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Maine youth experience homelessness amidst affordable housing shortage

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Maine youth experience homelessness amidst affordable housing shortage


Preble Avenue mentioned its 24-bed Joe Kreisler Teen Shelter has been at-capacity nearly all of nights the previous two weeks, as of Wednesday, June 8.

WESTBROOK, Maine — 18-year-old Anthony Phillips is ready most youngsters hopefully won’t ever must expertise. For months, he has been dwelling in inns along with his mother and father, his older brother, and his two youthful siblings. Most just lately, they’ve been staying on the Casco Bay Resort in South Portland, close to the mall.

“It’s positively not superb. There’s not a lot privateness, sadly,” Anthony mentioned.

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Two weeks in the past on Could 25, the household obtained a discover that it might now not even be an choice, although. The Maine State Housing Authority modified its eligibility requirements for the Emergency Rental Help Program, as of June 1, leaving the Phillips household with no place to go. They had been in a position to get an extension by means of Pine Tree Authorized Help to remain on the Casco Bay Resort till June 30 — however after that, their future is up within the air.

“If push involves shove, we’re going to must be at somewhat campground for somewhat [while] till we will discover one thing,” Anthony mentioned. 

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He mentioned he has peeked at Craiglist and Zillow however seen even simply two-bedroom residences are coming in at greater than $2,500. He mentioned his dad and his mother each work, even after his mother misplaced her job — however discovering reasonably priced housing has been difficult after they had been evicted from their residence earlier this 12 months, following rigidity with their landlord and growing lease costs.

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“The place are we speculated to go? Sleep with a tent outdoors and stuff?” Jeremiah mentioned. “This isn’t the primary time this has occurred. My household has needed to sleep in a automotive earlier than.”

Jeremiah mentioned for him, not having a steady dwelling situation has made it troublesome to search out and maintain a job. He mentioned he additionally has issues that their household could find yourself staying at a homeless shelter — a vacation spot he would not contemplate appropriate for his eight-year-old brother and 12-year-old sister.

“Lots of people there are affected by actually dangerous psychological sicknesses, and there’s lots of people with dependancy issues,” Jeremiah mentioned.

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MaineHousing program adjustments go away some not sure about future

Katie Garrity is a social employee with the Westbrook Faculty Division who is aware of the Phillips household. She mentioned when she first took on this position 9 years in the past, there have been 4 college students experiencing homelessness. Now, there are round 120 — and Garrity mentioned that is seemingly an underestimate.

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“Proper now, households are simply shedding housing, and so they’re not discovering housing once more,” Garrity mentioned, noting about 25 college students have been affected by the ERA program adjustments.

Garrity mentioned homelessness as outlined by the Maine Division of Training by means of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Help Act refers to quite a lot of conditions — like college students dwelling with prolonged household or buddies due to an absence of or lack of housing; college students staying at inns, motels, or campgrounds; unsheltered college students; and college students in unsuitable dwelling circumstances. 

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Garrity mentioned below the McKinney-Vento act, she works to verify college students experiencing homelessness can keep of their college district, no matter the place they transfer. The purpose is to attempt to keep some type of consistency, even when a dwelling state of affairs is altering.

“Loads of households have a variety of transitions or strikes throughout their instances being homeless, so it might be actually onerous to additionally swap college districts each time,” Garrity mentioned.

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Garrity mentioned not having steady housing is a disturbing state of affairs, and it may typically get in the best way of scholars’ studying — or end in behavioral points.

“That might be actually onerous, having to eliminate all of your belongings, or having them put in storage,” Garrity mentioned. “It will be actually onerous not figuring out the place are you going to go every night time.”

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For the previous couple of weeks, the 24-bed Joe Kreisler Teen Shelter at Preble Avenue in Portland has been at-capacity most nights, in keeping with Leah McDonald, senior director of teenybopper providers at Preble Avenue. She mentioned youth who come there are from quite a lot of backgrounds, however many are experiencing generational poverty, determine as LGBTQ+, are New Mainers, or are coping with psychological sickness or substance use. 

