Author: Steve Robinson

City Councilors in South Portland think banning gasoline-powered lawnmowers could be the ticket to Maine’s environmental salvation. At a council work session Tuesday night, council members heard from Julie Rosenbach, the city’s “Sustainability Director”. The city has proposed some lofty goals to do its part to stop global warming. [RELATED: Maine Solar Power Project Linked to Chinese Forced Labor…] Over the last five years, it has resolved to reduce greenhouse gas emissions citywide by 80% by 2050, transition municipal operations to 100% clean energy by 2040, and rapidly phase out the use of fossil fuels and technologies which rely upon…

A bill that would provide free healthcare to income eligible adults in Maine regardless of immigration status moved through the legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday. The bill — “An Act to Improve the Health of Maine Residents by Removing Exclusions to the MaineCare Program” — is a high priority for Democratic lawmakers. It was introduced by House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland) and has earned support from a broad array of liberal nonprofits. If it passes, as appears likely, Maine would expand eligibility for Medicaid, known in Maine as MaineCare, to all individuals over the age of…

The Maine Department of Education made an error that has resulted in an extra $3.6 million for the Portland School System, the Portland Finance Committee revealed Tuesday night. https://twitter.com/TheMaineWire/status/1640884238441381888 “Literally moments ago before we came into this meeting we got an update from the state pertaining to our funding and essentially the Mil rate across the state dropped due to an error at the state level,” said Interim Co-Superintendent Melea Nalli. “And so, it’s good news. It’s resulting in a $3.6 million shift in terms of what we were previously expected,” Nalli said. Several other school systems in the state have…

Budget negotiations in Augusta deteriorated further on Tuesday with the top Senate Democrat making a series of claims during a morning radio interview that the top Senate Republican says just aren’t true. Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook) on WVOM’s George Hale and Ric Tyler radio show accused Republicans of pursuing a tax cut that would allow people making more than $1 million to save $10,000 on their state income taxes. Jackson also said the Republican proposal would have only provided $70 in relief to low-income workers. https://twitter.com/TheMaineWire/status/1640855033347547136?s=20 But at a press conference later in the day, Senate Minority Leader Trey…

Nashville Police have released body cam footage less than 24 hours after a 28-year-old ex-student murdered six students and staff at the Covenant School, a small private Christian school in the city Monday morning. The footage shows several law enforcement officers entering the school and engaging in a brief firefight with the shooter. The shooter was armed with three guns, including a rifle and two pistols. https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1640727877749465095 The shooter, who police identified as Audrey Hale, is said to have left behind a manifesto. After an initial period of confusion about Hale’s gender, it emerged that she was a biological woman…

Maine’s immigration crisis is only getting worse. On Friday, news broke that the city of Portland will once again open the Portland Expo to provide temporary shelter to the hundreds of asylum seekers, refugees, and illegal aliens who have arrived in Maine seeking accommodations. The move suggests there is no end in sight to a migrant wave that began in 2019 — the last time the Portland Red Claws basketball court was repurposed as a migrant shelter. The influx has resulted in thousands of housing insecure migrants who cannot legally work arriving from Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti,…

Rep. Lucas Lanigan (R-Sanford) said Monday that there will be a public hearing Tuesday afternoon on his tax relief bill for low and middle-income earners, LD 533 – “An Act to Exempt Overtime Pay from Individual Income Tax.” The proposed legislation would exempt overtime pay from individual state income tax if the employer is legally required to pay the overtime to the employee. Lanigan said the bill will not only provide much-needed tax relief to those who have been affected by the rising prices of everyday items but also create incentives for individuals to work extra hours to get ahead…

Rep. Gary Drinkwater (R-Milford) wants to bring back a provision of Maine law that allows employees at health care facilities and public school students to request an exemption from vaccination mandates. LD 51, “An Act to Restore Religious and Philosophical Exemptions to Immunization Requirements,” will have a committee hearing Monday morning. Turnout is expected to be high. Maine residents were legally allowed to request exemptions until a 2019 law eliminated those provisions in the name of “protecting” children. But the law has led to some students being disenrolled from public schools as the result of their family’s religious or philosophical…

The Nazis burned books. You might have heard those words uttered at a school board meeting recently. Or perhaps they were in a newspaper op-ed or social media post concerning the sexually explicit content parents are finding in government-run schools. The point seems to be as follows: The Nazis burned books; some parents are uncomfortable with schools giving their children books that depict children having sex; ergo those parents are like Nazis. This rhetoric is false and despicable. The people who use it should be dismissed as utterly unserious hysterics, yet on many school committees such phrases pass for thoughtful…

Democratic lawmakers have rejected a Republican proposal to reduce taxes for low-income Mainers, setting the stage for a one-party budget that will spend more than $10.5 billion — the biggest biennial budget ever passed in Augusta. Budget negotiations broke down Friday after Republican lawmakers offered a proposal to reduce taxes from 5.8 percent to 4.5 percent on the first $23,000 of earned income. The proposal would have allowed Mainers to keep $200,000,000 of their own money, but there appears to be no appetite among Maine Democrats for reducing taxes–even when the relief would primarily benefit low- and middle-income Mainers. Sen.…

A Maine State Senator said Thursday lawmakers need to increase taxes on wealthy Mainers. “We need to tax the wealthy more,” said Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot). “We need to increase taxes on those wealthy individuals and those wealthy and profitable corporations that have rigged the system in their favor,” Tipping said. Sen. James Libby (R-Cumberland) then took the opportunity to ask whether Tipping understood where inflation comes from. Asked whether there’s a connection between an increase in the U.S. money supply and inflation, Tipping blamed “corporate profits,” though he admitted he couldn’t be sure whether an increase in the money…

Union officials and activists were giddy Wednesday at the news that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would begin remotely counting ballots from a Bates College employee unionization vote that happened more than a year ago. Bates College filed a legal challenge against the planned union in 2022, which led the NLRB to impound the votes that would determine whether Bates employees would unionize under the auspices of the Maine Service Employees Association-Service Employees International Union Local 1989 (MSEA-SEIU 1989). For the last 14 months, members of the Bates Educators and Staff Organization (BESO) have demanded that those votes be…

