Beacon

Beacon Beacon is a project of the Maine People's Alliance.

Beacon is a website and podcast created by the Maine People’s Alliance to highlight the experiences of everyday Mainers, share information about the political and policy processes that affect Maine people.

In Opinions columnist Ethan Strimling’s final column for 2024, he reflects on the major lessons from the past year. Alth...
18/12/2024

In Opinions columnist Ethan Strimling’s final column for 2024, he reflects on the major lessons from the past year. Although we are faced with Trump’s troubling return to power, Ethan says, there are opportunities for Democratic resistance.

Ethan writes that this year should “show Democrats that we must reconnect with the losers of our economic system…It should remind us that too often wealth gained by a corporation takes basic income from someone else — that capitalism needs deep reform if we truly want a country that provides opportunity for all.”

Click the link below to read his full column!

End of year columns usually reflect back on the most important moments, biggest regrets, the high and lows, etc. Since this will be mine, I thought I would take a stab. The easy path would be for me to write about Trump’s election in 2024 and our country’s quickening pace toward fascism. How his

Several schools in Maine have been able to improve the mental health services they offer students, thanks to $9 million ...
16/12/2024

Several schools in Maine have been able to improve the mental health services they offer students, thanks to $9 million the Maine Department of Education got in federal funding last year. The grant has improved access to counseling and reduced waitlists; and in rural communities like some in Aroostook County, it has helped fill a longstanding gap in mental health services, said Jennifer Bourassa, curriculum director for Regional School Unit 79 in Presque Isle.

“Since we are a rural community with an overburdened mental health care system, our schools are often the only place [where] students are receiving mental health support.”

But the grant expires soon, and more and more students are needing mental health services. Education leaders are putting efforts toward scholarships for graduate students, training programs, and advocacy for sustained funding for sustainable solutions.

In 2023 the Maine Department of Education received $9 million dollars in funding through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act for schools to improve access to mental healthcare for students. Two years since the program began, mental health professionals have been hired in all of the selected dist

This week on the podcast​, Cate Blackford connects with Organizing Director of Maine People’s Alliance Genevieve Lysen t...
13/12/2024

This week on the podcast​, Cate Blackford connects with Organizing Director of Maine People’s Alliance Genevieve Lysen to discuss MPA’s annual member retreat that took place at the beginning of December. Pulling over 100 members from across the state of Maine, the purpose of the retreat is to focus on cultivating community, relationship-building skills and strategic planning, Lysen says.

We also hear from three MPA members — Karen Gagne, Brad Sherwood, and Ife Cotto — who attended the two-day long retreat in Brunswick. They share their major takeaways and hopes for the future as we go into the new year.

Click the link below to listen to the full episode, or listen on your favorite podcasting app!

This week on the podcast, Cate Blackford connects with Organizing Director of Maine People's Alliance Genevieve Lysen to discuss MPA's annual member retreat that took place at the beginning of December. Pulling over 100 members from across the state of Maine, the purpose of the retreat is to focus o

The Department of Homeland Security has increased the automatic extension period for work authorizations from 180 to 540...
12/12/2024

The Department of Homeland Security has increased the automatic extension period for work authorizations from 180 to 540 days, helping immigrants and asylum seekers facing delays in Employment Authorization Document processing.

Hamda Ahmed, a Lewiston resident who works as a community care navigator at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, said the ruling highlights the pressing need for comprehensive immigration reform to streamline the work authorization process.

“Life is already difficult with inflation, and it’s just not humane to punish someone because of the delays in the immigration [system],” Ahmed said. “People have lost work over those delays — people who have families they need to support — and I’m glad that this expansion came right before the new administration.”

The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday a new rule permanently increasing the automatic extension period for work authorization to 540 days for immigrants and asylum seekers. The ruling was supported by Maine leaders such as Rep. Chellie Pingree, Sen. Angus King and Gov. Janet Mills.

New England has for some decades been considered a Democratic stronghold, but the 2024 election revealed a region in pol...
11/12/2024

New England has for some decades been considered a Democratic stronghold, but the 2024 election revealed a region in political flux.

Opinion columnists Celinda Lake and McCauley Pugh write that for Democrats to maintain their hold on New England, they must proactively address shifts in voting, rebuild trust, and demonstrate a commitment to all voters. Ignoring these trends risks turning a once-reliable part of the U.S. into a competitive battleground.

“If they want to continue winning in this region, some Democrats need to start really getting curious, and serious about serving the needs of all the members of our coalition,” Lake and Pugh explain. “Voters must believe that we will fight for people, make government work for people and have an economic brand and plan.”

Many of us who follow politics know that New England has over the last several presidential elections been something of a Democratic stronghold. Since Pres. Bill Clinton’s victory in 1992 (and with the exception of Pres. George W. Bush in 2000) the Democratic presidential candidate has won every s...

