Maine Morning Star

09/03/2024

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to announce economic policy proposals aimed at helping small businesses during a campaign speech Wednesday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to announce economic policy proposals aimed at helping small businesses during a campaign speech Wednesday in New Hampshire.

09/03/2024

The FDA has approved an updated covid shot for everyone 6 months old and up, which renews a now-annual quandary for Americans: Get the shot now, with the latest covid outbreak sweeping the country, or hold it in reserve for the winter wave?

The FDA has approved an updated covid shot for everyone 6 months old and up.

09/03/2024

After legal fights, counter-campaigns and bureaucratic wrangling all year long, as things stand today, abortion questions in 10 states are heading to ballots in November.

After legal fights, counter-campaigns and bureaucratic wrangling all year long, as things stand today, abortion questions in 10 states are heading to ballots in November. After abortion rights were upended federally in June 2022, Kansas voters got a chance to weigh in on a ballot measure that was so...

09/03/2024

Robert Forrant, a labor studies scholar, highlights three aspects of the presidential candidates’ records that are the most likely to sway union members one way or the other.

Three aspects of the presidential candidates’ records are the most likely to sway union members: federal workers, union elections and OSHA

09/03/2024

As that state finalizes the process of determining which Mainers are still eligible for the state Medicaid program, tens of thousands remain at risk of losing their health coverage.

As that state finalizes the process of determining which Mainers are still eligible for the state Medicaid program, tens of thousands remain at risk of losing their health coverage.

09/02/2024

On this Labor Day, the Maine Center for Economic Policy put together an explainer outlining how rights for farmworkers in Maine differ from the protections other workers are guaranteed.

On this Labor Day, the Maine Center for Economic Policy put together an explainer outlining how rights for farmworkers in Maine differ from the protections other workers are guaranteed.

09/02/2024

The challenging rollout of Maine's Office of Child and Family Services software is one example of state governments struggling with a comprehensive technology upgrade.

Idaho’s state government was facing a problem. In 2018, its 86 state agencies were operating with a mix of outdated, mismatched business systems that ran internal processes like payroll and human resources. Some of the programs dated back to the 1980s, and many were written in programming language...

08/31/2024

Trump taps into culture war issues, seeks to energize base at Moms for Liberty event

Former President Donald Trump late Friday rarely touched on education issues during the third conference of Moms for Liberty, a conservative parental rights group that has ties to Project 2025, the far-right playbook Trump has tried to distance himself from. Instead, in a more than one-hour intervie...

08/30/2024

“Drug use is going to happen,” said Courtney Gary-Allen, organizing director of Maine Recovery Advocacy Project. “How do we protect our communities, both the people who are interacting with the substance and the general public?”

08/30/2024

To celebrate Labor Day, the Maine AFL-CIO is hosting an afternoon barbecue Sunday in Skowhegan and a breakfast Monday in Portland, followed by an evening celebration in Brewer. The events will feature food, music, family-friendly activities and speakers.

Union members and other Maine workers can celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers this Labor Day at several events across the state this weekend.

08/30/2024

Although ballot measures to raise minimum wages are typically popular, those in Massachusetts and Arizona affect tipped workers and have drawn significant opposition, reports Stateline.

Grace McGovern, a 24-year-old bartender and server at a downtown Boston brewery, recalls one recent customer vividly. He was very rude. It was a slow night, and she only had one table, a large group led by a man who “kept touching my lower back and my leg and making jokes,” she told Stateline. I...

08/30/2024

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday defended her values and vowed, if elected, to appoint a Republican to her cabinet in her first major sit-down interview since her presidential campaign began just over a month ago.

08/29/2024

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday slashed the Biden administration’s latest efforts to provide student debt relief to millions of borrowers to go forward while the appeals process unfolds.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday slashed the Biden administration’s latest efforts to provide student debt relief to millions of borrowers to go forward while the appeals process unfolds.

08/29/2024

Americans are racking up credit card debt as they struggle to keep up with the cost of living, and experts say those who earn the least are the hardest hit.

Americans are racking up credit card debt as they struggle to keep up with the cost of living, and experts say those who earn the least are the hardest hit.

08/29/2024

U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree on how her new slow fashion caucus combines her no-frills Maine lifestyle and her environmentalism.

Maine congresswoman Chellie Pingree launched a slow fashion caucus to call attention to the environmental impact of clothes waste.