The Maine Attorney General’s office issued a warning Thursday about an ongoing online scam involving the fraudulent sale of used and antique motor vehicles. Scammers are impersonating Maine businesses and individuals associated with those businesses, using their names to advertise vehicles for sale and trick buyers into wiring thousands of dollars for vehicles they will never receive, the AG’s office said in a press release. These scammers are registering fraudulent website domains using the names of Maine businesses, as well as email addresses associated with those domains. Although not physically based in Maine, they are spoofing phone numbers with 207…

A public hearing will be held Thursday to discuss a bill aimed at providing financial support to the Maine Lobstermen’s Association (MLA), a group that represents Maine’s lobster industry. The bill, proposed by House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor), would provide the MLA with a one-time contribution of $1,000,000 to offset large expenses the organization has incurred in recent years as it fights against burdensome federal regulations. “The Maine lobster industry is under attack,” said Faulkingham, who continues to work his own lobster boat while serving in the legislature. “It is facing crippling regulations and industry collapsing lawsuits,”…

LISBON, Maine – Border Patrol agents in Lisbon have uncovered what federal immigration officials called an “elaborate human smuggling scheme,” leading to the removal of 17 undocumented non-citizens from an alleged stash house. Federal immigration officials said the individuals were living illegally in the U.S. and working illegally for an unidentified company in Massachusetts. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says its agents have encountered more than 100,000 individuals crossing the southern border illegally every month since February 2021. In December alone, CBP reported 251,978 encounters with inadmissible visitors. That’s the most illegal border crossings CBP has ever reported for one…

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York is demanding that politicians and political committees that received donations from disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried — or his employees — hand over the illicit funds to the U.S. Marshals. [RELATED: Top FTX Executive Nishad Singh Gave Maine Democrats $100,000…]The Maine Democratic Party, which received $100,000 from Nishad Singh, the 3rd ranking employee at FTX, has yet to say whether it will comply with the demand. Two representatives of the Party did not respond to an inquiry from the Maine Wire. The U.S. Attorney’s demand letter, first reported by Semafor,…

Maine became the first state to require the state’s employee pension fund to divest from fossil fuel-related stocks — a celebrated victory in environmentalists’ battle against carbon emissions and global warming. But a report from the Maine Public Employee Retirement System (MPERS) suggests Maine’s public pension system will be profiting from fossil fuel stocks long after the 2026 deadline set by lawmakers. That’s because Maine’s Constitution and laws taken together require MPERS to prioritize paying pensioners over left-wing climate goals. MPERS Chief Executive Officer Rebecca M. Wyke said in an email lawmakers were clear in the original bill that the…

Sen. Matt Harrington (R-York) has introduced a bill that would require candidates who receive taxpayer funding for the state election campaigns to honestly represent the source and nature of the funding. Presently, candidates who take taxpayer money to spend on campaign materials refer to themselves as “clean candidates,” a relic of the name of the law that allows politicians to take taxpayer funding to further their political careers. The so-called “Maine Clean Elections Act” (MCEA) has created the unearned perception that taking taxpayer money for a political campaign is in some way ethically superior to self-funding a campaign or relying…

A House of Representatives committee has released a report Tuesday on the Biden Administration’s alleged misuse of federal law enforcement and counterterrorism resources against parents voicing concerns about controversial curricula and education-related policies at local school board meetings. The Judiciary Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government was formed to investigate the myriad ways government resources have been leveraged to target political dissidents and protect incumbent political power. The committee is chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who has been a fierce critic of the misuse of government resources for political ends. Last week, the committee interviewed…

UPDATE: Multiple media outlets reported Wednesday that the grand jury vote that could potentially lead to an indictment for former President Trump was called off. The Daily Mail reported Tuesday that a source has said former President Donald Trump will be indicted on misdemeanor charges Wednesday, but he will not be arraigned until next week. As of Tuesday evening, American outlets had yet to confirm the scoop, but Daily Mail reported the following: “Donald Trump will likely be indicted on Wednesday but won’t appear before a judge in New York until next week, DailyMail.com has learned. “‘There will be no arraignment…

The Judiciary Committee of the Maine State Legislature held a hearing Tuesday on a bill that would clarify that public record requests submitted pursuant to Maine’s Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) are not “hate speech.” Maine’s FOAA allows anyone to request certain government records that would otherwise be unavailable to the public. But some government employees have bristled in recent months at requests for records related to controversial topics related to Maine’s public schools. “With the comments last week from [Education Commissioner Pender Makin] saying that academics will take a back seat to teaching postmodernism and critical theory, I think…

Rep. Ed Polewarczyk (R-Wiscasset) announced Tuesday that his bill to repeal Maine’s ranked-choice voting law will have a Public Hearing on Wednesday. The controversial law has faced criticism since its implementation in 2016, with proponents claiming it promotes a more democratic election process, while opponents argue that it is confusing and disenfranchises voters. In a statement, Polewarczyk said, “There are increasing complaints from constituents that the ranked-choice experiment has failed to deliver on its promises. It produces false majorities, frequently exhausts thousands of ballots cast on Election Day, is confusing, and disenfranchises voters who are already unlikely to vote. It…

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday new legislation to protect Florida residents from federally controlled Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). “The Biden administration’s efforts to inject a Centralized Bank Digital Currency is about surveillance and control,” said DeSantis at a Monday press conference. “Today’s announcement will protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar’ which will stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance,” he said. “Florida will not side with economic central planners; we will not adopt policies that threaten personal economic freedom and security.” [RELATED: Beware the Digital Dollar and CBDCs…] A key part…

Maine lawmakers will soon decide the fate of a proposal that would require a formal declaration of war from the U.S. Congress before Maine’s national guard can deploy abroad. The bill, introduced by Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin), is part of a broader movement aimed at getting state legislatures to reassert their constitutional authority over national guard units and reduce America’s involvement in “forever wars.” A national group is working with lawmakers in every state to propose similar legislation. If passed, the bill would lead to the recall of Maine guardsmen currently deployed abroad in undeclared wars. “Over these last twenty…

