On August 6, the Maine Department of Labor (DOL) announced that approximately 7,400 unemployment claimants receiving federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance…
Browsing: COVID-19
Last week I received a letter from my children’s school district. “We will start the school year this fall -…
On August 4, just days after allowing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) eviction moratorium to expire…
As the data stand right now, deaths are not on pace with new infections across the country, and we are still in a much better position in the pandemic than just a few months ago, so let’s act like it.
Nobel-Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously quipped that “nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.” If only he’d known…
On July 28, Gov. Janet Mills announced updates to Maine’s recommendations for wearing face coverings in indoor settings. The state…
In another attempt to “follow the science,” a pediatrics group has issued guidance that does the exact opposite. The American…
The changes include an increase of one dollar– from $3 to $4– for drivers who pay in cash at the York toll plaza and the slashing of discounts for frequent E-ZPass-holding travelers.
The government has spent its way into an inflationary mess, which we’ve already felt at the gas pump, among other places. Don’t be surprised if everyday expenses continue to be more costly and your disposable income starts to fall.
Saying “no emergency is going to be perfect,” Facteau outlined his hesitancy to limit the powers the governor has during a time of need in the interview.
Individual responsibility and autonomy will always outweigh government coercion, and that includes getting vaccinated for COVID-19.
Though Maine’s state of emergency expired on June 30, some changes to rules and regulations instituted through executive order will remain in effect until the end of 2021.
According to data provided by the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of July 6, 44.5% of…
In its July 5 piece, the editorial board of the Bangor Daily News opines that while Governor Mills’ 15-months-plus-long State…
COVID-19 vaccines: a personal choice or a workplace requirement? Well, to Maine’s top hospital group, the answer is a requirement.…
The issue of how this subset of workers is taxed is not going away anytime soon, and so it would have been an impactful and incredibly significant ruling had the Court taken the case.
A new bipartisan budget agreement might prove that lawmakers learned a valuable fiscal lesson from the fallout of the pandemic,…
A new Harvard analysis of various data points throughout the pandemic shows that poor Americans, those earning under $27,000 a…
The primary finding of the study was that following the implementation of SIP policies, excess mortality actually increased, not decreased.
The picture painted is one of working-class destruction.
On June 16, Gov. Mills announced the creation of a sweepstakes for Mainers who have received at least one dose…
Policymakers have, yet again, committed an act that is sorely ironic: they have stalled a review of their own strategy to tackle a pandemic, which will surely hamper lawmakers down the line come the next and inevitable contagious disease.
On June 14, Gov. Mills announced a program to incentivize unemployed Mainers to return to work. Called “Back to Work,”…
On June 11, Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced she was renewing the state of civil emergency, which was set to…
On June 9, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) updated its PreK-12 and Adult Education Public Guidance. Though Gov. Janet…
After more than a year away, the Maine Legislature returned to the State House on June 2. As coronavirus case…
Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that at least 50% of Canadians have received at least one shot…
Maine Gov. Janet Mills is on pace to exercise her executive authority almost twice as frequently as any of her…
In four of the last six weeks, Maine has led the nation in COVID-19 infection rate in nursing homes.
On Tuesday, Maine Governor Janet Mills joined President Joe Biden and a small group of US governors for a virtual…
Maine Sen. Susan Collins grilled US CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Tuesday during a Senate Health Committee hearing where…
Governor Janet Mills’ reign over Maine people doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon, unfortunately. Democrats on Maine’s State and…
With each day that passes, the number of lives lost in COVID-19-related deaths continues to tragically grow. However, in a…
On Tuesday, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont announced that he will lift all business restrictions, except for mandating masks indoors (including…
For over a year well-to-do Americans have quite literally been “quarantining” packages shipped to them, and that were dropped off at…
On March 1, facing the highest COVID-19 infection rate in the world, the Czech Republic’s Prime Minister Andrej Babis introduced…
On Wednesday afternoon, Maine’s Health and Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing on LD 1344, a department bill…
So-called “deaths of despair,” those involving drug abuse, alcohol, or suicide, have been the subject of numerous studies over the…
This month marks the one-year anniversary of when states and the federal government first declared states of emergency over the…
On March 11, President Joe Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a nearly $2 trillion spending…
On March 2, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he was lifting all government restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of…
Over the last few weeks, a central pillar of pandemic-era decision making crumbled. The arbitrary measuring stick for defining whether…
Maybe you have noticed the rise in public incredulity toward the coronavirus narrative that you hear all day from the…
Maine lawmakers will convene in-person in Augusta this week for the first time since December 2, when legislators met at…
Governor Janet Mills updated Maine’s statewide vaccination plan Wednesday to make teachers and childcare providers, regardless of age, eligible for…
A new citizens initiative was approved for circulation in Maine on January 25, yet the Secretary of State’s office has…
With thousands of schools still closed or partially closed across the country, millions of American families are struggling to find…
In Maine, medical providers like hospitals, out-patient facilities and nursing homes must obtain a Certificate of Need (CON) in order…