“In recent times and up to date months, the prevalence has grown pretty dramatically,” McDonald mentioned.

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McDonald mentioned when youngsters are specializing in survival abilities, they’re usually lacking out on placing their full consideration into different alternatives — like college.

“It adjustments every thing while you don’t have a steady place to sleep; you don’t know the place you going to sleep that night time; you don’t know the place your subsequent meal goes to come back from,” McDonald mentioned.

McDonald mentioned Preble Avenue is in want of landlords to associate with to offer extra reasonably priced housing. There are incentives. You’ll be able to study extra right here. Youth in want of assist can electronic mail teenoutreach@preblestreet.org.

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Sarah Austin, a workers legal professional with Pine Tree Authorized Help, mentioned to this point, they’ve been involved with 96 events affected by the ERA program adjustments. They’ve been in a position to assist about 72 keep of their resort rooms, for the time-being. 

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Maine

Maine’s marine resources chief has profane exchange with lobstermen

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Maine’s marine resources chief has profane exchange with lobstermen


Maine Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher said “f— you” to a man during a Thursday meeting at which fishermen assailed him for a state plan to raise the size limit for lobster.

The heated exchange came on the same day that Keliher withdrew the proposal, which came in response to limits from regional regulators concerned with data showing a 35 percent decrease in lobster population in the state’s biggest fishing area.

It comes on the heels of fights between the storied fishery and the federal government over proposed restrictions on fishing gear that are intended to preserve the population of endangered whales off the East Coast. It was alleviated by a six-year pause on new whale rules negotiated in 2022 by Gov. Janet Mills and the state’s congressional delegation.

“I think this is the right thing to do because the future of the industry is at stake for a lot of different reasons,” Keliher told the fishermen of his now-withdrawn change at a meeting in Augusta on Thursday evening, according to a video posted on Facebook.

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After crosstalk from the crowd, Keliher implored them to listen to him. Then, a man yelled that they don’t have to listen to him because the commission “sold out” to federal regulators and Canada.

“F— you, I sold out,” Keliher yelled, prompting an angry response from the fishermen.

“That’s nice. Foul language in the meeting. Good for you. That’s our commissioner,” a man shouted back.

Keliher apologized to the crowd shortly after making the remark and will try to talk with the man he directed the profanity to, department spokesperson Jeff Nichols said. The commissioner issued a Friday statement saying the remarks came as a result of his passion for the industry and criticisms of his motives that he deemed unfair, he said.

“I remain dedicated to working in support of this industry and will continue to strengthen the relationships and build the trust necessary to address the difficult and complex tasks that lay ahead,” Keliher said.

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Spokespeople for Gov. Janet Mills did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether she has spoken to Keliher about his remarks.

Lobstermen pushed back in recent meetings against the state’s plan, challenging the underlying data. Now, fishermen can keep lobsters that measure 3.25 inches from eye socket to tail. The proposal would have raised that limit by 1/16 of an inch and would have been the first time the limit was raised in decades.

The department pulled the limit pending a new stock survey, a move that U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District, hailed in a news release that called the initial proposal “an unnecessary overreaction to questionable stock data.”

Keliher is Maine’s longest-serving commissioner. He has held his job since former Gov. Paul LePage hired him in 2012. Mills, a Democrat, reappointed the Gardiner native after she took office in 2019. Before that, he was a hunting guide, charter boat captain and ran the Coastal Conservation Association of Maine and the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission.



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Opinion: Voter ID referendum is unnecessary, expensive, and harmful to Maine voters

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Opinion: Voter ID referendum is unnecessary, expensive, and harmful to Maine voters


The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com

Anna Kellar is the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Maine.

This past November, my 98-year-old grandmother was determined that she wasn’t going to miss out on voting for president. She was worried that her ballot wouldn’t arrive in the mail in time. Fortunately, her daughter — my aunt — was able to pick up a ballot for her, bring it to her to fill out, and then return it to the municipal office.

