Press Herald - Members of Maine’s fishing community are calling on President Donald Trump to change policies they say are harming the state’s lobstermen. “The Maine lobster fishery has, unfortunately, been no stranger to federal regulatory abuse,” Patrice McCarron, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, wrote in a recent letter to Trump. “MLA welcomes the policy changes.”
Since passing an executive order in April to support the U.S. seafood industry, Trump has been signaling that he intends to change commercial fishing and lobstering regulations in New England. It’s unclear, though, exactly what Trump wants to address and whether any of those rules could change things for Maine fishermen. In public remarks and social media posts, the president has conflated issues about two unrelated fishing areas in the region, at times sharing inaccurate information.
Maine Beacon - On a rainy Tuesday morning in early May, Daphne Russell, a community paramedic with United Ambulance Service, knocks on the door of a home in Lewiston. She’s there, as she is each Tuesday, to check on one of her patients: monitoring vitals and sorting through medications.
The visit is a part of a United’s community paramedicine program, in which staff provide free, in-home primary care to patients who have been referred by hospitals or primary care providers, in an effort to reduce hospitalizations and decrease the number of ambulance rides and emergency department visits.
But Russell’s visits with such patients are at risk after the federal government abruptly terminated $1 million in grants to community paramedicine programs in Maine. The latest round of the grants was awarded earlier this year to 10 community paramedicine outfits around the state; each agency was eligible for up to $100,000. The federal government said it was ending the funding because the pandemic is over.
Maine may legalize more forms of online gambling
News Center Maine - The Maine State Library has resumed some of the services Tuesday that were unavailable for more than a month while the agency worked to restructure its operations due to federal funding cuts.
On April 9, the state library issued a news release announcing a temporary closure after the loss of federal funding forced them to need to restructure operations. The library also said at the time that it issued layoff notices for 13 of its employees, as a direct result of the funding loss.
According to the news release, those positions were funded through a program grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which provided more than $1.5 million to the state service in fiscal year 2024 and amounts to roughly 30 percent of the library's annual budget.
Press Herald - The 66th Pan Atlantic Omnibus Poll, which represents a snapshot in time, shows all four members of the state’s congressional delegation with positive approval ratings — meaning more respondents approve than disapprove of their performance — while Musk and Trump were under water at -19% and -9% respectively.
How a former lawmaker grew weed with alleged Chinese crime groups in rural Maine
Press Herald - Northern Light Health said that negotiations have stalled on a new contract with Anthem insurance. How does this affect you? If they do not reach an agreement before the contract expires on Sept.30, Anthem plans would be considered out-of-network for Northern Light health care providers and hospitals, affecting thousands of patients statewide. About 370,000 people in Maine have Anthem insurance.
Press Herald - Gov. Janet Mills has signed a new law creating an annual “day to remember” honoring democracy on the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. The law, signed Thursday, will require the governor to issue a proclamation each year on the date “honoring the resilience of democracy” and encouraging people to use the day to reflect “on the values of democracy, civic responsibility and the importance of protecting constitutional governance.”
The annual proclamation would also encourage educational institutions and libraries to observe the day with discussions, events and programming to educate people about the importance of civic engagement and the rule of law.
Press Herald - Gov. Janet Mills used her weekly radio address to warn about the impacts a federal budget bill would have on Maine residents. The legislation, which congressional Republicans call the “one big beautiful bill,” includes budget cuts to Medicaid that could result in thousands of Maine people losing access, according to Mills.
If passed, it would introduce sweeping changes to Medicaid infrastructure such as cutting federal funding and limiting the ability of undocumented immigrants and low income Americans to access health care coverage. “Fewer people will have access to health insurance, and as a consequence, they may well put off going to the doctor until it’s too late,” Mills warned during the address. “Hospitals, nursing homes, health care providers, especially in the rural counties, could end up taking on the cost of caring for people who don’t have health insurance.”