Over 3,200 jobs could be created if LePage releases them. photo by Ramona du Houx
“He’s allowing other states to get ahead of Maine. We lose huge opportunities every day. Holding jobs hostage by not releasing voter-approved bonds is wrong.
The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory’s lab director Kevin Strange and regenerative biology researcher Voot Yin will lead a company created based on the research done at MDIBL. Novo Biosciences, Inc., will look at the therapeutic potential of drugs that speed tissue healing and stimulate the regeneration of lost and damaged body parts.
Novo will start by continuing studies with an experimental drug that has been shown to double the regrowth rate of tissue after amputation using a zebrafish. The hope is that one day this work will translate to humans.
Governor Paul LePage’s $6.2 billion two-year budget proposal cuts off all revenue sharing with municipalities and reins in two of the state’s main property tax relief programs, the Circuit Breaker refund and Homestead Property Tax Exemption. The proposal also ends the Business Equipment Tax Refund program, which reimburses businesses for equipment they purchase, and requires school districts to pay a much larger share of their teacher retirement benefits, and eliminates state revenue sharing.
Maine State Capitol. photo by Ramona du Houx
Rep. Paul Gilbert’s youth suicide-prevention bill won the unanimous support of the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
Imagine a commuter-style passenger rail service that would run from 5 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. seven days a week, year-round to and from Portland to Lewiston-Auburn. That was the scenario the Maine Rail Transit Coalition’s report used to project the $138 million start-up cost of the project.
Searsport: Windmill parts are unloaded because of state and federal funds that improved the port’s infrastructure. Courtesy photo
Majority Leader Rep. Seth Berry wants to help jobs grow as he and others on the bipartisan workforce committee look to improve higher education, Maine’s downtown communities and small business opportunities.
Sen. Snowe, Gov. Baldacci, and Gov. King were praised by Congresswoman Pingree for their bipartisan efforts that helped secure federal and state funding for the Downeaster. Pingree also voted for the recovery act, with Sen. Snowe and Sen.
The US Capitol.
Majority Leader Rep. Seth Berry has proposed a bill for tax fairness in Maine that would mirror the Buffet Rule.
