Press Herald - The University of Maine is planning budget cuts, staff reductions and a tuition increase, according to documents made public Friday, as the school aims to address an expected $18 million shortfall next year. ...In a letter this month, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy described this year as “the most difficult” budget process since she became president in 2018.
University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy photographed in October 2024. (Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer)
Now, the school is proposing a budget that includes $5.6 million in permanent budget cuts and $5.7 million in one-time cuts, according to a slideshow that will be presented at the university’s budget committee meeting next week. Fewer than 10 staff positions will be eliminated, which Ferinni-Mundy said this month was achieved “without faculty retrenchments.”
The university also plans to increase tuition across the board. In-state tuition is expected to rise 3.9% to $13,230, and out-of-state tuition 4% to $38,340. The school notes that those rates are still less expensive than other land-grant colleges in New England.
Troy Jackson (candidate for Governor) -I grew up in Aroostook County, a poor kid in a town full of poor kids. My dad was a logger, like his dad and his dad before him. After my parents split up, he'd sometimes bring me into the woods with him. He wasn't trying to teach me the trade, he just wanted time with his kid.
There's one day I think about more than any other: I was around eleven, and the loggers were on strike — not for a raise, just to hold onto the wages they already had.
At first everyone was joking around, passing the time. Then the landowner showed up, and everything changed in seconds.
He told them: do the work for what I'll pay you today, or I’ll replace you tomorrow.
I didn't understand all the issues at hand, but I understood how wrong it felt to watch a rich man with power that knew how to use it.
It took me about twenty years to truly understand what my dad must have felt that day. By then I had a family of my own. I was logging, driving hours every day chasing jobs, missing time with my kids, worrying about money and my family every single night.
One night on the road it all hit me at once: the stress, the anger, the feeling that no matter how hard you work, someone else still controls your fate and your family’s future.
I thought: no parent should have to lose their dignity just to make ends meet.
A couple years later I was part of a big labor fight of my own — blocking the border to stand up to landowners cutting our wages — and a couple years after that, I ran for the legislature, because I believed that someone who grew up like I did needed to be in the room when decisions got made.
I spent twenty years there, six as Senate President. We did a lot of good work: Free school meals for every kid. Real investments in housing, child care, and education. Some of the strongest reproductive health protections anywhere in the country.
But there were real frustrations, too. Time and time again I saw legislation that would be a gamechanger for working families get watered down, killed, or vetoed. Powerful people marched in and dictated what we would do. It wasn’t so different from what I saw as a kid in the woods with my Dad.
I'm tired of watching working families get squeezed while the wealthiest keep getting more.
That's why I'm running for governor. For the workers who've been told they're replaceable, for the families who do everything right and still fall behind, and for that eleven-year-old boy who learned early what it looks like when people with power don't care about the people doing the work.
Prress Herald - A $200 billion funding request from the Trump administration to continue operations in Iran — launched in February with joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes — is higher than expected, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said. Collins, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, told reporters in Washington, D.C., that the request made by the Pentagon to fund the ongoing conflict “is considerably higher than I would have guessed.”
Portland officials are facing growing backlash over plans to host a Turning Point USA Faith gathering at the Portland Expo in May, but are defending their decision — as of now — to allow the event to proceed. Critics argue the city was intentionally misled by Calvary Chapel Greater Portland, which secured the venue under the guise of a local outreach event before it turned into a stop on the group’s “Make Heaven Crowded” tour
Court-appointed lawyers will be paid on time after Gov. Janet Mills signed an emergency bill into law, giving $21 million to the Maine Commission on Public Defense Services. The commission had previously warned that it would run out of money later this month to reimburse private attorneys representing low-income criminal defendants and parents who risk losing custody of their children to the state.
Wolfe's Neck Center - For a limited time, when you book 5 nights in ourCove Cabin, you’ll receive 2 additional nights free. That’s a full week to enjoy the coast, take part in a hands-on class, stop by the dairy barn and explore the trails around campus at your own pace. Cove Cabin offers a comfortable, laid-back retreat with a galley-style kitchen, open living and dining space, and room for everyone. The downstairs bedroom includes a queen bed and bunk beds, while a sleeping loft above provides two additional twin beds, making it an easy fit for families or small groups. Offer ends March 23. Valid for stays enjoyed any time during the 2026 season. To book - (207) 865-9307
Maine Morning Star-"Apartment
owners shouldn’t be dragged into the middle of the fight between the Fed and
the state over immigration. That’s not the job of apartment owners, and they
don’t have the expertise to figure out who’s right and who’s wrong." – Dan
Bernierwith the Central Maine Apartment Owners Association, on
legislation
Mills for Maine - Governor Mills has a record of stepping up and delivering for Mainers. On day one as Governor, Janet Mills expanded health care to more than 100,000 Maine people. She has fought for education, fully-funded schools for the first time in Maine history, guaranteed access to free school meals and made community college free for all Maine students. While Senator Collin's pivotal vote for Brett Kavanaugh stripped reproductive healthcare away from 1/3 of all American women, Governor Mill's was committed to expanding reproductive care across the state. And as Trump's tariffs push housing prices even higher, Governor Mills has made the biggest investment in housing in Maine history.