New England has for some decades been considered a Democratic stronghold, but the 2024 election revealed a region in pol...
11/12/2024

New England has for some decades been considered a Democratic stronghold, but the 2024 election revealed a region in political flux.

Opinion columnists Celinda Lake and McCauley Pugh write that for Democrats to maintain their hold on New England, they must proactively address shifts in voting, rebuild trust, and demonstrate a commitment to all voters. Ignoring these trends risks turning a once-reliable part of the U.S. into a competitive battleground.

“If they want to continue winning in this region, some Democrats need to start really getting curious, and serious about serving the needs of all the members of our coalition,” Lake and Pugh explain. “Voters must believe that we will fight for people, make government work for people and have an economic brand and plan.”

Click the link below to read their full article!

Many of us who follow politics know that New England has over the last several presidential elections been something of a Democratic stronghold. Since Pres. Bill Clinton’s victory in 1992 (and with the exception of Pres. George W. Bush in 2000) the Democratic presidential candidate has won every s...

U.S. Senator Susan Collins is likely to become chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee — but, Opinions Col...
10/12/2024

U.S. Senator Susan Collins is likely to become chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee — but, Opinions Columnist Ethan Strimling asks, will she use this position to “protect Mainers from the fiscal damage Trump has pledged to inflict on Maine and the nation?”

As chair of Appropriations, Collins will have significant influence over where funding goes and even has the leverage to block Trump’s attempts to cut funding Mainers need.

“With Collins up for reelection in less than two years,” Ethan writes, “the question is simply, will she side with Maine people who have voted against Trump for three straight elections, or will she allow Trump to slash the services Mainers need to thrive and succeed?”

Click the link below to read his full column.

Next month, U.S. Senator Susan Collins will likely become chair of the most powerful committee in the United States Senate — Appropriations. She will then, arguably, become the third most powerful member of Congress behind the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader. The question now

SAFE Maine, a nonprofit abortion fund, has been expanding its outreach and financial support for patients in Maine and b...
10/12/2024

SAFE Maine, a nonprofit abortion fund, has been expanding its outreach and financial support for patients in Maine and beyond. With the cost of abortion and stigma behind it, SAFE is working to break down these monetary and emotional barriers, says Executive Director Abbie Strout-Bentes.

“We imagine stigma as creating an emotional barrier,” says Strout-Bentes, “but it creates [logistical] barriers too: do you have transportation to the clinic? Do you have a safe person in your life to talk to about abortion? Do you have a safe household where a medication abortion can be sent?”

Click the link below to read the full story.

On a Thursday morning in mid-October, Abbie Strout-Bentes, executive director of SAFE Maine, sat in a small room in a shared office space in Augusta. The room lingered in a state of unpacking, cardboard boxes stacked in a corner. The walls were relatively bare, save for a few framed images: a floral

Mainers should take advantage of clean energy rebates and tax credits before they are gone. The Inflation Reduction Act ...
09/12/2024

Mainers should take advantage of clean energy rebates and tax credits before they are gone. The Inflation Reduction Act offers incentives to buy electric vehicles, upgrade appliances or install heat pumps. Trump has called the landmark climate law a “green new scam” and vowed to repeal any unspent funds.

“There’s going to be either a faster phaseout of some of these incentives, or the value will become lower,” says Emily Walker, researcher for the energy consulting group and online marketplace EnergySage. “Or they’ll become more difficult to obtain because there’s more restrictions around who can actually get them.”

Click the link below to read more!

Mainers are encouraged to take advantage of clean energy rebates and tax credits before they are gone. The Inflation Reduction Act offers incentives to buy electric vehicles, upgrade appliances or install heat pumps. President-elect Trump has called the landmark climate law a "green new scam" and

This week on the podcast, guest host Nora Flaherty-Stanford discusses the intersection of labor and climate action in Ma...
06/12/2024

This week on the podcast, guest host Nora Flaherty-Stanford discusses the intersection of labor and climate action in Maine with Frances Eanes from the Maine Labor Climate Council. It is urgent to address climate change's immediate impacts in Maine (such as storm damage and health effects), Eanes says, and calls for collective action to build political power and ensure energy affordability.

"It’s always about, where can we build new forms of collective power, and how can we strengthen the ones that exist? Because at the end of the day, we are all we have."

Click the link below to listen, or listen on your favorite podcasting platform!

This week on the podcast, guest host Nora Flaherty-Stanford discusses the intersection of labor and climate action in Maine with Frances Eanes from the Maine Labor Climate Council. Eanes highlights the importance of labor in social change and the need for practical, worker-friendly climate solutions

Worried that President-elect Donald Trump will curtail federal efforts to take on the nation’s medical debt problem, pat...
05/12/2024

Worried that President-elect Donald Trump will curtail federal efforts to take on the nation’s medical debt problem, patient and consumer advocates are looking to states to help people who can’t afford their medical bills or pay down their debts.

