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Lurking beneath one of Maine’s iconic pastimes, harness racing at county fairs and commercial tracks, lies an ugly underside — scores of instances of illegal horse drugging and physical abuse. …
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The Harraseeket River recedes slowly but steadily around Chad Coffin’s metal skiff, until the boat is beached on a partly exposed mudflat. Coffin and his daughter, Bailey Pennell, are already out…
After years of talking about it, Maine’s health department is proposing to spend millions to clear a backlog for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who need state services,…
State officials say they’re barely keeping up with the demand for lawyers to represent the poor in criminal and family cases, even as Maine takes gradual steps to shed its status as the only state…
By the time you get your spring tires put on, the waiting room of your local automotive shop might be decorated with political signage.
You might not think who is allowed to repair a…
Shortly after hearing from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection that their well should be tested for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a Fairfield couple watched the movie “…
Maine hospitals on average will see some of the lowest penalties for patient readmissions in a decade after federal regulators reduced the review period to acknowledge the challenges healthcare…
‘We disagree with the decision and are considering our options, including an appeal’
A state board has rejected Walmart’s attempt to avoid hundreds of thousands of dollars in property taxes for its store in Thomaston, in a case that tested an argument by big-box chains that claim…
Widespread contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “has the potential to impose an unsustainable burden on state and private resources,” the …
As Congress looks to reauthorize the chronically-underfunded National Flood Insurance Program next week, much of Maine is operating with flood maps that are decades old, if they exist at all. And…
alleges Maine AG has blocked reforms as court system collapses
Retiring state Rep. Jeff Evangelos asked the U.S. Department of Justice on Sunday to place Maine’s criminal justice system under federal review and supervision for what he said are multiple…
Maine’s top judge on Wednesday said the state’s justice system is failing people in the criminal and civil courts and implored lawyers to assist in the defense of the state’s poor.
Chief…
After more than three decades of working in municipal government, Bangor city clerk Lisa Goodwin is confident that Maine’s election system is safe. But with national tensions rising ahead of a…
Knox among courts recently struggling to find attorneys
The crisis in Maine’s legal defense system for the poor is worsening, with jailed defendants waiting as long as six weeks to be assigned an attorney and some parents of children who have been…
The state’s largest abortion rights advocacy group has spent a likely record amount of money on candidate races this year in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that overturned the Roe v. Wade…
As the economy took center stage in Maine’s gubernatorial race, attention focused on how the two major party candidates responded to very different economic challenges that took place during their…
ROQUE BLUFFS — Cool sea breezes off Englishman Bay graced the fields of Welch Farm on a piercing blue, mid-September day, revealing nothing of the heaving, dry summer months before. It was the…
A solicitation of briefs from Maine’s highest court has legal aid providers worried that long-standing rulings protecting the poor from repeat foreclosure attempts could be upended amid the…
‘zero tolerance for anything that would infringe upon somebody’s right to privacy’
Two-thirds of Maine county jails recorded phone calls between jailed clients and their attorneys at various times since 2014 and provided law enforcement with some recordings, which potentially…
MCILS to send Mills, lawmakers letter requesting special session
Maine’s shortage of lawyers accepting new cases is at a “crisis” stage and could collapse the statewide public defense system before spring if state lawmakers don’t make an emergency intervention…
NRA endorses LePage, gives improved grade to Mills
After a downgrade in her first campaign, Gov. Janet Mills’ ranking with one of the most prominent gun lobbying organizations increased this year without much fanfare — reflecting the changing…
When Mary Lou Warn discovered her teenager was vaping six years ago, he assured her it was safe. He had done his research, he said, and vaping was just flavored water. It was nothing like smoking…
The Maine Attorney General’s Office on Friday decided to walk away from an $11 million agreement with electronic cigarette manufacturer Juul after objecting to certain conditions from the company…
Nearly 43% of Maine high school students reported their mental health was not good “most of the time” or “always” during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the results of a 2021 survey released…
Copy cat demands for data mirror those in other states
Clerks across the state have just nine weeks until the pivotal 2022 elections. But their tasks increasingly include responding to misinformed election data requests rooted in national efforts to…
If you’ve lived here for any appreciable amount of time, you’ve probably heard Maine referred to as the “tailpipe of the nation.” Prevailing winds carry pollutants up from the Midwest and the rest…
Maine officials may ask lawyers handling large caseloads of indigent defendants to stop accepting new assignments from the courts, after finding that 11 lawyers each have more than 301 open cases…
State environmental regulators issued a “Notice of Violation” against the developer of an ambitious, $1 billion project in Washington County, after inspectors found the company built several dozen…
One Maine school district is paying teachers an hourly stipend to act as custodial staff after work. Another is trying to recruit parents to work as educational technicians. A third has 12 teacher…
Maine’s highest court may hear arguments on whether defendants must show they were harmed by a delayed trial, taking on the right to “speedy trials” amid a historic backlog of criminal cases…
Demand for mental health services that peaked during the pandemic has remained stubbornly high, increasing waitlists and spilling patients into Maine’s hospital emergency rooms.
