Maine Public

The Maine Legislature is looking once again at a proposed ban on the use of handheld electronic devices while driving.

The legislation is sponsored by Windham Sen. Bill Diamond, a Democrat and former secretary of state. He says there’s mounting evidence that the likelihood of having an accident increases if you are holding a cellphone to your ear or texting.

Diamond told the Legislature’s Transportation Committee that while some people would ignore the law, its passage would make highways safer.

A man who has served nearly three decades in prison for a murder in Portland was granted bail Thursday due to new evidence that casts doubt on his guilt.

Students of theater, music, and art at the University of Southern Maine may share similar areas of creative interest, but they tend to focus on their own media. In the past few months, that’s changed.

Maine’s ranked-choice voting law had its day in court Thursday.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments that could determine the fate of the citizen initiative passed by voters in November. The court’s views on the constitutionality of the law will likely influence legislators to either keep the first-in-the-nation system, ditch it altogether or try to amend the constitution.

Next week the Maine Ethics Commission will take up a proposal designed to put some distance between lobbyists on the one hand and elected legislators and state officials on the other.

The proposal stems from a complaint against a former Democratic legislator who was hired by the Maine AFL-CIO.

Maine Public political correspondent Steve Mistler explains the controversy, and more importantly the purpose of, what are often called revolving door laws.

Q: Can you explain what a revolving door is in state government?

PORTLAND, Maine - The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, along with five other New England ACLU affiliates, has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection over President Trump's Muslim travel bans.

This month, seven young adults with developmental disabilities are opening their mailboxes and finding out that they’ve been accepted to STRIVE U, a first-of-its-kind postsecondary education and training program based in South Portland.

Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine sparked some national news stories Tuesday after her appearance on a Portland radio station in which she talked about the possibility of running for governor next year.