The Maine Wire, Maine’s fastest growing digital news and investigative reporting outlet, announced Monday that it has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Janet Mills in Kennebec County Superior Court seeking compliance with Maine’s Freedom of Access Act.

Maine Wire Editor-in-Chief Steve Robinson, the plaintiff in the complaint, issued the following statement:

“For 195 days, Gov. Mills has refused to turn over her schedules for three days in Dec. 2023, blatantly disregarding the spirit and letter of Maine’s Freedom of Access Act. The Maine Wire will not tolerate government officials who illegally frustrate basic journalistic inquiry for their own political benefit.

“Ironically, it was Mills herself, when she was Attorney General, who articulated the view that 22 days was long enough for then-Governor Paul LePage to respond to a far more complex request. Mills is not only violating FOAA, she’s failing to live up to the standard she has imposed on others.

“The Maine Wire will vigorously pursue all legal avenues to ensure the Mills Administration — and all government entities — comply with government transparency statutes, whether it comes to this specific request for the governor’s schedules or the dozens of other outstanding public records that State of Maine employees are failing to respond to in good faith. Responding to FOAAs is not some added burden or nuisance; it’s an essential and core function of all government agencies.”

“Janet Mills is not above the law.”

Steve Robinson official announcement video:

[ At Maine’s Department of Education, Not All Public Records Requests are Equal…]

Thanks to an affordable housing lottery, a single mom just bought the house of her dreams for a fraction of what a typical home goes for in ritzy Kennebunkport, Maine.

Local nonprofit group Kennebunkport Heritage Housing Trust organized a contest seeking to sell a home for just over $326,000 when properties in the affluent coastal town go for $1.1 million on average, according to Zillow.

That represents a 71 percent discount, yet only 45 Mainers expressed interest in the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home, the Bangor Daily News reported.

Out of the initial 45, only three applicants met the guidelines to be considered.

The single mom who won the lottery was chosen last Thursday, and she’ll live in the 1700 square foot home with her child who’s enrolled in the Kennebunkport school district.

‘She is very excited to have this home,’ said Larissa Crockett, executive director of the Kennebunkport Heritage Housing Trust.

Beyond its homey white shingles, a spacious front porch and a modern kitchen, there’s a lot more to love about this property.

For one, it’s a five minute drive west to the center of town. 

If you don’t want to get in your car, it’s walking distance from the Cape Porpoise Harbor, which has plenty of scenic areas to gaze out at the water. 

The house is also close to a number of highly-rated lobster restaurants, a specialty in New England.

All of these perks and more left Crockett wondering why more families didn’t apply for a chance to live there.

Pictured: An open concept dining room that leads into a living room

The kitchen is complete with an island and modern amenities

Like most housing lotteries, this one appealed to a small sliver of people based on how much money they bring in. 

In this case, the buyer couldn’t make more than 120 percent of the area median income, which the listing defined as $93,975 for a two-person household.

The median household income in 2022 for Kennebunkport residents was a whopping $113,456, more than 52 percent higher than nation as a whole.

Buyers also had to get pre-approved for a mortgage through a bank and complete a homeownership course.

And since this home sale was set up for the expressed purpose of making it affordable for people with shallower pockets than the average Kennebunkport resident, this property cannot be rented on a short or long term basis.

To ensure the continued affordability of the home, the buyer also had to sign a land lease at closing instituting a maximum sales price.

This means that the woman who successfully bought this home won’t be able to turn around and sell it for market price.

She’ll also have to live in the home all 12 months of the year unless the trust gives her an exemption. 

Colony Beach in Kennebunkport. This beach is less than three miles from the affordable home

A Kennebunkport marina during the morning hours, filled with boaters

A welcome sign with houses along Kennebunk River in the background

If these restrictions are what held people back from applying, Crockett hasn’t heard any feedback that would suggest this.

‘To allow someone to purchase a home at half the market value, to then be able to turn around and sell that home at market value is really, I think, disrespectful of the generosity and support of both public and private resources,’ she said. 

This $326,000 home is surrounded by properties going for $450,000 on the low end and waterfront mansions going for $7.75 million on the high end.

Tara Baker, the owner of Kennebunk Beach Realty, told Bangor Daily News that she recently listed a home under $1 million. And in just three days it was snapped up under contract.

‘It’s still a seller’s market, for sure,’ Baker said. 

To counter this seller’s market, Crockett said she would be conducting a ‘deep debrief’ to figure out how to improve the trust’s next affordable housing project and get more people to apply.

Joseph Eaton withdrew his insanity defense late last year and his defense attorney told The Associated Press that they anticipate “resolving” the indictments for four counts of murder and other charges during a change-of-plea hearing.

Prosecutors declined comment on any plea agreement ahead of the court hearing.

Law enforcement officials say Eaton confessed to the killings on a property in rural Bowdoin, and to wounding three more people while shooting at vehicles on Interstate 295 in Yarmouth. The shootings came days after Eaton was released from prison for unrelated crimes. Eaton has been jailed again since his arrest in April 2023 near the tumultuous scene along the highway, where traffic came to a halt as heavily armed police searched for the gunman.

Those killed were Eaton’s parents, Cynthia Eaton, 62, and David Eaton, 66, along with longtime friends Robert Eger, 72, and Patti Eger, 62, the couple who owned the Bowdoin home where they all were staying. Also killed was the family dog, resulting in an animal cruelty charge.

Soon after the bodies were discovered on April 18, 2023, three people were injured when shots were fired wildly on I-295 in Yarmouth, about 12 miles outside Portland, Maine’s biggest city. Eaton faced separate indictments because the two shootings at the Bowdoin home and on the highway happened in different counties.

Maine Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck called the shootings “an attack on the soul of our state.” But the heavy toll of the crime was surpassed months later when an Army reservist, who also lived in Bowdoin, killed 18 people at two locations in Lewiston, in what would become the state’s deadliest mass shooting.

Police still don’t know Eaton’s motive for the slayings.

An unsigned note found at the scene of the killings mentioned “someone being freed of pain and that the writer of the note wanted a new life,” according to a criminal affidavit. Eaton told the Portland Press Herald newspaper in jailhouse interviews that he was not in control of his actions at the time of the shootings and didn’t understand why he did it.

Eaton, 35, had a criminal history in Maine, Kansas and Florida, and had just completed a prison stint in Maine triggered by an aggravated assault case. Eaton’s parents were staying with their friends in Bowdoin after Cynthia Eaton picked up Joseph Eaton at a Maine prison on April 14.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.