Randy Billings is a government watchdog and political reporter who has been the State House bureau chief since 2021. He was named the Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2020. He joined the Press Herald in 2012 as the Portland City Hall reporter, where his beat touched on a wide range of topics, including municipal government, immigration, homelessness, housing and social services. Prior to that, he worked at various weeklies as well as business and arts publications. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine, Orono. He lives in North Yarmouth with his wife and two children and enjoys the outdoors and playing his upright bass.
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PublishedAugust 7, 2017
Error by City Clerk’s Office will keep 2 housing initiatives off Portland’s November ballot
Officials didn’t allow enough time for a public hearing 90 days before the election, so votes on rent control and zoning changes can’t occur on Nov. 7, angering activists.
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PublishedAugust 4, 2017
Housing activists get enough signatures to prompt vote on limiting Portland rent increases
Fair Rent Portland will announce Monday that it has more than enough signatures to get its rent stabilization proposal on the November ballot.
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PublishedAugust 3, 2017
Progressive Portland gives $20,000 to 4-school renovation campaign
The contribution gives a major financial boost to the drive to pass a $64 million bond to refurbish Reiche, Lyseth, Longfellow and Presumpscot schools.
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PublishedAugust 3, 2017
Portland woman living in condemned building died of heart attack, medical examiner says
‘Maggie’ Peters, who had struggled with homelessness, was forced to live in shabby conditions after being evicted from her previous apartment so it could be renovated to allow higher rents.
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PublishedAugust 2, 2017
Portland to roll out recycling carts, replacing open bins
The 25,000 carts will be distributed over most of the month and are intended to cut down litter, a problem with the open-top blue bins.
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PublishedAugust 1, 2017
Strimling, city manager to meet weekly in effort to resolve differences
The first meeting of Portland’s feuding leaders is expected Aug. 14, and at City Manager Jon Jennings’ request, will include the deputy city manager.
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PublishedJuly 31, 2017
Councilors to Mayor Strimling: ‘You need to get it together’
Portland councilors’ effort to ease tension between the mayor and City Manager Jon Jennings makes little progress, and Jennings says he’ll resign if he has to give the mayor free access to city staffers.
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PublishedJuly 24, 2017
Portland council rezones farmland to make way for 95 homes
The developer plans to build on a former 45-acre farm while preserving 25 acres of open space for public use.
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PublishedJuly 24, 2017
More tensions surface between Portland mayor, councilors
Council members say Ethan Strimling’s request for a housing policy referral was made for political, rather than practical, purposes.
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PublishedJuly 24, 2017
Wharf Street’s days as bar scene epicenter may be numbered
As the cobblestone former back alley continues to evolve, upscale bars and restaurants are replacing nightclubs and taverns.
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