Carol Bousquet

5 days ago | mainepublic.org | Carol Bousquet

Advocates for older Mainers say they're concerned about the loss of future federal funding for Meals on Wheels and other programs. Congress has yet to reauthorize funding for the Older Americans Act, which provides about $6 million a year to Maine. Southern Maine Agency on Aging CEO Megan Walton said that funding has remained flat for a decade. "52% of older single Mainers cannot afford their basic needs," Walton said.

1 week ago | mainepublic.org | Carol Bousquet

The Department of Public Safety is mourning the loss of its first comfort dog, Baxter. Officials said Baxter died on Wednesday afternoon when the state vehicle he was in stopped running, shutting down the air conditioning. Baxter, a 3-year-old chocolate lab, joined the Maine Bureau of Emergency Communications in 2022. He was at the Bangor Regional Communications Center when he died. Baxter’s mission was to comfort first-line responders in Maine’s three emergency communication centers.

1 week ago | mainepublic.org | Carol Bousquet

Maine's new license plates featuring the pine tree and North Star are being manufactured by a Canadian company, because state officials say the job is too big for the Maine State Prison production facility. Waldale Manufacturing Limited of Nova Scotia was chosen to stamp the two million license plates to be distributed across Maine by July of next year. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said registrants should get their new plates when it's time to re-register.

1 week ago | mainepublic.org | Ari Snider |Carol Bousquet

A federal judge is blocking the government — for now — from deporting a Maine resident who says he'd been held unlawfully by ICE at the Cumberland County Jail since September. On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine filed a petition asking a judge to release Eyidi Ambila, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who has been in ICE custody for eight months since completing a sentence for two misdemeanor charges.

1 week ago | mainepublic.org | Carol Bousquet

The Maine Forest Service is reporting new Emerald Ash Borer infestations in more than 30 municipalities this spring. State Horticulturist Gary Fish said the infestations on Mount Desert Island and Belfast suggest they were brought in via infected firewood by campers. Fish urges property owners to look for certain signs.