BAR HARBOR (AP) — Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers were furloughed Tuesday because of the federal government’s partial shutdown, while visitors to Maine’s Acadia National Park expressed disappointment that the shutdown had forced the park to close its gates during foliage season. The national park that draws more than 2 million visitors each year was blocking […]
shutdown
Posted inOur View
Shutdown OK; default on debt, likely disastrous
If you’re like most Americans outside the Washington beltway, the “shutdown” of the federal government has had little or no impact on your life thus far. A group of Republicans are staging what amounts to another in a series of protest maneuvers designed to draw attention to their opposition to Obamacare. They are making a […]
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Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Lawmakers still get a check, even in shutdown mode
WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s at least one constant in a government shutdown: The 532 members of Congress continue to be paid — at a cost of $10,583.85 per hour to taxpayers. Lawmakers get their pay even as hundreds of congressional staffers are sent home, packs of tourists are turned away at the Capitol, and constituent […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Maine businesses should only worry if shutdown lasts
PORTLAND — Because the federal government intersects with Maine’s private and public sector in myriad ways, trying to understand how the shutdown, which began Tuesday, will affect Maine’s wider economy is difficult at this early stage, according to Tim Woodcock, an attorney at Eaton Peabody in Bangor who focuses on public policy and litigation. The […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage says a short-term shutdown won’t affect state government
AUGUSTA — Maine Gov. Paul LePage says that a short-term federal government shutdown will not directly impact state government or public assistance programs. The Republican governor said in a statement on Tuesday that while some state government positions and programs are federally funded, they’ll continue as normal this week. He says the shutdown won’t affect […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine wrestles with federal shutdown
With Congress unable to reach a spending deal before its midnight deadline, many U.S. government operations screeched to a halt Tuesday, leaving Mainers who rely on federal aid for housing, food and heating oil in a state of uncertainty. The Democrat-led U.S. Senate refused to pass a federal budget or continuing resolution that would alter […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
No word on how long government shutdown will last
WASHINGTON — Congress plunged the nation into a partial government shutdown Tuesday as a long-running dispute over President Barack Obama’s health care law stalled a temporary funding bill, forcing about 800,000 federal workers off the job and suspending most non-essential federal programs and services. With the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate at a stalemate, it […]
Posted inBusiness, sj-web
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers furloughed this morning
KITTERY —Workers reported to work Tuesday morning at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and received furlough letters. The head of the biggest union at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard says about 2,000 of the shipyard’s 4,700 workers were furloughed Tuesday morning. The Navy told civilian workers to report to duty regardless of whether government was closed. Navy shipbuilder […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
What has changed now the federal government has shut down
WASHINGTON — Campers in national parks are to pull up stakes and leave, some veterans waiting to have disability benefits approved will have to cool their heels even longer, many routine food inspections will be suspended and panda-cams will go dark at the shuttered National Zoo. Those are among the immediate effects when parts of […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Federal shutdown to have limited effect in Maine
In Maine, a federal government shutdown does not signal the end of mail delivery but could affect a range of things from fall tourism to flu readiness. The hardest hit likely would be the neediest Mainers, whose federal aid for housing, heating and food could be jeopardized by a long shutdown. A shutdown began as […]