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Governor prepares to fill vacancies on public defense oversight board
Gov. Janet Mills intends to fill multiple vacancies on the state commission that oversees the public defense system as early as next month. Mills has the authority to appoint nine people to a board that oversees the Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services, or...
As more people enroll in MaineCare, they may face fewer options for care
Health facilities have expressed concern that they won’t be able to maintain quality medical care for the state’s lowest-income residents without an increase in the amount of money they receive from the state. The problem has magnified over the last year. More people...
Lawyers who were ineligible to handle serious criminal charges were given thousands of these cases anyway
Editor’s Note: This article was produced in partnership with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. The Maine Monitor is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. Soon after receiving his license to practice law in Maine...
Scientists oppose tax credit that could boost Maine’s wood heat industry
After more than a decade of lobbying and negotiations at the federal level, December's pandemic stimulus bill included a federal tax credit for the renewable wood heat industry. The tax credit offers residential buyers 26 percent off new high-efficiency wood boilers...
Renewable power requires competent and accountable utilities
Central Maine Power’s most recent debacle, attempting to charge solar developers millions more for grid interconnections despite signed contracts, was shocking but not surprising from a utility that has sought for decades to undermine renewable power. Only after...
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As more people enroll in MaineCare, they may face fewer options for care
Maine lags behind other states in how much it reimburses health facilities for treating its lowest-income residents. Without change, providers fear they can’t afford to continue.
Lawyers who were ineligible to handle serious criminal charges were given thousands of these cases anyway
In the only state with no public defenders, people charged with murder and other serious crimes can get assigned attorneys who are legally ineligible to take on their cases. The state claims it was unaware.
Maine’s largest private electricity supplier renews legal battle over its deceptive practices
Electricity Maine and other private suppliers cost residents $150 million over the last eight years.
Environmental experts push back on Canadian company’s plans to mine for metal in Maine
Fears from past mining disasters are resurfacing as Wolfden Resources Corporation attempts to rezone land for a metal mine in Penobscot County. The company recently announced plans to also drill in Washington County.
Maine’s race to space a step closer with successful rocket launch
Last week’s launch of a biofueled rocket by a Brunswick-based company signals a significant leap forward for the state’s emerging aerospace industry.
Recipient of anti-LGBTQ hate mail sees gesture as ‘part of a larger political movement’
Nearly a third of the bias incidents reported in Maine over the last decade were related to victims’ sexual orientation.
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Follow the Money
Mainers are facing a historic congressional election season in 2020. Examine how campaign fundraising and spending are shaping the races for Maine’s federal and state offices using The Maine Monitor’s interactive campaign finance trackers.
2020: A Class Dismissed
The Maine Monitor spoke to seniors from high schools across the state to tell the story of Maine’s Class of 2020 and how these soon-to-be graduates are dealing with the unexpected developments that come with a pandemic and a disrupted senior year.
Due Process: Inside Maine’s County Courthouses
The Maine Monitor examines Maine’s criminal justice system at a time when there’s appetite for major change. Our series looks at the system – successes and failures – to test whether defendants and victims can rely on it to give them due process.
Help Wanted: The Immigrant Opportunity
Given that Maine is racing into an economic crisis because it doesn’t have enough workers for its jobs, we decided to examine the role immigrants could have in helping to solve Maine’s serious workforce needs.
Video
Chasing Maine: Launch success for the Rocketeers
The bluShift Aerospace team made history with its successful rocket launch using a unique bioderived fuel – lifting off from the Loring Commerce Center in Limestone on Jan. 31. Chasing Maine follows the daylong livestream with nearly 4,000 viewers, including...
Chasing Maine: The Rocketeers
Stardust 1.0, the rocket built by bluShift Aerospace in Brunswick, battles winter weather as it looks to make a first-ever rocket launch at Limestone's Loring Air Force Base. In addition to using eco-friendly rocket fuel, the rocket will carry an instrumentation...
Chasing Maine: The Road Warriors
Snowstorms are a way of life in Maine, and especially challenging for a city like Portland to snowplow. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at how a fleet of plows, massive snow blowers and dump trucks clear the streets and then move 11,000 cubic yards of snow out of...