Maine News for Friday, September 26, 2008

Portland Press Herald
Locally, Wall Street stalls funds for Maine's streets
State hits surprising obstacles in trying to sell road bond: high rates, no buyers

Maine's lawmakers want taxpayer protection
A financial bailout should also boost accountability, Sen. Olympia Snowe says.

Republicans not sold on financial rescue plan
Leaders remain split after a 'contentious' high-level White House meeting ends with no agreement.

Debate in doubt: McCain may not show, Obama wants to go
In the midst of a financial crisis, the two candidates are sparring over their roles and priorities.

Palin defends her earlier Alaska-Russia remark
She cites trade missions and national security issues as factors that have enhanced her experience.

Seizure completes downfall of largest savings and loan
Washington Mutual, crippled by mortgage and credit card losses, is sold off to JP Morgan Chase.

Editorial

Local-option tax debate a big undertaking
Cumberland County might want to narrow the discussion to a new civic center for now.

U.S. should back Afghan plea for Pakistani joint border effort
If the two nations could join forces against terrorism, that would be a major advance.

M.D. HARMONQuick, what does PCCC stand for? No, it's not a golf course
The Portland Conservative Candidates Caucus is semi-boldly going where few in the city have gone before.

Bangor Daily News

House votes to double LIHEAP aid

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House has voted to double the amount of money available in the new fiscal year for energy assistance to low-income households.

Health care issues on menu for candidates

BREWER, Maine — MaineCare's unmet obligations to hospitals, the state's contentious certificate of need program, mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios and other indigestibles were on the menu Thursday morning at a breakfast meeting for aspiring lawmakers and the incumbents they hope to unseat.

Senator wants MMA board post for Castine resident

AUGUSTA, Maine — State Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, has submitted a bill that would create an additional seat on the Maine Maritime Academy board of trustees, a post to be held specifically by a resident of Castine.

Poll: Collins has strong lead; Allen camp says race much closer

A new poll suggests Republican Susan Collins is a strong favorite over Democrat Tom Allen in the race to retain her U.S. Senate seat.

Local experts say crisis ‘not a cause for panic’

The headlines coming from Wall Street and Washington are reliably gloomy these days, but Maine’s economists, bankers and investment advisers say there’s no need for people to panic — or start stuffing their money under their mattresses.

Bangor trail system plan moving forward slowly

BANGOR, Maine — Lucy Quimby and other members of the Bangor Land Trust have been working for years to identify both existing and potential multiuse trails throughout the Queen City.

Editorial

Selling a bailout

With dire warnings about the fragility of the U.S. economy, President Bush Wednesday pushed Congress to act quickly to pass legislation to rescue the financial sector.

Counting the dead war

Military deaths are a regrettable cost of waging war and can turn a nation against a war. Civilian deaths can turn an invaded nation against the invaders.

Kennebec Journal

Market chaos thwarts Maine's attempt to float $50M bond
The state of Maine could not float a $50 million transportation bond this week because traders told officials there was "no market" at all for large financial transactions such as this one. The state hopes the national financial crisis will resolve itself by next week, when it again tries to access capital, likely at a higher interest rate than had been expected.

STATEHOUSE REPORT: REWARD WOOD BURNERS
AUGUSTA -- A report due out today recommends tax incentives and a state buyback program designed to help Maine people reduce their dependence on home heating oil.

WATERVILLE 'Educare Center' in focus
WATERVILLE -- An $8 million to $10 million center providing child care and education to as many as 200 children from newborns to age 5 could be coming to the city.

Columns:

L. SANDY MAISEL : Debate moderators' task to compel worthy answers from candidates
In my dream, I am sitting between John McCain and Barack Obama ready to ask the first question in a presidential debate.

GORDON L. WEIL, CONSULTANT, WRITER AND PUBLISHER, : Quality of appointments indicates candidate's ability
This is not a column about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin or Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Sun Journal
Viral e-mail spurs donations for Maine Planned Parenthood
A viral e-mail encouraging people to tweak Sarah Palin by sending donations to Planned Parenthood in her honor - triggering a thank-you note to the anti-abortion Republican candidate - is working in Maine.

Teachers could face losses
AUBURN - Saying it needs to harness costs to taxpayers, the Auburn School Department is asking teachers to give up health care for spouses unless teachers pay for it.

Panel endorses Plum Creek plan
BANGOR (AP) - Maine's Land Use Regulation Commission has given its blessing to a large-scale development plan for the Moosehead Lake region that calls for nearly 1,000 house lots, two large resorts and more than 400,000 acres of land conservation.

