The idea for eight pilot projects statewide to attack the heroin and painkiller epidemic will be presented to state Department of Health and Human Services this week.
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 inBusiness, Lifestyle, Maine, News
Promoter raises prospect of covering concerts at Maine State Pier
Portland city councilors hear about Waterfront Concerts’ idea of covering the pier to give audiences a better experience and address neighbors’ noise concerns.
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Posted inMaine, News
Portland uses courts to enforce housing safety rules
Some landlords are surprised as the city gets serious about issuing summonses and fines to ensure code violations are fixed.
Posted inMaine, News
Portland council may insist on affordable housing units in big projects
A proposed ordinance rejected by the city’s Planning Board may have enough support from councilors to become law.
Posted inMaine, News, Politics
Opponents of Maine’s immigrant aid law drop repeal push; asylum-seekers soon will be eligible for aid
Portland officials are awaiting details, but expect additional state funding for those who had been cut from an assistance program.
Posted inCops & Courts, Maine, News
Police look for possible pattern in string of thefts from Maine veterans groups
About $15,000 was stolen from an American Legion post in Gray over the weekend, and there are similarities to other crimes targeting the state’s nonprofits.
Posted inMaine, News, Politics
Sen. Angus King announces push to ease federal work restrictions on asylum seekers
Maine’s independent U.S. senator comes to Portland to announce the proposal, saying it would reduce the need for the kind of public assistance the city is struggling to provide.
Posted inMaine, News, Politics
Sen. Angus King coming to Portland to start push for change in asylum work rules
A shorter wait period before getting jobs would ease the city’s immigrant assistance problem, but it will be an uphill battle in Congress.
Posted inMaine, News
Tipped employees in Portland say wage hike could hurt
Many in the city’s small army of waitstaff believe a proposal that would triple their hourly base salary would just eat into their gratuities.
Posted inMaine, News
Organizers appear to end insistence that Portland didn’t block medical pot fest
The group initially said the Aug. 9 event would go on despite denial of an amended permit amid concerns over an admission fee and public marijuana use.