Free Republic

Report: Maine growth modest Conditions are likely to deteriorate in 2008 AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Center for Economic Policy released its annual Labor Day report outlining the status of working Mainers and the state economy. Using 2007 U.S. government data (the most current available), "The State of Working Maine" reveals a picture of modest overall growth in Maine, coupled with limited income gains for typical Maine households. Median household income in Maine saw an increase of some $1,200, rising by 2.7 percent in real terms to $45,888. Though a welcome advance for working Mainers, it is also clear that...

BANGOR, Maine — Folk singers Larry and Leslie Latour, along with Judd Esty-Kendall, will open a “Join Hands to End the War. Build the Peace. Rebuild the Economy” rally at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, at Paul Bunyan Park on Main Street. [snip] Among the featured speakers will be Mary Trotochaud who with her husband, Rick McDowell, moved to Baghdad in 2003 to work with emerging Iraqi civil society organizations and coordinate relief and development projects for the American Friends Service Committee. Other speakers include labor activist Katrina Bisheimer; Iranian-American history student Hosain Aghamoosa; social worker Doug Crate; Veterans for...

Former State GOP Chairman Forms Group To Support Democrat PORTLAND, Maine -- Maine's Sen. Barack Obama campaign has announced the formation of a group calling itself "Maine Republicans for Obama." The group is headed by former Maine Republican Party Chairman Robert Monks and former Republican state Rep. Sherry Huber. At a press conference Wednesday in Portland, Monks and Huber spoke in support of Obama in his campaign against Republican John McCain. Maine GOP Chairman fired back at Monks. He said Monks has a long history of attacking Republicans including Margaret Chase Smith. He said that if the Obama campaign wants...

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine motorists are paying more to register their vehicles with the state. As of Monday, fees increased by $10 for vehicle registrations, vanity license plates and titles. Don Cookson of the Secretary of State’s Office said the added fees would generate revenue to support bridge and road maintenance.

(CNN) – If Sen. Joe Biden was hurt that Republican operative Karl Rove called him a “big blowhard doofus” at an event in Minneapolis Monday, he didn’t show it. On hearing the news, Biden grinned and said “he’s a great American.” The blog Politicker ME reports that at a Maine delegate breakfast at the Republican National Convention, Rove, the so-called “architect” of the Bush administration, called Biden a “big blowhard doofus.” Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, is notorious in Washington for being talkative at Senate hearings. Later, in response to a different question, Rove is reported to have asked...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Maine's Republican delegation got a surprise visit from former White House political operative Karl Rove at its convention breakfast this morning. During his speech, he talked up John McCain's Republican presidential bid and criticized Democratic nominee Barack Obama for his inexperience. When the topic of running mates came up, he referred to U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) as a "big, blowhard doofus." Later, a questioner asked about the economy in the context that the Democrats paint the country as being in a great depression. Before Rove answered, he asked: "Is there press in the room?"

AUGUSTA, Maine — On Monday, Maine joins other U.S. states and Canadian provinces that have made it illegal to smoke in a car while children are present. But for the first year the law's in effect, violators will only get warnings. A law passed by the state legislature earlier this year outlaws smoking in cars while youths under 16 are present. It's modelled after a tougher ordinance in the city of Bangor, Maine. California, Arkansas and Louisiana have passed similar laws, as have Puerto Rico and some Canadian provinces. Other states have also looked at the proposal. When he signed...

BERWICK, Maine — Andrea Burns' Route 9 neighbor watched a woman pull up to Burns' home Thursday, pick up the family's 14-year-old cat, Pumpkin, from the front yard, put the cat in her back seat and drive away. The whole incident was fairly quick, said the neighbor, who wishes to remain anonymous, but it has left the Burns family with a lasting sadness in wake of their cat's theft.

BANGOR, Maine — The Maine Humanities Council will present a two-part series, “Fear, Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law” this fall at the Bangor Public Library.

