Officials turn down funds that the police department typically uses for training and technology.
Randy Billings
Staff Writer
Randy Billings is a government watchdog and political reporter who has been the State House bureau chief since 2021. He was named the Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2020. He joined the Press Herald in 2012 as the Portland City Hall reporter, where his beat touched on a wide range of topics, including municipal government, immigration, homelessness, housing and social services. Prior to that, he worked at various weeklies as well as business and arts publications. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine, Orono. He lives in North Yarmouth with his wife and two children and enjoys the outdoors and playing his upright bass.
Posted inMaine, News
Portland drops Barron Center site as possible location for new shelter
The decision follows months of opposition by residents of the Nason’s Corner neighborhood. A council committee then endorses a plan to pursue a 150-bed facility elsewhere in Portland.
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Posted inMaine Crime
Portland police make arrest in Rite Aid robbery
Alexander Angelini, 18, of Barrington, Rhode Island, was apprehended about 4:30 p.m. Monday, several hours after the West End pharmacy was robbed.
Posted inMaine, News
Portland’s plan to track energy usage stalls over privacy concerns
CMP says regulators must change the rules for it to let large property owners access their tenants’ electricity data, but is ‘thrilled’ with the city’s plan. Others say the company isn’t acting like it.
Posted inMaine, News
Portland’s effort to ease traffic is helping Forest Avenue turn a corner
Some drivers who frequent a stretch notorious for jammed intersections say changes like advanced sensors are working.
Posted inMaine
Activists hang banners calling for safe injection site in Maine’s largest city
Portland OPS is calling on city officials to open a facility where people can inject drugs under medical supervision, which they say reduces overdose deaths.
Posted inMaine, News
Mother of Noyes Street fire victim petitions Portland to create memorial
Lisa LeConte Mazziotti wants the city to build a memorial to the six young adults – including her daughter Nicole Finlay – who died in the 2014 blaze.
Posted inMaine, News
Portland council seeking unity on model for new homeless shelter
Councilor Kimberly Cook decides not to ask for a council vote on replacing the city’s adult facility with a single city-run shelter while a committee considers its recommendation.
Posted inPolitics
Lawmakers from Portland and Biddeford join leadership in Maine House
All 3 of the top Democrats in the House are from southern Maine.
Posted inMaine, News
Portland looking at over 30 sites as it grapples with sheltering the homeless
Officials aren’t yet releasing specific locations, however, opting first to focus on whether to pursue a multi-facility model.