The Maine Legislature’s Judiciary Committee held public hearings on Wednesday regarding two bills that would bring Maine’s public record laws into line with government transparency statutes in other states. The bills’ respective sponsors, Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford) and Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn), both believe that Maine’s current disclosure law — the so-called Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) — is insufficient. Sen. Bennett’s bill would expand the scope of FOAA to include proceedings, such as partisan…

The island Chellie Pingree farms “organically” has a growing problem – mounds of trash.The few trash attendants North Haven had walked off the job, leaving garbage management to volunteers.“Despite advertising widely through multiple forums, within our local community, and on neighboring islands, we have not yet received interest from any applicants,”  Rebekah Carmichael-Austin, North Haven’s town administrator, told the island newspaper.“As a result, the town has been working to temporarily cover operations while continuing recruitment…

LEWISTON, Maine – Federal immigration authorities made an arrest Monday morning in Lewiston during an enforcement operation in the parking lot of Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services, or MEIRS, on Bartlett Street. According to a statement attributed to an ICE spokesperson, ICE Boston arrested Christian Kalombo, described as an illegal alien from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during targeted enforcement operations in Lewiston on March 23. ICE said Kalombo entered the United States legally…

Late last week the spokeswoman for the Maine State Police broke her silence on the brutal slaying July 2nd of a Tenants Harbor woman in Union – not to inform the public on the status of the now ten day old investigation, but instead to lash out against a national news network for suggesting a serial killer could be one possible explanation. “Floating unverified claims without facts fuels fear. It’s irresponsible,” Maine Department of Public…

WESTFIELD, Maine – A fatal structure fire in Westfield remains under investigation after emergency crews discovered a deceased man inside the burned residence Thursday evening. According to the State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Mars Hill Fire Department received a report of the fire at 1197 Houlton Road in Westfield at approximately 3:38 p.m. on Thursday, April 9, 2026. When firefighters arrived, they encountered heavy fire conditions. Family members at the scene told first responders that…

A routine probation check on Tuesday led to the seizure of a backpack containing methamphetamine and the arrest of a repeat offender. [RELATED: New York Minor Busted in Rockland for Drug Trafficking…] At approximately 12:15 p.m., the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office joined Maine Probation and Parole to conduct a probation search at a French Settlement Road residence in Milford. Investigators allegedly located two suspicious backpacks during the search. A Penobscot deputy applied for and received…

President Donald Trump’s administration restored federal funding to the Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) after it was removed because the department houses violent trans-identifying males with women. [RELATED: DOJ Pulls Federal Funding from Maine’s Department of Corrections for Housing a Dangerous, Biological Male in a Women’s Prison…] Trans-identifying males are still allegedly terrorizing incarcerated women, but The Maine Wire can confirm that the funding was quietly restored in June just months after Attorney General Pam…

By Senator James Hamper The 2026 Republican Primary has blessed voters with some very good candidates to choose from. However, in listening to the Maine Wire Debate, one candidate rises above the rest, and another proves why he cannot be the Republican nominee this fall. For six years, I proudly served on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, four of those years as the Senate Chair. I fought hard for fiscal restraint and accountability for…

Mennonites in Dexter are leaving Maine for religious reasons after the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), headed by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, refused an accommodation that would allow them to avoid violating their religious objections to commercial insurance. [RELATED: Bill to Let Mennonites Self-Insure Vehicles to Comply With Religious Requirements Narrowly Fails in House…] Mark Nolt, a Mennonite father of 13 living in Dexter, spoke with The Maine Wire on Wednesday about his decision…

Democratic leaders on the Legislative Council opted Thursday to kill a bill that would have prohibited the sale of fetal remains. Rep. Katrina Smith (R-Palermo) submitted the bill, which now will not be considered next year by the State Legislature. “By not allowing my bill into the second session the Democrats have once again proven that their only goal is to keep Planned Parenthood happy and profitable,” Smith told the Maine Wire. [RELATED: Maine Senate…

RHODE ISLAND — Mayor Brett Smiley in Providence, Rhode Island stated he would like a private mural that honors Iryna Zarutska removed from the exterior of a local establishment, prompting community whiplash and forcing establishment owners to pause the project. As reported on X by local journalist Ryan Medeiros, Mayor Smiley wishes for the removal of the mural honoring the Ukrainian refugee who was stabbed to death by a foreign national.  The development, shared on…

The Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office arrested a Howland woman for arson on Friday following an extensive investigation into a 2022 fire at a convenience store. [RELATED: West Bath Woman Arrested for Arson and Animal Cruelty After Burning Down Her Own Goat Barn…] On the night of November 22, 2022, firefighters responded to reports of a blaze at the Howland Corner Store in Howland. Firefighters observed an active fire, and signs of rapid fire development…

Politics is not a game, even if many “Progressive” Democrats think so. In Maine, one-party rule has distorted reality, as out-of-touch elites no longer care about the hardships they impose on average people. Mainers, like America in 2024, are tired of manipulation, misrepresentation, and untruth.Maine’s “Progressive” Democrat today represents the last stand of the lunatic fringe, and what happens, in fact, to a state that assumes the best, looks away, and wakes up to a…

The union representing Associated Press staffers pushed back Tuesday over job losses related to the news company’s AI plans.“AP continues to get rid of experienced staff and flirt with artificial intelligence – ignoring the opportunity to differentiate AP news stories as ones that are and always will be created by human journalists,” the News Media Guild said in a statement.“Just last week,” a guild spokesman said, “the AP ignored a union request to bargain over…

Maine’s Office of New Americans is a state sanctioned cabal of non-governmental organization gate keepers and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion radicals. The Office was created under Hannah Pingree by order of Governor Janet Mills. Gov. Mills appointed its first Director, Tarlan Ahmadov, an Azeri nationalist who had all the trappings of an unregistered foreign agent. That is until yesterday, when Ahmadov was forced to resign. He cited ‘health reasons’, but it’s the sickness of the…