Market meltdown 'It's business as usual'
"Economic crisis."

Grant to fund 6 buses at Acadia
PORTLAND (AP) - Maine will be getting a $1.1 million grant to replace six of the 17 propane buses that serve Acadia National Park and surrounding communities.

Ruling will be setback for Dirigo
AUGUSTA - It looks like financing for Maine's program to promote affordable health care will remain limited, perhaps just enough to keep it steady - and stuck.

Editorial
Bailout plan an example of kleptocratic socialism
When I worked for then-Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the late 1990s, Washington was in the panting throes of a deregulatory orgy. Many lampooned my boss's opposition to the grotesquerie, and his notoriety as the only self-described socialist in Congress. Nobody guessed that a few years later, our country would become the globe's newest U.S.S.R.: The United States' Socialist Republic.

MPBN
State Budget Writers Brace for Wall Street Aftershocks

State budget writers in Augusta are bracing for the likely aftershocks from this month's implosion on Wall Street. As Congress crafts an economic rescue plan, members of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee were informed today that Maine's revenue picture will not escape the negative impacts of a prolonged recession. General fund revenues were down last month, as income tax collections fell about 38 percent short of projections.

Summers Takes New Approach in Second Bid for Congress

He's one of about two dozen veterans running for Congress this year, and much of his campaign in Maine was conducted while he was out of the country, serving a one-year assignment in the Navy Reserves in Iraq. This is Republican candidate Charlie Summers' second bid for a U.S. House seat in Maine's First District. But his resume and life experiences have been re-written since his 2004 campaign. And as Susan Sharon reports, in the latest installment of our Your Vote 2008 candidate profiles, Summers says he's running for one basic reason: he wants to help people.

Former MBNA Employees Allege Predatory Practices

Two former MBNA employees from Maine have been blowing the whistle on what they called 'predatory credit card company practices.' Their testaments helped launch a national campaign by the consumer group AFFIL - which stands for Americans For Fairness in Lending. It's calling for an end to "abusive lending practices that trap millions of Americans in unending cycles of debt".

PolitickerME
Maine lobster earmark an issue in PA Congressional tv ad

Survey USA: Obama leads by 5 percent in state

Maine News for Thursday, September 25, 2008

Portland Press Herald
Plum Creek proposal gets go-ahead from state panel
No substantial changes were made to the unprecedented plan for Moosehead Lake development.

225 workers brace for plant's closure
Town and state officials will make one try to keep Whatman operating in Sanford beyond 2009.

BILL NEMITZSixth-graders campaign for new voters

Baldacci wants budget requests cut
Department heads, who seek $600 million more than Maine can afford, must trim 10 percent.

Community colleges in line for budget increase
If approved, the seven community colleges would add $2.2 million each of the next two years.

Pingree, Summers critical of bailout
The 1st District candidates say quick action is essential, but protecting taxpayers is a top priority.

Now, you can get there from here by air
Flights between southern and northern Maine return on Tuesday on New England Air Transport.

McCain seeking to delay debate to deal with financial bailout
Barack Obama challenges his Republican opponent's position, insisting that Friday's debate proceed.

Penny tax proposed for new civic center
One cent on every sale would generate some $40 million a year, Cumberland County's manager says.

Dirigo Health claimed savings off by 66 percent
Maine’s insurance chief says savings were actually $48.7 million, enough to keep it steady.

Home sales drop 19 percent in Northeast
But experts predict that the region will recover from the housing slump faster than other areas.

Editorial

Tough questions abound with Wall Street crisis
Americans understand why a bailout is needed, but that doesn't make it right.

When does Election Day arrive? It could be today
A powerful early-voting trend will see some states cast half their ballots prior to Nov. 4.

Bangor Daily News

Poll: Women giving Obama edge in Maine

Women voters give Democrat Barack Obama the edge over Republican John McCain in the presidential race in Maine, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted this week exclusively for WLBZ 2, WCSH 6 and the Bangor Daily News.

Agencies line up to request $655M in next state budget

AUGUSTA, Maine — State departments and agencies are requesting some $655 million in spending above current levels for the next two-year budget, with some requests based on higher energy costs and others for new or expanded services.

