Maine
Mainewhile: Administration has Maine in its crosshairs and it’s illegal
Our beloved state is currently embroiled in a loud and fractious feud. I wish we weren’t, but we are.
A disclaimer: If you have questions, or are genuinely engaged in sorting your way through this issue, I welcome your conversation and I promise to engage in it without rancor. If, however, you are inclined to simply yell and hurl invective… well, I simply won’t be reading it. Life is short.
Currently, we are in a showdown between the federal and state government. A significant amount of much-needed funding hangs in the balance.
This whole thing started with an elected representative “outing” an underage student who that representative believes to be transgender.
Midcoast resident Heather D. Martin wants to know what’s on your mind; email her at heather@heatherdmartin.com.
Whether the student is, or is not, doesn’t matter.
The representative claims it is about her right to free speech. It isn’t.
If that child had, for example, committed a grisly murder, robbed a bank or committed some other crime, their name and image would have been withheld by law. But because this minor was busy just living their life in a way that representative deemed unacceptable, she felt justified in posting the minor on social media, exposing them to potential violence, threats and harassment.
Our youth deserve better than that. Our youth deserve to be protected. So do our grown-ups.
Now, if the issue were genuinely about fairness in sports (it isn’t), that would spark my curiosity. The current system is old. Times have changed in lots of ways. I bet that we, as a nation, could scrap the whole thing, sit down and create a new system that is better all around. We are actually pretty good at solutions once we take the heat out of the conversation. We can create a new and better way.
The fact that the conversation is being wound around the issue of transgender people is unfortunate. It seems to inspire a lot of fear, which comes out as “ugly.” We are not showing our best selves.
First, there seems to be a sense that making room for all types of people to exist will somehow cause others to morph into someone else against their will. I’ve never actually seen that happen.
People are who they are. Every transgender person I know has told me they knew who they were at a young age. And I believe them. Just as I believe my straight friends, and gay friends, and friends who have allergies.
Who we are is not a “choice.” Not for any of us. Our choice is about whether we pretend to be someone we’re not, or let others see who we truly are. That comes down to safety. Wouldn’t that be a lovely thing if everyone felt safe to be themself?
I’ve also heard the word “unnatural” bandied about – and that is simply incorrect. Nature is full of examples of changing genders. Clownfish, bearded dragons and sea snails are maybe the most famous, but the spotted hyena is worth a mention as well. Lots of species are able to change their gender completely – even well into their lifespan.
Humans not being able to do so autonomously is not an argument against it, either. After all, our inability to grow new teeth like sharks can is why we created dentists. Like I said, we are good at solutions.
However, none of this is the real issue.
What is really at stake here is the Constitution. Specifically, “ArtI.S8.C1.2.6 Anti-Coercion Requirement and Spending Clause,” which is pretty clear that withholding funds from a state in order to coerce or force specific behavior is illegal.
The threat, explicitly tied to funding, made by the president against our governor – and all of us who live here – is flat-out unconstitutional. States’ rights (oh, the irony) were established to prevent such abuses of power.
Therefore, I offer up (again) my heartfelt thanks to Gov. Janet Mills for standing up and ensuring our Constitutional protections remain in place, that rule of law remains the governing principle, and that we are all afforded our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
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