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News and notes
— Planned Parenthood of Northern New England is planning an abortion-rights rally that will begin outside Portland City Hall at 5:15 p.m. on Friday.
— The state's high court upheld Maine's "yellow flag" law as constitutional in a Tuesday decision in a weapons restriction case in Cumberland County, also tossing out other charges related to the case, including prosecutorial misconduct.
— Politico's Playbook newsletter has some intrigue from Trump's late-October trip to Maine toward the end of the 2020 campaign. A filmmaker who was traveling with Trump that day says he was told the then-president was speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Air Force One between New Hampshire and Maine. If the call happened at that time, it would have been right after Putin broke with Trump to say he saw nothing criminal about Hunter Biden's business ties to Ukraine or Russia.
— A federal judge allowed a lawsuit led by a Fairfield couple alleging that paper manufacturers are responsible for PFAS contamination in their area to move forward on Thursday. U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Torresen ruled Thursday there was a "plausible conclusion" that the mills' disposal of waste contributed to contamination of properties, although she allowed the case to proceed on narrower ground than the plaintiffs initially asked for. Attorney General Aaron Frey has teased state action against PFAS manufacturers.
— Maine has some of the strongest campaign finance laws in the country, according to an index from the Coalition for Integrity. The group ranked the state third behind Washington and California, citing the power of the state's ethics commission to enforce laws and the strength of disclosures. |
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What we're reading
— Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine's 2nd District who has been skeptical of gun restrictions, will support the Senate's bipartisan gun, mental health and school safety package. No word yet from former Rep. Bruce Poliquin, his Republican challenger.)
— Maine's last mass vaccine clinic has seen "tears of joy" from parents rushing to get kids under 5 vaccinated, but the pace of shots in the first week has been slow. Here's what our readers had to say.
— Business owners in Millinocket are reacting strongly to a racist Juneteenth sign on an insurance agency that gained national attention, fearing it could halt robust revitalization efforts.
— One of Maine's top real estate agents sees a housing market slowdown and you need a six-figure income to live in this area. Read our housing coverage.
— Bar Harbor voters shot down a retail marijuana referendum in this month's election. A company that wants to open two stores is trying to get the issue back on the ballot in November. |
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| A man and child sit under a banner at a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Sanford on Thursday. (BDN photo by Troy R. Bennett) |
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| 📷 Lead photo: Anti-abortion protesters gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. (AP photo by Jose Luis Magana) |
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