Maine Things Considered

If you think it's cold outside where you are, consider the top of New Hampshire's Mount Washington, described as the "home of the world's worst weather." At the 6,200-foot summit, the mountain's weather observatory recorded a record low temperature for Dec. 28. "Early this morning we dropped to about 34 below (zero), which was a new daily record for the date, and then we gusted to 116 mph," says Tom Padham, a weather observer based there. "Wind chill values dropped to as low as 89 below (zero).

It's Thursday and time for Across the Aisle, our weekly roundtable on politics. This week, Cynthia Dill, an attorney who served in the Legislature as a Democrat; Dick Woodbury, an economist and former independent lawmaker; and Mike Cianchette, former chief counsel to Republican Gov. Paul LePage. They spoke with Keith Shortall.

Like most people, Jensen Bissell arrives for work each day hoping he can keep his boss happy. That’s not always easy, given that his boss has been dead for almost 50 years. Bissell plans to retire this week as director of Baxter State Park, named for the former Maine governor who was the moving force behind it and who ordered that it be kept “forever wild.” He says there are fewer and fewer people who actually knew Percival Baxter, one of the state’s greatest benefactors. “At some point,

A federal judge has ruled that President Donald Trump’s election fraud commission must share correspondence and other documents with one of its Democratic members, Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap.

Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling is offering what he calls a compromise in his latest showdown with other city officials, this time over committee assignments. Strimling says he is willing to back off his initial proposal to chair the budget-writing Finance Committee but would still appoint himself to sit on the panel, while also chairing the Health and Human Services Committee. Last week the rest of the nine-member city council united to oppose his initial plan to appoint himself chairman of the

Like a lot of states, Maine has a shortage of teachers. According to the U.S. Department of Education, schools are struggling to find people to fill positions ranging from librarians to Spanish teachers.

Advocates of Maine’s 40-year-old bottle deposit law are concerned about a proposal to lower the deposit on liquor bottles from 15 cents down to five cents. The lawmaker behind the bill says she’s simply trying to make the state law more consistant and fair. Earlier this year the Maine legislature imposed a nickel deposit on small, single serving containers of liquor, commonly known as nips. The new requirement came in response to growing concerns about litter, and reports of the empty 50

As Mainers start cleaning up all of the household waste generated during the holiday season, the state’s largest recycling facility is warning consumers about the dangers posed by lithium ion batteries, and offering tips for how to safely dispose of them.

Beginning this year, high school freshmen in Maine have to work toward a new kind of "proficiency-based" diploma. Under the new requirement, students must be "proficient" in a number of subjects by the time they reach their senior year. Reaching the standards is a tall order.

Its Thursday and time for Across the Aisle, our weekly roundtable on politics. This week, Cynthia Dill, an attorney who served in the Legislature as a Democrat; Dick Woodbury, an economist and former independent lawmaker; and Meredith Strang Burgess of Burgess Advertising and Marketing, who served at the State House as a Republican.

The Maine Department of Corrections says it’s taking steps to improve the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, after an independent audit recently found serious safety and other deficiencies at the juvenile correctional facility. DOC administrators say they are filling staff vacancies, hiring more mental health workers and undertaking a new initiative to treat kids with serious mental illness in the community. At some point last summer, Maine Gov. Paul LePage called the leaders

A new threat to New England’s shellfish industry seems to be establishing itself more firmly, and regulators are trying to stay ahead of potentially deadly blooms of toxic algae that may be driven by climate change.

Maine House Republican Leader Ken Fredette is proposing doubling the earned income tax credit that benefits low-income Mainers. Maine currently offers a state earned income tax credit equal to 5 percent of the federal tax credit. According to the most recent data available, from 2015, the cost of the credit to the state was more than $10 million. Fredette’s bill would double that, and pay for it with surplus federal funds. “Look for the money for the earned income tax credit coming out of

As you do your gift shopping this year, you may find yourself looking at board games — specifically hobby games, which are intended for an older, more strategically minded audience than, say, “Candyland.” Some might have predicted that the rise of video games would hurt board games, but hobby games, like “Settlers of Catan” and “Pandemic,” are growing — and one of the biggest new games comes from right here in Maine. Back in 2011, Tom Deschenes made a goal: to invent a board game. He’s a college

Maine law currently prohibits anyone from carrying a firearm onto school grounds, even by accident. But Rep. John Martin, a Democrat from Eagle Lake, is proposing a bill that would carve out an exemption to that law. In rural areas of the state, it’s not uncommon for someone to get up long before most people are out of bed to go deer hunting at dawn. Sometimes, they’ll return home, deer in tow, and pick up their kids to take them to school. If they forget to take their hunting rifle out of their