Pingree, Sussman seeking a divorce
PORTLAND (AP) — U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree and husband Donald Sussman, a Maine power couple, are seeking a divorce after four years of marriage.
Pingree announced Tuesday that the two are separated and plan to divorce.
“It is a very amicable and truly mutual decision. It is sad for both of us but we continue to have the utmost respect for each other,” she said in a statement.
Pingree, 60, said she’ll have nothing further to say.
Pingree and the 69-yearold hedge fund manager and philanthropist married in June 2011 in a private ceremony at the couple’s North Haven home off the Maine coast. A year later, Sussman rescued the Portland Press Herald and sister newspapers before selling them this year. He’s also a major Democratic donor, funneling millions of dollars to candidates and political action committees.
Before their marriage, the topic of Pingree’s engagement made a splash when it emerged that she’d been flying on a private jet owned by Sussman. The House ethics committee ruled that the flights were permitted because they were engaged.
Because of the pending divorce, Pingree, a Democrat, no longer will be required to list Sussman’s financial information on her disclosure forms. She was issued a 30-day grace period after the Aug. 13 due date for her latest filing, and the report was filed Tuesday. She used the time to tell family and friends about the change in marital status.
First female president of Maine Senate dies
AUGUSTA (AP) — Beverly Daggett of Augusta, a former legislator who was the first woman to serve as Maine Senate president, has died. She was 69.
The Knowlton and Hewins Funeral Home in Augusta confirmed Daggett died Sunday in Lewiston.
Daggett was first elected to the Maine Senate in 1996 after serving five terms representing Augusta in the House of Representatives. She was the Senate Democratic leader during the 120th Maine Legislature, working closely with both parties to set a power-sharing agreement that resulted in the Senate’s first-ever partisan tie.
House Speaker Mark Eves said in a statement that “her bipartisan leadership and steadfast service to her community inspired so many of us.”
Daggett also served as a Kennebec County commissioner.
A funeral service was being scheduled for next month.
BMV discontinues two mobile units
AUGUSTA (AP) — The Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles is discontinuing its mobile units in Wiscasset and York as part of a realignment of services.
The BMV’s mobile units consist of two staff members who travel monthly to 22 sites around Maine that don’t have a bureau office. The units can process driver’s licenses and identification cards.
The mobile unit visits Wiscasset on the second Thursday of the month in the Wiscasset Municipal Building. The final visit will be Thursday. The mobile visits to York were discontinued Aug. 20.
The BMV will continue to serve customers at its 13 branch offices, and at the remaining 22 mobile unit sites. In Wiscasset, customers can visit nearby BMV offices in Topsham, Augusta or Rockland. In York, customers can visit offices in Kennebunk or Springvale.
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