Maine at 2 a.m.
The breaking news staffer for Northern New England is Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., to be followed by Wilson Ring in Vermont at 3 p.m. at 802-229-0577.
The breaking news staffer/Concord bureau and Northern New England Correspondent Rik Stevens can be reached at 603-224-3327.
The Maine correspondent is David Sharp in Portland. The Portland bureau can be reached at 800- 585-4656 or 207-772-4157.
New England News Editor Cara Rubinsky can be reached at 617-357-8100.
For technical problems, please call (800) 882-1408.
To reach the photo department, call 617-357-8106. AP stories, along with the photos that accompany them, can also be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. Reruns also are available from customer support at 877-836-9477.
The e-mail address for member contributions is [email protected].
TOP STORIES:
REVENUE SHARING
AUGUSTA, Maine — Further reductions in state aid to Maine cities and towns will result in cuts to essential services and skyrocketing property taxes, municipal officials told lawmakers on Wednesday. But Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s administration and business owners say the plan to pay for revenue sharing by cutting some tax incentive programs or dipping into the state’s savings fund will hurt companies that are still struggling from the recession. By Alanna Durkin. SENT: 450 words.
WINTER WEATHER
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (dih BLAH’-zee-oh) is acknowledging flaws in clearing snow from Manhattan’s posh Upper East Side after a storm dumped nearly a foot of it. He faced complaints Wednesday that plowing lagged in the neighborhood while other areas were cleared more quickly after Tuesday’s storm. By Jennifer Peltz and Jonathan Lemire. SENT: 900 words, photos.
US-GENETICALLY-MODIFIED-FOOD
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In the absence of federal regulation, states from Rhode Island to Hawaii are considering laws to require labels on food items containing genetically modified ingredients. Currently, only Connecticut and Maine have laws requiring labels for genetically modified food. But those requirements won’t kick in until other states adopt their own rules. Bills to do just that are expected in more than two dozen states. By David Klepper. SENT: 700 words.
AROUND THE STATE:
CRAWLING FOR HELP
MEXICO — A Maine man said he crawled 2 1/2 miles in below-freezing temperatures to get help after breaking his leg in a snowmobiling accident. Nicholas Brown said it took him more than six hours to crawl down a hill in the town of Mexico last week to get to a friend’s house. SENT: 220 words.
IN BRIEF:
— OIL TRAIN DERAILMENT-MAINE — The Chapter 11 trustee says the winning bid for a Maine-based railroad that went bankrupt after a fiery oil train derailment in Canada amounted to nearly $15.9 million.
— MOOSE HUNT — Maine’s moose hunters have set a record for the second consecutive year. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said Wednesday that 2,971 moose were taken during the 2013 season. That broke the old record of 2,895 moose set just the year before.
— FARMERS’ MARKETS-EBT — A push is on get more Maine farmers’ markets to accept payments from low-income residents who use electronic benefit transfer cards. Colleen Hanlon Smith, director of the Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets, says the organization could conceivably expand EBT acceptance this year to about 50 of the state’s 139 markets.
— WIPE WOES-MAINE — The Portland Water District and state environmental officials have launched a campaign to stop people from flushing baby wipes and other items down the toilet. The purpose of the campaign launched Tuesday is to cut down on clogs which cause overflows and require costly fixes for homeowners and public wastewater facilities.
— LOBSTER CHARGES — The owner of a Maine seafood company has pleaded guilty to instructing an employee to make cash withdrawals to avoid Treasury Department reporting requirements, money used to bypass lobster coop purchasing rules. The Portland Press Herald reports that John Price, owner of J.P.’s Shellfish in Eliot, pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to 12 counts of structuring cash transactions.
— SUV CRASH-UNION — Police say a Jefferson man has died after losing control of his vehicle on Route 17 in Jefferson. The Knox County Sheriff’s Department says it appears as if 37-year-old Chris LaFrance lost control of his SUV while traveling east at about 2 p.m. Tuesday.
— HUNTING FOR THE HUNGRY — Needy families in Maine will receive donations of fresh fish caught at ice fishing tournaments this winter. The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry is expanding the Hunters for the Hungry Program to include fish caught at ice fishing derbies in New Gloucester in January and Sebago Lake and Kezar Lake in February.
— MAINE WOMEN — A coalition of Maine organizations focusing on women’s issues is backing a bill to expand Medicaid under the federal health care overhaul among other measures this Legislative session. The Coalition for Maine Women says that Medicaid expansion under the Accordable Care Act will provide low-income women access to things like preventative health care and cancer screenings.
___
If you have stories of regional or statewide interest, please email them to [email protected]. If you have photos of regional or statewide interest, please send them to the AP state photo center in New York, 888-273-6867. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact AP Customer Support at [email protected] or 877-836-9477.
MARKETPLACE: Calling your attention to the Marketplace in AP Exchange, where you can find member-contributed content from Maine and other states. The Marketplace is accessible on the left navigational pane of the AP Exchange home page, near the bottom. For both national and state, you can click “All” or search for content by topics such as education, politics and business.
