Tag Archives: Maine

Maine, New Jersey lawmakers scramble to end partial government shutdowns

A "Park Closed" sign is seen at an entrance to Liberty State Park during a partial state government shutdown in Jersey City, New Jersey U.S., July 3, 2017.

By Elinor Comlay and Chris Kenning

(Reuters) – Partial government shutdowns in Maine and New Jersey stretched to a second day on Sunday as lawmakers returned to their respective state capitals in a bid to break budget impasses that have led to the suspension of many nonessential services.

In Maine, a bipartisan budget committee met in Augusta in hopes of breaking a stalemate between Republican Governor Paul LePage and Democratic lawmakers. The shutdown came after LePage threatened to veto a compromise reached by lawmakers in the state’s $7.055 billion, two-year budget.

At New Jersey’s statehouse in Trenton, there was little evidence of progress in resolving a fight over a health insurance bill that Republican Governor Chris Christie said must be passed alongside the state’s budget.

Maine state police, parks and all offices responsible for collecting revenue planned to operate during the shutdown, the state’s first since 1991, but the majority of 12,000 state employees will be furloughed.

New Jersey residents were not so lucky. With the July 4 holiday weekend in full swing, the shutdown there included the closure of Island State Beach Park, one of New Jersey’s few free public beaches, and all other state parks.

Although he beach park was closed to the public, Christie took a state helicopter on Saturday to a gubernatorial residence there to be with family and said he would go back on Sunday night.

“That’s just the way it goes. Run for governor, and you have can have a residence there,” he said when pressed on the issue.

At a news conference on Sunday afternoon, the governor said he had not spoken since Friday to Democratic holdouts.

The impasse could mean a furlough for 30,000 to 35,000 state employees on Monday.

In Maine, the stalled budget proposal would have repealed a measure voters approved in November for a 3 percent income tax hike on residents earning more than $200,000 a year. It also contained a 1.5 percent increase in the lodging tax, while increasing funding for public education by $162 million.

LePage has promised to veto any spending plan that raises taxes.

A six-member bipartisan House-Senate budget panel huddled into the evening on Sunday seeking to reach a deal that would win the two-thirds vote needed for passage of an emergency budget bill in both legislative chambers.

Mary-Erin Casale, a spokeswoman for Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon, said a new compromise could be ready for a vote as early as Monday morning, about the time state employees planned to protest the shutdown at the capitol.

A spokeswoman for the governor could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

 

HEALTH INSURANCE STALEMATE

At the center of New Jersey’s stalemate was a plan by Christie to shake up the state’s largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, which he said lacked sufficient transparency and spent too much on salaries.

He threatened to cut $150 million in school funding and other items unless lawmakers adopt his proposal, which would redirect some of Horizon’s reserves to drug addiction treatment and other services.

Christie offered to hear Democrats’ proposals for breaking the impasse, saying: “It should end today,” but acknowledged a settlement was unlikely so soon.

Christie, a former presidential contender whose reputation was tarnished by the Bridgegate traffic scandal involving some of his closest aides, ranks as the least popular governor in state history. He is in his second and final term.

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and other Democrats have criticized the Horizon bill as “bad public policy,” insisting that it be considered after the budget is passed.

Christie blamed Prieto for the shutdown and vowed on Sunday to stand by the Horizon bill, saying: “I got elected by a lot more people than Vinnie Prieto did.”

 

(Reporting by Elinor Comley in Atlantic City, N.J., and Chris Kenning in Chicago; Editing by Frank McGurty and and Peter Cooney)

 

Gun control measures expected to win in four states

Mark Heitz, of Tactical Firearms in Kingston, New Hampshire, looks over a civilian version of the Colt M4 carbine during the annual SHOT (Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade) Show in Las Vegas

By Joseph Ax

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Gun control-related ballot measures in four states are expected to pass on Tuesday, opinion polls show, after gun safety advocates poured a massive amount of money into backing the initiatives.

In Maine and Nevada, residents will vote on whether to mandate universal background checks for firearm sales, including private handgun transactions.

If those two measures pass, half of all Americans would live in states that have such expanded checks. Eighteen states and Washington, D.C., have already approved similar laws.

Voters in Washington state, meanwhile, will consider allowing judges to bar people from possessing guns if they pose a danger to themselves or to others, such as accused domestic abusers. In California, a referendum would ban large-capacity ammunition magazines and require certain people to pass a background check to buy ammunition.

The U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms, and gun rights advocates fiercely contest any attempt to restrict that freedom.

The votes in Republican-leaning Maine and Nevada represent a key test of the gun control movement’s decision to turn to a state-by-state strategy after efforts to pass nationwide legislation failed in Congress.

