The Maine Minute
Everything You Need to Know TodayMarch 30 2012
Portland Prepares for Obama Visit
President Barack Obama is set to land at the Portland International Jetport at 4 p.m. today when he will begin an itinerary that includes two fundraising events in Portland. He is scheduled to speak to a sold out crowd at the Southern Maine Community College this afternoon. Afterwards he will be escorted to the Portland Museum of Art for a 100-person dinner fundraiser. Donations made to attend the dinner ranged from $5000 — $30,000. Anyone traveling through Portland should be aware of street closings during the visit by POTUS.
Portland Press HeraldPosted at Fri, 03/30/2012 - 12:52pm.
March 26 2012
Maine is Most Rural State
So far the U.S. Census has informed Mainers they are the oldest and whitest state in the nation, and now they can lay claim to being the most rural as well. With a clear trend of populations moving towards urban area across the country, 61.3 percent of Maine's population has been classified as living in "Rural areas." Although the state's urban areas grew, it wasn't by enough to be more urban than Vermont's population, 61.1 percent of which is rural. According to the census 80 percent of the country's population now reside in urban areas and 98.83 percent of Maine's 33,125 square miles are considered rural.
Bangor Daily NewsPosted at Mon, 03/26/2012 - 3:06pm.
March 25 2012
Portland is Top Ten For Jobs
Using a national survey of employers Forbes put together a list of the top ten metropolitan areas for job hunting. Finding that Portland has a "net employment outlook" of 19 percent, the magazine included the entire Portland-South Portland-Biddeford area in its list. Maine's largest city was ranked sixth overall, which is a big step up for the state after being named worst state to do business in by a recent list from the magazine.
Portland Press HeraldPosted at Sun, 03/25/2012 - 1:21pm.
March 23 2012
Judge Favors LePage in Mural Lawsuit
A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of Gov. Paul LePage in a lawsuit over the governor's controversial removal of a Department of Labor mural.
The decision by U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock denied a trial of the lawsuit seeking to compel LePage to restore the mural to the walls of the Department of Labor building in Augusta.
“Having concluded that the state of Maine engaged in government speech when it commissioned and displayed the labor mural, it follows that Gov. LePage also engaged in government speech when he removed the mural,” Woodcock wrote in his ninety-page ruling. “The governor’s message — whether verbal or in the form of the expressive act of removal — is government speech.”
The 11-panel mural was created by Tremont artist Judy Taylor and hung in the lobby of the Department of Labor in 2008. It features women shipbuilders during World War II, the 1986 International Paper strike in Jay, child laborers, and part-time Maine resident Frances Perkins, who as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s labor secretary was integral to the creation of a minimum wage and Social Security.
LePage ordered he mural removed a year ago because he said it wasn’t in keeping with his pro-business agenda.
Bangor Daily NewsPosted at Fri, 03/23/2012 - 12:47pm.
Cash Mob Hits Portland Bookstore
Encouraged by a new Web site, nearly fifty people armed with $20 bills overwhelmed Longfellow Books in Portland with business Thursday night.
The “Buy Local” event was organized by Local Thunder, a Web marketing company and owner of the Web site www.gr8PortlandME.com, which features a directory Portland businesses, coupons for discounts at local stores, restaurant menus, and a calender of events. Businesses pay a fee to be featured on the Website.
“This puts more people in the store than all day today and all day yesterday,” Stuart Gersen, Longfellow Books co-owner, said.
Bangor Daily NewsPosted at Fri, 03/23/2012 - 12:26pm.
March 21 2012
Northport Man Receives Hero Medal
In December 2010 Jason W. Thurston of Northport, Maine rescued neighbor Nina Tyutyunnykk from a fire that engulfed her bedroom and threatened to take her life. Tyutyunnykk kept trying to return in order put out the flames, but Thurston repeatedly went in the house to save her. Thurston was treated at the emergency room for smoke inhalation but recovered.
For this act of bravery the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission awarded a Carnegie medal of heroism and a financial grant to Thurston. The fund was started by Andrew Carnegie after hearing tales of heroism from a mine disaster that killed 181 people. According to its Web site the fund's mission is "to recognize people who perform heroic acts in civilian life and to provide financial help to those disabled, or to the dependents of those killed, by their heroism."
Morning SentinelPosted at Wed, 03/21/2012 - 7:32am.
March 19 2012
Jackson Lab Expands to Ellsworth
The Jackson Laboratory, a nonprofit with a mission of discovering the genetic basis of preventing, treating and curing human diseases based out of Bar Harbor since 1929, is set to expand its operations to Ellsworth. Associated with 22 Nobel prizes, the company plans on purchasing a defunct Lowe's. The purchase of the 143,00 square-foot building signals that many added jobs will be available, although the exact number is not known.
“By setting up production, warehousing and administrative functions in the Ellsworth facility, the Laboratory will bring year-round jobs with good pay and excellent benefits to Ellsworth,” Charles Hewitt, Ph.D., Jackson's executive vice president said in a press release. “Some of these jobs will move from Bar Harbor, and some will be new. We won’t know the number of jobs until we can do some thorough, long-term planning. We continue to expect long-term employment growth at our Bar Harbor campus.”
Bangor Daily NewsPosted at Mon, 03/19/2012 - 3:21pm.
March 16 2012
Hollywood Slots Is Now Hollywood Casino
Bangor's Hollywood Casino, formerly Hollywood Slots, is now the first gambling operation in Maine to offer table games.
About fifty customers entered the casino when it opened its doors at 8 a.m. Friday, the Bangor Daily News reports.
Bangor Daily NewsPosted at Fri, 03/16/2012 - 3:52pm.
Maine Ranks 17 on Lottery 'Sucker' List
Mainers' lottery-playing habits have earned the state the seventeenth spot on the Bloomberg Rankings Sucker Index.
The Sucker Index is created with data from the U.S. Census and annual reports from state lottery commissions, the Bangor Daily News reports. The total dollar amount of prizes awarded was subtracted from ticket sales, and then the difference was divided by the total personal income of each state’s residents.
Georgia placed first on the Sucker Index. Massachusetts is second, and New York is third.
Bangor Daily NewsPosted at Fri, 03/16/2012 - 3:39pm.
The Mailboxes of Aroostook County
Aroostook County residents show great creativity when it comes to protecting their mailboxes from snowplows. "I continue to marvel at the variety of strategies they devise to protect their mailboxes from whatever might take them down," writes Kathryn Olmstead. Some of the more inventive mailboxes that Olmstead has seen: moveable mailboxes attached to old lawnmowers, canilevered mailboxes, and mailboxes encased in stone.
Read Olmstead's essay and watch a slideshow at the Bangor Daily News.
Bangor Daily NewsPosted at Fri, 03/16/2012 - 7:42am.
