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This Democrat is at the center of Maine’s debate over transgender athletes

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This Democrat is at the center of Maine’s debate over transgender athletes


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Our political journalists are based in the Maine State House and have deep source networks across the partisan spectrum in communities all over the state. Their coverage aims to cut through major debates and probe how officials make decisions. Read more Politics coverage here.

A slate of Republican-led bills aimed at undoing Maine’s policies allowing transgender girls to play in sports aligned with their gender identity are heading for votes after the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee effectively deadlocked on three of them late Tuesday.

The key player was first-term Rep. Dani O’Halloran, D-Brewer, who voted with Republicans on two bills that would bar schools that receive state funding from allowing transgender girls to play alongside girls. She also endorsed a version of a similar bill from Rep. Liz Caruso, R-Caratunk, that would take out language allowing people to sue schools for violations.

Democrats who control Augusta otherwise united on the issue that has led to Gov. Janet Mills’ fight with President Donald Trump over Maine’s federal funding. These Republican-led bills still have an uphill path to passage in the Legislature, but O’Halloran’s stance has injected uncertainty around how the votes will land in the closely divided House.

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Mills has defended Maine’s laws on the subject but has not said how she feels about changing the policies, saying in March that it was “worthy of a debate.” A University of New Hampshire poll of Maine that month found two-thirds of Mainers think transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete in women’s and girls’ sports.

It’s no surprise that O’Halloran was the one to break with her party. She was one of two Democrats to vote with Republicans in April against enshrining existing civil rights protections — including those for gender identity — in the Maine Constitution.

She was one of the most vocal members during Tuesday’s committee session, questioning Mary Bonauto, a prominent LGBTQ+ rights lawyer from Portland, about whether transgender participation in girls sports erodes opportunities for those who were born girls. The lawmaker returned to that point before the committee started taking votes.

“You have not only transgender girls on girls teams, you have girls on girls teams, and then there are some transgender boys that are playing on girls teams,” she said. “So that leaves me sitting here wondering, where does that leave girls?”

Other Democrats stuck together in voting against the bills. Sen. Rachel Talbot Ross, D-Portland, worried about the real-world effects of Caruso’s bill that would bar transgender girls from girls sports but allow schools to create co-ed teams to accommodate those students.

“If the school does not have the resources or can’t put a regional team together, then we have de facto just discriminated against those students because we have not given them choice — choices,” she said.

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Rep. Rachel Henderson of Rumford, summed up the Republican perspective on the committee, saying her faith teaches her to love everyone but that it is “hard science” that there are only two biological sexes. (The American Medical Association recognizes a “medical spectrum” of gender.)

“With that love has to come a truth, and this is the truth I’m standing on,” she said. “But please know that my desire is to always wrap that truth in love.”



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Woman presumed dead in Readfield house fire; husband hospitalized

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Woman presumed dead in Readfield house fire; husband hospitalized


Firefighters were unable to enter due to heavy fire conditions

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Maine Department of Public Safety

woman presumed dead in readfield house fire; husband hospitalized

SOURCE: Maine Department of Public Safety

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Woman presumed dead in Readfield house fire; husband hospitalized

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Firefighters were unable to enter due to heavy fire conditions

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Updated: 8:48 PM EDT Apr 4, 2026

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A woman is believed to have died in a house fire Friday night in Readfield, officials said.Firefighters responded to a home on Plains Road at about 9:51 p.m. and found the structure heavily involved in fire. Neighbors helped 74-year-old Jerrold Wentworth escape from a second-floor window. He told crews his wife, 75-year-old Carolyn Wentworth, remained inside.Firefighters were unable to enter due to heavy fire conditions.Investigators with the state Fire Marshal’s Office later located a deceased person in the debris early Saturday in the area where Carolyn Wentworth had been sleeping. The body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office for identification and cause of death.Jerrold Wentworth was hospitalized in serious condition. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

A woman is believed to have died in a house fire Friday night in Readfield, officials said.

Firefighters responded to a home on Plains Road at about 9:51 p.m. and found the structure heavily involved in fire. Neighbors helped 74-year-old Jerrold Wentworth escape from a second-floor window. He told crews his wife, 75-year-old Carolyn Wentworth, remained inside.

