House Minority Leader Ken Fredette says the proposed April 18 target date doesn’t allow enough time to write market rules, and he and the governor want the moratorium to last until January 2019.
Penelope Overton
Staff Writer
Penny is excited to be the Portland Press Herald’s first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maine’s lobster and cannabis industries, covered state politics and spent a fellowship year exploring the impact of climate change on the lobster fishery with the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team. Before moving to Maine, she covered politics, environment, casino gambling and tribal issues in Florida, Connecticut and Arizona. Her favorite assignments allow her to introduce readers to unusual people, cultures, or subjects. When off the clock, Penny is usually getting lost in a new book at a local coffeehouse, watching foreign crime shows or planning her family’s next adventure.
Gulf of Maine lobster population past its peak, study says, and a big drop is due
Scientists say warming waters in the Gulf of Maine will lower lobster populations 40 to 62 percent over the next 30 years, but conservation measures the state adopted decades ago will mitigate the impact.
Necessity of damaging shutdown leaves Maine’s delegation divided
A short-term fix is OK with Republicans; the caucus across the aisle doesn’t want to kick the can again.
Dinosaurs extinct? Nah, they’re dancing the conga in Monument Square
About three dozen people donning T. rex costumes attend the planned event and catch the attention of more than 100 onlookers.
Legislative panels vote to extend ban on adult-use pot, delay medical rules
If approved by the Legislature and Gov. LePage, one bill would push recreational marijuana back till April 18 and the other would delay new medical cannabis rules by DHHS.
Two marijuana caregivers sue Maine agency in effort to block new regulations
Operators of a medical marijuana shop in Belfast allege that the rules will violate patient privacy and allow unconstitutional searches.
Maine attorney general joins push to let banks serve state-licensed pot businesses
Without access to traditional banking, marijuana businesses don’t have a place to deposit their money, increasing the risk of criminal activity and preventing the tracking of financial data.
Legalization panel makes concession, votes to delay social cannabis clubs until 2023
The move is intended to shore up political support for implementing recreational marijuana rules, but advocates say it ignores the will of Maine voters.
State health department chief says medical marijuana program is lacking
Health and Human Services Commissioner Ricker Hamilton says bills under consideration fall short of providing sufficient oversight and resources.
Lawmakers propose new panel to integrate Maine’s medical, recreational marijuana programs
An advisory commission would address one concern listed by Gov. Paul LePage when he vetoed a recreational pot regulation bill last fall, Republicans say.