This weekend marked the twentieth anniversary of America’s invasion of Iraq, and for those of us who spent time in the sandbox, it is a poignant moment. When I first came back in 2005, I was having lunch with an old professor in the faculty club of the university I’d attended when Doug Feith, Donald Rumsfeld’s deputy for policy (and one of the notorious neo-cons whom General Tommy Franks had singled out as the dumbest of the lot), walked in. My professor’s face wrinkled as she snarled “nobody asked us before they hired him.” Then her expression softened as she…

A transparency and accountability revolution could be coming to Maine’s public schools if a proposal backed by several lawmakers on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee wins enough support to become law. L.D. 1129 — “An Act to Enact the Curriculum Transparency Act” — would require the creation of an online transparency portal that would allow parents to access student test data, classroom materials, curriculum content, and even records and details related to third-party contractors hired by the school. The proposal would give parents and policymakers unprecedented insight into how schools operate. For the first time in the history of…

The 19th installment of the Twitter Files courtesy of independent journalist Matt Taibbi came out Friday. The new information expands what the American public knows about the shocking lengths to which the federal government and large tech companies went to censor and deceive the American public. https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1636729190073397252?s=20 The latest story features the “Virality Project,” a creature of Stanford University that was later embraced by nearly every large social media company and the federal government. The goal of the project was to identify people on social media who said things about COVID-19 that the government didn’t want them to say. When…

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was in Congress Thursday to provide information regarding the extraordinary decision to rescue depositors at the now-defunct Silicon Valley Bank. SVB was the favored financial institution of Silicon Valley tech start-ups and global warming-related enterprises. The bank was also a leader in the ESG movement and embraced progressive causes, like Black Lives Matter. In normal capitalism, enterprises that took risks and were irresponsible with investments would fail, and the people who trusted those enterprises with their money — a de facto endorsement of their activities — would lose as a result. But in America, we don’t…

The mainstream media — the same guys who once hyperventilated about President Donald Trump getting two scoops of ice cream while his guests got one — is now going after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over story from the left-wing Daily Beast that he once ate pudding … with his fingers. According to not one but two(!) source, two real sources, DeSantis once ate pudding in 2019 using three fingers during a flight from Tallahassee to Washington, D.C. The story, real or not, now enters two long lists: 1) stories about politicians’ weird eating habits; and 2) thinly sourced stories attacking…

The hatred of Jews that led to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany is similar to the frustrations expressed by parents attending school board meetings in America, Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff said Wednesday at the SXSW conference. “Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews,” said Emhoff. “How is that any different from hating someone for their political views?” “Hate is interconnected. You see it in the discourse…

A Connecticut State Representative has lost her committee assignments Friday after she was arrested for crashing her car in what cops believe was an alcohol-related event. Rep. Robin Comey, a Democrat of Brandford, crashed her car late Thursday night in Hartford. The 55-year-old woman was charged around 6:30 pm with Driving Under the Influence (DUI). For Connecticut politicos, news of the arrest immediately brought to mind an event one year ago in which Comey, on the floor of the House of Representatives, was slurring her words while talking about an early childhood education bill. Comey admitted to drinking some wine…

Several media reports surfaced this week claiming that “researchers” had discovered new evidence that the COVID-19 virus did not, in fact, come from a virology lab in Wuhan, China. Instead, the epidemic that crippled the world’s government and economies for more than a year emerged from raccoon dogs sold at the infamous Wuhan wet market. The Atlantic and the New York Times both carried stories on Thursday and Friday relating the raccoon-related findings. From the New York Times: “An international team of virus experts said on Thursday that they had found genetic data from a market in Wuhan, China, linking…

For the first time in nearly two decades, leaders from Maine’s indigenous tribes came to the Maine State House on Thursday to offer a “State of the Tribes” address. Nearly every Maine state official was there, including Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook) and House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland). Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, State Archivist Kate McBrien, State Auditor Matt Dunlap, and Attorney General Aaron Frey all showed up. Two Maine Superior Court Justices, Rick E. Lawrence and Andrew M. Read, were in attendance. U.S. Rep. Jared Golden (ME-CD2) was in attendance, and Sen. Angus King, Sen. Susan Collin,…

From 1984 to 2022, Maine’s legislature passed more than 40 resolutions featuring foreign nations. Ireland, Israel, Taiwan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Greece, and Ukraine all make the list. In 2023, we’ve added second one for Ukraine — just in case Vladimir Putin didn’t hear us the first time. Amid the clamor of debate last week on the second symbolic resolution, more than one observer quietly asked: Why are Maine lawmakers giving Ukraine special attention when there is so much evil, oppression, and conflict in the world? It’s not the first time since the start of Russia’s illegal and barbarous invasion of Ukraine…

Deering High School “co-principals” Alyson Dame and Dr. Jake Giessman emailed the Deering High School mailing list Wednesday regarding the “History of Drag and Queer Joy Discussion” taking place tomorrow at te public school. In the email, the administrators claim the event was organized by students. (Original story follows the screenshot.) Deering High School in Portland will host two of Maine’s most famous drag performers, Gigi Gabor and Chartreuse Money, to discuss the “History of Drag and Queer Joy” with students on Friday. Gabor and Money are well-known drag entrepreneurs. Gabor started Curbside Queens in 2020, traveling across the state…

Disgraced actor Jussie Smollett caused an international scandal when he claimed in 2019 to have been assaulted in a vicious hate crime one night in Chicago. Two MAGA thugs, he claimed, attacked him, tried to hang him with a thin noose, and sprayed bleach on him while he was trying to get a Subway sandwich. It was, everyone quickly agreed, a homophobic and racist attack inspired by President Donald Trump and the ugly band of deplorables who supported him. Police released video supposedly showing Smollett with the noose around his neck. Kamala Harris, then a California Senator with her eyes…

Traditional academic learning — like reading, writing, and math — should be a lower priority in Maine schools than social-emotional learning and programming on race and gender, Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin told lawmakers on Wednesday. “Academic learning is definitely going to take a backseat to all of these other pieces,” Makin told lawmakers on the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee. Makin’s comments came amid a legislative hearing on the federal Department of Education’s recent threat to withhold Title 1A administrative funds due to issues with Maine’s student testing. Near the end of the hearing, Republican lawmakers asked…

