Northeast
HHS expands Title IX probe in Maine to include state association governing athletics, embattled high school
FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration expanded its Title IX investigation into Maine, citing violations of the president’s executive order mandating that educational and athletic institutions bar biological males from competing in women’s sports.
The Maine Principals Association, the state’s primary governing body for high school athletics, and Greely High School, which has been a centerpiece in the debate over transgender sports participation in Maine, are both now being added to the list of Maine entities the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department is investigating over alleged Title IX violations, according to an HHS spokesperson. The department’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) launched an investigation into the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) last month, “based on information that Maine intends to defy” President Donald Trump’s order to keep biological males out of women’s sports. Four days later, the agency issued MDOE a “Notice of Violation.”
“HHS will investigate and enforce Title IX to the full extent permitted by law to uphold fairness, safety, dignity, and biological truth in women’s and girls’ educational athletic opportunities,” Andrew Nixon, a department spokesperson, told Fox News Digital. “Men have no place in women’s sports. Maine must comply with Title IX or risk losing federal funding.”
MAINE GOP URGES DEMS TO REPEAL TRANSGENDER ATHLETE POLICY FOLLOWING FEDERAL TITLE IX VIOLATION FINDING
High school transgender athletes compete in the Connecticut girls Class S indoor track meet at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut. The Trump administration is expanding its Title IX probe. ((AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb, File))
Republican state legislators in Maine called on Democratic Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday to stand down her open defiance of Trump’s Feb. 5 transgender sports executive order, which threatens hundreds of millions in federal funding to K-12 schools in the state, according to numbers obtained by the Portland Press Herald. MDOE received nearly a million dollars from HHS sub-agencies alone, Maine House Republicans said in a press release Thursday.
“Enough is enough, it is time to put away radical ideology and put the future of our kids first,” said Assistant House Minority Leader Katrina Smith, R–Palermo. “The Mills administration’s policy of allowing biological boys in girls’ sports has physically and mentally mistreated our young ladies and now this same policy will harm every child and teacher with the loss of federal funds to our schools.”
“If Maine Democrats continue to double down on allowing biological males to participate in girls’ sports, our students stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding. Gov. [Janet] Mills and legislative Democrats have a renewed opportunity to do the right thing, to ensure restored funding and a fair and level playing field for Maine girls,” added state Rep. Laurel Libby, R–Bangor, Thursday.
Last month, Libby was censured by Democrats in the Maine state legislature after posting on social media that a Greely High School pole vaulter, who competed as recently as June of last year as a biological male, won a statewide championship meet competing as a woman.
MAINE HOUSE SPEAKER DELETES X ACCOUNT AFTER CENSURING LAWMAKER OPPOSED TO TRANSGENDER ATHLETES IN GIRLS SPORTS
Libby was censured specifically for posting a picture of the high school athlete from Greely competing as a male, contrasted next to an image of the athlete winning the women’s pole-vaulting competition at Maine’s Class B state indoor championship meet in February. The athlete was a minor.
Maine state Reps. Laurel Libby, R–Bangor, left, and Katrina Smith, R–Palermo, right, pleaded with Gov. Janet Mills to change her stance on transgender sports participation, fearing it will result in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. (Maine State Legislature/Fox News)
“State leaders have failed our female athletes and there needs to be repercussions for their neglect,” said Zoe, who competed in shot put at Maine’s Class B state indoor championship meet, told Fox News Digital.
Trump began calling out Maine for defying his executive order shortly after Libby began sounding the alarm about the transgender athlete at Greely High School winning a statewide girls’ track meet. During a public spat with Mills at the White House, Trump threatened the state’s funding unless they “clean that up,” to which Mills responded that she would “see [him] in court.”
HIDING KIDS ‘GENDER IDENTITY’ FROM PARENTS IS COMMON IN BLUE STATE FIGHTING TRUMP ON TRANS ISSUES: WATCHDOG
Sarah Perry, a civil rights attorney with extensive experience litigating Title IX issues, said she believes Maine would be unsuccessful in court on this matter for a variety of reasons.
In addition to federal law, Maine is also flouting directives from the Department of Education and previously established precedent from a slew of cases that overturned former President Joe Biden’s Title IX regulations allowing athletic eligibility to be determined by one’s preferred gender identity, according to Perry.
“Maine entered into a contract with the Department of Education, promising to follow that federal civil rights law. [Mills’] reliance on contrary state law will prove fatal to any continued recalcitrance,” Perry said.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills and President Donald Trump at the White House during a meeting with the nation’s governors last month. (Getty Images)
Mills and the Maine Principals Association (MPA) have argued that Trump’s executive order conflicts with existing state Human Rights law. The MPA said that, as a result, it would defer to state law, which allows athletic eligibility to be determined based on a person’s stated gender identity.