LURC endorses Plum Creek plan

State regulators on Wednesday endorsed Plum Creek’s historic development plan for nearly 1,000 house lots, two large resorts and hundreds of thousands of acres of land conservation in the Moosehead Lake region. Despite pleas and strong words from plan opponents, the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission did not make any substantial changes to Plum Creek’s unprecedented proposal during 17 hours of deliberations on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Lawmakers act to protect Healthy Maine fund

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Fund for a Healthy Maine will come under closer legislative scrutiny if recommendations approved Wednesday by a panel of Maine lawmakers are adopted.

Market for pellets tightens

BANGOR, Maine — Within the past couple of years, wood pellet stoves have emerged as a cheaper alternative to No. 2 heating oil and a less labor-intensive option than regular firewood.

Editorial

Petroleum Politics

House passage of a bill to allow more oil drilling off the U.S. coast is being hailed by some as a responsible way to address the country’s energy problems. The legislation has many drawbacks, … more

Cruise Maine

The fastest-growing group of Maine tourists may be entering the state by a dock, not a highway. The cruise ship business, over the last 10 years, has given coastal communities a substantial influx of

Helping middle class in crisis

Wherever I travel across Maine, families, small businesses and other hardworking people share with me their anxiety that the growing financial crisis threatens their economic security, their savings

Kennebec Journal
BALDACCI TO STAFF: CUT BUDGET REQUESTS
AUGUSTA -- Gov. John Baldacci told state department heads Wednesday to look for ways to cut their budgets by 10 percent in light of budget requests that are $654 million more than the state can afford.

State OKs plan for Plum Creek
State regulators on Wednesday endorsed Plum Creek's historic development plan for nearly 1,000 house lots, two large resorts and hundreds of thousands of acres of land conservation in the Moosehead Lake region.

2 more towers slated for Manchester
MANCHESTER -- Look up. The landscape downtown and at the eastern border of Manchester will be different next year.

GARDINER: City taking new look at energy costs
GARDINER -- A new committee will look at ways to cut energy costs in all city departments.

FARMINGDALE: Town stalls tax penalty
FARMINGDALE -- Tardy taxpayers in Farmingdale won't see interest build up on their unpaid taxes until Nov. 17, the Board of Selectmen decided Wednesday night.

Editorials:

Woman worthy of early release from life of abuse
Douglas Graves of Ellsworth was a cruel man. Three of his four daughters say that he abused them and their mother. His youngest daughter, Carol, says she was severely physically, sexually and emotionally abused by him for 31 years, beginning when she was 5 years old.

Augusta should elect new representative: Blodgett
The upcoming election is giving the voters many opportunities to vote for new people in the various races.

Sun Journal
Police: Maine teens tried to go to Canada
HOULTON (AP) - Two Maine teenagers who tried to flee to Canada in a stolen Jeep Cherokee are in hot water.

Maine official lowers Dirigo's savings estimate
AUGUSTA (AP) - It looks like financing for Maine's program to promote affordable health care will remain limited, perhaps just enough to keep it steady - and stuck.

Web site estimates taxes under McCain, Obama
PORTLAND (AP) - Voters whose bottom line is taxes can use a new online tool to calculate what their own bottom line would be with the IRS under a Barack Obama or John McCain administration.

Lottery sales facing shortfall
LEWISTON (AP) - Maine lottery officials are blaming the soft economy for a $90,000 shortfall over the last two months.

Plum Creek deliberation near end
BANGOR (AP) - Maine's Land Use Regulation Commission gave its approval to one of the most contentious elements of Plum Creek Timber Co.'s proposed development plan for the Moosehead Lake region as it neared the end of final deliberations.

Facing charges, ranger on leave
AUGUSTA (AP) - An Allagash Wilderness Waterway ranger accused of hunting moose at night and out of season has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Woman admits stealing $43,700 from elderly
BANGOR - The prosecutor called it elder abuse. The defense attorney said it was the result of an illness. Members of Gamblers Anonymous warned the judge to expect more cases just like it.

Editorial
Debate would feature substance vs. eloquence
If Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain meet Friday in Oxford, Miss., for the first of their three scheduled debates, the TV and radio audience is likely to set a record for such an event. Nearly 40 million Americans watched some, or all, of each political convention and there is no reason for diminished interest in these debates. In fact, the Oct. 2 exchange between vice presidential nominees Sarah Palin and Joe Biden might outdraw McCain and Obama.

MPBN
Dirigo Funding to Increase

The state's Dirigo Health program is poised to get the most funding it has from private insurers in the last four years of its existence.

