Maine Archives - The Ohio Star

Grassroots Parents Organization Files Complaints Claiming Discrimination in Schools Separating Students Based on Race

January 5, 2023January 4, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Parents Defending Education (PDE), a grassroots parental rights organization, filed three complaints Tuesday with the Biden Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that allege discrimination in schools that formed “racial affinity” groups or “community circles” to separate students based on their race.

The complaints allege that discrimination occurred in schools in Oregon, Maine, and Vermont where students were organized according to their race, which, the complaints argue, is in violation of the 14th Amendment.

Activists Push States for Free School Meals

January 3, 2023January 2, 2023 Just the News

At least a dozen states are considering implementing or already have free student meal programs to continue the federal government’s COVID-19 giveaways, while some activists are demanding for more things to be made free.

Congress allowed a pandemic-era free student meal waiver to expire on Sept. 30, returning to the pre-COVID posture where only students at some schools or those whose families met specific income requirements were given free or reduced-price meals.

Commentary: Ranked-Choice Voting Is Just Another Way of Letting Elites Tilt the System in Their Favor

December 19, 2022December 18, 2022 Admin

Americans want honest, straightforward and fair elections that they can trust. Regardless of whether candidates win or lose, voters deserve far better than the incompetence, mismanagement and multi-week delays in counting votes that we’re seeing in so many states today. So, at a time when trust in elections is at an all-time low, why are some establishment Republicans teaming up with Democrats to push a complex, confusing and painfully slow method of voting in America?

House Democrat Blasts Biden over ‘Fancy Dinner’ that Includes Maine Lobster

December 1, 2022 The Center Square

A U.S. House Democrat blasted President Joe Biden for his planned ritzy dinner with France’s leader Emmanuel Macron.

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, called out Biden on Twitter, suggesting the president is a hypocrite for crushing the lobster industry with strict regulations while purchasing 200 lobsters from Maine for the state dinner with Macron.

Maine Fisherman Rips Whole Foods for Ending Purchase of Lobsters: ‘We Have Done Our Due Diligence’

November 30, 2022November 29, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

Maine fisherman Jason Lorde joined a chorus of others who are denouncing a decision by upscale supermarket chain Whole Foods to stop purchasing Maine lobsters for its stores due to environmentalist pleas for the safety of the rare right whale, a move that affects the livelihood of hundreds of lobstermen.

The decision by Whole Foods has sparked outcry toward what many are describing as an example of environmental extremism.

Google Agrees to Nearly $400 Million Settlement with 40 States over Location-Tracking Probe

November 15, 2022November 14, 2022 Just the News

Google agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states after an investigation found that the tech giant participated in questionable location-tracking practices, state attorneys general announced Monday.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called it a “historic win for consumers.”

Democratic Secretaries of State Warn ‘Independent State Legislature Theory’ Would Upend Elections

October 29, 2022October 28, 2022 The Center Square

Thirteen Secretaries of State led by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in Moore v. Harper, a case that will have the court considering the “independent state legislature” theory.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Moore v. Harper in December, a case brought forth after the Republican-controlled North Carolina Legislature adopted a new congressional voting map based on 2020 Census results. A group of Democratic voters and nonprofit organizations alleged the map was a partisan gerrymander that violated the state constitution and challenged it in court, according to Ballotpedia.

Teachers’ Unions Condemn Supreme Court Decision Upholding Religious Freedom and School Choice

June 22, 2022June 21, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

National and state teachers’ unions condemned the Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday that held a Maine tuition assistance program that bars families from using the taxpayer funds for religious schools is in violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

Union officials denounced the ruling as one that “attacks public schools,” “erodes democracy,” “harms students,” and undermines “the separation of church and state.”

Supreme Court Rules Maine Law Excluding Religious Schools from Tuition Assistance Is Unconstitutional

June 22, 2022June 21, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

In a major decision for religious freedom and school choice, the Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a Maine law that barred taxpayer tuition assistance funds from families choosing religious schools.

The Court ruled, 6-3, in Carson v. Makin, the Maine law that governs its tuition program’s exclusion of religious schools, while accepting other private schools, is a violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and is, therefore, unconstitutional.

Maine Democrat Governor’s ‘Climate Council’ Recommends Paying ‘Disadvantaged’ People to Attend Its Meetings

June 8, 2022June 7, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

The Equity Subcommittee of Maine Governor Janet Mills’ (D) Climate Council is recommending a plan to pay “disadvantaged” and “overburdened” state residents to attend its meetings because, according to its ideology, victims of systemic discrimination suffer greater impact from climate change than average Maine residents.

The Equity Subcommittee’s report, released in February, claims that some individuals in Maine, particularly those who are victims of “historical and systemic discrimination, underrepresentation, and isolation” are “more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than others.”

