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Preliminary data show record overdose deaths in Maine last year
A preliminary estimate of drug-related deaths indicates 636 people died in Maine as...
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Bill to allow public employee strikes shot down by labor committee
The Maine Legislature’s Committee on Labor and Housing voted not to move LD...
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Mills administration says it will not impose state-level vaccine mandate on private employers after SCOTUS ruling
On January 13, the Supreme Court blocked enforcement of the Occupational Health and...
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Halsey Frank: Inconsistency and overreaction – the hobgoblins of our COVID response
On January 12, while driving, I listened to the Maine CDC’s weekly COVID-19 briefing conducted...
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New York, California, and Illinois saw historic population drops in 2021
Last week, the US Census Bureau released its “New Vintage 2021 Population Estimates”...
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New guidance allows schools with mask mandates to stop contact tracing
On January 12, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) and the Maine Centers...
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New guidance allows some COVID-positive workers to remain on the job in healthcare facilities
St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston has implemented a policy allowing employees who test...
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Legislature holds hearing on proposal to return unappropriated surplus revenue to taxpayers
The Maine Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee held a public hearing Wednesday...
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America’s huge pile of national debt makes combating inflation more difficult
The optimistic scenario goes like this. America shakes off what remains of the...
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Democrat Jim Boyle wins special election for House District 27
The January 11 special election for House District 27, which includes parts of...
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Halsey Frank: WaPo and its generals need to get a grip
In the Washington Post on December 18, three retired generals wrote that they are concerned...
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U.S. DOE, DOT announce relaxed rules for bus drivers amid omicron surge, labor shortage
On January 10, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) and U.S. Department of...
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Gov. Mills vetoes bill allowing farm workers to unionize
On January 7, Gov. Janet Mills vetoed LD 151, a bill that would...
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Athletes who had COVID will be considered ‘fully vaccinated,’ NCAA says in new guidelines
The NCAA on Thursday released its new COVID-19 guidance for winter sports, and...
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With the new year comes another increase to Maine’s minimum wage
On January 1, Maine’s minimum wage increased to $12.75 per hour. The increase...
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Opinion: The legislature should get back to work like the rest of Maine
Yesterday, the first legislative day of the second session of the 130th Legislature,...
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Lawmakers pass resolution to start Second Session work remotely, will revisit decision next month
The second session of the 130th Maine Legislature began on January 5, with...
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It’s 2022, but many schools are reverting to 2020’s COVID playbook
It’s 2022 but you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s still 2020—especially if you...
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Portland City Council votes to end local emergency order, institute mask mandate
The Portland City Council voted to repeal the city’s declaration of emergency and...
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Maine CDC, DOE update COVID-19 protocols in schools following new federal guidance
On December 30, the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and...
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Maine leaning on federal government to increase Mainers’ access to rapid COVID-19 tests
The Mills administration has announced no plans to provide at-home COVID-19 rapid tests...
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Maine granted intervenor status in lawsuit challenging federal lobster regulations
On December 30 Gov. Janet Mills’ administration announced Maine’s Department of Marine Resources...
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Affordable housing commission encourages local zoning flexibility and deregulation, state appeals board
The Commission to Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land...
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Rand Paul exposes eight insane ways the feds wasted our money in 2021
Every holiday season, Senator Rand Paul honors the fictional Seinfeld holiday “Festivus,” an...
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Halsey Frank: Cherry-picking crime statistics
In its December 1st editorial, “Some serious crimes still go unreported,” the Press...
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Maine’s public school enrollment remains below pre-pandemic levels
The number of students enrolled in Maine public schools grew in the 2021-2022...
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‘Freeloading’ Elon Musk to pay largest federal tax bill in history, an estimated $8.3 billion
Elon Musk made a bold claim on Twitter on Tuesday. The Tesla founder...
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Halsey Frank: New Portland Charter Commission worse than the last
The current Portland City Charter Commission is worse than the 2009-10 one. The...
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Federal ambulance teams coming to Maine to relieve ‘mounting pressure’ on first responders
Eight Maine hospitals will host federal ambulance teams, which will assist the state’s...
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State study recommends new taxes and fees to help Maine reach carbon reduction goals
The Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) and the Governor’s Energy...
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Federal court reinstates Biden vaccine mandate, setting stage for potential SCOTUS showdown
Federal appeals courts recently issued two decisions impacting federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements mandated...
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Legislative leaders want to revert to old COVID-19 protocols for upcoming second session
According to a schedule released on December 17, the 130th Maine Legislature will...