Conservative Website Raises Ire of State Employees

A new website funded by the conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center is causing an uproar from legislative employees, state workers and others who woke up today to find their salaries posted on the Internet. As A.J. Higgins reports, critics of the plan believe the website amounts to an invasion of privacy, but its supporters say that the information brings greater transparency to state government.

Former MBNA Employees Allege Predatory Practices

Two former MBNA employees from Maine have been blowing the whistle on what they called 'predatory credit card company practices.' Their testaments helped launch a national campaign by the consumer group AFFIL - which stands for Americans For Fairness in Lending. It's calling for an end to "abusive lending practices that trap millions of Americans in unending cycles of debt".

PolitickerME
MSEA quick to point out inaccuracies in MHPC data

Maine's very own Wall Street money scheme

Ellsworth American
Statehouse, Government Coverage Will Continue with New Reporter
ELLSWORTH — A consortium of weekly and daily newspapers in Maine has announced that in-depth coverage of the Maine Statehouse and state government will continue under an agreement reached with Christopher Cousins, who has been a Maine journalist for the past 10 years.

Timing Issues Contribute To Drop in State Tax Revenues
AUGUSTA — State tax revenue was down $6 million for the first two months of the fiscal year that began July 1.

$50M-$100M for Mainers
Pingree Supports Bond to Help Weatherize Homes
AUGUSTA — House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree would like to see a bond of between $50 million to $100 million floated next year to help weatherize Maine homes and stimulate the development of alternative energy.

Maine News for Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Portland Press Herald
Maine delegation: Bailout needs work
Lawmakers agree action is needed, but they want accountability and aid for distressed homeowners.

State expects a big presence of absentee voters
In the last presidential election, almost one-quarter of Maine voters received a ballot in advance.

Plan for school site raises questions
Housing and public space would replace Portland's closed Adams school

Congress balks at bailout plan
Leaders expect eventual passage, but call for aid for the middle class and limits on executive pay.

Editorial
Poland Spring faces a skeptical public
While its business is not very different from many others, it is finding expansion difficult.

GREG KESICHUndecideds, the rest of us need you to make up your minds
Now that most people know who they are going to vote for, the real campaign can begin.

Bangor Daily News

Study urges state to help working poor survive

Policy changes on the state level could relieve some of the pressure on the people who are in the most dire straits, according to a study released Tuesday by the Maine Center for Economic Policy. more

Report details problems with health Down East

With a total population of about 33,300, Washington County accounts for only 2.5 percent of the population of Maine. Yet that population is the oldest and poorest in the state with the highest rates of teen and adult smoking, obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer. more

Web site tracks state spending

If you’ve ever wondered where your tax dollars are going, the brand new MaineOpenGov.org Web site is for you.

Fans, foes of Moosehead plan air arguments

BANGOR, Maine — Critics and supporters of Plum Creek’s housing and resort plan for the Moosehead Lake region made closing arguments Tuesday to state regulators winding down their review of the largest development proposal in Maine history.

Editorial

Thinking big on health

Maine’s former Sen. George Mitchell, who led a recent conference in Portland, is one of many who are pressing for a bipartisan solution to the nation’s mounting health care crisis. The time for action should come under a new Congress and a new president.

Children: Invest Early

Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe says 20 percent of the lawyers who work in his office effectively spend their days working on child protection matters — trying to remove children from abusive, neglectful homes, or working to get parents back on track so they can keep their kids.

Kennebec Journal
PLEA: 'NOT GUILTY'
AUGUSTA -- Almost four months after a predawn machete attack left a father and daughter seriously injured, a suspect pleaded not guilty to eight charges related to that home invasion, including several punishable by up to life in prison.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE
As Congress considers a $700 billion package to shore up a shaken Wall Street, an Augusta think tank is recommending a series of government actions to help the state's working, low-income families.

Ill cop wins ruling on bias
AUGUSTA -- The Maine Human Rights Commission sided with a fired police officer on Monday, finding reasonable grounds to believe the town of Oakland unlawfully discriminated against him.

Gifford's sweetens up on new national clients
SKOWHEGAN -- Gifford's Ice Cream is scooping up more distribution outlets, winning awards and reporting what its owners say are sales gains of 7 percent to 10 percent for the year, said Lindsay Gifford, vice president of sales.

Editorial

Lawmakers should review our Lemon Law
Fran Fontanez and his wife bought their dream car at a Skowhegan dealer in 2006. A 2003 Saab 9-3 with 23,000 miles on the odometer, it had heated leather seats and was a $17,000 "extravagance" that Fontanez and his wife could finally afford.