Thousands of Maine people, including elderly and disabled people like my grandmother, rely on third-party ballot delivery to be able to vote. What they don’t know is that a referendum heading to voters this year wants to take away that ability and install other barriers to our constitutional right to vote.

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The “Voter ID for Maine” citizen’s initiative campaign delivered their signatures to the Secretary of State this week, solidifying the prospect of a November referendum. The League of Women Voters of Maine (LWVME) opposes this ballot initiative. We know it is a form of voter suppression.

The voter ID requirement proposed by this campaign would be one of the most restrictive anywhere in the county. It would require photo ID to vote and to vote absentee, and it would exclude a number of currently accepted IDs.

But that’s not all. The legislation behind the referendum is also an attack on absentee voting. It will repeal ongoing absentee voting, where a voter can sign up to have an absentee ballot mailed to them automatically for each election cycle, and it limits the use and number of absentee ballot dropboxes to the point where some towns may find it impractical to offer them. It makes it impossible for voters to request an absentee ballot over the phone. It prevents an authorized third party from delivering an absentee ballot, a service that many elderly and disabled Mainers rely on.

Absentee voting is safe and secure and a popular way to vote for many Mainers. We should be looking for ways to make it more convenient for Maine voters to cast their ballots, not putting obstacles in their way.

Make no mistake: This campaign is a broad attack on voting rights that, if implemented, would disenfranchise many Maine people. It’s disappointing to see Mainers try to impose these barriers on their fellow Mainers’ right to vote when this state is justly proud of its high voter participation rates. These restrictions can and will harm every type of voter, with senior and rural voters experiencing the worst of the disenfranchisement. It will be costly, too. Taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for a new system that is unnecessary, expensive, and harmful to Maine voters.

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All of the evidence suggests that voter IDs don’t prevent voter fraud. Maine has safeguards in place to prevent fraud, cyber attacks, and other kinds of foul play that would attempt to subvert our elections. This proposal is being imported to Maine from an out-of-state playbook (see the latest Ohio voter suppression law) that just doesn’t fit Maine. The “Voter ID for Maine” campaign will likely mislead Mainers into thinking that requiring an ID isn’t a big deal, but it will have immediate impacts on eligible voters. Unfortunately, that may be the whole point, and that’s what the proponents of this measure will likely refuse to admit.

This is not a well-intentioned nonpartisan effort. And we should call this campaign what it is: a broad attack on voting rights in order to suppress voters.

Maine has strong voting rights. We are a leader in the nation. Our small, rural, working-class state has one of the highest voter turnout rates in the country. That’s something to be proud of. We rank this high because of our secure elections, same-day voter registration, no-excuse absentee ballots, and no photo ID laws required to vote. Let’s keep it this way and oppose this voter suppression initiative.



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Maine Democratic Party leader won’t seek reelection

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Maine Democratic Party leader won’t seek reelection


Maine Democratic Party leader won’t seek reelection

Bev Uhlenhake Maine Democratic Party

The chair of the Maine Democratic Party announced Thursday she won’t seek reelection when members select leaders later this month.

Bev Uhlenhake, a former city councilor and mayor in Brewer and former chair of the Penobscot County Democrats, has served as chair of the state party since January 2023. She is also a previous vice chair of the party.

In a written statement, Uhlenhake noted some of the recent successes and challenges facing Democrats, including the reelection of Democratic majorities in both the Maine House and Senate last November, though by narrower margins, and winning three of Maine’s four electoral votes for Vice President Kamala Harris.

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“While we have laid a solid foundation from which Maine Democrats can build toward even greater success in 2026 and beyond, I have decided to step away from Maine Democratic Party leadership for personal and professional reasons, and will not seek reelection,” Uhlenhake said.

Party Vice Chair Julian Rogers, who was also elected to his post in 2023, announced he also won’t seek reelection to leadership, but will resume a previous role he held as vice chair of the party’s committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging.

Democratic State Committee members will vote for the party’s next leaders in elections to be held on Sunday, Jan. 26.

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