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Firefighters were unable to enter due to heavy fire conditions.

Investigators with the state Fire Marshal’s Office later located a deceased person in the debris early Saturday in the area where Carolyn Wentworth had been sleeping. The body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office for identification and cause of death.

Jerrold Wentworth was hospitalized in serious condition. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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Appeals court rules Maine’s gun waiting period likely constitutional

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Appeals court rules Maine’s gun waiting period likely constitutional


The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled that Maine’s 72-hour waiting period for firearm purchases is likely constitutional, overturning a lower court’s decision that had blocked the law from being enforced.

A three-judge panel vacated a preliminary injunction that had prevented Maine from enforcing the law, which requires a 72-hour waiting period for a gun buyer to take possession of a firearm after purchasing it.

The panel found the law does not violate the “plain text” of the Second Amendment.

Circuit Judge Seth Aframe wrote that while the Second Amendment protects the right to “keep and bear” arms, the Maine law regulates the acquisition of firearms, which is a step that happens before a person actually possesses or carries a weapon.

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In the 24-page ruling, the court characterized the law as a “presumptively lawful” condition on the commercial sale of firearms rather than an outright ban. The court concluded the 72-hour delay is a “modest” burden similar to the wait already allowed for federal background checks.

This law and one expanding background check requirements was enacted in 2024, six months after 18 people were killed in the mass shooting in Lewiston. Lawmakers designed the “cooling off” period to reduce suicides and homicides sparked by impulsive firearm purchases.

The lawsuit was brought by a gun buyer, a firearms training business and three firearms dealers. They argued the law interfered with the rights of victims of domestic violence to immediately protect themselves and caused significant business losses for firearms dealers.

The court concluded the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim, which sends the case back to the district court. By vacating the preliminary injunction, the appeals court allows the state to resume enforcing the waiting period while the underlying lawsuit continues.

This is a developing story.

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Maine could soon see a statewide ‘bell-to-bell’ cellphone ban in schools

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Maine could soon see a statewide ‘bell-to-bell’ cellphone ban in schools


AUGUSTA (WGME) — Maine could soon join a growing number of states that ban cellphones during school hours, after lawmakers advanced funding to create and enforce a statewide “bell to bell” policy.

Governor Janet Mills called for the ban during her State of the State address back in January.

“I propose that we enact a statewide ban on cellphone use during the school day, from bell to bell, to reduce distraction and disruption and to keep children’s attention on learning,” Mills said.

Earlier this week, the legislature’s budget committee signed off on $350,000 to support starting a statewide school cellphone ban. The proposal would prohibit students from using their cellphones or smart devices from the first bell until they are dismissed.

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“Appropriations has included $350,000 in its budget to support schools with the ban, presumably to cover the cost of phone lockers, Yondr pouches and other possible ‘enforcement-related’ expenses for this possible rollout,” Maine School Management Association Executive Director Eric Waddell said.

Some Maine schools already have their own restrictions. At Cony High School, Principal Kim Liscomb says the school began implementing stricter cellphone policies five years ago after teachers reported students were distracted.

“We said, ‘All right, nope, they need to be in backpacks, they need to be in bags, they can’t be out at all, and there only certain areas in the school you can use them,” Liscomb said.

Under Cony’s current rules, students are permitted to use their phones before and after school and during lunch. Liscomb says the tighter policy has improved classroom participation.

“The best impact is the engagement of students in the classroom, the highly engaged conversations and discussions, teachers have reported a significant improvement there,” Liscomb said.

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In response to this proposal, some state lawmakers like Representative Jack Ducharme of Madison say they are against an entire state mandate.

“I did not, nor will I support a state mandate for local schools to ban cellphones in the classroom bell-to-bell. We have local school boards made up of local people: parents, grandparents and others that represent the people of that school district. While I understand that cellphones in schools are a problem, I trust local people to address the problem rather than another government mandate,” Ducharme said.

Waddell says that if a statewide school cellphone policy is enacted, the association will work with the Maine Department of Education to provide a sample policy for school boards.

The proposal still must pass the House and Senate before it can go to the governor for approval. If passed, it would take effect at the beginning of next school year.



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