Brian Williams says "there are real concerns the Portland Press Herald might not be around much longer ... another victim of the web and our changing times." Watch Janet Shamlian's report. || Earlier: Press Herald publisher says closing of paper not likely.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) _ The Navy has changed course and decided to push for construction of a third DDG-1000 destroyer that would be built at Bath Iron Works, Sen. Susan Collins said Monday. The Maine Republican said Navy Secretary Donald Winter informed her of the decision that comes one month after the Navy said it was scrapping the Zumwalt destroyer program once the first two are built. The Navy said at the time that it was opting instead to build more of the current-generation DDG-51, or Arleigh Burke, destroyers. Collins quoted Winter as saying that in addition to seeking...

AUGUSTA, Maine – The Fed Up With Taxes/YES on 1 coalition aired its first television ad last night during the Democratic National Convention. The 30 second ad features Gary Emmons, a small businessman and owner of Exit 26 Quik Stop in Richmond.

New York and 11 other states are suing federal environmental regulators over greenhouse gas emissions from oil refineries, the New York attorney general's office said on Monday. The suit, led by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, charges that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the federal Clean Air Act by refusing to issue standards, known as new source performance standards, for controlling global warming pollution emissions from oil refineries. Note: Other states in the suit are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. New York City and Washington D.C. also joined in...

If any evil forces were lurking Friday night along the Bangor waterfront, Hassan Hakmoun drove them away and called down healing spirits that blanketed the American Folk Festival crowd at the Railroad Stage. “Feel the spirit,” he told the crowd, “and pray for the world to become one.”

[A] new political commercial from a pro-business group being shown in Maine suggests that the Democratic Senate candidate in a competitive race is trying to infringe on the privacy of workers. The advertisement, disputed by the candidate, is part of a large-scale effort by two independent advocacy groups to turn a relatively low-profile pro-labor vote in Congress into a major impediment for Democrats as they seek to expand their Senate majority. “We have a very simple strategy,” said Mike Murphy, media adviser to the group behind the advertisement in Maine and one in Minnesota about the vote on a measure...

UPDATE 5:10 p.m. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, in a brief order Wednesday afternoon, turned down a request that would have given an independent candidate in Maine for the U.S. Senate a place on the Nov. 4 ballot for that office. Souter acted without referring the stay application to his colleagues. There was no written opinion, just a simple denial order. The Justice’s action appears to assure the state’s two major party candidates, incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, and her Democratic challenger, Rep. Tom Allen, that they will not have to worry about an independent drawing votes away...

New taxes on beverages and health care claims to be on November 4 ballot. AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine people will have the last word on $75 million of new taxes on beverages and health care claims, now that the Secretary of State today certified that the Fed Up With Taxes/YES on 1 coalition submitted more than enough signatures to put the issue to a statewide vote on November 4.

On Friday, August 15, the Bob Barr campaign attempted to have the Secretary of State authorize local clerks accept late filings of signatures. Don Cookson of the Secretary of State’s office indicated that there is no provision to authorize such a late filing. The signatures filed by the August 8 deadline amounted to 3,200, short of the 4,000 valid signatures required. The Libertarian Party is expected to go to court to force the state to accept the late signatures.

AUGUSTA, Maine - Gov. John Baldacci said Monday he would propose lowering Maine's personal income taxes in the January session of the Maine Legislature, but how much depends on the state budget now being developed. "We are going to be doing more budget cutting, more budget restructuring, more efficiencies," he said Monday in an interview. "We have only just begun that process with jails and school administrative districts. More needs to be done, and we are going to do more of that and reduce the income tax on earned income."

The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram announced Wednesday that several employees have been laid off and that there will be changes to the layout of the paper in an effort to cut costs. Out of about 400 employees, two union employees lost their jobs, as did an undisclosed number of managers, company officials said. The number of layoffs was far less than initially expected because of employees who volunteered to take time off without pay. "We were able to save a number of positions," said Charles Cochrane, president of Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc., which publishes the Press Herald/Telegram and two...

BELFAST, Maine - The recently approved increase in the price of electricity comes at a time when businesses and institutions around the state already are struggling with the growing cost of energy. The Maine Public Utilities Commission on Tuesday approved rate increases for medium and large customers of Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. and Central Maine Power Co.

Supporters of the new Dirigo taxes on soda, beer, wine and health care services have gone on the offensive. In an attempt to frighten and manipulate Maine voters, they have resorted to outrageous claims of dire consequences to Dirigo and our entire health care system should the new Dirigo taxes be repealed in November by a people's veto.