Opponents in Maine and Nevada say the laws are confusingly written and would burden legal gun owners while doing nothing to stop criminals.

“We know today that the place where criminals are getting guns, the black market, they aren’t subjecting themselves to background checks,” said Ryan Hamilton, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association-backed opposition in Nevada. “It doesn’t target criminal behavior, it targets law-abiding behavior.”

But proponents say background checks are widely backed by the public and would save lives.

Jennifer Crowe, a spokeswoman for the pro-initiative campaign in Nevada, said research had shown nearly one in 11 people who purchased guns online would have been barred from doing so by a background check.

“We have this huge online marketplace that we know criminals are using to get guns,” she said.

Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun control group founded by billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has spent tens of millions of dollars in Washington state, Nevada and Maine, while the National Rifle Association has focused much of its spending on supporting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

In Nevada, the most expensive contest, the background check campaign collected more than $14 million, much of it from Bloomberg. The NRA devoted $4.8 million to fighting the measure.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)

Quarter of passengers on British cruise ship fall sick with norovirus

File photo of the cruise ship Balmoral prior to boarding of passengers going on the Titanic Memorial Cruise in Southampton

(Reuters) – A stomach bug causing vomiting and diarrhea has spread to more than a quarter of the 919 passengers aboard a British cruise ship, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said, as the ship docked in Maine over the weekend.

It also said eight of the 520 crew on the Balmoral, operated by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, had also fallen ill with the bug, identified as a norovirus.

The Balmoral left Southampton, England on April 16 for a 34-day cruise, making stops in Portugal and Bermuda before putting in at Norfolk, Virginia, where it first arrived in the United States late last month.

CDC officials said at that time that 153 passengers and six crew had been infected by norovirus. Health officials and an epidemiologist boarded the ship at its next stop in Baltimore, Maryland to assess the outbreak and the response.

The CDC said specimens collected and onboard tested positive for norovirus, and would be sent to CDC for additional testing.

Fred. Olsen said in an April 29 statement that a “gastro-enteritis type illness” had affected a number of guests, with seven cases in isolation at that point.

It said two U.S. nationals were on board, with the majority of passengers from the United Kingdom.

When the Balmoral docked at Portland, Maine, over the weekend, media reported witnesses seeing surfaces being constantly wiped down.

The ship was due to stop at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, on Monday.

CDC said the cruise line had taken actions in response to the outbreak, including increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures, collecting stool specimens, daily reporting of illness and dispatching public health and sanitation managers to oversee and assist with implementation of sanitation and outbreak response.

Balmoral has capacity for 1,350 passengers, and is the largest and newest ship in the cruise line’s fleet.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

New England shivers under blanket of snow at onset of spring

BOSTON (Reuters) – Residents of much of coastal New England woke up on the second day of spring to discover lawns and roads blanketed with snow and schools closed in Boston, Providence and several other cities.

But the last gasp of winter, forecast to drop as much as 6 inches of snow on Boston, was expected to be brief, with temperatures expected to rise to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit by the afternoon.

The snowfall, which followed several days of seasonable warmth, left some Bostonians puzzled about clothing choices, with pedestrians taking to the streets in shorts and sneakers despite the short lived storm.

“It’s going to compact quickly and also melt. We are expecting temperatures this afternoon to rise into the upper 30s to mid 40s across southern New England, so that’ll promote melting,” said Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts. “This is all going to pass.”

The forecast for the storm had been erratic over the weekend, swinging from predicting as much as 10 inches of snow in Boston to the possibility of the storm tracking east over the ocean and missing the city entirely.

“I was expecting more snow. If I didn’t have to work I’d be at home. Definitely,” said Rico Ricard, 36, who was walking from the subway to his job at a city facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just outside Boston.

Winter storm warnings were in effect for parts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and coastal Maine, with as much as a foot of snow forecast for northern parts of the northeasternmost U.S. state.

The storm slowed travel in the region, with Boston Logan International Airport reporting 13 percent of departing flights canceled, as well as 9 percent of arrivals.

It proved a bit of a damper for businesses that depend on balmier weather, though it didn’t stop 45-year-old Jason Sanford from setting up a line of bicycles outside of the Broadway Bicycle School shop, a move intended to signal that the store was open despite the weather.

“Luckily, we’ve had nice weather, so we have a basement full of tune-ups,” Sanford said. “Hopefully we’ll get ahead of it today.”

(Reporting by Scott Malone Editing by W Simon)

Snowstorm Leaves 135,000 Without Power

The first major snowstorm of the season struck Maine Sunday night leaving over 135,000 without power.

