Robbie Feinberg

Businesses want to restrict the minimum wage ordinance so it only applies when the city of Portland declares an emergency.

For Central Maine Power customers, bills will rise by 12.5% beginning July 1, which equates to about $15.50 per month for the average residential customer.

Advocates say the changes will help to reduce bird strikes and mortality throughout the city. Christine Maher, a biology professor at the University of Southern Maine, said a group of volunteers has monitored for dead and stunned birds along a loop in the city's Old Port over the past four years. Maher said the strikes were largely clustered near a small number of buildings.

Maine Sen. Angus King said he had, "never seen a stronger candidate for a judicial position." But Republicans were critical of sentences handed down in certain cases.

Maine Superior Court Justice Julia Lipez defended her sentencing record at a hearing before the U.S. Senate's Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

The two-year pilot program, which goes into effect this month, is one of several childcare initiatives included in a state budget deal last year.

Under a policy passed last month, sixth through twelfth grade students will be required to lock their phone or smart watch into a magnetic pouch for the entirety of the school day.

Regional School Unit 1, in Bath, has become the latest Maine school district to ban cellphones.

In addition to remediation, the 2022 agreement also requires Mallinckrodt US LLC, the former owner of the closed HoltraChem facility, to pay $20 million for various projects , including land conservation, a recreational boat launch facility in Orrington, and a fishway at the Frankfort Dam.

Scientists say many more alewives and blueback herring have made their way into Maine's waterways this year — a recovery they attribute to dam removals and habitat restoration.