After Russia escalated its assault on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to be shifting the focus of his criticism over the stalled peace talks over the war between the two former Soviet countries from Ukraine’s President Voldymyr Zelenskyy to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!” President Trump posted on TruthSocial Thursday morning. Those strikes came in tandem with a statement from the chairman of Russia’s national…
Author: Maine Wire Staff
Noting an uptick of crime in Maine committed by individual out on bail for a previous offense, Sen. David Haggan (R-Penobscot) wants to roll back provisions of a 2021 law that made it easier for those being held under suspicion of committing a crime to get released on bail. LD 1536, “An Act to Amend the Laws Governing Bail,” would, Sen. Haggan said in testimony before the legislature’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, “correct bail reform’s over-reach because Maine’s current bail laws are not working.” Supported by five Republican co-sponsors, Haggan’s measure would, he said, give judges…
U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) is undeterred by the “No Kings” signs that have become prominent at recurring ‘Hands Off’ rallies around the state and has launched a speaking program to raise the alarm about America’s democracy being in peril. Never one to let a low-hanging news hook pass by, Sen. King pegged an op-ed in TIME magazine on Saturday’s 250th anniversary of patriot Paul Revere’s famous freedom ride in which he warned Massachusetts rebels that “the British are coming.” “I believe that what is happening now is the most serious challenge to the Constitution and the bedrock principle of…
Rhode Island-based U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose reportedly issued a ruling late on Friday denying Maine State Rep. Laurel Libby’s (R-Auburn) claim for declaratory and injunctive relief against the terms of the censure Maine Democrats imposed against her last month. Those terms strip Rep. Libby of the right to vote or speak on the floor of the Maine House of Representatives. Libby’s lawsuit contested what it called violations of her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution, and specifically named Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) as the defendant. Judge DuBose on Friday ruled that Speaker Fecteau…
Former New York City police sergeant Mike McMahon, 57, will pay a price for aiding the Chinese government in tracking down a U.S. resident Beijing wanted to coerce into returning to China to serve a prison sentence, a Brooklyn judge ruled on Wednesday. McMahon was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of New York in 2023 for acting as an illegal agent for the Peoples’ Republic of China and for interstate stalking. “This type of crime really does threaten our country’s national security,” U.S. District Court Judge Pamela Chen said as she sentenced McMahon to 18 months in…
America’s youngest national security advisor, former Hillary Clinton and Amy Klobuchar aide Jake Sullivan, took center stage at Harvard University on Tuesday to share with Kennedy School of Government professor Graham Allison some of his greatest hits from the Biden administration. Sullivan’s appearance preceded President Donald Trump saying on Wednesday that the venerated American university has “lost its way” and may be stripped of its tax exempt status. Harvard has named Sullivan the inaugural Distinguished Kissinger Professor in Residence, and Allison, whose 1971 book ‘The Essence of Decision’ detailed the brinksmanship inside the Kennedy White House during the Cuban Missile…
An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent who was the subject of retaliation by the agency for coming forward to Congress in 2023 about former First Son Hunter Biden’s tax violations has on Tuesday — the deadline for Americans to file their tax returns — been named an acting commissioner, or temporary head, of the federal agency that tried in recent years to force his resignation. Gary Shapley’s promotion drew immediate praise from his attorney, and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has long fought to strengthen whistleblower protections. https://twitter.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1912493902323462286 “It’s GR8 NEWS will b taking over as Acting IRS Commissioner,”…
Just two weeks after Waldo County Hospital closed its maternity and birthing unit citing declining birth rates, on Monday Rep. Jan Dodge (D-Belfast) testified before the legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee on her bill to mandate that Maine high schools expand a condom giveaway program statewide. “My students were grateful for the availability of condoms in the nurse’s office,” Rep. Dodge told the committee, quoting an area educator in support of her bill LD 217. Dodge’s proposal, she said, is based on a program in Vermont and she initiated it at the request of a local, retired school nurse.…
While Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his family slept after celebrating the Seder, a solemn Passover meal, at their home early Sunday morning, a man broke into their residence and tried to set it ablaze using gasoline from a lawnmower. That attacker, state authorities now believe, was Cody Balmer, 38, who has now been charged with terrorism, attempted murder and arson. Had he not been apprehended by state police, Balmer reportedly said he would have bludgeoned Gov. Shapiro to death with a hammer. Coming just one week after a Maine man approached a plainclothes Federal agent at a Bridgton restaurant…
As the deadline set in a letter of impasse the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights had sent to Maine state officials two weeks ago drew down to its final hours, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office issued a response saying the state would neither sign a resolution agreement nor propose an alternative, setting into motion a referral to the U.S. Department of Justice. [RELATED: Mills’ Continued Defiance of Trump’s Deadline for Title IX Compliance Could Cost Maine Hugely] “Nothing in Title IX or its implementing regulation prohibits schools from allowing transgender girls and women to participate on…