The National Weather Service said that Bangor, Maine received 12 inches of snow before the storm weakened and some outlying areas reported more than a foot.  A Portland television station reported they passed a foot by 5:30 p.m.

Heavy snow and gusty winds combined to bring down trees, snapping power lines and in some cases poles.  Roads across Bangor were closed because of the downed lines blocking major roadways.

Power officials hope to have all the darkened customers back on by Wednesday.

“The utility placed extra crews on standby for the weekend in anticipation of the storm,” Emera spokesman Bob Potts said in a news release. “They will remain in the field addressing problems and working to restore service to customers as safely and quickly as possible.”

Emera had 57,000 customers without power in their region.

Forecasters say the temperatures will rise into the 50s by midweek so the snow will quickly disappear.

Maine Officials Back Down On DNR Order

Maine officials have backed down in the case involving a mother who was fighting to have a DNR lifted for her child after the story gained national media exposure.

The state has been fighting against the mother of Aleah Peaslee, who was six months old when her father shook her to the point that she suffered brain damage and was hospitalized in a coma.

After Aleah was removed from life support and placed in her mother’s arms with doctors expecting her to die.  Instead, Aleah rallied and eventually came out of the coma.

Her mother Virginia Trask asked for the Do Not Resuscitate order placed on her daughter when she was in the coma be lifted since she was now recovering from her injuries.  The state jumped in to keep it in place saying the child still had brain damage.

After major media outlets picked up on the story, the Maine Health and Human Services Department released a statement saying that if a court upholds the order they sought to keep the DNR in place, they would not enforce it.

Observers say that the case will likely be dismissed because of the Department’s new position and the governor’s opposition to their involvement.

Maine Mother Fighting Government’s Attempts To Let Her Baby Die

A Maine mother is fighting the state to stop them from letting her baby die.

Six-month-old Aleah Peaslee was shaken so badly by her father Kevin that she initially went into a coma from a severe brain injury.  While in the coma, doctors said the baby had little chance of survival and the family agreed to a do not resuscitate order.

The baby was taken off a ventilator and placed in her mother’s arms with everyone expecting her to pass into glory.

Instead, the baby kept breathing and improving in the arms of her 18-year-old mother, Virginia.  Days later, the baby came out of the coma.  Virginia asked for the DNR to be lifted for her child and the hospital refused saying that the baby still had brain damage.  Then the government stepped in.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services kept going to court until they found a judge that would give them the power to keep the DNR in place.  They claimed “neither parent can be counted on to be physically or emotionally available to make the necessary informed decision when needed.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom is standing up with the mother.

“The state is effectively arguing that this mom isn’t fit to make medical decisions for her child simply because she wants the child to live,” ADF Senior Counsel Steven Aden said.  “No one has declared this mother an unfit parent, yet the government wants to take her place.  The Maine Supreme Judicial Court should reaffirm Mainers’ interest in life, parental rights, and the integrity of the medical profession by reversing the lower court and restoring this mom’s full rights to make medical decisions on her daughter’s behalf.”

Maine’s Governor Paul LePage has said he will defend the life of the baby even if he has to defy the state’s Supreme Court.

Bowdoin College Discriminates Against Christian Group

Bowdoin College of Brunswick, Maine is openly discriminating against a Christian student organization by revoking official school recognition after the group would not allow non-Christians to be voted into leadership.

The college says that as part of their anti-discrimination policy, a group that is founded for and by a certain religion cannot require their leadership to actually be a part of the faith in that group.  The college believes that if someone who hates and wants to undermine the faith of an organization can obtain leadership and destroy the group, they should have the opportunity to do so.

The action by the college is similar to that of other liberal arts colleges and Universities across the country who are seeking to eliminate Christian groups from their campuses.

Members of the group, who will now meet informally wherever they can because the University has revoked their rights to meet on campus, say that it’s a matter of standing up for the Gospel and the faith.

“It would compromise our ability to be who we are as Christians if we can’t hold our leaders to some sort of doctrinal standard,” student Zachary Suhr told reporters.

The national field director for InterVarsity said that the decision shows Bowdoin College believes those of religious faith should be suspect and marginalized.

Earthquake Rocks New England

A 4.0 earthquake centered about 3 miles from Hollis Center, Maine shook buildings to the point residents rushed into the streets. However, no serious property damage or injuries resulted from the quake.

“It was the loudest bang you ever heard in your life,” Jessica Hill, owner of Waterboro House of Pizza, told the Associated Press. “We actually thought it was an explosion of some type. The back door and the door to the basement blew open.” Continue reading →