GEORGE SMITH : Salmon listing portends failure; livelihoods likely to be damaged
The restoration of Atlantic salmon in Maine's magnificent rivers would be a wonderful achievement. But after 50 years and millions of dollars, it might be time to recognize the futility of the salmon restoration effort.

Sun Journal
Man pleads not guilty in machete attack
AUGUSTA (AP) - A 20-year-old Augusta man has pleaded not guilty to eight charges linked to a home invasion in Pittston that seriously injured a former legislator and his young daughter.

Snowmobilers go for McCain
AUGUSTA (AP) - Maine snowmobilers are endorsing the McCain-Palin ticket and two ranking state senators are leading an effort to mobilize women voters for Obama-Biden.

Widening delayed
SOUTH PORTLAND (AP) - The Maine Turnpike is delaying plans to widen a nine-mile stretch of the toll highway from Scarborough to Falmouth for at least two years, an official for the toll highway said.

Man dies cutting wood
HOULTON - A Monticello man died Monday after injuring himself while splitting wood, according to police.

'Embarrassing to USA'
WASHINGTON - Refusing to be pushed, Republicans and Democrats alike rebuffed dire warnings Tuesday from the government's top economic officials of recession, layoffs and foreclosed homes if Congress doesn't quickly approve the administration's emergency $700 billion financial bailout plan.

Palin look-alike gets share of grief
BANGOR - The audacity of Cindy Michaels. The news anchor at WVII in Bangor, she sometimes wears her hair pinned at the top of her head. She has a nice gleaming smile, and neat eyeglasses, too.

Michael J. Fox campaigns with N.H. Senate candidate
DURHAM, N.H. (AP) - Actor Michael J. Fox said Tuesday he believes both presidential candidates back expanded funding for embryonic stem cell research, but with Democrat Barack Obama "there's no mystery about it."

Editorial
It's improv time, up on Capitol Hill
In this country's fiscal meltdown, there's no room for ideologues, for the action required by Congress necessitates throwing pure ideology - both political and financial - out the nearest window.

What does black mean, and why is it so scary?
Last year, Sen. Joe Biden made a comment some people considered racially insensitive toward Sen. Barack Obama. Obama's response was a mild one - he called Biden's remark "historically inaccurate." This earned him a harsh rebuke from one of my readers. Obama, this gentleman told me via e-mail, had just lost his vote by acting like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, i.e., an angry black man. "Up to now," the reader wrote, "I did not see him as an Afro American."

MPBN
LURC Begins Delibrations on Plum Creek

LURC Begins Delibrations on Plum Creek##After three years of application drafts and filings, public comment and hearings, the highly debated Plum Creek development and conservation plan for the Moosehead Lake region is awaiting a response from the state's Land Use Regulation Commission. As Anne Ravana reports, the commission begins deliberations this week on the Seattle-based timber company’s proposal to construct 975 house lots and two large resorts and conserve several hundred thousand acres near Greenville.

Senator Collins Prepares for Third Term

Since arriving on the Maine political scene as a virtual unknown 14 years ago, Susan Collins has established herself among many voters as an independent-minded Republican senator with a conservative bent on fiscal matters and a more moderate stance on social issues. Born and Raised in Aroostook County, Collins started out as a staffer for former Sen. Bill Cohen, and as she prepares to seek a third term in office, Collins is confident, but cautious. A.J. Higgins has this profile in the first of a series as part of MPBN's "Your Vote 2008" campaign coverage.

UFO "Experts" Land in Rangely

They're here - or rather they were here. This weekend in Rangely, UFO experts and specialists in the paranormal gathered at a conference organized by the Mindshift Institute, a New York-based organization dedicated to expanding our worldview through new discoveries in frontier science. Tom Porter reports.

Mainers Song Pokes Fun at Vice-Presidential Choice

Phil Hoose and his compatriots have performed songs about the Iraq War, the collapse of Enron, and love and pollsters, so it's not really a big step to today's contribution, "South to Virginia," about a certain presidential candidate and his new running mate.

Times Record
State's taxation revenue is down...(full story)

Mitchell recounts years spent in Brunswick area...(full story)

Editorial
Confusing themselves?...(full story)

Village Soup
MaineOpenGov.org lists salaries of state, school employees

PolitickerME
Collins, Gang of 20 meets with T. Boone Pickens

Rothenberg: Little risk for Dems in House races

Pro casino folks come out swinging

Associated Builders and Contractors endorse Summers