sector jobs have been created in Maine,” Gov. Paul R. LePage said in a statement. Maine’s unemployment rate was well below the U.S. average of 6.2 percent and below the New England average of 5.8 percent. Rates for other New England states were 4.4 percent in New Hampshire, 3.7 percent in Vermont, 5.6 percent in Massachusetts, 7.7 percent in Rhode Island, and 6.6 percent in Connecticut.…

In the Midwestern United States, one charter school’s approach to blended learning was ambitious right from the start. The first five Nexus Academy schools – three in Ohio (Cleveland, Columbus, and Toledo) and two in Michigan (Lansing and Grand Rapids) all launched on the same day: September 4, 2012. All were conceptualized, designed and launched as fully blended schools from the beginning, with the goal of creating an altogether different kind of high school. Nexus Academy schools are public and free to all students. According to the founders of Nexus, the goals were to preserve the personalization of virtual schooling…

By No Common Core Maine — The chair of Maine’s State Board of Education, Peter Geiger, wrote recently (see here) that Common Core won’t change Maine’s tradition of local control in education. Pointing to his two decades of having “had an unusually close look at public education,” Mr. Geiger felt he had to respond to the “great deal of criticism in almost every aspect of what we do in our schools.” He then addressed five aspects, which he labeled, “Rigor”, “Secrecy”, “State vs. Local”, “Common Core”, and “Testing”. Mr. Geiger reassured us that while “education has always been a complicated…