08/28/2024

Black elected leaders in Maine rallied voters to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic bid for president in Portland’s Monument Square Wednesday on the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington.

Black elected leaders in Maine rallied voters to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic bid for president in Portland’s Monument Square Wednesday on the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty from Ohio joined Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, local nonp...

08/28/2024

The new rule could affect more than 600,000 Maine workers. In addition to accepting comments online and through the mail, the department is holding an in-person listening session on the updated rules on Sept. 17.

After a deluge of feedback, the Maine Department of Labor has updated its proposed rules for the new paid family and medical leave program.

08/28/2024

Researchers across the Northeast found that Gulf of Maine seafood had levels of PFAS that could pose health risks to residents who consume high amounts of fish. Highest PFAS concentrations were found in shrimp and lobster.

Some seafood purchased at a Portsmouth seafood market in May 2022 met an unusual fate. Instead of getting fried up, three filets each of haddock, salmon, tuna, and cod, three lobster tails, and some shrimp and scallops were transported by researchers to Dartmouth College in Hanover and frozen at neg...

08/28/2024

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08/28/2024

Vermont is the first state trying a new approach to climate policy: charging fossil fuel companies money to cover the damages caused by natural disasters worsened by climate change. Other states could be close behind, Stateline reports.

Vermont is the first state trying a new approach to climate policy: charging fossil fuel companies money to cover the damages caused by natural disasters worsened by climate change. Other states could be close behind. New York lawmakers passed their own measure in June, though it’s unclear if Demo...

08/28/2024

Insurance companies were charging almost 25 percent more for insurance in the northern part of the state, despite the southern part of the state being much more affluent.

Marketplace health insurance rates for individuals and small group employers in Maine will go up by eight and nine percent respectively next January.

08/28/2024

Adjusting for the U.S. Supreme Court’s sweeping presidential immunity decision last month, U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday filed a fresh federal indictment alleging former President Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election in his favor.

Adjusting for the U.S. Supreme Court’s sweeping presidential immunity decision last month, U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday filed a fresh federal indictment alleging former President Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election in his favor. In a superseding indictment filed in t...

08/27/2024

After suspending his presidential bid last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. officially withdrew from Maine’s ballot on Tuesday, the Maine Secretary of State’s Office confirmed.

Despite suspending his presidential bid last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will still appear on Maine’s ballot in November.

08/27/2024

A Texas federal judge late Monday sided with 16-Republican led states to temporarily block a Biden administration program that grants deportation protections for undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens and a potential pathway to citizenship.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Biden administration plan to give deportation protection to undocumented people married to U.S. citizens for at least 10 years.

08/27/2024

U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked a federal appeals court to reverse the dismissal of a case alleging former President Donald Trump mishandled classified documents at his Florida home after he left the Oval Office.

U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked a federal appeals court to reverse the dismissal of a case alleging former President Donald Trump mishandled classified documents at his Florida home after he left the Oval Office.

08/27/2024

Maine’s public universities are expecting an enrollment increase after four years of declining student populations, mostly due to increased flexibility and remote learning options that have attracted large numbers of non-traditional and transfer students.

Maine's public universities reversed a four-year trend of declining enrollment this fall by attracting non-traditional and transfer students

08/27/2024

The latest effort to curb the cancellations has come in the form of a new incentive program for ferry workers, but employees and union leaders fear the additional compensation will come at a cost to workers’ other benefits.

At the grocery store Sunday, Vinalhaven resident Peter Drury ran into an acquaintance who said they wouldn’t be able to go home because two of the three ferry trips between the island and the mainland that day were canceled. As an island resident as well as a retired captain with the Maine State F...

08/26/2024

States Newsroom's economy reporter Casey Quinlan looks at the Biden administration's new housing proposals — including $100 million to incentivize affordable housing production, streamlining construction loan application processes, and a cap on rent increases from corporate landlords.

The Biden administration has announced policies to address the high cost of housing.

08/26/2024

Two laws took effect on Aug. 9, one removed the age-related prerequisite for sealing criminal history and the other allows people to apply to get their criminal histories for now-legal ma*****na crimes sealed.

More people in Maine gained the ability to seal their criminal histories earlier this month.

08/26/2024

As Maine's Democratic delegates traveled back from the convention, several reflected on the messages they are bringing home. For several, that includes connecting with voters outside of their party.

As the Democratic delegates traveled back from the convention in Chicago, several reflected with Maine Morning Star on the messages they are bringing home.