Maine Senate Democratic Campaign Committee - Susan Collins just voted against paying TSA agents? Once again, she sided with Donald Trump by blocking a measure that would have funded TSA during the DHS shutdown.
Now airports across the country have descended into absolute chaos: lines going out the door, hundreds of TSA agents quitting, and security risks rising. Even worse? Trump has now sent untrained, unqualified ICE agents to invade our airports. Susan Collins and Donald Trump would rather make airports less safe than pay TSA workers and fix these long lines
NBC News - Gov. Janet Mills and oyster farmer Graham Platner are battling over female voters as Maine’s critical Senate race heats up, underscoring how the group could be decisive both in the June Democratic primary and the November general election.
Mills and Platner in recent days have launched TV ads narrated by women and held dueling events highlighting women who are backing their campaigns. Platner’s campaign has also been heavily targeting women with ads online: 80% of its spending on ads on Google this year has targeted only female voters, according to the platform’s ad tracker.
The latest missive came Thursday as Mills released another TV ad targeting Platner over online posts in 2013 in which he downplayed sexual assault. Platner, a combat veteran, has disavowed those posts and attributed them to his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder following his service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mills and Platner are vying to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins in the fall in a race that is a must-win for Democrats in their quest to net four seats and take control of the Senate. Collins has been able to survive in the blue-leaning state in part because of her appeal among female voters. During her last re-election race in 2020, she narrowly won female voters by 3 points, even as President Donald Trump lost them by 23 points, according to NBC News exit polling.
A new Emerson College poll of likely Democratic primary voters released yesterday found Platner leading Mills by nearly 30 points, with 13% of voters undecided. Platner had an 18-point advantage among women and a 41-point advantage among men.
Press Herald - Bath Iron Works and the Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association have reached a tentative agreement to end a five-day strike. The union will vote on the agreement Saturday morning at Brunswick High School, BIW spokesperson David Hench said in an email Friday evening.
In negotiations this week, the General Dynamics shipyard proposed a four-year contract with wage increases of 10.5% in the first year and 5% increases in the following years, according to a BIW spokesperson. At the end of four years, a union member could earn more than $95,000 annually. However, the rising costs of benefits like health insurance would cause union members to lose money, strike captain Maggie Luchetti said while on the picket line Thursday.
What is Replacing The Old Sears Store in Brunswick (wcyy.com)
Central Maine Power warns of aggressive scams
Shellie Bellows - My dad was a carpenter. My mom worked in a greenhouse before becoming a nurse. They taught me that if you want something, you work for it – no shortcuts, no excuses.
Jobs - Dunkin' posted a job opening for Team Member in Freeport. Apply here.
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. posted a job opening for AE - Stock Associate - Evening (Off-Hours) in Freeport. Apply here.
You can search for other jobs near Freeport here.
Troy Jackson - When I’m governor, any Maine family earning up to 125% of the state median income gets free childcare. For a family of four, that's about $145,000. Families earning above that threshold pay no more than 7% of their household income on childcare.
Press Herald - The average price of heating oil has risen more than 40% since the start of the war in Iran, state officials said Thursday. A gallon of heating oil averaged $5.40 statewide on Monday, according to the Maine Department of Energy Resources. That’s the highest price per gallon Maine has seen since November 2022, when the cost of oil shot up in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to state data.
Chebeague Island closing only store
Maine Morning Star - Carrying a sign that read “I love cows,” 4-year-old Booker Ballantyne stood among the dozens of farmers who gathered at the State House on Wednesday to urge lawmakers to put a $50 million agriculture bond on the ballot....In 2018, a storm destroyed several buildings on the farm, and the family was unable to secure financial support to rebuild. The bond proposal would allow farmers to access low-interest loans and other programs designed to help recover from those kinds of losses.
...The largest piece of the funding would go toward long-needed infrastructure improvements, through the Maine Agriculture, Food System and Forest Products Infrastructure Investment Fund. Rep. Bill Pluecker (I-Warren), who sponsored the bill, said at a January public hearing that LD 2094 is meant to combine stakeholder feedback with bond bills from last year proposed by himself and Sen. President Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland).
...The bill would allocate several million dollars to the Farmers Drought Relief Grant Program, a major investment following drought conditions last year. It also includes funding for the Maine Healthy Soils Program, the Maine Working Farmland Access and Protection Program and the Dairy Improvement Fund. The proposal needs the support of two-thirds of the Maine Legislature before it can be sent to voters.
Gov. Janet Mills, with support from community college leaders and students who have benefited, is pushing hard to make free tuition permanent. A cornerstone of her affordability agenda, the program has allowed more than 23,000 students to attend community college tuition-free since 2022. It's included in this year’s supplemental budget, along with language that would enshrine it in law in perpetuity.
