ELLSWORTH

Webcam records two chicks in Down East eagle’s nest

A webcam that’s focusing on a bald eagle nest in Maine’s Hancock County has recorded two chicks in the nest.

The Down East camera is one of two eagle cams maintained by the Biodiversity Research Institute and sponsored by Brookfield Renewable Energy Group, providing an intimate view of eagles.

Patrick Keenan, outreach director of the Biodiversity Research Institute, says the organization hopes to spur interest in eagles, which have 500 nests in Maine. The cameras provide live 24-hour Internet streaming of two different eagle nests.

They can be viewed at www.briloon.org.

AUGUSTA

Increase in minimum wage will kill jobs, governor says

Gov. Paul LePage is calling the minimum wage bill that awaits final disposition a job killer.

In his weekly radio address, the Republican governor said the bill to raise Maine’s minimum wage to $9 an hour by 2016 and then automatically adjust it for inflation each year after that has a cost. To absorb the cost of higher wages, LePage said, businesses will hire fewer workers and increase prices on their products and services. And he said consumers will pay that cost.

The governor said raising the minimum wage will take jobs away from students trying to save money for college and senior citizens on fixed incomes.

Democrats who support the minimum wage increase say the current minimum, $7.50 an hour, hasn’t changed since 2009 and has not kept up with rising prices.

Law exempts new veterans from driver’s license, ID fees

A newly signed Maine law will exempt newly discharged members of the armed forces from driver’s license fees and non-driver state identification fees.

Gov. Paul LePage signed the bill Wednesday, and it will take effect 90 days after the close of this year’s legislative session.

The law will make the offer of no fees good for 180 days after discharge from the military.

– From news service reports

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