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Biden’s stimulus bill subsidized meat producers. Now, the White House blames ‘corporate greed’ for high meat prices.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has a theory about why Americans are...
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No improvement to unemployment, labor force participation in November
For the month of November, Maine’s unemployment rate remained at 4.8%, a number...
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Judge denies corridor developers’ motion to block implementation of Question 1
On December 16, a Maine judge denied a preliminary injunction that would have...
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Inflation will cost the average household an astounding amount in 2021, Ivy League analysis finds
The most widely-used metrics of consumer price inflation are hitting their highest levels...
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Legislative Republicans in the dark on Gov. Mills and Democrats’ supplemental budget priorities
When the 130th Maine Legislature reconvenes for its second session in January 2022,...
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Legislature launches pilot program to assess racial impact of pending legislation
In March 2021, Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill into law requiring the...
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Gov. Mills announces deployment of 38 National Guard members to 10 Maine healthcare facilities
Less than one week after announcing she was activating up to 75 members...
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The author who warned us against blindly trusting ‘the Science’
“Attacks on me are, quite frankly, attacks on science,” said Anthony Fauci to...
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School districts are using their COVID-19 relief money on vape detectors, tennis courts
Earlier this year, schools around the country received more than a hundred billion...
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Gov. Mills activates Maine National Guard to address capacity concerns in healthcare system
Gov. Janet Mills appeared at a December 8 press conference held by the...
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SCOTUS hears oral arguments in Maine-based religious freedom, school choice case
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Carson v. Makin,...
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Appropriations Committee receives briefing on state finances, including revenue surplus and ARPA spending
At the Appropriation and Financial Affairs (AFA) Committee meeting on December 7, Department...
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47,000 more people died of this disease in 2020 due to lockdowns, World Health Organization reports
Governments around the world took drastic measures in 2020 in hopes of slowing...
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New revenue surplus should prompt real tax reform
In late November, the Revenue Forecasting Committee (RFC), a branch of the Maine...
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Maine DHHS announces winners of COVID-19 youth vaccination video contest
On December 1, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), in...
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Shortage of adult workers makes teens employable again
My son recently underwent what was once a common rite of passage: his...
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They said inflation would be ‘transitory.’ The data say something different.
President Joe Biden once bizarrely remarked on the 2020 campaign trail, “Milton Friedman...
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Final plan for incorporating probate courts into judicial branch submitted to the legislature
The Commission to Create a Plan to Incorporate the Probate Court into the...
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Who’s really to blame for inflation?
Last month, inflation in the US reached 6.2%, the highest year-over-year increase in...
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Maine experiences highest rate of nursing home deaths in recent weeks
Maine’s rate of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes is currently the highest in...
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The torches are being lit, the battle is being joined and the truth is being pursued. It’s time to join up
Abraham Lincoln once famously said, “The philosophy of the school room in one...
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Maine has a projected $822 million surplus. Lawmakers will debate how to spend it next session
Following its November 23 meeting, the Maine Revenue Forecasting Committee (RFC) upgraded the...
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Judge strikes down Maine law that unenrolled voters from minor political parties
A federal district court judge found that Secretary of State Shenna Bellows violated...
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No gasoline without ‘COVID papers’? It’s already happening in some parts of the world
It’s hard to know what’s real and what’s fake on the internet these...
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Governors of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island back away from TCI, effectively killing regional gas tax
The governors of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island withdrew their support from the...
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Push to ban flavored tobacco products undermines public health
On November 9, the Portland City Council’s Safety Committee voted to approve a...
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Maine’s unemployment rate remained at 4.9% in October
Maine’s workforce conditions in October were little changed from September according to new...
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Legislative Council admits 46 more bills into second session
On November 18, the Legislative Council met to consider appeals to legislative requests...
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Federal appeals court reinstates seasonal closure of lobster fishing waters in Gulf of Maine
In a blow to Maine’s lobster fishermen, the U.S. Court of Appeals for...
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Mainers could face a ballot question on universal health care in 2022
A question asking voters whether they want the legislature to direct a commission...
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Fifth Circuit blocks OSHA vaccination and testing mandate
A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit...
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One of AOC’s worst Green New Deal ideas is included in Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ plan
The fate of President Biden’s multi-trillion-dollar social spending agenda, the “Build Back Better”...
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Voters are done with COVID-19 and pandemic-powered officials
Politicians have been on a high over the last year-plus, wielding extraordinary power...
