MAINE (WABI) – Maine’s U.S. Attorney’s Office has reached an agreement with Lowe’s to improve customer accessibility nationwide following a complaint filed in Brewer.

A Lowe’s customer in Brewer filed an ADA complaint that the store did not provide accessible parking located on the shortest accessible route from the parking lot to an accessible entrance

The Justice Department says after investigation it was found several locations in Maine failed to provide accessible parking spaces on the shortest route including in Brewer, Brunswick, Portland and Windham.

They say a part of the settlement agreement Lowe’s has agreed to make modifications to their parking lots to insure the area is ADA compliant.

Lowe’s will also be designating at least one employee to serve as an ADA Compliance Manager to train current and future employees.

They say Lowe’s have also agreed that within six months they will provide the Department a plan to survey the remainder of locations nationwide.

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An inspector checks Fireball whiskey bottles on the line at Boston Brands of Maine in Lewiston in 2020. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Following months of negotiations, Maine’s Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations reached an agreement to continue contracting with its current liquor distributor for another decade.

The state’s new contract with Pine State Trading Co., which was signed last week and took effect Sunday, replaces two previous contracts that were extended to allow more time for negotiation, said Sharon Huntley, director of communications at the Department Administrative and Financial Services, which oversees the bureau.

Pine State has overseen trade marketing and administration for the department since it was awarded the previous contract in 2014.

Following an open request for proposal issued late last year, Pine State was the only company to place a bid.

The contract gives the company, based in Gardiner, sole authority to market, sell and distribute distilled spirits products to the more than 600 agency liquor stores within Maine. State law dictates that only agency stores can sell spirits, wine and malt liquor for off-site consumption.

Under the new contract, Pine State is entitled to 7.55% of total net sales and additional revenue within the state’s tightly regulated liquor market. That will likely add up to tens of millions of dollars, based on previous sales figures.

For the last 10 years, the company was entitled to 6.95% of total net sales and revenue in Maine: 4.7% for administration, warehousing and distribution, plus 2.25% for trade marketing.

That amounted to more than $16 million in fiscal year 2023, and more than $120 million over the life of the contracts, according to a review of the bureau’s annual reports. Huntley later confirmed those figures.

Pine State placed its bids for the 2024-34 administration and marketing contracts nearly a year ago, during a request for proposal period that ended in late January. Weeks later, it was offered the contract, pending final negotiations.

Maine is one of 17 states that controls the sale of spirits at the government level, according to the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association. New Hampshire and Vermont also employ versions of the “control” model.

In Maine, the bureau sets the prices of distilled spirits and organizes sales, meaning operating expenses – including contractor payments – can contribute to the final cost of bottles.

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BANGOR — Stephen King’s raucous rock ‘n’ roll radio station is going silent at year’s end.

The renowned author and lifelong rocker who used to perform with the Rock Bottom Remainders, a rock band that featured literary icons, said Monday that at age 77, it’s time to say good-bye to three Bangor stations that have been bleeding money. King kept the stations afloat for decades, and he said he and his wife, Tabitha, are proud to have kept them going for so long.

“While radio across the country has been overtaken by giant corporate broadcasting groups, I’ve loved being a local, independent owner all these years,” King said in a statement. “I’ve loved the people who’ve gone to these stations every day and entertained folks, kept the equipment running, and given local advertisers a way to connect with their customers.”

King’s foray into radio began at age 36 with his 1983 purchase of a radio station that was rebranded WZON in deference to his book, “The Dead Zone.” That station went through a few permutations before closing, then being reacquired by King in 1990.

The ZONE Corporation’s current lineup consists of WKIT-FM, which bills itself as “Stephen King’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio Station,” along with WZON-AM Retro Radio and an adult alternative station, WZLO-FM. They’ll go off the air on Dec. 31.

Ken Wood, the stations’ general manager, said he’s sad that the era is ending but happy that it happened.

“Independent, locally owned radio stations used to be the norm. There are only a few left in Maine, and we’re lucky we had these three as long as we did,” he said.

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