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| 📷 Rena Newell, center, chief of the Passamaquoddy at Sipayik, watches as votes are tabulated in the Maine House of Representatives that sustained Gov. Janet Mills' veto of a bill that would have expanded tribal rights on July 6, 2023, in Augusta. (Portland Press Herald photo by Ben McCanna via AP) |
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🌅 Tribes honor a wide group of lawmakers after a political defeat.
◉ Not many Maine groups could get some of the Legislature's top Democrats and Republicans into one photo, but that is what the Wabanaki Alliance did on Thursday during an event in Freeport.
◉ A photo shared by Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, shows him, House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, as well as three Republicans, Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford, House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor and Rep. John Andrews, alongside tribal leaders.
◉ All of them aligned with tribes against Gov. Janet Mills, who vetoed the major tribal-rights bill considered by the Legislature in 2023 and flipped enough lawmakers last week to uphold it. But this coalition is a sign that the tribes have long-term political winds at their back, and they are nurturing the alliance.
🙏 Portland's mayor asks for help with rising numbers of asylum seekers.
◉ Portland Mayor Kate Snyder appeared Thursday on WGAN to tell conservative host Matt Gagnon that her city needs help from the state and federal governments to provide services to asylum seekers who have come to the city in rising numbers over the last few months.
◉ "We don't have the housing, we don't have the emergency shelter, we don't have the staff to support people with those needs," she said.
◉ It is a complex problem. Maine has generous benefits for asylum seekers relative to the rest of the national landscape, and these people cannot work for at least six months after arriving under federal law. It has led the city to shelter them at the Portland Expo, a temporary arrangement that led to criticism from some of the people staying there.
◉ Many have called on Mills to take a more active role. Her office did not indicate a position on a proposal to house asylum seekers at a Unity college that was ruled out by the school this week. Snyder has also suggested the Maine National Guard could be used to build housing, something the governor has not tipped her hand on yet. |
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What we're reading
⚖️ The first Mainer charged in the Capitol riots got seven years in prison.
😌 Marijuana money will bail out Maine's struggling veterans homes.
🔌 Electric rates are expected to rise through 2024 until solar subsidies ease.
🌀 Bangor councilors will wade through COVID aid requests after botching a poll.
📻 Federal funds look like the last hope for this Maine emergency radio upgrade.
🍷 You can actually get reservations at these great Maine restaurants this weekend. Here's your soundtrack. |
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