In a speech Monday concerning the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), President Joe Biden praised the health of the American economy under his leadership. “We’ve made strong economic progress in the past two years. We’ve created more than 12 million new jobs, more jobs than any president has created in a single four year term. Unemployment is below 4 percent for 14 straight months,” Biden said. “Take home pay for workers is going up, especially for lower- and middle- income workers.” Despite high levels of inflation and other signs of economic trouble, the Biden White House have regularly touted…

Several groups representing Maine’s iconic lobster fishing industry announced Wednesday they have filed a defamation lawsuit against an environmentalist non-profit that has called the fishery unsustainable. The Monterey Bay Aquarium, through its non-profit Seafood Watch, said last year that it was placing Maine lobster on it’s so-called Red List, a list of items it says good observant environmentalists should not eat. The activists urge supermarkets and restaurants not to buy or sell items on its list. The London-based Marine Stewardship Council, another group that sells its logo like a “stamp of approval” for seafood, followed suit. [RELATED: Republicans Want to…

Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa continue to arrive in southern Maine, with many of them crossing the southern border as part of a massive surge in illegal immigration over the past three years. Portland City Officials told the Maine Wire the city has received 756 new arrivals since Jan. 1, 2023. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says its agents have encountered more than 100,000 individuals crossing the southern border illegally every month since February 2021. In December alone, CBP reported 251,978 encounters with inadmissible visitors. That’s the most illegal border crossings CBP has ever reported for one month, according to the…

The White House on Tuesday announced new executive measures to regulate the level of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) permissible in drinking water. Biden’s Executive Order places the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in control of establishing and enforcing a national clean water standard. In addition to the new directive, the White House released information about PFAS produced by the White House Office of Science and Technology. PFAS chemicals, sometimes described as “forever chemicals,” are commonly used in various manufacturing processes. The molecules contain a strong carbon-fluorine bond, which makes them useful for things like non-stick pots and pans. But…

President Joe Biden said Tuesday he will sign an Executive Order on Tuesday that mostly calls on government officials to enforce existing gun laws. The first item in the E.O. is a directive to the Attorney General to enforce existing background check rules for businesses that sell firearms. The order tells the Attorney General to “do everything he can” to ensure that firearms sellers who may not be informed on background check rules comply with the law. “Specifically, the President is directing the Attorney General to move the U.S. as close to universal background checks as possible without additional legislation…

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has asked for $5,000 in fees before it will turn over several years’ worth of disciplinary records related to agency employees to the Maine Wire. In response, the Maine Wire narrowed its Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) request to include only records from the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS), but DHHS returned with a request for $2,950. Dayna Collins, a public access officer at DHHS, attributed the exorbitant cost of the records request to the amount of time DHHS personnel would have to spend reviewing the documents for exempted…

Two Republican lawmakers are looking to bring nuclear power back to Maine. Reps. Mark Walker (R-Baldwin) and Richard Campbell (R-Orrington) both have bills in that could potentially open the door to the generation of electricity using nuclear power in Maine for the first time since 1996. Campbell’s bill would provide subsidies to companies that produce marine nuclear power modules. According to the bill’s summary, those subsidies would be equivalent to the subsidies currently offered to solar and wind power manufacturers. Those modules could then de deployed up and down Maine’s waterfront to provide power to coastal communities. Walker’s proposal would…

Democratic lawmakers are looking to crackdown on Maine’s pro-life pregnancy centers. The push for greater scrutiny on pro-life centers comes as Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and Democratic legislative leaders seek to expand legal abortion in Maine right up to birth. Rep. Lori Gramlich (D-Old Orchard Beach) has submitted a bill that would empower the Attorney General’s office to police the speech of pregnancy centers to ensure that the facility isn’t tricking women into becoming moms rather than getting abortions. “An Act to Prohibit Deceptive Advertising in Limited Pregnancy Services Centers” (LD 1137) would create an online portal for anyone to…

Maine’s unemployment rate dropped to below 3 percent for January, which would be stellar economic news for the state but for the labor force participation rate: 58 percent. The labor force participation rate is an official measure of what percentage of Maine’s working age population is actually employed or actively looking for work. The rate in Maine is currently the lowest labor force participation rate ever measured with the exception of August 2020, when the rate was 57.9 percent. Data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve shows Maine’s labor force participation rate only dipped under 60 percent one other time:…

Newscenter Maine invited a former psychic medium on its talking head program “Political Brew” this weekend to criticize Republican state lawmakers who opposed a symbolic war resolution. Betsy Sweet, a perennial Democratic candidate turned media personality, has scrubbed her old website, SweetSpiritMaine.com, but archived versions of the site show that Sweet believes she can talk to dead people, Spirit Guides, and angels. As recently as 2018, Sweet charged $40 per person for a “Spirit Sounds Reading Gallery” in which she would “bring you intuitive, healing messages from your loved ones.” “I’ve come to the awareness that I can receive messages…

Journalist Matt Taibbi was in front of a congressional committee last week to answer questions about his ongoing reporting on the so-called “Twitter Files.” As part of that reporting, Taibbi revealed that Maine Sen. Angus King gave Twitter and Facebook lists of people who were critical of King on social media during his 2018 re-election campaign, and many of those users were subsequently banned from the platforms. [RELATED: Angus King Doubles Down on “Enemies List” Censorship of Critics] In response to questioning from Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Taibbi said he had only seen records showing that Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.)…

Young Americans for Liberty, a conservative-libertarian student organization with hundreds of members in Maine, and 45 Republican lawmakers successfully convinced the University of Maine System to abandon its controversial COVID-19 vaccine mandate last week. Chancellor Dannel P. Malloy said the UMaine system will no longer enforce the mandate starting with the beginning of the May 2023 term, a decision that comes weeks after Maine’s community college system dropped a similar mandate. In February, more than forty GOP lawmakers sent a letter to UMaine’s leadership demanding it drop the requirement. However, they were told that the requirement could not be dropped…

Maine was brought to the brink of a man-made environmental disaster this week — a potential catastrophe that threatens to spill thousands of tons of human waste byproduct into Maine’s waterways. At the center of the crisis is Casella Waste Systems, Inc., the company that operates the state-owned Juniper Ridge landfill in Old Town. Casella processes thousands of tons of sludge from municipal waste treatment facilities across the state every month, but it announced last month that it would have to reduce the amount of sludge it accepted by as much as 60 percent. As a result, municipal officials are…