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Maine DHHS, DOE launch youth video contest to promote vaccines for children
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Department of Education...
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Final rule for healthcare worker vaccinations strikes dental practices and EMS organizations
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) on November 10 released...
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More than 500,000 Mainers to receive $285 ‘disaster relief payments’ beginning mid-November
The administration of Gov. Janet Mills announced on November 10 it will soon...
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Federal court temporarily halts Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for employers
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on November 6 granted...
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Stunning new study undercuts the case for vaccine mandates
With President Biden’s federal vaccine mandate and local government employment mandates looming, the...
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Ten percent of workers affected by Gov. Mills’ mandate have left covered facilities since July
A recent analysis of the data in Maine CDC’s Health Care Worker COVID-19...
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Maine healthcare workers face uncertain future amid state and federal vaccine mandates
Maine’s requirement that healthcare workers at designated healthcare facilities be fully vaccinated against...
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Hampden voters right to reject $4.5 million bond to establish municipal-owned broadband network
This past election day, Mainers faced two contentious statewide ballot questions, but many...
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The Mills administration’s reliance on (political) science
Reports across Maine over the last month have detailed the several healthcare facilities forced...
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Maine voters approve all three statewide ballot questions
Early returns on November 2 proved to be indicative of the results for...
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Supreme Court declines to block Maine’s healthcare worker vaccine mandate
The U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal for injunctive relief on October 29...
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Sorry, Washington Post, but parents do have every right to shape their kids’ curriculum
We shouldn’t be too surprised that the ongoing exodus from public schools is...
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If less vaping means more smoking, that won’t be a public health victory
Cigarette sales in the United States rose last year for the first time in two...
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Number of Mainers homeschooling remains higher than before the pandemic
Recent enrollment numbers released by the Maine Department of Education (DOE) show that...
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Legislative Council screens 330 bills, accepts 107 to be debated in upcoming session
On October 25 the Legislative Council met to consider bill requests for the...
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Gov. Mills announces $14 million in aid to combat healthcare workforce shortages
Gov. Janet Mills held a press conference on October 25 to announce funding...
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Lockdowns coincided with record-breaking drug overdose fatalities, new CDC data show
The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic will go down in American history...
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Maine’s unemployment situation unchanged in September
Maine’s unemployment rate remained largely unchanged between August and September. The unemployment rate...
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Supreme Court should protect nonprofit journalists from discrimination
Should government officials be allowed to choose which journalists report on them? Most...
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Opinion: Retroactively stopping approved public projects is dangerous policy
It is now less than a month before voters will go to the...
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Opinion: Don’t let CMP confuse you – Question 1 is about the corridor
For years, my son has leased land from Christian Camps in Jackman to...
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Portland City Council votes to amend fee structure for amusement devices
The Portland City Council voted unanimously on October 18 to change the city...
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Commission to incorporate probate courts into judicial branch holds its first meeting
A commission directed by the Maine Legislature to create a plan to incorporate...
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Federal judge halts planned lobster fishing closure in Gulf of Maine
On October 16, a U.S. District Court judge blocked the implementation of a...
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Cities lead the way in (another) massive fall exodus from US public schools
Many parents pulled their children out of school last year for homeschooling and...
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Understanding Maine’s pooled testing program for students
As of October 7, there have been just under 3,000 reported cases of...
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Gov. Mills remains committed to vaccine mandate as Maine hospitals begin rationing services
The Maine Legislature’s Republican leadership sent a letter to their Democratic counterparts on...
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Stanford epidemiologist says COVID vaccination is primarily a matter of personal health, not public health
As one-size-fits-all COVID vaccine mandates sweep government, academia, and corporate America, new data...
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New school choice project highlights need for more educational options in Maine
A new publication from Maine Policy Institute shows which municipalities in Maine allow...
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Some healthcare workers resign as enforcement deadline of Gov. Mills’ vaccine mandate approaches
As the date of enforcement for Gov. Janet Mills’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate for...
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Maine’s Legislative Council moves forward with legal challenges to final NOAA lobstering rule
The Legislative Council met on October 7 to discuss its legal response to...
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What is an ‘advocacy journalist’ and why was the Maine CDC restricting access to its briefings?
That darn First Amendment. This week, The Maine Wire learned that the Maine...
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Want school choice? Here’s where to live in Maine to get it
Today, Maine Policy Institute released a new analysis on the scope of educational...
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Education secretary touts mask study—gets rebuked by senior author of the study
On Monday, US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona touted new academic research to show...