FEC Records Show Tight Financial Contest Between Democrat Incumbent and Republican Challenger in Race for Maine’s Second Congressional District

March 6, 2022March 5, 2022 Aaron Gulbransen

Federal Elections Commission (FEC) records show a tight financial contest between incumbent Democrat U.S. Representative Jared Golden and the nearest Republican challenger, former U.S. Representative Bruce Poliquin, in the race for Maine’s Second Congressional district.

As of the December 31, 2021 filing deadline, Golden has raised $2,136,842.68 for the 2022 election cycle and has $1,426,268.38 on hand. Republican challenger Poliquin has raised $1,482,065.91 and has $1,397,129.24 cash on hand in the bank. That’s a cash on hand edge for Golden of less than $30,000, a paltry sum in a highly competitive congressional race.

College Bans ‘Caste’ Discrimination from Campus

November 9, 2021November 8, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

A feminist professor has succeeded in banning discrimination based on “caste” at one Maine college.

According to an article from Bangor Daily News — to which Colby College media relations director George Sopko directed Campus Reform — the school added “caste” to a list of grounds for prohibited discrimination that includes race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, political beliefs, and other identity categories.

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal by Maine Healthcare Workers Challenging Vaccine Mandate

November 1, 2021October 31, 2021 Ohio Star Staff

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from Maine healthcare workers attempting to block the state’s vaccine mandate.

The group of unvaccinated workers argued that the law violated their First Amendment rights because the law doesn’t have a religious exemption.

According to the Associated Press, Maine is one of three states including New York and Rhode Island that have vaccine mandates that lack religious exemptions for healthcare workers.

Educational Think Tank Calls on Supreme Court to Uphold the Constitutional Rights of Parents

September 13, 2021September 12, 2021 Kaitlin Housler

In a press release Friday, The Buckeye Institute announced that they are “filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in Carson v. Makin calling on the court to make clear – as it has in many other cases – that it is a violation of the U.S. Constitution to deny students and their families financial aid that is available to all other students on the basis that family chooses to use their aid to send their children to a religious or ‘sectarian’ school.”

Robert Alt, president and chief executive officer of the educational think tank said, “The core constitutional issues before the high court have been asked and answered many times: the government cannot discriminate against religion in administering benefit programs.”

Biden Dominates Super Tuesday States, Upsets Sanders in Minnesota

March 4, 2020May 21, 2020 Anthony Gockowski

Former Vice President Joe Biden defeated Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Tuesday night in Minnesota’s Democratic primary, a shocking upset in what was a tough night for the Vermont socialist.

Buckeye Institute Files Labor Union Appeal With U.S. Supreme Court

January 3, 2020January 2, 2020 Jason M. Reynolds

The Buckeye Institute announced Thursday it is filing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on a case it has been fighting on behalf of a professor who has called for an end to laws that force public-sector employees like him to accept compelled union representation.

Commentary: Maine and Nevada Show Why the Electoral College Helps Small States, Not Red States

July 21, 2019July 20, 2019 Ohio Star Staff

by Hans Von Spakovsky Last month, both Maine and Nevada did what was in the best interests of their states: They rejected bills that would have enrolled their states in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an unwise effort to override the Electoral College. In Maine, it was killed by…

Nine States Back Environmentalists Trying to Shutdown Search for Oil in Atlantic

December 22, 2018December 21, 2018 Ohio Star Staff

by Tim Pearce Nine states are intervening in a lawsuit against the Trump administration for approving oil and gas companies to search for oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic Ocean. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced Thursday the states would join environmental groups in a lawsuit to prevent the Trump…

BATTLEGROUND STATE REPORT: Maine’s Vote Ranking System Explained

December 15, 2018December 15, 2018 Admin

On Friday’s Battleground State Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – a one hour radio show from Star News Digital Media in the early stages of a national weekend syndication rollout – the two hosts discussed the concept in Maine’s new “rank voting” system, who’s behind it, why it’s being…

As the Democrats Regain Control of Maine’s Governor’s Office, Pugnacious Outgoing Republican Governor Heads to Florida

November 8, 2018November 30, 2018 Anna Marie Bolton

From the 1930’s to the 1950’s Republicans controlled the governor’s office in Maine, but since the early 50’s, Maine’s electorate appears to like the idea of playing ping-pong with the governor’s seat, as it has switched between the two major parties almost every election cycle ever since. This year is…

Wisconsin and New Jersey are Among the States Looking To Copy Minnesota Model Of Using Federal Funds To Lower Insurance Premiums

August 17, 2018August 16, 2018 Admin

by Evie Fordham Several states including Wisconsin and New Jersey are seeking to copy Minnesota’s model of federal reinsurance program funding that contributed to a 13-percent drop in premium rates in the state from 2017 to 2018. The Minnesota legislature adopted the program, which uses mostly federal funds to…