The Maine State Legislature continued Thursday to debate a symbolic resolution supporting continued U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s war with Russia, including increased funding for arms and aide to Ukraine in addition to the more than $100 billion America has already provided or committed. While the resolution will have practically no impact on anything, it became a tool for lawmakers to express their virtue. On Tuesday, it was the House; on Thursday, the Senate. In the face of a bellicose liberal majority that appeared at times willing to embrace World War Three, Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin) unleashed a libertarian anti-war polemic…

Two Maine moms say agents from Maine’s troubled child welfare agency paid them visits just days after they complained about a Damariscotta public school social worker who provided a 13-year-old girl with breast binders without informing her parents. Both women said they believe the visits were retaliation by school officials — retaliation brought upon them because they objected to the school’s gender-related counseling for minors. One of those moms is Amber Lavigne, the mother of the 13-year-old girl. In December, Lavigne discovered personnel at the Great Salt Bay Community School (GSBCS) had provided her daughter two breast binders. Breast binders…

All across Maine, school boards are debating whether sexually explicit books should be available in public school libraries, especially books like “Gender Queer,” which contain cartoon images of minors having sex. Now, Bonny Eagle High School in Maine has decided a controversial book about young girls becoming transgender is inappropriate for inclusion in the high school’s library. The book that has been banned at Bonny Eagle, however, contains no illicit images or narrations of children having sex. Instead, the book is a fact-based investigation by an award-winning journalist of the recent surge in young girls who identify as transgender and…

A resident of Greenbush and a foreign national from the Dominican Republic were arrested by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) Tuesday evening in a bust that seized 50 grams of fentanyl and roughly $30,000 in cash, the Maine State Police said Wednesday. The Maine State Police said in a press release that Cleudy Confesor Carmona Mejia, 34, and Kelcie Curtis, 26, were arrested and are currently incarcerated at the Penobscot County Jail. Bail was set for Mejia, who police said is from the Dominican Republic, at $50,000, while Curtis, who resides in Greenbush, had bail set at $35,000. Greenbush,…

The Maine Wire has obtained a new letter Maine Sen. Angus King is sending to constituents to explain why he conspired with social media companies to censor his political critics in 2018. Although King claims that his collaboration with Facebook and Twitter were aimed at fighting “misinformation,” the letter is itself misleading. Further, CNN footage unearthed by the Maine Wire shows King making the exact claim that he now says was “misinformation” spread by his 2018 opponent, State Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin). King’s censorship push came to light last month when Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi revealed records that showed…

Rep. Marc Malon, II (D-Biddeford) wasn’t happy with his Republican colleagues who expressed skepticism of the symbolic resolution the House of Representatives debated Tuesday. The resolution, which will have no practical impact on anything, consumed more than an hour of lawmakers time, as citizen legislators gave overwrought speeches about history, democracy, and the moral imperative that the U.S. continue to fund a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. Several Republicans expressed frustration that a state legislature would occupy its time with a meaningless gesture. Others warned of the risks of escalating conflict with a nuclear power. Still others wondered where…

The Maine Legislature spent much of Tuesday morning debating a symbolic resolution of support for Ukraine in the country’s ongoing war against Russia. https://twitter.com/BigSteve207/status/1633176782953218049?s=20 The resolution states, in part: RESOLVED: That We, the Members of the One Hundred and Thirty-first Legislature now assembled in the First Regular Session, pause in our deliberations to condemn the egregious, unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine and voice our support for peace, diplomacy and an immediate end to the invasion; and be it further RESOLVED: That we support the United States Government’s continued security, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and imposition of consequences on…

The Maine State Employees Association announced Friday that it had filed a prohibited practices labor complaint against Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ administration. The complaint alleges that Mills’ negotiator, Bureau of Human Resources Director Breena Bissell, is not negotiating in good faith. You can read the full complaint here. Democratic officials have so far remained quiet about the complaint. Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook), who is known for his work with and on behalf of unions, has not responded to inquiries from the Maine Wire. But House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor) published an op-ed today addressing the Mills…

A man from Maine was arrested on March 5 and charged with domestic terrorism following his participation in coordinated violent attacks on construction equipment and police officers at the proposed site of a police training facility outside Atlanta. Colin Dorsey (Source: Atlanta Police) Colin Dorsey, 42, was arrested and charged along with 22 other people. Atlanta Police did not identify where in Maine Dorsey resides. The attack on law enforcement took place at the proposed site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. Activists affiliated with “Antifa” have staged protests at the site for several months now. “[A] group of…

If you miss the payments on your Ford F-150, Ford may soon be able to deactivate your ride with the click of a button. The automaker applied for a patent on Feb. 23 related to technology that would enable them to remotely disable various features of their vehicles, The Drive reported last week. According to the abstract of the application, the system they’ve created “pertains to systems and methods to repossess a vehicle.” “In an example method, a first computer sends to a second computer, a message pertaining to a notice of delinquency of a vehicle-related payment. The message includes…

A Maine Wire / Co/Efficient poll conducted this week shows that most Maine voters want schools to get back to teaching the basics — like math, reading, science, and writing — while a small minority of self-identified liberals want a greater focus on diversity and equity programming. [RELATED: MAINE WIRE POLL: Most Maine Voters Say Schools Should Get “Back to Basics,” Ditch DEI and Gender Programming…] Most liberals in the survey also opposed greater transparency in public schools, like the posting of curriculum materials online for parents to review. A majority of liberals surveyed also said they didn’t want parents…

The question of whether school employees should inform parents and legal guardians when a student requests to transition gender or pronouns has roiled several Maine school systems over the past year. This conversation has only added to the broader debate over parents’ rights to know what’s happening in Maine schools. Some parents have opposed so-called “gender identity” policies that allow or require school officials to conceal from parents information about a student’s mental health, including potential signs of gender dysphoria or gender confusion. On the other hand, school officials and liberal activists have said protecting the safety of students means…

The MSEA-SEIU Local 1989, Maine’s second largest labor union, announced Friday that it has filed a prohibited practices labor complaint with the Maine Labor Relations Board against the administration of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. “Today we filed charges of labor law violations over management’s continued refusal to come to the table and bargain,” said MSEA-SEIU Local 1989’s President Dean Staffieri, in an email to unionized state workers. The complaint alleges that the Mills Administration, which is represented by Breena Bissell, Director of the Bureau of Human Resources, has engaged in bad-faith bargaining and used unlawful tactics. MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 represents…

