AUGUSTA – Rep. Victoria Morales, D-South Portland, introduced a bill on April 9, 2021, that would shed light on how many Maine workers employed by large companies rely on public benefits like MaineCare and SNAP. LD 1233 would require the state Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services to gather data regarding the number of Maine workers employed by businesses that have 50 or more employees and who receive public benefits. The departments would report their findings to the Legislature each year. “We know from the data we have that the majority of people relying on certain types of assistance are working, and that most of them are working for large corporations. But even though they are working for large, profitable […]

Maine Human Rights Commission Found Sex Discrimination and Retaliation by CSS By Ramona du Houx On April 8, 2021, Siera L. Boucher filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal district court, in Portland, Maine, against CSS for sex discrimination and unlawful retaliation because she asked about a possible accommodation to breastfeed her infant during a one-week training. CSS has about 650 employees and is headquartered in New Jersey. It provides patients with home-care equipment and services and has 17 offices in ten states, including two offices in Maine. After two rounds of interviews and a thorough vetting process, CSS offered Boucher a job as a respiratory therapist at its Portland location. With her offer in hand, Boucher made a few […]

AUGUSTA – A proposal introduced by Rep. Lori Gramlich, D-Old Orchard Beach, on  April 7,2021 aims to bring children who are receiving behavioral health care services out of state home to Maine. “As a parent, I cannot begin to imagine the anguish of having my child, who is not only in need of therapeutic behavioral health care but also in need of her parents, be placed so far from our home state and the people she loves,” said Gramlich. “What is even more difficult to fathom is what it must be like for that child to be so far away from her parent or guardian – her support system.” LD 1173 would require the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to develop a […]

The new state legislature has been hard at work in Augusta, when votes are critical and personal appearances needed and at home, working within COVID-19 protocols. Many bills have gone through committee, and then were voted on. These are the following prices of legislation that passed the legislature and that Governor Janet Mills signed into law: LD 30 Resolve, Authorizing the Director of the Bureau of Parks and Lands to Convey a Parcel of Land in Augusts a to the Maine Veterans’ Home LD 36 An Act to Amend the Definition of “Timber Harvesting” (Emergency) LD 44 An Act to Require the Department of Education to Report Annually on Summer Educational Programs LD 65 An Act to Invest in the Stewardship and Management of Properties […]

Maine to host New England’s second mobile vaccination unit capable of delivering at least 250 shots per day By Ramona du Houx April 6, 2021 The Mills Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced a partnership to launch a mobile vaccination unit that will provide COVID-19 vaccinations to people in rural and under-served communities across Maine. “This mobile vaccination clinic is another important tool for our state as we work to get shots into arms as fast as we can,” said Maine Governor Janet Mills. “The clinic will complement our existing vaccination efforts well and allow people in rural communities to more easily get the vaccine, protecting their health and that of their loved ones and helping us to […]

April 6, 2021 By Ramona du Houx  The Maine Department of Economic & Community Development (DECD) announced a one-year pilot Early Adopter Program as part of the implementation of Maine’s ten year economic development strategy. The Early Adopter Program is designed to help Maine companies launch their innovative solutions and to determine their product-market fit, while aiding the State of Maine find innovative approaches to its work. In this pilot year, Maine DECD will host quarterly opportunities for up to three selected Maine companies to pitch an idea for a time-limited project in which a State agency or office would be an early adopter, beta-tester, or pilot customer for that company’s newly developed product and/or service. Companies whose pitch is […]

Maine is a great place for budding nature photographers. With an abundance of wildlife, plants, and natural landscapes, almost any shot you take can be effortlessly stunning. In Maine, you can find local deer running around Moosehead Lake, nesting puffins at Eastern Egg Rock, and glorious landscapes at Acadia National Park. So if you want to improve your craft and learn how to photograph the breathtaking wonders Maine has to offer, then keep reading. Bring the Right Gear and Equipment Your own camera is an obvious choice, but you should also pack with you other useful items that can make it easier to traverse Maine’s great outdoors. For one, you should bring a sturdy and reliable camera bag that’s packed with extra […]

April 3, 2021 By Ramona du Houx While work at the state house is limited within COVID-19 health restrictions there is still a lot that is going on in the climate sector. The following are bills being decided upon in the Maine Legislature. LD 226 (link): An Act To Limit the Use of Hydrofluorocarbons To Fight Climate Change, was tabled on March 24 and will be scheduled for a future work session by the Committee On Environment and Natural Resources. Read GOPIF’s factsheet on hydrofluorocarbons here (link). LD 340 (link): An Act To Allow for the Establishment of Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Programs, is currently under consideration by the Legislature’s Committee On Energy, Utilities and Technology. This bill would implement one of the funding recommendations of Maine […]

Augusta, MAINE – Governor Janet Mills announced today that all Maine residents age 16 and older will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine beginning next Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The acceleration of Maine’s vaccination timeline by a week and a half comes as Maine is expected to receive a significant increase in vaccine supply from the Federal government. Vaccination for residents age 16 and older had previously been scheduled to begin on April 19, 2021.  “Maine continues to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible. With the Federal government significantly increasing our supply of vaccines, it is appropriate to accelerate our timeframe and make all Maine people eligible beginning next Wednesday,” said Governor Janet Mills. “While this is a great step forward, Maine people should keep in mind that even though they are eligible it will still take time to get an appointment and get a vaccine. We will continue to work with vaccine providers across Maine to get shots into arms as quickly as we can.”     “The […]

ORONO — University of Maine Cooperative Extension and University of New Hampshire Extension will offer a webinar for home gardeners about fiddleheads from 6–7:15  p.m. April 14. “Fiddleheads: A Spring Tradition” topics include how to properly identify, sustainably harvest and safely cook ostrich fern fiddleheads. UMaine Extension agriculture professional Dave Fuller will lead the presentation.  Registration is required; a sliding scale fee is optional. Register on the event webpage to attend live or receive a link to the recording. This is the first in a six-part spring gardening webinar series offered every other Wednesday through June for Maine and New Hampshire gardeners. For more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Pamela Hargest, 207.781.6099; extension.gardening@maine.edu.

By Eben Rose Massachusetts’ demand for 1,200 megawatts of electrical generation to fill the “energy gap” left by the closure of  two New England nuclear plants can be met with delocalized but interconnected microgrids, each with a capacity for sustainable electrical generation and salt water battery storage that can feed the grid and buffer fluctuations of demand. This model of growth is both sustainable and democratizing because it keeps decision making localized and not top-down, imposed from some high and distant corporate boardroom. This model also, importantly, keeps the impacts of energy development more local, and therefore transparent to the consumers who are the enfranchised decision makers. This is a stark contrast to New England Clean Energy Connect (aka “the CMP corridor”), […]

March 25, 2021 By Ramona du Houx The Maine Attorney General (AG) and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner have released drug overdose data for February 2021, which draws attention to the continued devastation the opioid epidemic is causing in Maine. “February’s numbers are an important reminder of the opioid crisis’s continued grip on our state and the country. I am hopeful that current efforts, including the work of the Opioid Data Sharing Committee highlighted in t his report, will continue to shine a light on the need for state and local governments to work proactively with community members and organizations to ensure that people are connected with the resources they need to treat substance use disorder,” said Maine Attorney General […]