Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025

Quote of the Day

"They had to have reached a point where a lot of people were like, 'Congress is never going to fix this,' And then very rapidly, in one year's time and in the 11th hour of a Congress that’s about to essentially expire, it just suddenly gets done."

— U.S. Rep. Jared Golden on the passage of the Social Security Fairness Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law on Sunday.

Today’s Top Maine Stories

Look inside the long Social Security fight for Maine’s public workers. The Social Security Fairness Act, which was signed into law on Sunday, was not passed as a result of a backroom deal or dramatic compromise.

Two Christian schools say they shouldn’t have to follow Maine’s anti-discrimination law. The schools separately sued the state in 2023, claiming that recognizing gender nonbinary students would violate their freedom of religion.

Janet Mills implored lawmakers to quickly close Maine's $118M Medicaid shortfall. The Democratic governor is going to offer a budget adjustment that uses projected revenue to cover health care cost overruns.

News from Around the State

• Temporary housing for homeless proposed in Belfast church

• Bangor Savings Bank gets approval to expand waterfront campus

• Ellsworth council votes to build road to new courthouse site

• Bangor is getting another Dollar General

• Suspect in Edgecomb killing found on a boat in California

• Longtime BDN journalist Kent Ward dies at 93

• Maine officer seriously injured in collision has been identified

• Janet Mills wants to ensure Maine is ready for the next big storm

• Stockton Springs appoints temporary town manager

• Lobstering union reaches $5M settlement with former CEO

• Maine’s right-to-repair law is now in effect

• More officials protest Maine’s plan to dock ferries on mainland

Maine in Pictures

Kyle Jacques of Gorham caught this 21 3/4-inch brook trout in Moosehead Lake Saturday. It was the biggest brookie he has caught. Credit: Bryant Jacques / Courtesy of Kyle Jacques

Maine town of the week

MADAWASKA: Few border towns in Maine are as intertwined with its neighboring town in Canada as Madawaska. Though an international border and the Saint John River separate them, Madawaska and Edmundston, New Brunswick share countless economic and cultural ties. Not only does Twin Rivers ship pulpwood processed in Edmundston to be turned into paper in Madawaska, families on both sides of the border maintain close connections and, in many cases, share the same language, French.

From the Opinion Pages

Life in Maine

These are some of the oldest continually operating businesses in Bangor. Some of the shops and bars you frequent, the institutions you bank with and even the publication you're reading right now were in Maine before cars, electricity and telephones.

Rare American geese might be a good fit for your homestead. All three American breeds are generally friendly; they forage for food, and have even been used to weed gardens.

Maine's largest ice fishing derby is on track for its 20th year. Freezing temperatures over the past week have added 3 to 4 inches to the existing ice ahead of the derby on Jan. 25 and 26.

This fall marks the final year of Maine's adaptive moose hunt, a five-year experiment meant to reduce the winter tick population. So, how did it work, and what happens next?

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