County Politics

Good morning from Augusta, where passage of the 129th Legislature’s first bill into law is imminent.

A bill that would have mandated cursive handwriting instruction for Maine public school students in third through fifth grades effectively died in committee Monday afternoon.

A bill that would establish a spring bear hunt in Maine failed to generate support in a legislative work session Monday, and the joint standing committee on inland fisheries and wildlife unanimously voted it “ought not to pass.”

Good morning from Augusta. Gov. Janet Mills is facing her first not-so-partisan wedge issue after coming out in favor of Central Maine Power’s proposed $1 billion corridor that would deliver Quebec hydropower to Massachusetts through western Maine.

A government watchdog agency tasked last year with studying frontline child welfare caseworkers in Maine found most to be overworked and regularly unable to fully meet the needs of families they are supposed to serve.

Gov. Janet Mills’ two days of inaugural festivities at the Augusta Civic Center aren’t yet paid for and her inaugural committee is likely going to go past a deadline set out in Maine law to raise more money to cover higher-than-expected costs.

Before getting to work on Gov. Janet Mills’ controversial $8 billion, two-year budget proposal, the Legislature has to clear a small spending proposal from the governor that nevertheless contains a few important policy shifts.

Maine lawmakers are considering a bill that would prohibit cities and towns from passing most restrictions on short-term rentals that have exploded on websites like Airbnb.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said she supports a lawsuit aimed at stopping President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration to build a wall on the southern border. She also said she’d vote for a disapproval resolution in Congress.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is running for president again next year, but things have changed drastically for the 2016 runner-up for the Democratic nomination and winner of the Maine caucuses since four years ago.