After Democrats in Augusta passed a partisan biennial budget for an unprecedented third time in a row, Representative Gary Drinkwater (R-Milford) is pushing back with an initiative for a People’s Veto of the budget. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has quickly joined in on the partisan fight. People’s Veto efforts have gone to referendum 29 times in Maine since 1909. The wording of the question that goes on the ballot in each instance is critical to understanding whether they were ultimately successful or not. Rep. Drinkwater has submitted the required paperwork for a People’s Veto to repeal $11.3 Billion biennial…
When Kevin Bell, 46, told a plainclothes law enforcement officer last weekend that he wanted to kill U.S. President Donald Trump, it wasn’t the first time the Bridgton man mused publicly about his desire to inflict violence on others. While it might be tempting to write off such declarations as the ravings of a madman, his profile is not entirely dissimilar from the man arrested with a weapon in the woods adjoining then-candidate Trump’s golf course in Florida last September. Bell, a.k.a. Ronen Stoloff, announced his intention to kill his psychiatrist to a help line operator in January of this…
Statehouse Republicans blasted the Mills administration on Tuesday for what several suggested could be criminally-negligent stewardship of public funds in the latest fall-out from an official report from the State Auditor that highlighted lax controls and potential abuses of its contracting process. “My hat is off to (State Auditor Matt Dunlap, a registered Democrat) for doing the right thing, not the partisan thing,” Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (D-Aroostook) said of the auditor’s recent bombshell report, adding that “what we’re looking at is really just the tip of the iceberg, looking just at a random sample of state contracting and…
One of two Venezuelan nationals arrested by U.S. Border Patrol in Brunswick on March 30 was determined to be connected to the criminal gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), authorities announced on Friday. Earlier this year, the State Department designated TdA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. After the two Venezuelan citizens were detained in connection with a theft investigation, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) became involved, the agency said. Both detainees had entered the United States illegally but then been released on their own recognizance, USBP determined. “The days of catch and release are over, and violent criminals, gang members, and terrorists…
The Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services referred the State of Maine to the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday — one day after the Maine Principals’ Association (MPA) and Cumberland’s Greeley High School announced they refused to sign a voluntary resolution agreement the federal agency proposed after finding Maine schools to be in violation of Title IX protections earlier last month. On March 17, HHS’ civil rights bureau found that Maine had violated the protections girls in school sports should be afforded against discrimination, which the participation of biological boys, or trans-identifying…
An Auburn Democrat has introduced a bill that would prevent Maine voters in the northern, more rural part of the state from awarding an electoral college vote to a presidential candidate other than statewide popular vote winner. If passed, the bill would ensure that Maine’s Second Congressional District would not be able to award one electoral college vote to a Republican candidate if southern Maine voted by a wide enough margin for the Democratic candidate, as happened in 2016, 2020, and 2024. The bill, filed by Rep. Adam Lee (D-Auburn), would make Maine’s Electoral College votes winner take all going…
Majority Democrats in the Maine Legislature approved an $11.3 billion budget in the late hours of Thursday night after repeated and unsuccessful efforts by minority Republicans in both chambers to force spending curbs on the runaway costs of various programs, including Medicaid. The budget now being sent to Governor Janet Mills (D) for approval marks a near doubling of the 2016-17 $6.3 biennial budget of less than a decade ago. One contentious issue over the past two attempts to pass a supplemental spending bill in the last several weeks has been the $118 million shortfall in Medicaid spending which Democrats…
Somali-American Abdullahi Ali has had a prolific life since arriving in Lewiston, Maine as a refugee in 2009. Ali has become a U.S. citizen, started a nonprofit to help fellow immigrants, started several businesses, including a multi-million dollar MaineCare-funded migrant services agency, and even — according to an interview he gave to Kenyan media — managed to raise money in the U.S. to buy weapons, munitions, and supplies for a paramilitary force he had hoped to lead as president of Jubaland, Somalia. But his knack for running a celebrated migrant agency out of Portland didn’t translate into electoral success last…
A French member of European Parliament made headlines on Sunday when he said it was time for the United States to return the Statue of Liberty to France because America no longer deserves it, drawing return fire from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who essentially said ‘no way!’ “We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty,’” Raphael Glucksmann said to a meeting of his relatively small, center-left Place Publique party in Paris. Ever since 1886,…
The Maine Legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee considered a bill from State Rep. Nina Milliken (D-Blue Hill) to restrict the coyote hunting season in the state this week that pitted hunters and state wildlife officials against those seeking to save the animal that farmers and others consider a threat to their livestock. When presenting her bill on March 3, Rep. Milliken stated that it is her understanding that “deer don’t tend to go up north,” in Maine — drawing astonished and amused response from the public. Focus on that debatable statement drew more attention in subsequent days that the…
Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a limited 30-day ceasefire in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine after a nearly two hour phone call with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, the White House announced. The offer by the Russians refers only to attacks on energy and infrastructure targets, falling short of President Trump’s goal to broker a more comprehensive pause in the fighting, is nonetheless more than was expected after Trump’s special envoy Steven Witkoff visited Moscow last week. [RELATED: Russia Sends Mixed Signals as Talks Proceed for U.S.-Proposed Peace Gambit] Putin also said on the call with Trump that…
