The Winthrop School District is facing a nearly $700,000 budget deficit for the current school year. According to Winthrop Superintendent Becky Foley, this is due an overestimation of how much funding would be left over from last year, as well as a lack of adequate funding to cover the current year’s expenses. Taken together, the district is a total of $681,207 short of what it needs to cover the planned expenses for FY25. Foley first…

A homeless man who earlier this year was charged with assaulting people with a machete, and who a month ago was arrested for an alleged knife attack in a Portland park, this week was arrested yet again on charges of assault and burglary. [RELATED: Homeless Machete Attacker — Released from Maine Jail — Arrested Again for Portland Park Knife Attack…] Ahmed Hussein Ismail, 38, who police have indicated is “unhoused,” was arrested by Portland Police…

At a special meeting this Wednesday, the Portland City Council will consider adopting a resolution to divest the city from entities “complicit in the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” A description of the resolution, which is sponsored by City Councilor At-Large April Fournier, reads: “The City of Portland recognizes the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and seeks to avoid economically supporting this crisis through the City’s financial investment.” No specific entities in which the city is…

A Chinese national arrested during law enforcement raids on illegal marijuana grows in March is now facing federal charges. [RELATED: Maine Sheriff Raids Three More Black Market Pot Houses, Seizes $39k, 900 Plants, and a Toyota — One “Brooklyn” Woman Arrested…] The 29-year-old Jiamin Liao, who has addresses in Maine, California, and New York, is facing two federal felony charges of maintaining a marijuana-involved premise after it was discovered that she was the owner of…

Five people were arrested after police raided a Lewiston drug house for the third time in eight months, Lewiston Police announced on Wednesday. As part of an ongoing drug trafficking investigation, police executed a search warrant at the home, located at 149 College St. in Lewiston, at about 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Police previously conducted raids on the home in December and February, during which 13 people were arrested and a large amount of fentanyl…

The Maine Department of Corrections (DOC) will be launching a prison rehabilitation program specifically tailored for Muslim inmates, aimed at minimizing the risk of the inmates being drawn to Islamist and extremist worldviews. The program, called Prison-Based Interventions for Muslim Offenders (PRIMO), will be funded by a taxpayer-funded grant of $22,900 from the State of Maine to Cardiff University (U.K.). [RELATED: Maine DOC to Buy ‘state-of-the-art’ Laser Tattoo Removal Machine to Help Inmates Reintegrate into…

The Maine Wire is thrilled to introduce our first full feature-length documentary, “Triad Weed: The Movie.” TICKETS AVAILABLE BELOW: TriadWeedMovie.Com

Three people in a Bangor apartment were arrested Thursday afternoon and are facing drug trafficking charges, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) announced Thursday. Agents from both MDEA and the U.S. DEA, with assistance from the Bangor Police Department, executed a search warrant on Thursday at an apartment located at 54 Charles Street in Bangor. The search warrant came as the result of a months-long investigation into drug trafficking by MDEA’s North Central Task Force,…

Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland) recently appointed a new commissioner to the state racial equity commission, the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial & Tribal Populations (PCRITP), from an organization that administered a $175,000 taxpayer-funded grant to her “domestic partner.” [RELATED: ‘Homelessness Advocate’ Came to Maine DEI Commission Meeting Slurring Speech, Said N-Word, Claimed to be Part Black and Victim of Racial Profiling…] The new PCRITP Commissioner, Amy Winston, whose appointment was…

The Maine Ethics Commission on Thursday issued an invitation for public comment on proposals regarding amendments to the U.S. Constitution related to campaign finance activity. As required by a successful 2023 citizen initiative, the Maine Ethics Commission is obliged to issue an annual report on proposals in Congress regarding campaign finance regulation. According to Ethics Commission Executive Director Jonathan Wayne, this year’s report will focus on proposed constitutional amendments that would “reaffirm the power of…

Maine Wire reporter Edward Tomic joined the Grace Curley Show Wednesday afternoon to discuss an Maine Wire exclusive report on the illegal alien who caused a four-car crash on I-95 that left an Albion woman dead and her husband in critical condition. WATCH: According to the Maine Department of Public Safety, an initial investigation into the April 26 crash found that 23-year-old Oguzhan Cildir — who was described as a resident of Brighton, Mass. –…

Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed into law this past Wednesday a bill that implements new regulations on the fees that landlords can impose upon their current and potential tenants. LD 1490 puts in place a number of provisions pertaining to the types of fees landlords may charge current and future tenants, as well as those that may be imposed by the owners of mobile home parks. It also adds into statute a mandatory 45-day notification…

Three people were arrested on drug trafficking charges after police seized more than $5,600 worth of fentanyl during a search at a Rumford hotel, according to the Rumford Police Department. [RELATED: Maine Reports Nearly 10,000 Drug Overdoses in 2023, 16 Percent Decrease in Fatal Overdoses from 2022…] Rumford Police say officers responded to the Best Western Plus hotel on Prospect Avenue in Rumford on Thursday, Feb. 29, after receiving a tip about possible drug activity…

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey (D) announced Tuesday that he has filed a complaint under the Maine Civil Rights act against a Lewiston woman accused of a racially motivated assault. According to the complaint, filed in Androscoggin County Superior Court, 65-year-old Andrea Ouellette of Lewiston confronted a 31-year-old black man outside while he was speaking with his neighbor in November 2023. The complaint alleges that Ouellette called the victim a racial epithet and threw a…

The Maine State Legislature’s Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs (VLA) is split on a resolution calling for a national convention under Article V to consider proposing amendments to impose term limits on members of Congress and address issues related to campaign finance. SP 705 — Joint Resolution Making Separate Applications to the Congress of the United States Calling Constitutional Conventions to Consider Representational Integrity and Propose Amendments Establishing Term Limits for Congress and Addressing…