The ‘One University’ initiative seeks to streamline costs and overhaul the academic offerings at each campus to reduce overlap.
Noel K. Gallagher
Noel Gallagher covers K-12 and higher education issues statewide. Her stories are a mix of breaking news and trend stories. In recent years, theyโve ranged from why college costs so much, the launch of the stateโs first charter schools, how a school welcomed a transgender student and why Maine schools have a hard time finding teachers. Sheโs enough of a news nerd to enjoy sitting through legislative education committee meetings and hours-long school board meetings so you donโt have to.
The Maine Press Association has honored Noelโs work, but she says she writes for the readers, in the firm belief that an informed citizenry is key to a healthy democracy.
Noel is a California native who has worked at wire services, online websites and newspapers across the country. She was in Washington D.C. during the early Clinton years, covering AIDS activism in 1990s San Francisco, documenting the business of wine in Sonoma County and riding out the boom and bust cycle of the early Internet era in early 2000s Silicon Valley. She arrived in Maine at the beginning of the recession and wrote quite a bit about the downturn here.
In her free time, Noel writes the occasional cookbook review, spends an inordinate amount of time at the Portland Public Library and hangs out with her three fabulous kids and wonderful husband. She is not a former member of the band Oasis.
Clinton rallies Maine supporters on presidential campaign swing
The leading Democratic candidate meets with donors at a private gathering in Cape Elizabeth, then hosts a small organizing rally for about 400 supporters at King Middle School in Portland.
UMaine System trustees to discuss cost-saving consolidations, academic offerings at weekend meeting
The system is seeking a single accreditation for its seven campuses, and must erase a deficit expected to reach $69 million by 2019.
Heroin addict’s letter thanking Portland officer who helped him strikes a nerve on Facebook
Officer Sean Hurley’s ‘compassion, vulnerability, and inherent goodness just blew me away,’ the anonymous man says in the letter Thursday.
Two Republican lawmakers seek audit of how $50 million in state tobacco settlement money is spent
They specifically ask the Legislature’s watchdog agency to look into administrative costs and how Planned Parenthood spends its share of the money allocated by the Fund for a Healthy Maine.
Maine plans to deny food stamps when applicant’s assets top $5,000
A new rule calls for households with no children to reveal their bank balances and non-cash assets such as snowmobiles. Critics say the policy discourages savings and self-sufficiency.
Federal ‘college scorecard’ gives students, parents new tools
The recently launched website contains detailed information about schools, including graduates’ earnings and loan debt.
Fall enrollment in UMaine System down overall, but out-of-state numbers up
Higher-tuition students now make up 30 percent of the student body at the flagship campus.
New standardized test results for Maine public schools are in, but they reveal little
Scores were down last year, but because the Smarter Balanced test was only used once, comparisons with results from other years are largely meaningless.
Bishop calls on lawmakers to defund Planned Parenthood
Maine Bishop Robert Deeley cites recent undercover videos released by an anti-abortion group.