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2 days ago | 
newscentermaine.com | Rya Wooten
AUGUSTA, Maine — Organizers from Homeless Voices for Justice held a silent demonstration Wednesday outside the State House to raise awareness of the continuing homelessness crisis in Maine after the only emergency shelter in York County closed last week. The York County Shelter, managed by the nonprofit York County Shelter Program, was forced to close because of funding issues, displacing 37 people. The shelter had been operating for 45 years.
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4 days ago | 
newscentermaine.com | Rya Wooten
GORHAM, Maine — Childcare centers nationwide, including some in Maine, closed their doors Monday in observance of "A Day Without Childcare." Many childcare providers participated to show state and local legislators and communities how essential childcare is. Seedlings to Sunflower's executive director and founder, Meghann Carrasco, said the childcare and early childhood learning profession faces several challenges right now.
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6 days ago | 
newscentermaine.com | Rya Wooten
PORTLAND, Maine — Students from the nonprofit Portland Odyssey Club are preparing compete on the world stage against more than 800 teams for the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals competition. Three teams from Portland Odyssey Club and 10 other teams from Maine will travel to Michigan from May 21-24 for the event. All 13 teams from Maine competed against 77 other state teams at the Odyssey of the Mind state competition back in April.
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1 week ago | 
newscentermaine.com | Rya Wooten
YORK COUNTY, Maine — York County Shelter Program was forced to abruptly close its emergency shelter program Friday, citing an inability to continue funding the shelter. The majority of the people who were living at the shelter have been settled in other housing, and the board directors said others were able to move in with friends or family.
Kelli Deveaux is secretary of the nonprofit's board of directors, which is made up of volunteers.
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1 week ago | 
newscentermaine.com | Rya Wooten
AUGUSTA, Maine — State legislators are fine-tuning several gun law proposals before they are introduced in the House and Senate for votes.
Democratic Sen. Anne Carney proposed legislation that would redefine machine guns and further regulate gun attachments. Owning a machine gun in Maine is legal, but Carney said she wants to implement new restrictions on those weapons with .
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1 week ago | 
newscentermaine.com | Rya Wooten
PORTLAND, Maine — U.S. Border Patrol said it arrested 39 people in Maine after the federal law enforcement agency conducted a 10-day immigration enforcement operation.
The federal agency claimed all of the people they took into custody were undocumented immigrants. Border Patrol first shared the information Friday, but details about who those 39 people are, the charges they face, and what happens next were not included in the press release.
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2 weeks ago | 
newscentermaine.com | Rya Wooten
AUGUSTA, Maine — Lawmakers across the country are pushing for identification to be required when voters show up at the polls.
A new bill proposed in Maine, LD 1149, would require voters to show proof of ID when whether in person or by absentee ballot.
Currently, showing ID is only required when registering to vote.
Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby is a supporter of the bill and believes voter ID laws will strengthen elections.
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2 weeks ago | 
newscentermaine.com | Rya Wooten
PORTLAND, Maine — May Day marches in Portland started at the University of Southern Maine Thursday, with protestors making their way into downtown Portland. May Day is meant to honor labor, but activists in Maine and across the U.S. said much of their message Thursday was about fighting back against President Donald Trump's policies.
People participating in the May Day march in Portland said they showed up in large numbers to stand in solidarity against Trump and his administration.
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2 weeks ago | 
newscentermaine.com | Rya Wooten
BIDDEFORD, Maine — As Maine schools serve more children from low-income families and students who are experiencing homelessness, there is more of a struggle to keep up with the rising cost associated with meeting students' needs. Mayors across the state, like Biddeford's Mayor Marty Grohman, are working to get as many state lawmakers as they can to support two bills before the Legislature right now.
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2 weeks ago | 
newscentermaine.com | Rya Wooten
AUGUSTA, Maine — There's no one size fits all solution to homelessness, but Biddeford Mayor Marty Grohman said he believes he and local service providers have found a system that works after housing more than 40 unhoused individuals since November through a partnership with the local nonprofit organization Seeds of Hope.
Last July, when a major encampment in the city was cleared, the City of Biddeford partnered with Seeds of Hope, opening a temporary overnight shelter.