I’M A 3-SPORT HIGH SCHOOL FEMALE ATHLETE IN MAINE – I SHOULDN’T HAVE TO COMPETE AGAINST BIOLOGICAL MALES
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey confirmed to The New York Times on Thursday that his office received a “Notice of Violation” indicating MDOE was in violation of federal Title IX law as a result of its continued decision to allow athletic eligibility to be determined by gender-identity.
The letter arrived four days after HHS announced its Title IX investigation into MDOE on Feb. 21. Mills’ office told local outlet the Bangor Daily News that her staff had not been questioned by federal investigators prior to the violation notice being sent out.
“No President – Republican or Democrat – can withhold federal funding authorized and appropriated by Congress and paid for by Maine taxpayers in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will,” Mills said in a statement. “It is a violation of our Constitution and of our laws, which I took an oath to uphold.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Maine Principals Association and Greely High School’s principal and assistant principals for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
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Connecticut is taking a step to make sure workers are paid fairly.
On June 30, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed Public Act 26-17, which enables the State Comptroller to issue a stop work order and withhold state funds to contractors that are not properly paying their employees.
The bill was signed on the construction site for Greeneville Elementary School, which is one of the four new elementary schools being built in Norwich. The State of Connecticut is reimbursing the city for 80% of the project, and the law applies to “any place where the state is making a payment,” Lamont said.
Wage theft can take many forms
It matters because wage theft can take many forms, from money taken from base pay, to money not given in benefits, Kimberly Glassman, director of compliance and government affairs for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 478, said.
Local 478 also has a presence in the Norwich school building project, with 10 to 20 union members working at each site daily, Glassman said.
What do state leaders think of the Greeneville site’s progress?
Lamont is impressed with how quickly the work is going.
“They told me that the walls went up in the last two weeks, so a lot of progress is happening,” he said.
During the bill signing, Norwich Mayor Swarnjit Singh touted the importance of using union labor and the value of project labor agreements.
“We are on time and on budget,” he said.
After the bill signing, Singh said its possible the Greeneville School building could be complete as soon as the first quarter of 2027, he said.
“They’re not wasting any time,” Singh said.
State Rep. Derrel Wilson attended the original Greeneville School as a kid, and still lives in Greeneville. He was credited as being one of the driving forces for getting the workers bill passed.
“It’s exciting seeing this revitalization for our neighborhood, seeing active construction and watching individuals rebuild our community,” Wilson said.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts dad on ‘adventure of a lifetime’ left fighting for his life in Fiji after noticing bug bite
A trip of a lifetime quickly turned into an unimaginable nightmare for a Massachusetts father who is fighting for his life halfway across the world after being bitten by a bug.
Scott and Claire Winslow always dreamt of sailing across the South Pacific with their family — and in April, they were finally able to turn their dream into a reality when they embarked on an “adventure of a lifetime” to enjoy their retirement, according to an online fundraiser.
But just weeks into the three-month sailing voyage, Scott noticed what appeared to be a bug bite and his health rapidly deteriorated, WBZ-TV reported.
His condition worsened for nearly two weeks while at sea alongside his nephew, and by the time their ship made it to land in Fiji, he was so weak that he was unable to walk.
The father-of-three was rushed to a local hospital, where doctors discovered the severity of his infection.
“By the time they got to a doctor, he was so sick,” Scott’s daughter Lisa Babbin told the outlet.
Scott was then transferred from a private hospital to the Intensive Care Unit at Lautoka Hospital on Vitu Levu, the main island of Fiji, where his wife Claire was heartbreakingly told to “prepare for the worst.”
The retiree remains critically ill on a ventilator, battling septic shock and organ failure.
The infection has spread to Scott’s lungs and gallbladder and his kidneys are functioning at “a fraction of their normal capacity,” the GoFundMe page says.
It’s still unclear how the infection started — whether by the insect bite, an infected wound or something else, according to the dad’s family.
While doctors are doing everything they can, Scott’s critical condition requires greater care than the local hospital can manage, according to his daughter.
“Every hour counts for my father,” Babbin said.
The family has secured a bed for the critically ill father at the Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Mass., but doesn’t know if they will be able to afford to fly him back to the United States for better care.
“All we need is a medflight, that’s the only thing we need to get him home,” Babbin said. “Medflights are not cheap.”
A special medical flight from Fiji to Boston — which is over 8,000 miles in distance — could set the family back a staggering $250,000, according to the outlet.
In addition to the fundraiser, the Winslow family has applied for a US government loan to help with the astronomical costs of flying Scott home as well as the foreign medical bills that are adding up without medical insurance coverage.
Scott is a “hardworking, loyal, generous” man, “always willing to lend a hand,” relatives wrote on the fundraising page.
“He has spent a lifetime helping others, supporting his family, and being there whenever someone needed him.”
While Scott’s family “remain hopeful and continue to pray” for his recovery, “they are also facing the overwhelming financial burden that comes with a catastrophic medical emergency overseas,” the fundraiser says.
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