President Barack Obama outlined his Veterans Jobs Corps today. The proposed Corps will hire Veterans to work in our National Parks rebuilding roads. Police and fire stations will also prioirtize Veterans as workers. And a network will match skill sets with jobs. Here are highlighted segments of his speech:

“The war in Iraq is over. The war in Afghanistan is moving to a new phase — we’re transitioning to Afghan lead. Over the past decade, nearly 3 million service members have transitioned back to civilian life, and more are joining them every day. . .

“Our veterans are some of the most highly trained, highly educated, highly skilled workers that we’ve got. These are Americans that every business should be competing to attract. These are the Americans we want to keep serving here at home as we rebuild this country. So we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that when our troops come home, they come home to new jobs and new opportunities and new ways to serve their country.

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Small business owners say their main concern is weak customer demand, not regulations, according to independent opinion polling released today. In fact, when asked what would do the most to create jobs, small business owners’ top response was eliminating incentives to move jobs overseas. Reducing regulation came in fifth place.

• 86 percent see regulations as necessary part of a modern economy
• 78 percent of small businesses say regulations needed to protect small businesses from unfair competition, level playing field with big business

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Today, Sanford School Committee Member and Thermal Energy Storage of Maine President Adam Cote  was selected as one of ten rising leaders from across the country to join the NewDEAL, a national network that highlights innovative ideas from state and local elected leaders who are pro-growth progressives.

Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland and U.S. Senator Mark Begich of Alaska, Honorary Chairs of the NewDEAL, recognized Cote for his efforts to grow progress by making clean energy more affordable for Maine’s homes and businesses. Cote joins House Minority Leader Emily Cain as the second NewDEAL Leader from Maine.

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Portland City Manager Mark Rees announced the selection of Acting Police Chief Michael Sauschuck as the city’s next Police Chief. Rees will formally present Sauschuck for City Council confirmation at the February 6, 2012 meeting. Upon confirmation, Sauschuck will become the nineteenth Police Chief to serve the city.

“I am very excited to make this announcement,” stated City Manager Rees. “After a rigorous and competitive search, I am confident that we have found the right person for the position. Mike’s commitment to public service, the police department and the community is unparalleled. He knows and loves this city, and the community will be well served by the Police Department being under his leadership.”

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David Burns, R-Alfred, has resigned his seat in the Maine House of Representatives during an ethics investigation by the Attorney General’s Office. A spokeswoman at the Attorney General’s Office said the review of Burns is ongoing. When he made the announcement House speaker Nutting said the investigation has concluded.

“I believe this is the appropriate step for him to take, as we Republicans insist our members maintain the highest ethical standards possible,” said Rep. Nutting.

“I’m relieved to see that Rep. Burns finally resigned his seat after months of controversy around his abuse of Clean Elections funds,” said Cain. “No lawmaker – Republican or Democrat – is above the law. We must be held to higher standard and should not tolerate the abuse of taxpayer dollars.”

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Maine Citizens for Clean Energy, a diverse coalition of businesses, workers, environmental and public health groups, announced today that they will continue gathering signatures to send a ballot initiative to voters in 2013. The Coalition made the decision to continue its efforts today when it became clear that it could not meet today’s deadline to file signatures with the Secretary of State for the November 2012 election.

“Going for the 2012 ballot was always a race against the clock. Despite the incredible enthusiasm from the public and from hundreds of campaign volunteers, the clock was just a little too fast for us to hit the deadline for the 2012 ballot,” said David Farmer, spokesperson for Maine Citizens for Clean Energy.

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Portland lawmaker Rep. Mark Dion has made a second request for a  formal opinion from the Attorney General on whether State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin’s business dealings in the Popham Beach Club are in violation of Article V, Pt. 3, § 3 of the Maine Constitution, which prohibits the Treasurer from engaging in commerce while serving in office.

Article V, Pt. 3, § 3 reads as follows: “The Treasurer shall not, during the Treasurer’s continuance in office, engage in any business of trade or commerce, or as a broker, nor as an agent or factor for any merchant or trader.”

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The Coast Guard is holding information gathering meetings this week to hear from mariners about a tidal energy proposal in Cobscook Bay at Maine’s eastern tip.The Coast Guard’s hearings are planned for Monday in Lubec and Tuesday in Eastport.

Ocean Renewable Power Co. wishes to deploy five turbine generator units for its Cobscook Bay Tidal Energy Project.

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“On April 1st, the state of Maine will default, it will not have money to pay the fourth quarter of 2012 Medicaid payments,” Gov. LePage said after he interrupted the work of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee.

The state’s fiscal year begins in July giving lawmakers three months to work out the issue. LePage went on to tell legislators that their failure to cut $221 million from the budget will force him seek cuts to state education to close the gap.

“I will be calling you back and asking you to give the GPA money so that I don’t have to close nursing homes and we will probably close schools, ” he said. “Or by Feb. 1st, you give me curtailment orders so I can start saving money. This is not normal politics, this not rhetoric.”

But this issue would not be able to be classified under a curtailment order.

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“I had hoped that all of these legislative leaders would have had an interest in preserving the integrity of fair and clean elections. It benefits all of us to overcome the widespread perception that politicians can be bought and sold like race car drivers whose corporate sponsors are emblazoned on their jackets,” said Rep.John Hinck. “Instead, Maine Republicans toed the party line to block this important effort to protect Maine’s body politic from special interest influences and ensure the integrity of Maine electoral system.”

Members of the Legislative Council, made up of six Republicans and four Democrats from the House and Senate Leadership, stopped consideration of Hinck’s legislation which would have barred corporations from making contributions to candidates running at the state level in Maine. The legislation, entitled “An Act to Limit to Natural Persons the Right to Contribute to Political Campaigns,” was submitted on the heels of a Montana Supreme Court decision upholding Montana’s ban less than a month ago.

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