Several states are looking to strengthen oversight of medical credit cards and other financial products that can leave patients paying high interest rates on top of their medical debt.

Read the full story at the link below!

Worried that President-elect Donald Trump will curtail federal efforts to take on the nation’s medical debt problem, patient and consumer advocates are looking to states to help people who can’t afford their medical bills or pay down their debts. “The election simply shifts our focus,” said ...

The Maine Department of Labor today released its final rules for the state’s comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave...
04/12/2024

The Maine Department of Labor today released its final rules for the state’s comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave program, which will begin paying benefits to most Maine workers in 2026. Read the full story below:

The Maine Department of Labor today released its final rules for the state’s comprehensive Paid Family and Medical Leave program, which will begin paying benefits to most Maine workers in 2026. The new program, which is one of 14 in the nation (including 13 states and the Washington, D.C.), came

Maine’s outdated appointment system for constitutional officers needs a democratic update, writes Opinion columnist Etha...
03/12/2024

Maine’s outdated appointment system for constitutional officers needs a democratic update, writes Opinion columnist Ethan Strimling. The state’s system of appointing its attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer through secretive legislative votes lacks transparency. Transitioning to statewide elections would align Maine with national norms and provide greater public trust, he says.

“Some argue that having us elect these positions would make them unnecessarily partisan — ripe for even worse abuse as candidates get sucked into the vortex of our campaign finance system,” Ethan writes. “But the process now is completely partisan, with the majority party having a total monopoly on who gets the job.”

Click the link below to read his full piece!

When I served in the state Senate from 2003–2005, Republicans sponsored constitutional amendments to change the way Maine picks our attorney general, secretary of state, and state treasurer. Last year, they tried again. I voted with them back then and would have done the same last year — because...

Last week, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and Rep. Mana Abdi (D-Lewiston) met with community members and leaders in M...
02/12/2024

Last week, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and Rep. Mana Abdi (D-Lewiston) met with community members and leaders in Maine’s immigrant community to discuss immigration policy and concerns after President-elect Donald Trump’s recent threats of “mass deportations.”

Frey emphasized his commitment to protecting immigrant rights and working with other state Attorneys General to uphold constitutional protections. “As long as I am Attorney General, I will be an open and willing partner to communities and organizations working for a humane immigration system,” Fry told Beacon.

Click the link below to read the full story!

About 30 people, including leaders from Maine’s immigrant community, met with Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and Rep. Mana Abdi (D-Lewiston) last week, to discuss their fears about President-elect Donald Trump’s recent threats of “mass deportations” of immigrants and how Maine’s governm...

This week on the podcast, we are sharing an encore episode of Ben’s interview with author and journalist Vincent Bevins....
27/11/2024

This week on the podcast, we are sharing an encore episode of Ben’s interview with author and journalist Vincent Bevins. The duo discusses the common belief that large protests and social movements can lead to significant change and how these beliefs were challenged in the 2010s, with many protests leading to unintended consequences or by being co-opted by opposing forces.

Instead, Bevins says that long-term change is most often the result of strategic planning and building a deep bench of people who are willing and able to do the day-to-day work of making change.

This week on the podcast, we are sharing an encore episode of Ben Chin's interview with author and journalist Vincent Bevins. The duo discusses the common belief that large protests and social movements can lead to significant change and how these beliefs were challenged in the 2010s, with many prot

ICYMI: Even though Maine's projected to have much more money in hand than we thought, Gov. Janet Mills is still talking ...
26/11/2024

ICYMI: Even though Maine's projected to have much more money in hand than we thought, Gov. Janet Mills is still talking about a "lean" budget. But experts say this isn't the time to be cutting spending for crucial programs, it's time to be figuring out how to increase revenue by making our taxes fairer.

Gov. Janet Mills’ chief of staff described the administration’s plan for dealing with a projected revenue shortfall for the coming budget period as “leveling off”, but some economic analysts say that’s not the right approach. In particular, experts say the state needs to raise revenue to f...

Health clinics in Maine and all of New England are seeing a surge in demand for long-acting contraceptives, vasectomy co...
26/11/2024

Health clinics in Maine and all of New England are seeing a surge in demand for long-acting contraceptives, vasectomy consultations, and gender-affirming care following the election, amid fears of restricted access. New Englanders have already shown more interest in volunteering at health clinics to ensure everyone can get the care they need, says Planned Parenthood of Northern New England CEO Nicole Clegg.

“We’ve had these intense fights before,” Clegg says, “and time and time again the American public has stood up for Planned Parenthood and our rights. We think they’ll do the same again this time.”

