SABATTUS — Androscoggin County Sheriff Guy Desjardins announced Tuesday that he is running for the state Senate in the November 2014 election. The seat is now held by Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon Falls, for District 17. Legislative redistricting approved this year means the district will be renumbered to 22 for the 2014 election. It will include […]
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Posted inNation / World, sj-web
U.S. Senate OKs gay rights bill banning discrimination
WASHINGTON — The Senate approved legislation outlawing workplace discrimination against gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, demonstrating the nation’s quickly evolving attitude toward gay rights nearly two decades after Congress rejected same-sex marriage. Fifty-four members of the Democratic majority and 10 Republicans voted Thursday for the first major gay rights bill since Congress repealed the ban […]
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Bellows makes stop in Lewiston to start U.S. Senate campaign
LEWISTON — Androscoggin County’s Democratic faithful flocked to Forage Market on Lisbon Street on Wednesday cheering on Shenna Bellows, who made a 40-minute stump stop in the city announcing her campaign for the U.S. Senate. Bellows, of Manchester and the former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, is hoping to unseat […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Obama signs bill to avert default, open government
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed a measure into law reopening the federal government and averting a potential default. The White House says Obama signed the bill early Thursday, hours after the House gave final approval. The White House budget office has already instructed federal workers to plan to return to work Thursday […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
‘Susan Collins is a gang of one’
WASHINGTON — Earlier this month, Sen. Susan Collins, dispirited, sat watching her colleagues on the Senate floor stake out opposing positions over funding the government. She decided she’d had enough. “Each side was lobbing partisan grenades at the other side, despite the fact that we had a really serious problem confronting us,” the Maine Repuiblican […]
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Shutdown deal in sight? Reid, McConnell optimistic
WASHINGTON (AP) — Racing the clock, the Senate’s Democratic and Republican leaders closed in on a deal Monday night to avoid an economy-menacing Treasury default and end the two-week partial government shutdown. “We’ve made tremendous progress,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared after an intense day of negotiations with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and […]
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King stands in defense of Obamacare
“The estimates are between 20,000 and 30,000 of those people die each year because of the lack of health insurance,” King said during a speech on the Senate floor. “Why doesn’t that bother us?” King spoke late in the day following a more than 20-hour filibuster by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who spoke against the […]
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Senate panel votes to authorize force in Syria
WASHINGTON — A Senate panel has voted to give President Barack Obama the authority to use military force against Syria in response to a deadly chemical weapons attack. The vote Wednesday was 10-7, with one senator voting present. The full Senate is expected to vote on the measure next week. The resolution would permit Obama […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
State Senate seat up for grabs today in special election in Sagadahoc County
BATH (AP) — Residents of Maine Senate District 19 are deciding who’ll fill a seat left vacant by Democratic Sen. Seth Goodall’s decision to lead the Small Business Administration in New England. Voters in the district that covers Sagadahoc County and the town of Dresden have three candidates from which to choose: Republican Paula Benoit […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine lobstermen’s union endorse Democrat in state Senate race
JONESPORT — The members of Maine’s largest union representing lobstermen endorsed Democratic state Senate candidate Eloise Vitelli in the upcoming special election for Senate District 19. Vitelli, of Arrowsic, is in a three-way race with Republican Paula Benoit, of Phippsburg and Green Independent Daniel Stromgren of Topsham. The International Association of Machinist—Maine Lobstering Union, Local […]