Two Maine firefighters and 2 police officers have died in the line of duty since 2018, prompting a proposal to raise the state death benefit for survivors from $50,000 to $75,000.
Scott Thistle
Scott Thistle is the State House reporter for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He has covered politics and government in Maine since 2006. Prior to that he served as the State House reporter for the Duluth News Tribune in Duluth, Minnesota. A Maine native, Thistle has worked in journalism since 1990, when he got his start at a weekly newspaper in rural Oxford County, Maine. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and an active volunteer with the National Ski Patrol. He resides with his wife, Amy and his two sons Finn and Kai, in Auburn, Maine.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News, Politics
Republicans fault Gov. Mills’ budget for lack of transportation funding
A group of Republican lawmakers said they will present a plan next week to funnel as much as $200 million a year from the state’s General Fund to the transportation department for highway and bridge construction and repair.
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Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News, Politics, Sports, Times Record
Maine Senate votes to override Gov. Mills’ veto of sports betting bill
The state Senate voted 20-10 to override, and the measure will go next to the House for consideration, possibly next week.
Posted inElections, Local & State, News, Politics
Gideon campaign first to turn in voter signatures in Maine’s 2020 U.S. Senate race
Democrat and Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon is the 1st of 4 would-be challengers to incumbent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to turn in her petition for the June primary ballot.
Posted inElections, Local & State, News, Politics
Maine Republicans seek to repeal ranked-choice voting in presidential elections
A petition drive announced Tuesday aims to put the question to the state’s voters in November.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics, Times Record
Mills calls for more caseworkers, troopers in $127 million supplemental budget
The governor is asking lawmakers to fund more child protection caseworkers, broadband expansion and increased aid for education, all priorities she highlighted in her State of the State address in January.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News, Politics
Citing coronavirus, Mills urges voters to uphold Maine’s new vaccine law
Maine’s governor uses her weekly radio address to attack a citizens’ veto effort that would overturn the state’s new law to eliminate non-medical exemptions for childhood vaccines.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Legislative committee endorses 2 nominees to Maine supreme court
Catherine Connors, an appellate attorney from Kennebunk, and Superior Court Justice Andrew Horton of Falmouth were approved on 11-0 votes and await final confirmation in the Senate.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Maine lawmakers take up bill to ban ‘deepfake’ political ads
Supporters say the measure would protect election integrity and prevent deception of voters, but some lawmakers raised free speech concerns.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News, Times Record
Democrats renew push for broadband expansion with $15 million proposal
Lawmakers rejected a borrowing plan for broadband investment last year, but a new bill would tap into the state’s General Fund to support a plan developed by the ConnectME Authority.