The Maine CDC has quietly discontinued the public presentation of breakthrough data — that is, information which shows how often vaccinated Mainers are nonetheless contracting COVID-19, becoming hospitalized, and/or dying. Maine CDC defines breakthrough cases as follows: “COVID-19 cases among individuals who have been fully vaccinated are referred to as vaccine breakthrough cases. Hospitalizations and deaths among these cases are referred to as vaccine breakthrough hospitalizations and deaths. ” On February 14, the Maine CDC stopped updating the breakthrough data and appended a brief disclaimer to the data portal. “Maine CDC no longer shows the table of cumulative breakthrough data as…

A majority of Maine voters think public schools should have safeguards in place that prevent minor students from accessing books and other materials that are inappropriate for their age, a Maine Wire / Co/Efficient public opinion survey found this week. By an even larger margin, Maine voters believe schools should allow parents to determine whether their children can access x-rated books and materials. The results come from an exclusive Maine Wire / co/efficient poll conducted this week on the topic of parental rights in education. 62 percent of likely voters said schools should have safeguards in place to ensure students…

A large majority — 80 percent — of Maine voters wants public schools to post all curriculum content on public websites so parents can see what’s going on in their children’s classrooms, a Maine Wire / Co/Efficient public opinion survey found this week. Asked, “Should public schools be required to post education curriculum and materials online, so that parents and legal guardians can see what their children are being taught,” 80 percent of respondents said yes. 92 percent of self-identified conservatives, 78 percent of moderates, and 53 percent of liberals said the content should be placed online. 15 percent of…

The majority of likely voters in Maine want Maine’s public schools to focus more on math, reading, and writing than on gender, sexuality, and race. That’s the topline takeaway of a Maine Wire public opinion survey conducted this week of nearly 2,000 Maine likely general election voters in partnership with Co/Efficient, a leading research and analytics firm. 77 percent of Maine voters said schools should be focused on the basics, like math, reading, and writing, rather than spending time on how gender, sexuality, and race impact the lives of everyday Americans. Just 16 percent of respondents said students should spend…

At a raucous school board meeting Wednesday night, nearly 100 parents expressed their frustration and anger over how the Windham Raymond School System is handling parental concerns about sexually explicit books, intrusive student surveys, and gender identity programming. At issue were several books that contain written and/or illustrated depictions of children engaged in various sexually acts, as well as surveys — from both the school and student-led groups — that ask children as young as 6th grade personal questions about their sex lives. Multiple parents said the school’s recent focus on gender and sexuality had come amid a downward trend…

The chaos surrounding the Mt. Ararat Schools (MSAD 75) continues this week following the revelation that School Board Chair Frank Wright penned a letter to the rest of the school board informing him that he planned to resign on March 9. “In my efforts to bring us together as a working team, I have seemingly divided, I will be stepping down as chair, as of our next regular meeting,” he wrote in Feb. 21 email obtained via Freedom of Access Act request. However, local radio host Jim Bleikamp, during his Wednesday morning WCME show, said Wright was having second thoughts…

State lawmakers will soon consider a proposal to bring back parole for Maine’s incarcerated population, along with a handful of other recommendations from the Commission to Examine Reestablishing Parole. Sen. Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec), a chair of that commission, has introduced a bill (LD 720) that would turn some of that commission’s recommendations into law, chief among them the restoration of parole – i.e. early release for prisoners – which has not existed in Maine for more than four decades. The Commission, formed in the previous legislature, found what it called “staggering” racial disparities in Maine’s incarcerated population, and it recommended…

The federal Department of Education (DOE) is threatening to withhold money from Maine’s Department of Education (MDE) due to the state’s failure to meet student testing and data reporting requirements for reading, language arts, and mathematics. In a strongly worded letter to Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin, a senior official with the DOE said Maine did not meet federal Title I requirements for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 schools years. Those requirements include the adoption by state departments of “criterion-referenced academic achievement standards.” Such standards allow parents to see when students are exceeding, meeting, or below state and federal standards. Without…

A bill before the Judiciary Committee would change the definition of “money” to exclude digital assets, like Bitcoin, and pave the way for the adoption of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Rep. Stephen Moriarty (D-Cumberland)’s bill, LD 91, is a concept draft, so the specifics of the proposal won’t be available to voters until he introduces it to committee. The concept draft process is increasingly being used by lawmakers. As a result, the such concept bills don’t go through the standard transparency that attends legislation submitted normally. But the bill description suggests that LD 91, if it passes, would adopt…

A taxpayer-funded website operated by the State’s Bureau of Human Resources is a virtual Church of Wokeness. The site offers state employees an education in all aspects of progressive dogma, from understanding hetero- and cis-privilege to challenging microaggressions and using neopronouns in the workplace. “Are you a racist? ‘No’ Isn’t a Good Enough Answer,” is the title of one two-minute video on the site. Another link points state workers to the work of Ibram X. Kendi, one of the most popular and commercially successful advocates for Critical Race Theory. Kendi is best known for advocating for discrimination against white people…

The Maine Wire has obtained 2022 salary data for the University of Maine System. Professor of Civil Engineering Habib J. Dagher took down the highest total with 2022 earnings of $594,172. Assistant Professor of English Robert A. Brinkley bagged a whopping $552,131 from UMaine. Forty three UMaine professors earned more than $200,000 last year. Chancellor Dannel Malloy earned $447,365, while President Glenn Cummings took home $337,457. The total compensation numbers here do not include benefits, as the UMaine system claimed that such information is exempt from Freedom of Access Act requests. The amounts include base salary, overtime, and “additional amounts,”…

The number of Mainers on MaineCare will exceed 400,000 for the very first time this spring, a milestone that comes as Maine is required to begin “unwinding” the COVID-19 Era expansion of the program. A series of state and federal policies expanded Medicaid, known in Maine as MaineCare, in connection with the Public Health Emergency beginning in the spring of 2020. This included the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which offered states a 6.2 percent increase in Medicaid matching funding. Every single state took the funding increase, but it came with a catch: so long as a state accepted…

