PORTLAND (AP) — Portland International Jetport officials say a 20-year, $312 million upgrade would allow the Maine airport to accommodate almost 40 percent more passengers. The jetport plan includes new gates, more large airliners and more amenities for travelers. The Portland Press Herald reports a funding plan for the first pieces of the ambitious project […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — The Legislature has ended two months of political impasse and approved a bill package that brings Maine’s tax laws in line with recent changes to federal law and provides additional funding for local school districts. Gov. Paul LePage has said he supports the package. Lawmakers in the House and Senate on Wednesday […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — Lawmakers are split on a bill that would prevent landlords who accept federal Section 8 rent subsidies from banning guns in their apartments. Opponents say they are concerned that landlords would have to sacrifice their property rights to protect the 2nd Amendment rights of their Section 8 tenants. The Legislature’s Criminal Justice […]

AUGUSTA (AP) — Chief Justice Leigh Saufley says Maine’s growing heroin and opiate crisis requires sweeping reforms to Maine’s criminal justice system. Saufley on Wednesday in her annual address to the Legislature warned that the “relentless influx” of new criminal cases could overwhelm the court system. She said the number of sentences for serious drug […]

PORTLAND (AP) — U.S. Sens. Angus King and Rand Paul want to ease restrictions on small farms and ranches so they can more easily provide locally produced meat to consumers. King, a Maine Independent, and Paul, a Kentucky Republican, are introducing legislation to give states the ability to allow intrastate distribution of custom-slaughtered meat. Current […]

PORTLAND Producers in the U.S. “Maple Belt” say a mild winter has allowed them to tap trees early, but the harvest could be down from last year due to the early onset of spring warmth. Some producers in maplerich states such as Maine and New York tapped trees as early as January, atypical in an […]