Health clinics in Maine and elsewhere are coping with a sharp uptick in requests for long-acting contraceptives in the wake of the election. Planned Parenthood centers in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont report more than double their weekly average appointment inquiries for intrauterine devices

Maine is expanding registered apprenticeship programs to tackle a worker shortage and aims to add 75,000 workers in the ...
25/11/2024

Maine is expanding registered apprenticeship programs to tackle a worker shortage and aims to add 75,000 workers in the next five years. The programs focus on clean energy, health care, and construction, offering career pathways for students and adults. With retention rates of 90% and significant lifetime earnings benefits, the initiative also targets women, immigrants, and rural students.

“There is huge interest and huge need,” said Joan Dolan, director of apprenticeship and strategic partnerships for the Maine Department of Labor. “We’ve been working hard for years to expand our programming and it’s really started to take hold and take off.”

Click the link below to read the full story!

State officials in Maine said they are working to expand the number of registered apprenticeship programs to help counter a persistent worker shortage. The state hopes to add 75,000 workers to the economy over the next five years by growing career pathways in clean energy, health care, and constr

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Videos

Exclusive interview with Shenna Bellows!
Exclusive interview with Shenna Bellows!

This week on the podcast, our host Cate Blackford connected with Maine Department of the Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to talk about voting rights and the electoral security process. Bellows offers an inside look at how officials ensure elections are secure, as well as debunks falsities on who can and cannot vote. You don’t want to miss this episode! Listen here: https://mainebeacon.com/podcast-exclusive-interview-with-secretary-shenna-bellows-on-voting-rights-election-protections/

Podcast: Gender affirming care in Maine, in the face of right-wing hostility
Podcast: Gender affirming care in Maine, in the face of right-wing hostility

This week, Ben and Esther are joined by the Beacon’s Dan Neumann to talk about gender affirming care in Maine and a bill to protect Maine medical practitioners from prosecution by other states. The bill, LD 227, is at the center of a right-wing misinformation panic that has drawn in local neo-Nazis and resulted in a bomb threat against lawmakers last week. Esther and Ben also discuss the new $108 million surplus in state funds and how the state could use the money, and they talk through some of the highlights of Pres. Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address including his remarks on reproductive autonomy and taxing the rich.

Podcast: Kennebunk says yes to affordable housing, but not Cumberland or Kingfield
Podcast: Kennebunk says yes to affordable housing, but not Cumberland or Kingfield

This week on the Beacon Podcast, Ben and Cate discuss the results of the Super Tuesday vote, including affordable housing in Kennebunk, Kingfield, and Cumberland. And they break down a new Pan Atlantic poll of 800 Mainers on the presidential election, and wonder why it didn’t consider ranked-choice voting. Listen to the full episode here: https://mainebeacon.com/podcast-kennebunk-says-yes-to-affordable-housing-but-not-cumberland-or-kingfield/

It’s a rainy day, so why are we still putting away more?
It’s a rainy day, so why are we still putting away more?

🎙This week on the Beacon Podcast, Cate, Ben, and Esther talk about how the extra $107 million Gov. Janet Mills wants to put away on top of the Rainy Day fund could be better spent. They also talk about Mills’ change in tack on tribal self-determination in Maine, and dive into a complicated bill to prohibit unauthorized paramilitary training in the state of Maine if passed. Will this bill target violent Nazis in Maine like it is intended, or will it threaten freedom of assembly and be used against marginalized groups? Listen to the whole episode here: https://mainebeacon.com/podcast-its-a-rainy-day-so-why-are-we-still-putting-away-more/

Podcast: Wage theft? Heck no!
Podcast: Wage theft? Heck no!

Last week on the Beacon Podcast, Ben and Cate discuss how proposed Maine legislation could help combat otherwise-unnoticed wage theft in Maine. They also discuss how the federal Child Tax Credit would dramatically help low-income Maine families improve their standard of living, and they ponder the necessity of the proposed federal military spending bill. Listen to the episode here: https://mainebeacon.com/podcast-wage-theft-heck-no/ #mepolitics

Podcast: How Gov. Mills’ budget stands up as a moral document
Podcast: How Gov. Mills’ budget stands up as a moral document

This week on the Beacon Podcast (Listen here: https://mainebeacon.com/podcast-how-gov-mills-budget-stands-up-as-a-moral-document/), Ben and Cate are joined by Jodi Hayashida with Multifaith Justice Maine. They talk about Gov. Janet Mill’s State of the State address and the moral questions around her decision to put another $100 million away rather than using it to fund programs to help Mainers in need. They also discuss Mills’ proposed actions on gun control following the Lewiston mass shooting in October. We’ll also hear how Mainers can get involved with the Poor People’s Campaign to combat systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation, and Christian nationalism.

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