The outcry over Maine Sen. Angus King’s scheme to censor anyone on social media who is critical of him is just a bunch of useless clamor, according to Portland Press Herald Editorial Page Editor Siobhan Brett. Brett published her own commentary in the paper over the weekend. “Five years ago, King’s campaign sent an email to Twitter, at Twitter’s invitation, that had attached a sizable file of Twitter posts the campaign found fishy, for one reason or another, wished to flag as ‘suspicious’,” Brett wrote. “And that’s about the extent of what happened.” The obvious attempt to downplay what is arguably the…

The Maine Jobs Council commissioned a study of national state rankings based on economics, and that study found Maine ranked in the bottom fifth of nearly every ranking, according to a memo obtained by the Maine Wire. “[O]ver the 22 criteria, Maine is in the bottom 10 in 19 of them. We are also 40th in job growth and cost of living, 39th in reliance on federal funding, and 38th (our “best” score) in the cost of energy,” the memo states. “Compared to New England states, states below $100 billion GDP, and states with less than 2 million population, West…

Alex Cornell du Houx, a former Democratic state lawmaker from Brunswick, took to the pages of the Sun Journal this weekend to advocate for a revolutionary idea: a green energy “Marshall Plan” for Ukraine. Seriously. Invoking the post-World War II effort to rebuild Europe at America’s expense, Cornell du Houx wants to put Electric Vehicle charging stations, solar panels, and perhaps some windmills in war torn Ukraine. “Now we need a Clean Energy Marshall Plan to help Ukraine rebuild with the security of knowing that they won’t be vulnerable to oil and gas fluctuations, and the dangers of being dependent…

Maine and federal law enforcement officials were either unable or were unwilling to reveal the identities and current whereabouts this week of seven men arrested at a Rockland Home Depot on Saturday, Feb. 18. “The Asset Protect Office of Home Depot was watching [the seven men] via remote camera and management from Home Depot wanted the people trespassed from the store,” a the Rockland Police Department said in a Feb. 18 press release. “Rockland Police have received information in the past regarding a particular group or groups of individuals, often using white vans, that have allegedly stolen tens of thousands…

A Winslow High School guidance counselor may have violated the school’s policies when she broadcast news of a students gender transition to an “all staff” email list while at the same time urging her colleagues to keep the news a secret from the student’s parents. Leeann Marin, a counselor at Winslow High School, said in an email to an unknown number of her colleagues that a student, whose name has been redacted from the records, told her that same morning they wanted to go by a different name and be referred to with he/they pronouns. “They wish this to only…

The U.S. military improperly released service records of Republican candidates for Congress to Democratic operatives, according to letters from the Air Force to those GOP candidates. Abraham Payton of Due Diligence Group, a consulting firm hired by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), made multiple requests for the military personnel records of Sam Peters and Kevin Dellicker, two Air Force veterans who lost campaigns last cycle. And those records were improperly turned over, the Air Force has admitted. Both Peters and Dellicker received Feb. 8 letters from the Air Force alerting them to the improper requests by Democratic political operatives…

Matt Taibbi, the independent journalist who first reported on Sen. Angus King’s use of a secret “enemies list” to censor critics on social media, responded to King’s statement on the scandal this morning. “[S]ending a list of ‘suspicious accounts’ to Twitter and Facebook is the opposite of having a vigorous debate,” Taibbi tweeted. “If you think what people tweet or post is misleading, argue that publicly. Attempting to deplatform critics isn’t debate, it’s an abuse of influence.” https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1628436877240946688?s=20 Follow the Maine Wire’s other coverage of King’s “enemies list” below: READ: Angus King Doubles Down on “Enemies List” Censorship of Critics…

News broke this week that U.S. Sen. Angus King, a left-wing independent, conspired with Twitter and Facebook to censor people who were critical of him on social media during his 2018 campaign against State Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin). The Lewiston Sun Journal, one of the last daily newspapers in the state of Maine to cover the story, for some reason edited all mention of Brakey out of the print edition. Brakey and many of his supporters were the victims of King’s tech censorship tactics, with many of them getting banned permanently from the social media platforms, but for some bizarre…

In his first statement addressing the growing scandal over his 2018 campaign’s use of a secret “enemies list” to censor critics on Facebook and Twitter, Sen. Angus King has doubled down. King did not apologize or plead ignorance of the enemies list or its use to censor critics, but he instead appeared to approve of and endorse actions that resulted in many Mainers being banned permanently from the social media platform. “If somebody’s gonna come after me with a misleading- uh, with misinformation, I’m gonna respond,” King told Newscenter Maine Wednesday morning. [RELATED: Angus King’s “Enemies List” Targeted Journalists, Ordinary…

U.S. Sen. Angus King’s office responded Monday to the online leaking of an “enemies list” the King campaign provided to social media companies in 2018. Many of King’s political critics and supporters of State Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin), including former Republican candidates for office, media writers, and accounts controlled by the Maine GOP, were suspended from Twitter after King’s team shared the list. A spokesman for King issued a statement to the Bangor Daily News attempting to downplay the list, which was first reported by independent journalist Matt Taibbi as part of the “Twitter Files” disclosures. But the response from…

The Bangor Daily News, as part of its intrepid coverage of the enemies list Sen. Angus King provided to large social media companies, made a surprising claim. Twitter, it claimed, is biased against liberals and disproportionately amplifies the messages of conservatives. The source for that odd claim? Why, Twitter itself! Or at least, an academic study Twitter commissioned several years ago, was involved with, and has touted in the past. Here’s the relevant quote from the BDN: “The communications were made public on Saturday as part of an ongoing release of certain internal documents known as the “Twitter Files” overseen…

Puffin, an imprint of the book publisher Penguin Books, has begun rewriting classic literature in order to bring the works into line with contemporary progressive sensibilities. The woke revisions to Roald Dahl’s body of work were first spotted by the British outlet The Telegraph, and before-and-after images circulated widely on Twitter. The revisions show that Puffin’s “sensitivity readers” have eliminated descriptions of characters as “fat” or “crazy,” and they have turned Willy Wonka’s Oompa Loompa’s gender neutral. Augustus Gloop, the fat little boy in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who falls into a river of chocolate, is no longer described…