A 13-year-old Cassidy Carlisle got an unwelcome shock when she encountered a biological male in the girls’ locker room at her school in Presque Isle years ago. When she complained to the school administration, she was told that if she chose to change in a private bathroom instead, she might be late for class. Years later, Carlisle lost a Nordic skiing competition to a biological male who, because he identified as female, was able to compete as such. Recently back from a visit to Washington, D.C., where Carlisle relayed these experiences to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, she addressed a…
Terri Cooper, the superintendent of the RSU 21 district that includes the town of Kennebunk, ended her controversial five years at the helm of the York County school district on Wednesday by resigning to the local board, which quickly accepted her notice of departure. “I’m sobbing with relief,” said Kennebunk parent Melissa McCue-McGrath. “My child has suffered under the leadership of this administration,” she added. “We are hurting,” another long-time teacher said at a school board meeting last year. A school board member in charge of human resources resigned last year saying she felt her family’s safety was in danger,…
A senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin threw cold water on a ceasefire overture that U.S. Special Envoy Steven Witkoff brought to Moscow on Thursday even before U.S. President Donald Trump’s negotiator got out of his plane. “It seems to me that no one needs any steps that imitate peaceful actions in this situation,” Yuri Ushakov said, adding that this was his personal opinion. A former Russian ambassador to Washington from Putin’s first term, Ushakov has long been seen as a hard-liner with close ties to the Russian president. At the same time, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia’s ministry…
Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau in the U.S. District Court of Maine for violating her First and Fourteenth Amendment rights by censuring her last month for posting a publicly-available photograph of a trans-sexual identifying high school athlete and stripping her of her ability to speak or vote on behalf of her constituents in the legislature. Rep. Libby’s suit seeks declaratory relief that her censure violated her rights, and injunctive relief against her silencing and the removal of her voting privileges. It also seeks legal expenses from the defendant for the…
Already reeling from recent bad news in rankings on national scales when it comes to educational performance and overall tax burden per citizen, Maine received more discouraging news this week when the Maine Jobs Council unveiled the results of a recent study: Maine now ranks among the least productive states in America. According the study conducted by the Washington, DC-based Porter Development Initiative, Maine ranks 46th in the nation for Gross Domestic Product per worker (and 41st for GDP per capita). While the average national annual salary in 2023 was $67,692, Maine trailed this by over $13,000 at $53,876, the…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)’s Office of Civil Rights has found Maine to be in violation of Title IX protections of girls in school sports, according to a letter it sent to Maine Governor Janet Mills and Attorney General Aaron Frey. Late last month, the federal office announced it was investigating the Maine Department of Education’s refusal to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order barring transgender athletes from playing on girls’ teams. “It is shameful that Governor Mills refuses to stand with women and girls. Her rejection of the anti-discrimination obligations that Maine voluntarily accepted…
Rep. Deqa Dhalac (D-South Portland) outside Shusha, Nagorno-Kabarakh
Substantial tariff hikes for goods from Canada, Mexico and China went into effect at midnight on Tuesday, and China has already reciprocated, as the threats underpinning U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policy reached their deadline on March 4. Canada and Mexico now have 25 percent tariffs imposed on their goods (though it’s only ten percent for Canadian energy), and the tariff on Chinese goods was increased on Monday from ten to 20 percent. Beijing has already retaliated with a 15 percent tariff on U.S. agricultural imports, early reports indicate. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged reciprocal tariffs on U.S.…
After his first full month in office, President Donald Trump can point to at least one key statistic to show he’s already delivering on a core campaign promise: attempted, illegal crossings of the United States’ southern border are down over 70 percent for the month of February, initial figures show. In light of such a dramatic drop — coming in tandem with substantially increased enforcement — if securing America’s borders has always been a priority, why hasn’t this happened sooner? Among the first executive orders President Trump signed on inauguration day, January 20, was a twelve-point policy directive stepping up…
With a turnout estimated at over 500 Mainers, demonstrators gathered outside the State House in Augusta on Saturday to show their support for protecting girls in school sports from transgender athletes unfairly impacting the playing field, protestors and speakers at the event said. “We will protect our girls and we will NOT back down!” Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith (R-Palermo) said, explaining “They are the ones who have pushed their agenda on us and we have struggled to be heard … they have belittled biological facts and they have declared war on our girls,” referring to Democrats in the…
Maine’s senior U.S. senator, Susan Collins (R), signed on to allocate a nominal amount of federal funds to a uniquely targeted program for domestic violence prevention training for cosmetologists. “No state, no community, and no family is immune to the horrors of domestic violence. In Maine, domestic violence has historically been involved in approximately half of annual homicides. That’s unacceptable,” said Sen. Collins. The bill, the Supporting the Abused by Learning Options to Navigate Survivor (SALONS) Stories Act sponsored by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), drew bipartisan support from Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.),…