Corey Bouchard is a Democratic candidate for the Maine House of Representatives in District 88.

As an Army veteran, I was taught that effective leadership is defined not by how loudly you speak, but by the tangible results you achieve. Our community in Maine House District 88 deserves a representative who is focused on solutions, fiscal discipline and the hard work of lowering costs for working families — not advancing an extreme, divisive ideology.

That is why I am running for the Maine House, and why the current direction under my opponent, Rep. Quentin Chapman, must change.

We face serious challenges in Maine: a crippling workforce shortage, high energy costs and a community struggling with the opioid crisis. These problems demand sober, strategic action. Unfortunately, Rep. Chapman’s record demonstrates a troubling priority: consistently putting his personal ideological agenda ahead of pragmatic solutions.

Rep. Chapman has shown where his focus lies through his votes and the legislation he chooses to sponsor.

While working families desperately need relief, Rep. Chapman has spent his time supporting measures that divide our community and waste legislative energy. For example, in a vote that demonstrates a fundamental neglect for the safety of our most vulnerable, Rep. Chapman voted against the bill that increased punishment for doxxing a child. This type of action signals a clear failure to prioritize basic public safety.

Even more concerning is his dedication to advancing radical social positions. He actively sponsored LD 1230, “An Act to Abolish the 72-hour Waiting Period for a Gun Purchase,” demonstrating a commitment to eroding common-sense safety measures that are proven to reduce impulse violence and suicide. This divisive posturing does not make our streets safer or our economy stronger. It simply serves to alienate segments of our community and distract the Legislature from its core mission.

His record further underscores this ideological commitment. This is not the voice of service; it is the voice of exclusion. We need a representative committed to the constitutional principle that the rule of law applies equally to all Mainers, without exception.

My approach is rooted in discipline and facts, not chaos and rhetoric. I am running because I believe in a Maine where governance is about common sense and accountability. My policy agenda focuses on core principles that will benefit everyone in District 88:

• Workforce investment: I support universal voluntary pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds as the smartest long-term economic investment to address our workforce crisis.
• Small business support: We need a Small Business Apprenticeship Tax Credit to reward local companies for closing the skills gap and creating jobs.
• Honoring veterans: We must cut bureaucratic red tape by implementing MOC reciprocity to ensure veterans and their spouses can work in Maine immediately upon moving here.
• Affordable energy: We must reduce heating bills through long-term infrastructure. I will expand weatherization tax rebates for low- and middle-income families, providing relief that pays for itself.
• Health care transparency: We need a competitive marketplace. I will fight for pharmacy benefit manager reform and a Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act to stop secretive price-gouging by middlemen.
• Smarter public safety: We must fund Mobile Crisis Response Teams (MCRTs) to free up our police officers to focus on violent crime, reducing unnecessary emergency room visits and incarceration costs.
• Taxpayer protection: I support the Government Contract Transparency Act to ensure public money is not subsidizing corporate negligence or low wages.
• Political accountability: I advocate for State House leadership term limits to prevent entrenchment and ensure a continuous influx of new ideas and better representation.
• Equality under the law: I will fight for a state constitutional amendment to explicitly secure non-discrimination protections for all Mainers because equality is a founding constitutional principle.

My campaign is a mission for common sense. We cannot afford another term of a representative who prioritizes national political theater over the pressing needs of our neighbors. The stakes are too high.

I urge the voters of District 88 to choose service and solutions over ideology and division. Send a representative to Augusta — like me — who will put the dignity of every Mainer and the health of our economy first.

Nurses at Maine’s Houlton Regional Hospital (HRH) will go on strike next week to protest the hospital’s failure to address staffing and patient care concerns.  

There are 55 nurses at HRH represented by the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC).

Why It Matters 

According to the union, the hospital’s emergency department is facing short staffing. Nurses said the hallways are full of patients due to a lack of available inpatient beds and the severity of their conditions.  

“I hope with the strike, the public and management see that we are not trying to cause problems,” Tenille Nason, an emergency department nurse at HRH, told Newsweek in an interview. “We truly believe in this cause. We truly believe patient care is suffering because they are not listening to what [nurses] are saying.”

This comes as nurses across the country have announced strikes amid ongoing contract negotiations. Nurses at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital in Michigan have been on strike for two months as negotiations over wage increases and staffing ratios continue.  

What To Know 

In September, nurses at HRH voted to authorize the strike after over a year of negotiations for a new contract. The previous contract expired last November.  

Nason has been a nurse in HRH’s emergency department for the past two decades. She told Newsweek that she’s very involved in the hospital but decided to support this strike because management hasn’t been listening to the concerns of nurses about short staffing.