A local group that includes former Sen. William S. Cohen signs a letter of intent with Blethen Maine Newspapers. By DENNIS HOEY, Staff Writer July 31, 2008 A former Maine senator, two well-known Maine businessmen and a longtime newspaperman with ties to the state are working to acquire Blethen Maine Newspapers, which includes the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. Frank Blethen, chairman of Blethen Maine Newspapers, announced Wednesday that the company has signed a letter of intent with a group called Maine Media Investments. The agreement provides a limited, exclusive time period to negotiate terms of a sale. Those negotiations...

Summer is half over. Know why? Because Maine's blueberry harvest is underway. And blueberry growers are expecting a pretty good crop this year. University of Maine experts expect an average or slightly above average yield of 80 million to 100 million pounds of berries, thanks to adequate rain in May and June. Blueberry specialist David Yarborough says the hot, humid, but largely dry first few weeks of July stressed crops to some degree. But he says recent showers are refreshing them. Love to head out and pick the little blue bubbles of yummy, juicy goodness? If you are in southern...

BANGOR, Maine - The city’s taxicab drivers and owners didn’t have to do much convincing to get local officials to entertain their request for a pay raise. Like everyone else who depends on fuel, members of Bangor’s taxi industry say they are being driven to their knees by skyrocketing gasoline prices, which currently are close to $4 a gallon. For relief, they have turned to the City Council, which regulates how much they can charge.

I'm optimistic that in this election we are choosing between two good and uniquely qualified individuals seeking the job with a least a more inherent civility, let alone grasp of history, than we've experienced in the last eight years. This can only be a good thing. I like John McCain. I wouldn't walk across the street to shake George Bush's hand, but I'd walk a country mile, barefoot, to shake McCain's.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Supporters of an effort to repeal new taxes on beer, wine, soda and other beverages raised 15 times as much money as repeal opponents in the latest financial reporting period. The Fed Up With Taxes coalition raised nearly $375,000 for its repeal campaign between May 28 and July 15, according to reports filed with the Maine ethics commission. A tax repeal opposition group, Health Coverage for Maine, raised just over $25,000 for the same period.

JONESBORO, Maine - When John Cox heard about plans to turn 87 miles of inactive rail bed in Washington and Hancock counties into public trails, he hoped someone would start a petition against it.

Rotting holes in steel support beams, enormous rust patches, small splits in steel girders and broken bracing are evident all along the underside of the John Greenleaf Whittier Bridge, the heavily traveled Interstate 95 span that crosses the Merrimack River between Amesbury and Newburyport. A just-released state safety report filed in the wake of last year's disastrous collapse of the similarly designed Interstate 35 bridge in Minneapolis gave the 57-year-old Whittier Bridge "poor" ratings due to deterioration. On a 10-step ranking system, the rating is just two steps above the point where engineers consider closing a bridge due to safety...

Portland, Maine - An adult adoption involving lesbian partners and a claim to a share of a family fortune built on IBM has been annulled, bouncing the case to Maine's highest court. At issue is whether it was legal for a judge to allow Olive Watson to adopt Patricia Spado in 1991 in Knox County, where the longtime partners spent several weeks each summer on an island in Penobscot Bay. Watson was a daughter of Thomas Watson Jnr, who took International Business Machines Corp from punch cards into electronic computing. The relationship between Spado and Watson ended a year after...

The Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram are eliminating 31 jobs and closing their four news bureaus in response to a continuing decline in advertising revenues, their publisher said Thursday. The cuts come more than three months after The Seattle Times Co. said it was seeking to sell the Portland newspapers, along with the Kennebec Journal in Augusta and the Morning Sentinel in Waterville. The Portland newspapers have had two earlier rounds of job cuts this year aimed at offsetting rising costs and declining revenues. In the latest cuts, 25 employees accepted voluntary severance packages and six were laid...

Lancaster Morgan Funeral Home Darlene L. Brennan (August 6, 1942 - June 7, 2008) DARLENE L. BRENNAN CARIBOU – Darlene L. Brennan, 65, passed away Friday June 6, 2008 at a Caribou hospital. She was born August 6, 1942 in Thomas, West Virginia the daughter of the late James and Lillian (Watring) Nutter. Darlene served in the U.S. Military and then as a civilian worked as a travel agent. She is survived by a daughter Robbin Persing and her husband Henry L. Persing of Madison, Alabama, as well as a grandson Brennan Persing. A memorial service will be conducted...

