To listen click HERE. February 4, 2021 By Lily Bohlke of Public News Service AUGUSTA, Maine — As negotiations over a COVID-19 relief package continue in Washington, advocates for struggling Mainers say Congress can’t afford to wait. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, along with a group of GOP senators, made a $618 billion counterproposal to President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, and claimed what Biden proposed isn’t needed so soon after the December stimulus bill. But a new Quinnipiac poll found 68 percent of Americans support the Biden plan, with just 24 percent opposed. Mario Moretto, communications director for the Maine Center for Economic Policy, said people still are experiencing really elevated levels of hardship. “What Mainers need now more than anything is for […]

More and more Maine workers are organizing unions & fighting better wages, benefits and a seat at the table February 2, 2021 Union membership in Maine grew by 13,000 members in 2020, marking a 3 percent increase from 2019, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Union density rose from about 12 percent in 2019 to 15 percent in 2020. The report also finds that nearly 17 percent of Maine workers in 2020 were represented by unions — an increase of 3 percent from 2019. Maine’s union density outpaced the national average of 10.8 percent, which increased by 0.5 percent in 2020. “More and more Maine workers are organizing and fighting for better wages, working conditions, safety on the job […]

Manisha Sinha, the Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut and the author of The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition wrote this about the connection in history of Black American poets Phillis Wheatley to Amanda Gorman. “Amid the phenomenal response to Amanda Gorman, who delivered a poem to wide acclaim at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, lurked a bleaker current: responses that summoned for me the story of enslaved early American poet Phillis Wheatley. “In 1773, Wheatley became not just one of the first Black women but one of the first American women to be published when her book of poems, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was printed in London. Wheatley traveled to England with […]

AUGUSTA, February 2, 2021 — Eleven projects to restore, enhance, or protect wetlands and other important natural resources around the state have been selected to receive funding from the Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program (MNRCP), the Department of Environmental Protection announced today. Projects awarded funding in this round include a dam removal project in Vassalboro, a tidal culvert upgrade in Cape Elizabeth, and conservation of high-value wetlands at sites ranging in size from 24 acres to nearly 500 acres. Conservation projects are located in 6 Maine counties and include the towns of Masardis, Winthrop, Chebeague Island, Georgetown, Harpswell, Oxford, Fryeburg, Sanford, and South Berwick. In total, $2,455,038 was awarded to restore or enhance almost 10 acres of wetlands and help conserve over 1,300 acres […]

By admin February 2, 2021 On Monday, February 1, 2021, Portland voters scored a victory when Justice Thomas Warren of the Cumberland County Superior Court ruled that hazard pay for essential workers, which Portland voters overwhelmingly passed in November 2020, was a valid exercise of the citizen initiative power granted in the Maine Constitution and in the Portland City Code. In its motion asking the court to throw out the essential worker hazard pay, the Chamber of Commerce had challenged the validity of the entire citizen initiative process by asking the Court to rule that voters can only pass initiatives on a small list of relatively unimportant subjects. And shockingly, at oral argument on January 20, 2021, the City’s lawyer refused to defend […]

02/01/2021  AUGUSTA, Maine – Applications are now open for the Allagash Wilderness Waterway (AWW) 2021 Visiting Artist Program, which brings artists to the remote wilderness of Maine for two-weeks of solitude. The program provides artists with the opportunity to immerse themselves in nature to interpret and share their experiences through their art. For summer 2021, one chosen artist and a guest will receive complimentary lodging at the AWW Lock Dam Camp for two weeks during August and orientation by AWW rangers. The application deadline is February 28, and notification will be made by March 20, 2021. Interested artists are encouraged to apply now online. Lock Dam Camp (pictured below) is a one-room cabin on the northern end of Chamberlain Lake, one of the largest […]

LD 41 is part of ongoing effort to lower prescription drug prices for Mainers AUGUSTA — On  January 29, 2021, Rep. Denise Tepler, D-Topsham, introduced LD 41, “Resolve, Regarding Legislative Review of Portions of Chapter 570: Uniform Reporting System for Prescription Drug Price Data Sets, a Major Substantive Rule of the Maine Health Data Organization,” before the Legislature’s Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services Committee. LD 41 is part of ongoing legislative efforts to make prescription drugs more affordable for Mainers. “Understanding the source of prescription drug price increases is a critical issue for helping policymakers to hold those increases in check,” said Rep. Denise Tepler, D-Topsham. “This bill aims to better inform our decisions about responsibility for drug price fluctuations, so we […]

Augusta, MAINE — Governor Janet Mills ended. early closing time for businesses, on Monday, February 1, 2021. The decision, she said, was the result of Maine’s improving public health metrics, including a decrease in Maine’s positivity rate and new COVID-19 cases per million. Starting February 1, those businesses that had been subject to the requirement may resume evening operating hours while continuing to follow other public health and safety requirements outlined in the COVID-19 Prevention Checklists. “We are beginning to round the corner on the post-holiday surge of COVID-19. With these improved public health metrics, and with the holidays behind us, it is appropriate to remove the early closing time requirement,” said Governor Janet Mills. “At the same time, this pandemic is far from […]

Tuesday, January 19, 2021 Approximately eight million Americans will receive their Economic Impact Payment by prepaid debit card instead of by direct deposit or paper check. The stimulus checks of up to $600 per individual were authorized through the most recent COVID-19 relief package. Taxpayers should note that the form of payment for the second mailed EIP may be different than the first mailed EIP. Some people who received a paper check last time might receive a prepaid debit card this time, and some people who received a prepaid debit card last time may receive a paper check. If Get My Payment on irs.gov shows a date that a payment was mailed, those expecting payments are urged to watch the […]

Tuesday, January 19, 2021 “Lemon Bowl and Pitcher” by 2020 Artist of the Year Lacey GoodrichBelfast’s 25th annual Arts in the Park will be held June 26 and 27 at Steamboat Landing Park on the Belfast waterfront. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will focus on local art and fine craft, and applications will only be open to Maine residents. Applications from Waldo County artists and Belfast Area Chamber members only may be submitted through Sunday, January 31. All Maine artists may apply from February 1 to March 1. Booths will be allotted to 50 artists, half the number of previous years. The event will be held following the recommendations and regulations of the state of Maine and the […]

Strategic planning for the proposed Maine Spaceport Complex is under way at Brunswick Landing, the former Navy base in Brunswick, Maine. Following a feasibility study last year, the Maine Space Grant Consortium was awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Maine Technology Institute and NASA to begin the initial planning process. Members of the Space Leadership Council include MRRA’s Steve Levesque and established Brunswick Landing NewSpace businesses bluShift Aerospace and VALT Enterprises. Because of its world-class airport assets and proven ability to support large aerospace projects, Brunswick Landing is envisioned to be the site of a mission control and research and development space center. Marketing has begun for the airport to both UAS- and NewSpace-focused companies. Brunswick Landing NewSpace […]

01/21/2021 Frey and Bellows Argue That Provision Removes Racial Barriers to Voting Without Infringing State Sovereignty AUGUSTA – Attorney General Aaron M. Frey and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows have joined amicus briefs urging the Supreme Court to uphold a robust test for applying Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA)-which prohibits policies and practices that deny or abridge citizens’ right to vote based on their race. Attorney General Frey joined an amicusbrief signed by 18 attorneys general, and Secretary Bellows joined an amicus briefsigned by nine secretaries of state as well as numerous state and local elections officials. These briefs were filed in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee and Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee, two consolidated cases […]