Posted inNation / World, sj-web

Trump to deny funds to clinics that refer for abortion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will resurrect a Reagan-era rule that would ban federally funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions, or sharing space with abortion providers. The Department of Health and Human Services will announce its proposal Friday, a senior White House official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity because […]

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Posted inFranklin, Lewiston-Auburn

Memorial Day Parade group requests funding, participants in Jay, Livermore Falls

LIVERMORE FALLS — A planning committee for the Memorial Day Parade in the Jay and Livermore Falls area is seeking members, parade participants and money to cover liability insurance. “We are really having a struggle because we are in dire need of funding to cover the parade,” member Gail Kerns-Dube said. Liability insurance has cost […]

Posted inMaine, sj-web

Lawmakers didn’t fund Maine schools before adjournment last week

AUGUSTA — Before the most recent legislative session expired last week, lawmakers neglected to pass a bill that would have appropriated more than $1 billion in funds for public schools. The Maine School Management Association, which represents superintendents, sent out a notice Tuesday urging members to contact lawmakers and ask them to find a way […]

Posted inMaine, sj-web

Paul LePage wins battle in fight over workforce development funding

Gov. Paul LePage won a longstanding battle Friday when the Maine State Workforce Board supported his plan requiring regional workforce agencies to devote 70 percent of federal funds to job training or lose a portion of their funding. The vote supersedes a compromise the board reached in December that set a goal of spending 45 […]

Posted inFranklin

Franklin County Commissioners clarify position on agency funding

FARMINGTON — Commissioners confirmed Tuesday that they would not fund social service agencies that were not funded through the Franklin County budget last year. If requests from an agency or organization were funded through the county in the 2017-18 budget commissioners will accept requests, Chairman Charles Webster of Farmington said. Those agencies were put on […]

Posted inFranklin, Lewiston-Auburn

RSU 9 residents discuss healing, compromise on budget

FARMINGTON — In the midst of a contentious school budget season, a Chesterville man is calling for compromise. “It is time for all this name-calling to stop,” Bob Millay of Chesterville said Thursday during a Regional School Unit 9 board meeting. “It is not appropriate.” Millay is a member of Citizens for Common Sense Education, a group […]

Posted inOxford Hills

Officials make cases for jail services

Please erase whichever of the Andersen/Westrum photos you do not want. I prefer the version where Andersen, left, is looking at Westrum, but the focus on Westrum is softer than in the other shot. PARIS — Officials representing jails in Wiscasset and Portland made their cases Tuesday before Oxford County commissioners, who were set to […]

Posted inMaine

State Senate approves county jail funding

AUGUSTA — The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved legislation providing nearly $2.5 million in new funding to the state’s county jails. The bill, LD 1614, was amended to cover the costs using part of an anticipated increase in federal Medicaid matching funds the state expects to receive for 2016. It does not, however, offer a […]

Posted inMaine

Maine Senate votes to kill estate tax

AUGUSTA — A bill that would eliminate the state’s tax on inheritances worth more than $5 million gained approval in the Republican-controlled Maine Senate on Wednesday on an 18-13 party-line vote. But the GOP victory against what they call the “death tax” is likely to be short-lived, as the Democratic-controlled House voted Tuesday to reject […]