Mainers call the black fly the state bird. Residents and tourists have long steeled themselves against the flies' annual warm-weather onslaught, sometimes duct-taping pant legs and wearing screened hoods to keep the deceptively small bugs from delivering bloody bites or crawling into seemingly every body crevice. But there are now more black flies in more places in Maine, and the reason may be surprising: It's the success of the environmental movement.

That’s the word not from Chicken Little, but from former Maine Governor Angus King, who says he doesn’t use the term “catastrophe” lightly. “This is a human catastrophe coming at us in the state of Maine in terms of energy supply and costs,” King said last week at a daylong seminar on harnessing tidal energy and offshore wind to confront runaway energy costs, costs he sees as a direct threat to Maine being habitable. “This winter, the cost of fuel oil is going to more than double,” he said. “What’s being quoted now is $4.96 — $5 a gallon. That’s...

Last week my husband and I were fortunate enough to spend some time with former President George H. W. Bush and Mrs. Bush in Kennebunkport, ME. The first evening, a group of us gathered at Walker's Point, the Bush family compound that sits on a rocky outcrop on the Maine coast. As former President Bush showed us around, I was struck by how many times this man had contributed to the nation, in position after position, crisis after crisis. Yet many, even those in his own party, have tended to overlook his extraordinary accomplishments. After drinks at the Bush home,...

Why am I running?I really like this man's attitude, but in a state whose governor blames all shortcomings on lack of federal funds, I'm afraid he doesn't have a chance...What say you?

Important Vote in Maine Tomorrow! A key RLC race is tomorrow, so make sure to tell your friends and family in Maine to vote! Please support Charlie Summers in the Republican primary for Maine's first Congressional district. In the RLC's endorsement of Summers, Governor Christie Whitman said, "I am impressed with Charlie Summers' thinking on a number of issues - I know he will fight to end the tax-and-spend culture of Washington, and look for common sense solutions on issues such as alternative energy, health care and immigration. Charlie has the experience, the character, and the commitment to results to...

AUGUSTA — Thousands of Mainers who were expecting a stimulus check from the federal government have gotten an unpleasant surprise. Instead of a check, they received a notice that the money has been seized by the state to pay overdue taxes or some other obligation, including child support. "As of this afternoon, we have a total of 1,137 stimulus refunds" that were seized, Jerome Gerard, acting executive director of Maine Revenue Services, the state’s tax agency, said Thursday. "That’s a total of $624,000 so far." Another state agency that benefits from the "offset" provisions of federal law is the support...

VIENNA, Maine -- The owner of a machine shop where thieves stole $3,000 worth of scrap steel, iron and aluminum wasn't going to let it happen again. After Saturday night's theft, Joseph Lord loaded his shotgun and laid low, expecting the thieves to return. They came back on Tuesday, in broad daylight. When Lord saw their 2008 F-250 pickup truck, he shot out its tires and windshield and blasted its radiator, Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty said. The startled thieves took off on foot, but investigators quickly tracked down the truck's operator, who will be charged with theft, Liberty said....

SKOWHEGAN — Hold the drawn butter, please. A national animal rights group says it is cruel and unusual to boil and eat Maine lobster and they want to draw attention to the suffering of Maine’s trademark crustacean. So, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have an idea for the century-old Somerset County Jail — turn it into a “lobster empathy center”. The county jail is up for sale, as the sheriff, staff and inmates prepare for a move to a new, modern facility in East Madison this summer. “No building would be more appropriate than a jail to...

LEBANON, Maine—Authorities say two teenage girls apparently sunbathing on a railroad trestle were struck and seriously injured by a freight train in Lebanon, Maine, on the New Hampshire border. more stories like this Police Chief Mark McGowan in Milton, N.H., says the engineer sounded the horn and tried to stop but the train struck the 13- and 14-year-old girls late Wednesday morning. McGowan tells Foster's Daily Democrat the girls were sunning themselves on the tracks and may have fallen asleep. Lebanon Fire Chief Skip Wood says both girls suffered amuptation injuries. The newspaper says one of the girls lost a...