Prior to…
Only n.h. has higher rate of people saying they rarely or never attend services
Anita M. Madore shifted in her wooden pew at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Lewiston. It was 7 a.m. on a Thursday and the seats around her were mostly empty. The 84-year-…
A recent decision by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection will make it more complicated for a Newry couple to mine lithium from a deposit on their land in western Maine.
In a…
as many as 7,200 plaintiffs could join lawsuit
A class action lawsuit filed against Maine officials that alleges they failed to create an effective public defense system has cleared two major hurdles.
Superior Court Justice Michaela…
A resident in a Rockland assisted living facility died after spending two hours in an outdoor courtyard in December before being found by staff members “in the snow,” according to an investigation…
Law enforcement officials listened to dozens of those recordings
The availability of criminal defense attorneys is at an all-time low in Maine for defendants who cannot afford to hire their own attorney.
There are 224 attorneys currently accepting court…
More than 120 Maine doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals entered a substance use and mental health monitoring program in 2021, part of a steady increase over the past three years,…
new regulations to give scientists better understanding region’s fish
Regulators and fishermen hope new rules set to take effect this summer will provide a more accurate understanding of the population of some of New England’s most iconic fish, including Atlantic…
For young women across the country, the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion was a certainty — a legal right that was established and enshrined long before they were born…
AG’s office says legislature likely needs to change laws governing private schools receiving public money
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that Maine cannot exclude religious schools from a public tuition reimbursement program is creating new uncertainty for the state’s already limited authority…
state’s top public health official says virus could surge again
As COVID-19 hospitalizations in Maine continue to decline, the state’s top public health official warned not to be “seduced” by the impression of smaller and smaller surges.
It seems like…
Registered voters who did not vote in the past two federal elections have 20 days to verify address
Yes, the state of Maine is mailing notices to some registered voters asking them to verify their address ahead of the November election. But the state’s top elections official says voters should…
Deborah McDonald cherishes the memories.
There are nearly six decades of relationships with friends, coworkers, the two children she raised and her spouse, the woman she fell in love with…
They face bullying and isolation, and health resources are hard to come by
Sometimes there are no words to take away her son’s pain.
So Marie wraps her arms around her child and cries with him.
A few times a week, the 11-year-old breaks down, overwhelmed…
‘I want people to know there is support out there for them’
There were so many questions.
Why don’t I feel comfortable in my body?
Why do I feel so alone?
And perhaps the most heartbreaking: Will I ever be loved?
As a child…
The ACLU can go forward with a …
Educators are anxiously awaiting a major decision in a Maine-centered U.S. Supreme Court case, due out this month, that could roll back restrictions on the use of public funding for religious and…
‘There’s a lot of people who really want treatment who can’t get into it’
Courtney Allen was on her way from Augusta to Bangor one day in January, driving a man to a substance use treatment center that accepts MaineCare, when she learned the facility couldn’t take him…
Several Maine towns and cities are hurrying to hire their top election official as the June 14 primaries approach, trying to fill vacancies left by people who retired, took new jobs or quit in the…
