The state’s public university system plans to award its first contract for an artificial intelligence platform to ChatGPT Edu, an OpenAI chatbot tool for higher…
#MaineMonitor
As more people in Maine and New England buy heat pumps and electric vehicles, power grid operator ISO New England expects electricity use in the region to grow by about…
More than 400 Christian Mainers gathered in and around a large tent erected in the shadow of the Maine State Capitol in Augusta last week, braving the mud with camp…
Mainers decided to begin using ranked-choice voting in elections for the state Legislature, governor and federal offices all the way back in November of 2016 — the…
Graham Platner’s since-deleted Reddit comments became a flashpoint during his Democratic primary campaign against Gov. Janet Mills for U.S. Senate, but they didn…
Washington County farmers face mounting economic uncertainty, but they will not see a proposal for relief funds on the November ballot.
Lawmakers made several…
A quarter of rural voters in U.S. Senate battleground states said they are more likely to make voting decisions based on their faith than on their finances, according…
After Maine’s red flag law was passed via ballot referendum last fall, advocates expressed hope that the law would expand pathways for family members to get dangerous…
In 2022, the Maine Legislature took a rare step and required municipalities to adjust local zoning rules in an effort to spur housing construction, a move that…
Nearly four dozen water systems that provide drinking water across Maine would be at risk of violating new limits on “forever chemicals” if the state began…
Maine lawmakers passed the nation’s first statewide ban on large data centers Tuesday in what they say is an attempt to buy time and study how the power-hungry…
AUGUSTA — The Maine Library Commission met Monday for the first of two special meetings to begin drafting new public library standards.
The meeting, which the…
Maine has spent just over a third of the opioid settlement funds it has received during the past four years, according to new data released this week by the Maine…
A tax generated by property sales helps power Maine’s various affordable housing initiatives, including a program that assists first-time home buyers and another to…
MACHIAS — Farm owners and land stewards in Washington County will have to wait to see whether a $45 million funding package is coming their way after state legislators…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights …
Last year, a federal government decision to eliminate grant funding for counselors, social workers and other mental health professionals left some Maine schools without…
As religious tensions rise, synagogues and other houses of worship in Maine look to beef up security
It’s been seven years since Scott Nussinow became the chair of a new safety and security committee at Temple Shalom, a Jewish synagogue in Auburn, and started thinking…
When the town of Brooks first envisioned the brick school near its crossroads in the 1930s, it was designed to hold up to 350 students. By the time the town voted to…
Steven Michaud stepped down on March 1 as president of the Maine Hospital Association after serving 26 years as the state’s top lobbyist for hospitals and after being…
Maine and New England must choose between two divergent paths for how to generate electricity in the coming years, according to two noteworthy reports released this…
In Raymond Elementary School’s pre-kindergarten classroom, boys and girls huddled together on a rug with their teacher to learn a foundational skill for reading and…
AUGUSTA — The Maine Library Commission reviewed a draft rule last week that would impose new requirements on the state’s libraries, including annual training for…
Ten wetland restoration projects will receive $4.6 million from the Maine Natural Resource Conservation Program, including funding for a project in Acadia National Park…
Local governments spent $3 million in opioid settlement funds last year on projects ranging from addiction treatment in jails to prevention workshops in schools,…
Lawmakers are considering two bills that attempt to increase access to dental care in Maine by studying ways to establish specialist residency programs in the state and…
AUGUSTA — A bill originally written to offer bankruptcy protections for towns and counties in Maine has evolved into a proposal requiring county governments to file…
As Maine grapples with how to pay to fix roads, piers and other infrastructure damaged by severe storms that are increasing as the climate changes, lawmakers are…
Republicans are trying their best to tie Democrats to fraud this election cycle.
President Donald Trump has spent months hammering Minnesota for its handling of…
In the wake of a lengthy cold snap that caused natural gas prices to spike to their highest level ever across New England, Maine policymakers met this past week to…
As Maine is grappling with its first case of measles since 2019, lawmakers last week considered two bills that would increase access to vaccines by expanding the…
A combination of deep freezes and control measures have knocked back some prominent Maine forest pests and diseases over the past couple of years, providing relief to…
AUGUSTA — A bill that would let Maine towns and counties seek bankruptcy protection received little support at a legislative hearing last week.
…
Democratic candidates in Maine came out strongly against Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s new surge in the state, bringing deportation efforts to the forefront in…
One in five long-term nursing home residents in Maine are still receiving antipsychotic medication, despite statewide efforts to reduce reliance on these medications,…
Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine is frustrated the Department of Homeland Security is ignoring her requests for more information on its deportation surge in her state.…
Maine’s new red flag law, which was approved by voters in November, is set to take effect next month, offering a new way to temporarily remove guns from people who…
National wildlife refuges have played an important role in American conservation efforts for over a century.
Late last month, as many people were winding…
AUGUSTA — On Monday the Maine Library Commission voted unanimously to start a lengthy rulemaking process that will set new standards for public libraries.
The…
Three of Maine’s public universities received failing grades in 2023 for one of the most critical things they do: prepare future educators to teach kids how to read.…
The Maine Legislature kicked many major funding decisions down the road during the first half of the 132nd legislative session, bills related to the environment…
There will be many debates about health care during the upcoming legislative session, which begins on Jan. 7.
I spoke to six health organizations about their top…
The Maine Library Commission has dropped its request that the state’s public libraries sign an agreement requiring them to have paid directors and minimum hours to…
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has worked to dismiss the growing body of research showing that the artificial intelligence boom in the U.S. is …
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection recently issued a letter of warning designed to recoup wetlands protections lost in a regulatory oversight more than 20…
John and Christine Callahan were a little skeptical when they first heard that state incentives for a heat pump could cut down the heating bill for their single-wide…
Analysis
In the depths of the pandemic, my mom called me about an online happiness course she was taking. She told me about the simple ways she was learning to increase the…
Over the past five years, the attorney general’s office, with Aaron Frey at the helm, has secured for Maine more than $260 million in settlements with major…
Washington County used to complete its audits in less than a year. But in 2020, county officials grew frustrated as they realized their auditor was taking much longer…
