Alex Schley

1 week ago | foxbangor.com | Alex Schley

BANGOR — A lack of affordable housing is putting the brakes on Maine’s economy, according to economists and business leaders who gathered in Bangor on Tuesday for the state’s annual Economic Summit. The summit focused heavily on a key question: why are some people choosing to move to Maine — and why are others staying away? “Easily the largest reported genre was housing,” said Phoenix McLaughlin, the director of strategy implementation for Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development.

1 week ago | foxbangor.com | Alex Schley

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1 week ago | foxbangor.com | Alex Schley

AUGUSTA —At the State House Monday, folks lined the halls calling for lawmakers to fully fund “An Act to Improve Women’s Health and Economic Security by Funding Family Planning Services.”Olivia Pennington, the director of advocacy and community engagement at Maine Family Planning, says even though the bill was signed into law earlier this year, the legislature only allocated half of the resources organizations need to continue their work.

1 week ago | foxbangor.com | Alex Schley

AUGUSTA — Members from the auto industry came together in Augusta Monday to call on lawmakers to support Maine’s Right to Repair law. In November 2023, Maine voters overwhelmingly passed the Right to Repair law, which gives vehicle owners and independent repair shops access to the same diagnostic and repair information as dealerships. But advocates say a new bill in the legislature would contradict the law Mainers voted for.

2 weeks ago | foxbangor.com | Alex Schley

BANGOR — As Trump-era policies continue to limit the number of refugees entering the U.S., one Bangor-based church is focused on helping those already here through the power of education. The Nazarene Church in Bangor launched a program to help refugees overcome one of their biggest obstacles — the language barrier. “When we come to this country some people have spent ten, twenty years in refugee camps,” said Dieudonne Ruturwa, the program director. “They missed out.