Dire predictions about state budget woes turned out to be much too gloomy. Despite this, Democrats in Congress and the…
Maine Governor Janet Mills issued a press release Tuesday outlining a proposed path forward on the PPP issue that took…
On January 20, the World Health organization (WHO) issued an advisory for labs which process polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests…
Maine’s Capitol Police Chief Russ Gauvin is on trial in the court of public opinion for thoughtcrimes, and while I…
After the start of the Covid pandemic, my local Harris Teeter grocery store in Montgomery County, Maryland made extensive changes,…
On Thursday night, Joe Biden rolled out a sweeping proposal for $1.9 trillion more in COVID-19 relief and stimulus spending. …
It’s no secret that restaurants have been particularly impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns and economic restrictions, both in Maine and across…
Since the first COVID-19 vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and distributed to states, people have…
2020 will be remembered for many things: COVID-19, nationwide riots, a divisive election. But the rise of pandemic lockdowns will…
Last week our team offered a preview of the First Session of the 130th Maine Legislature based on a list…
New York lawmakers are mulling a bill that would allow the state to detain anyone carrying or suspected of carrying…
The economic shock from the coronavirus pandemic of 2020, exacerbated by the response of many state governors, is just beginning…
Just before the holidays, the legislature released a list of all legislator and department/agency bill requests submitted before cloture, the…
After nearly a year with one person unilaterally dictating public policy in Maine, some members of the state legislature are…
Anthony Fauci, an infectious disease expert who has played a leading role in advising the Trump administration on COVID-19, thinks…
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by researchers from the University of Florida…
Maybe you have some sense that something fishy is going on? Same. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Coronavirus…
Earlier this month, the Maine Climate Council released its four-year plan titled, “Maine Won’t Wait”, a proposal covering a multitude…
Echoing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned city residents this week to prepare…
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Research Center released a new survey this week that should have lawmakers and…
Some members of the Maine Legislature are speaking out against Gov. Janet Mills’ newest mandates and urging their colleagues to…
The basic problem with even a little bit of socialism is that, in order for socialist policy to work, it…
Since the beginning of the pandemic, businesses able to shift their employees to remote work have done so with varying…
Maine is mourning the loss of Spencer Smith, a 16-year-old sophomore at Brunswick High School who tragically took his life…
Maine Policy Institute has previously noted the potential pitfalls of relying on a single health authority, especially one subject to political consequences,…
Certificate of Need (CON) laws are state regulatory procedures that require health care facilities to obtain permission from the state…
Coronaviruses don’t get more deadly or dangerous after dark. Yet across the country, leaders are imposing new curfews on their residents…
If you like individual liberty, economic freedom and self-determination, 2020 probably wasn’t the year for you. Chief executives across the country…
A number of iconic Maine businesses have closed this year due to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic…
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito recently came under fire for comments he made at the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention.…
Gov. Janet Mills announced on Thursday new, last-minute restrictions on businesses to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Maine. Starting…
As COVID-19 case counts rise across the United States and Europe, it is important to understand how we identify active…
Governor Janet Mills’ latest batch of doomsday rhetoric is an admission that her coronavirus narrative is falling apart. In describing…
When Gov. Janet Mills updated her mask mandate last week to require Mainers to wear face coverings in public no…
Science, science science. It’s all about the science. Is it really, though? From the start of the pandemic to where…
Thinking about getting together with family for the holiday season? Think again. Just when you thought coronavirus restrictions couldn’t get…
Last Friday, Lindsey Crete, spokesperson for Governor Janet Mills, hinted to the Maine media that more economic restrictions would be…
COVID-19 has changed a lot about our lives in 2020, including how we vote. Millions more Americans are expected to…
Perhaps the only thing worse than being subjected to seemingly arbitrary and intrusive rules imposed to fight a pandemic is…
Maine Gov. Janet Mills joined Maine CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah on Wednesday to provide an update on the state…
In a recent interview on Lockdown TV, Dr. Scott Atlas, a healthcare policy scholar, medical scientist and member of the…
Better late than never, I suppose. Maine finally began disbursing grants to struggling small businesses and nonprofits with CARES Act…
Our relationship with the arts has been severely and permanently altered this year. As every day passes, it appears more…
Three leading epidemiologists gathered in Massachusetts on Sunday to sign the Great Barrington Declaration, a public call to end lockdown…
Late last week, the Michigan Supreme Court in a 4-3 vote ruled that emergency orders issued by Governor Gretchen Whitmer…
When we hear about the challenge of testing for the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), we often hear that tests may take a…
It’s no secret that 2020 is a year like no other, and COVID-19 has challenged “the way life should be” here in…
The BDN editorial board’s recent commentary on the state budget shortfall reminds us how different one person’s reality can be…
Aquaboggan in Saco was forced to close in late August after receiving a cease-and-desist order from the Saco Police. The…
Recently, some on social media have shared a misrepresentation of an August 26 update to the US Centers for Disease…
Do you remember this spring when we were told to stay home to stop the spread of COVID-19? To close…
The Maine Principals’ Association’s (MPA) Interscholastic Management Committee voted unanimously on Thursday to accept the recommendation of the association’s Sports…