A right-wing activist who caused controversy across southern Maine by holding up a sign that says “It’s Okay to Be White” was assaulted on Monday in front of Portland City Hall while demonstrating with his sign. The attack comes just days after members of the Maine chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) called for the use of violence against him during an online video forum. The activist, Richard Ward, formerly ran for city council in Portland, and his sign has set off a firestorm of counter protests, complaints to the City Council, and now violent retaliation. “I was…

The University of Connecticut’s School of Law will host a symposium on March 24 around the question: Are parental rights always in the best interest of children? “This symposium will explore the complex issues surrounding the role of parental rights in advancing progressive goals while at the same time examine (sic) how parental rights are being used to undermine racial, gender, and LGBTQ equality,” a flier for the event states. “These conflicts have come to a head recently in the areas of education, gender-affirming care, and family regulation,” it says. “The discussion will also include how children’s interests can and…

Sen. Angus King’s office claimed Monday, in a statement to the Bangor Daily News, that Twitter employees in 2018 invited the King campaign to share a list of critical social media accounts with Twitter after having an initial conversation about a video the King campaign did not like. In the video, which was publicized by the campaign of then-candidate Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin), King likens alleged Russian hacking activity to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It’s unclear how exactly King’s office thinks this changes or contextualizes the fact that Maine’s junior senator was keeping an enemies list — a list that…

Maine Republicans are expressing concern about controversial sex-change procedures for minors following a bombshell testimony from gender clinic whistleblower Jamie Reed. In a report published by The Free Press, Reed described shocking levels of negligence and harmful behavior by doctors at The Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, the gender clinic where she used to work. Reed’s testimony, which was supported with documents and records obtained during her employment, comes as states across the country are seeking to prohibit sex-change treatments and sex-change surgeries for minors. Her report has already triggered a criminal investigation in Missouri. Reed,…

The Maine Republican Party is accusing U.S. Sen. Angus King of violating the First Amendment free speech rights of Maine voters following the revelation that King’s 2018 campaign kept an “enemies list” which it used to have dozens of Mainer’s censored on social media. King’s enemies list, which was first exposed by independent journalist Matt Taibbi, includes hundreds of Facebook users and Twitter users. [RELATED: Angus King’s “Enemies List” Targeted Journalists, Ordinary Mainers for Facebook, Twitter Censorship…] Many of those users had their accounts deleted or permanently suspended after King’s campaign flagged them to Facebook and Twitter employees. Most of…

U.S. Sen. Angus King’s 2018 campaign targeted journalists and ordinary Mainers for censorship if their posts showed they were critical of the Senator or supported his opponents, Republican State Sen. Eric Brakey and socialist candidate Zak Ringelstein. King’s office hasn’t commented so far on the revelations, which were first reported Saturday by independent journalist Matt Taibbi. Taibbi, who is one of a handful of journalists given access to Twitter’s archives following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company, reported on an Oct. 1, 2018 email in which Twitter employee Kevin Kane mentions a conversation with King’s campaign director. “I spoke with…

Rep. John Andrews (R-Paris) wants to close the lawmaker-to-lobbyist pipeline that keeps much of Maine’s political class employed and on the take. LD 521, “An Act to Prevent Political Patronage with Regard to State Legislators,” would place new restrictions on the kinds of jobs ex-lawmakers can take once they leave the legislature. The law wouldn’t take effect until the next legislature, but under the bill that class of lawmakers would be prohibited from taking a job at a state agency for fours years after their elected position ended. The bill would also apply to any non-profit that relies on government…

Maine high school students identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender at far higher rates than similarly aged students outside of Maine, and the number of students who identify as LGB or T has increased sharply since 2017, according to data from Maine Department of Education (MDOE). It’s one of the most significant trends to emerge from the Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey (MIYHS), a biennial survey of Maine public school students MDOE conducts in partnership with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. But very few Maine school officials or policy makers are asking why the trend exists,…

Democrats on Maine’s legislative council on Thursday killed a resolution from Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin) that called on the U.S. Congress to commission an official investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two reports last year — one from Senate Republicans and the other from the non-partisan journalism outfit Pro Publica — both concluded that the virus most likely originated in Wuhan, a major city in Hubei Province, China. But the U.S. government and the Congress have yet to conduct a bipartisan or nonpartisan public investigation of their own into the virus’s origins. Further, there is reportedly some disagreement…

The fate of President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s could rest in the hands of Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King. Gigi Sohn, the progressive activist and telecom lawyer Biden has thrice picked for the FCC, needs the Senate to confirm her nomination, but Sohn’s radical track record and ethically dubious record could be a problem for Collins and King. Sohn walked into her Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday morning claiming to be “baffled” as to why national law enforcement groups are vocally opposing her nomination. By the time the hearing ended three hours…

An Auburn manufacturer has won a major victory in its fight against Chinese competitors following a federal determination that will crack down on unfair trading practices by Chinese state-backed manufacturers. Following an investigation requested by Auburn Manufacturing, Inc. (AMI), the U.S. Commerce Department issued a Feb. 3 report that said Chinese businesses were circumventing anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders. “It’s one more victory, but whether it takes you to the finish line or not is another question,” said Kathie Leonard, president and CEO of AMI. “We’re not winning the war here. It’s a battle,” she said. AMI is a Maine-based…

The Mt. Ararat Schools (MSAD 75) are once again leaderless following the resignation of Superintendent Steven B. Connolly, which will take effect at the end of the school year, but there appears to be some confusion as to why he’s resigned. Connolly, 64, took the job last July and lives in Gorham. He becomes the sixth superintendent to resign the job in the past six years. In his resignation letter, Connolly said political and ideological divisions within the community prevented him from doing his job effectively. “I find I have not been effective at managing the implicit divisions that exist…

The Washington Free Beacon on Tuesday reported that Anthony McRae, the gunman in a mass shooting at Michigan State Monday night, would have been prohibited from purchasing or owning a firearm but for the decision of a progressive prosecutor to dismiss previous charges against him. McRae, who police say killed three people and wounded five others in a violent spree that ended when he took his own life, was charged in June 2019 with illegally carrying a concealed weapon, according to the Free Beacon. The Ingham County District Attorney at the time, Carol Siemon let McRae plead to a lesser…