The get-out-the-vote effort in Maine broke new ground Wednesday when more than 200 inmates in the Maine State Prison registered to cast ballots. Prison officials said it was the first prisoner education and registration drive held at the facility. Deputy Warden Leida Dardis said the event, which was organized by Maine chapters of the NAACP, allowed representatives from the state Democratic, Republican and Green Independent parties to meet with prisoners in morning and afternoon informational sessions. Maine and Vermont are the only states that give people convicted of felonies the right to vote while in prison. Some states bar felons...

A lobby for homosexuals and transgenders in Maine has announced plans to shadow individuals who will be working to collect signatures on the "YES for Marriage and Equality" pro-family referendum, which is intended to put a marriage protection plan on the 2009 election ballot. In a report in the New England Blade this week, Betsy Smith, executive director of the Equality Maine activist organization, outlined "a plan that asks volunteers to stand with the people the [Christian Civic] League recruits to collect signatures for the petition." "I think it is disgusting that so-called 'gay' groups plan on harassing dear Christian...

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Maine voters shows that the state’s U.S. Senate race has gotten a little bit tighter this month. In her bid for re-election, Republican Senator Susan Collins now leads Democratic challenger Tom Allen 52% to 42%. Collins’ lead has decreased from sixteen percentage points last month to ten points this month. But, the incumbent still earns support from 89% of Republican voters and 34% of Democrats. The candidates are tied at 44% among unaffiliated voters. When it comes to voter ideology, Collins earns support from 74% of conservatives, 55% of moderates and 27% of...

Having finally worked out the kinks in using more biodiesel in its 600-bus fleet, TriMet is not sure it can afford it because of skyrocketing biodiesel costs.

The Perpetual Motion BS Generator: Democrat Propaganda for the 21st CenturyWARNING: CONTAINS VULGARITY Both Democrats and Republicans have long understood one of basic truths about the US: "In America, you never outgrow your need for bullshit." The difference is that the Republicans seem to want to apply that maxim to make profits and get rich, while the Democrats want to use it to obtain power to take away the profits from the rich -and everyone else - through taxes and regulations. When it comes to making money, the Republicans utilize bullshit brilliantly. Advertising, Marketing, Point-of-Sale, Packaging, Sales Pitches -- all...

The Navy's newest guided missile destroyer was christened Saturday with the name of a fighter pilot who spent 7 1/2 years in captivity in North Vietnam, received the Medal of Honor and served as presidential candidate Ross Perot's running mate. Four Medal of Honor recipients and seven former prisoners of war attended the ceremony at Bath Iron Works that marked a milestone in construction of the 9,200-ton ship named for Vice Adm. James Stockdale. Stockdale's widow, Sybil, who suffers from Parkinson's disease and uses a wheelchair, let loose a champagne bottle propelled by rope that swung across the Stockdale's bow....

<p>BANGOR, Maine â€” Stephen King has fired back at conservative critics who attacked him over a remark he made a month ago at a writers symposium for high school students.</p> <p>A blogger jumped on King’s statement at the Library of Congress about the importance of reading in which he suggested poor readers have limited prospects, including service in the Army.</p>

AUGUSTA, Maine - It is only partially true that in presidential elections "as Maine goes, so goes the nation." The term emerged in the 19th century because at the time Maine held its elections for statewide and congressional offices in September, not November. The proximity of the September-November voting made Maine a bellwether for forecasting how the rest of the country would vote. In modern elections, held with the rest of the country in November, Maine chose Richard Nixon over John F. Kennedy in 1960; Hubert Humphrey over Nixon in 1968 (it went for Nixon in 1972), Gerald Ford over...

AUGUSTA, Maine --GOP organizers welcomed Maine caucuses winner Mitt Romney on Friday while warily watching insurgent supporters of Ron Paul as the Republican State Convention got under way. Invited to make the keynote address, Romney praised putative presidential nominee John McCain repeatedly as "tested and proven." "He is a known individual and a strong leader," Romney told reporters. The former Massachusetts governor shrugged off questions about assuming second place on a Republican ticket. "I don't think that's very likely," Romney said, adding he came to Maine to support McCain's candidacy and was not worrying about the vice presidency. "I just...