Nason said that when she comes into work to relieve the night shift at 7 a.m., there are often only two nurses and 12-14 patients waiting to be evaluated. This overwhelms staff trying to prioritize who to care for first and often means there are not enough hospital beds for sick patients.

“Taking care of the patients properly when we’re short staffed is just not feasible,” she said. “We do the best we can, but it makes it very hard.”

She adds that HRH is a small hospital, but it serves several counties. Nason said patients and staff know each other and have seen patients grow from babies into adults.

“They know that I would not even think about stepping away from doing my job unless I absolutely did not feel that their safety and their care was at risk,” she said.

In a statement on Facebook, Houlton Regional Hospital said it has a contingency plan to ensure minimal to no disruptions in services. The hospital said it will remain open, saying it will continue to put patients and community members first despite the nurses’ choice to walk away. 

“Given the excitement expressed by our communities and patients, for our expanded services and focus on our employees, we are disappointed that the bargaining unit registered nurses have chosen to strike and step away from their patients,” Houlton Regional Hospital CEO Jeff Zewe said in a statement. “We have been meeting regularly with the nurses’ representatives and have made a fair and competitive offer that includes a substantial wage increase over the duration of the contract, along with enhancements to employee benefits.” 

The decision to strike also comes as the hospital’s announced the closure of its maternal services department in May. The hospital said there were several factors that made continued operations of an OB unit unsustainable, including declining birth rates at the hospital, difficulty staffing the OB unit, the high cost of staffing and maintaining the department and cuts in state reimbursement rates.  

“While the Board has delayed this decision throughout years of financial losses, these losses from the OB unit are a significant drain on the hospital’s overall financial performance, and one that would have a long-term impact on the hospital’s continued viability if not addressed,” the hospital board of trustees said.  

In April, nurses at HRH’s labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum department held a candlelight vigil against the closure of the department. 

Nason added that the absence of OB nurses in the emergency department has exacerbated staffing issues and puts patients at risk if nurses have to prioritize a mother in labor.

What Happens Next 

The nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital will go on a two-day strike at the hospital from Tuesday, November 18, to Thursday, November 20.  

“With the strike, we’re hoping to get better staffing so that our patients can be taken care of properly,” Nason said. “We’re hoping this allows management and everybody to see that we are fighting for our patients because we want to be able to provide the best care we can.”

What People Are Saying 

Michael MacArthur, a nurse in the HRH emergency department: “For the past several years, hospital management has consistently relied on travel nurses to help staff the hospital. We need to retain our experienced nurses who live in the area. We get plenty of nurses to come, but they leave. We need a strong contract that protects us and our patients and attracts and retains excellent nurses.” 

Houlton Regional Hospital CEO Jeff Zewe said in a statement: “Despite the union’s decision to strike, our focus remains on our patients and our community. I want to reassure everyone that our staffing levels meet or exceed national safety standards, as reflected in our strong quality outcomes.” 

Newsweek reached out to Houlton Regional Hospital for comment.

Have an announcement or news to share? Contact the Newsweek Health Care team at health.care@newsweek.com.

ELLSWORTH, Maine (WABI) – On Saturday, November 22, those who head to The Grand Theater in Ellsworth will get a chance to see the state of Maine in a way they’ve likely never seen before.

“Seasons of Maine” is a 48-minute film showcasing Maine’s natural beauty, and it was made by local filmmaker Evan Procko.

“Maine is such a unique, beautiful place, and I wanted to really make a special film to just show how beautiful it is, because I’ve seen videos of Iceland and Norway with just really relaxing music on it. And I just wanted to create something really special for Maine,” said Procko.

Evan is a 21-year old filmmaker who lives with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and he poured his love of the outdoors into this film.

“Evan is an amazing young man, very artistic. He’s always been into anything creative, anything he can do on canvas, on film, culinary.

Of course, he has a disability that’s rather destructive with his muscles and his use of his legs and his arms. So a lot of the time, I’ve helped him out with anything that needs to be lifted or moved, or if he’s creating art on canvas, I’ll hold his arm. He calls me Ratatouille, just like in the kitchen, you know? He’s conducting the orchestra, but it’s all him, I’m just the hands. But with this film, this was completely his project,” said Bill Procko, Evan’s father.

The film took two years to make, and on Wednesday Evan finally got to see it on the big screen.

“It means a lot, just to see something I created on the big screen, it’s pretty crazy to think,” said Procko.

General admission is $15 with all proceeds being donated to research for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

“For me, it’s, I get more joy out of helping people out. It means more to me to help people that are struggling with similar condition, of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, instead of just getting more money for myself, it just means so much more to me,” said Procko.

You can purchase tickets for the showing of “Seasons of Maine” by clicking here and you can view the full trailer by clicking here.

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