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| 📷 Pat Kosalka, left, and Mary Anne Courbron celebrate as Gov. Janet Mills arrives at her first inauguration ceremony on Jan. 2, 2019. (AP photo by Robert F. Bukaty) |
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🎤 Here are the inaugural program highlights and how to watch.
◉ The governor is showcasing Maine artists tonight Poet Laureate Julia Bouwsma and Bethel poet Richard Blanco, who read at the 2012 inauguration of former President Barack Obama, will read original works.
◉ Musical performances will come from folk singer Dave Mallett, the Pihcintu Multi National Girls Choir of Portland, the Sockalexis Family Singers of the Penobscot Nation and the Franklin County Fiddlers of Mt. Blue High School in Mills' hometown of Farmington.
◉ The governor will be sworn in by Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash. Mills' office did not answer a Tuesday question about which former governors were invited to the ceremony. In 2019, outgoing Gov. Paul LePage immediately decamped to Florida and did not attend his rival's celebration.
◉ Maine Public's TV and online coverage of the inauguration begins at 6 p.m., while public radio picks it up from the Augusta Civic Center at 6:30 p.m. The BDN will also stream the ceremony on its website and Facebook.
🔐 A Republican leader was a notable guest at a tribal gathering.
◉ House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, joined top legislatie Democrats at a Tuesday gathering in Augusta held by the Wabanaki Alliance that was designed to preview the next steps in a tribal sovereignty effort ahead of Mills' inauguration, Maine Public noted.
◉ "When I hear things like equality, self reliance, sovereignty, those are words that speak to the values of what it means to me to be a Republican," said Faulkingham, who was at a recent meeting between tribal leaders and lawmakers.
◉ Republicans have typically aligned with Mills in being skeptical of a wide sovereignty push set aside last year in favor of a more limited compromise with the governor on sports betting and tax relief. Faulkingham has already split with Stewart and Senate Republicans by backing the heating aid bill from the start and he may be signaling a different tack here as well. |
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What we're reading
🚬 Rural lawmakers are most skeptical of a new effort to ban flavored tobacco.
❓ The U.S. House adjourned without a speaker on Wednesday after Republican Kevin McCarthy failed to win majorities in three separate votes.
📌 Recent cuts show how one of Maine's biggest health providers is facing financial headwinds in the wake of the pandemic. An Augusta hospital is also outsourcing records transcription, eliminating 28 positions.
🗽 Here's what we know about the Maine teen charged in a New York City machete attack. |
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