Maine’s highest court weighed Wednesday whether the state can reject petition signatures collected by out-of-state circulators who did not check a box consenting to Maine’s jurisdiction, a legal dispute that could determine whether Mainers vote on transgender inclusion in sports this November.

The group called “Protect Girls Sports” initially submitted enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, proposing an initiative that would restrict what school sports teams, bathrooms and facilities trans students can access. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows later determined that the campaign had failed to qualify, after thousands of signatures were invalidated. That ruling was upheld by a Superior Court judge in June and the campaign appealed that decision to the Supreme Judicial Court. 

More than 1,500 of the invalidated signatures were collected by four out-of-state circulators who had not checked a box on the form agreeing to Maine’s jurisdiction. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court must now decide whether those signatures were properly invalidated. The initiative is short 500 signatures to qualify. 

Here are some excerpts from our conversation:

Senior Living Facilities

Risking Old Age in America (ROA): You have been working [to make improvements] across the whole continuum of care from nursing homes [to] assisted living facilities to home healthcare. Please talk about the legislature’s initiatives in these areas.

Rep. Thomas M. Stanley: In 2024, the governor signed the long-term care reform bill into law. This was the first major legislative update of nursing homes and assisted living residences in over 25 years.

It increases transparency and oversight of nursing homes through new suitability standards for owners and operators. It requires a review of the civil and criminal litigation history of owners and operators; and we put in place tools for the Department of Public Health to monitor and take punitive action against facilities, including increased fines and creating the ability to appoint a temporary manager to oversee a struggling facility.

It expands the suitability reviews of management companies including any [firm] with at least a 5-percent stake in a nursing facility. The law also establishes the long-term care workforce and capital fund to help address the workforce crisis in nursing homes. Money from the fund can be used for Certified Nursing Assistant training grants, career ladder grants for Licensed Practical Nurses, and also leadership training.

The law gives assisted living facilities the ability to offer basic health services, like wound care, eye drops, and medication distribution to their residents.

ROA: The Dignity Alliance [a senior advocacy group]…[has said] state supervision and enforcement of nursing facilities is…not tough enough, that there might be fines and other penalties on the books, but nobody’s applying them to nursing homes that don’t meet their obligations. It sounds like the ability to put them into receivership under the new legislation may be the remedy that’s needed.

Stanley: That’s correct. Under the old rules you would end up in the situation of really punishing or fining a nursing home and end up having it going to foreclosure. In that case, where are the residents going to go? The new law allows the Department of Public Health (DPH) to get in earlier and work with them so that they understand what the DPH is looking for in terms of quality of care and so forth. They can take care of the facility and all the residents so they don’t go astray.

ROA: So the DPH might have felt that it was between a rock and a hard place because if they enforced the regulations, they might lose the nursing home.

Stanley: [Yes]…and the nursing homes, by and large, were not letting them know that they were having certain problems. So this allows the DPH to get in earlier, understand what’s going on and help them make adjustments so that they can right the ship.

Long-Term Care Insurance

Stanley: The state of Washington is really in the forefront of looking down the road to provide for some type of revenue stream…for folks to be able to afford their home care or [other] long-term care needs. So we’re modeling our program after theirs and we’re learning from their mistakes and successes.

ROA: That’s the Washington Cares Fund?

Stanley: Yes, exactly. Last session Senator Jehlen and I worked together to get $500,000 in the state budget for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to hire an independent firm to conduct the actuary study of various public, private and public-private long-term support service financing options. They hired Milliman to conduct the study. [The full study is available here.]

How it would work in a nutshell is that a public…insurance program would be funded via a payroll tax. After individuals pay into the program for a certain number of years, a vesting period, they would become eligible. And as they age and require long-term support services, they can apply for benefits under the program. There are countless ways to design the program, increasing or decreasing the benefit amount or…the vesting period, determining what the benefit can be used for – home care, assisted living or even paying family caregivers. We have filed legislation to establish a commission to discuss the results of the actuary study and the feasibility of a public long-term care financing program in Massachusetts and potentially recommending a model that works.

ROA: It sounds like this would help a lot, but one question I have about it is that if there’s a vesting period where you have to pay in for a number of years before you can become eligible for the benefit, would it only be available for people who are continuing to work during that time?

Stanley: That’s definitely something that has to be discussed by the commission, but everyone has to contribute and the 10-year vesting period is necessary to get enough money into the program to make it sustainable.

Listen to our entire conversation here.

For more from Harry Margolis, check out his Risking Old Age in America blog and podcast.  He also answers consumer estate planning questions at AskHarry.info.  To stay current on the Squared Away blog, join our free email list.

Tiny homes may be having a moment—but it is rare that one arrives on the market offering not just an opportunity to downsize in a one-of-a-kind cabin, but also a chance to claim a lush 6-acre expanse of land just 90-minutes’ drive from the nearest beach.

Yet that is the exact package currently being offered in New Hampshire, where a unique yurt-shaped abode has recently been listed for the bargain price of $300,000.

Set on more than 6 wooded acres in the picturesque Monadnock Region—known for its hiking trails and classic New England vibes—the two-bedroom dwelling is described as a “private, peaceful retreat with the perfect balance of rustic cabin character and modern convenience.”

The Peterborough, NH, cabin itself features several incredibly unique design features, not least its yurt-inspired shape, which makes it look almost like a UFO from the outside.

Inside, however, that shape helps to create a truly fairy-tale feel, with a lofted bedroom at the heart of the round structure, creating the impression of sleeping in a treehouse.

The home’s all-wood interior immediately evokes the feeling of a secluded mountain cabin, despite being just a short drive from downtown Peterborough.

Built in 1980 and last sold in 2013, the circular home blends rustic cabin coziness with all the modern comforts. The distinctive wooden yurt-style residence, which is listed with Lisa Stone of Keller Williams Realty, comes with roughly 1,200 square feet of living space designed to take full advantage of its natural surroundings.

Attached to the round yurt-style structure is a more traditionally-shaped addition that houses the property’s only bathroom—with an entryway serving as the connector between these two wings. Sliding glass doors provide instant access to the backyard from this area.

But it is the yurt structure that really shines as the star of the show, with every inch of space utilized to create a true woodland escape that feels totally removed from the bustling town that exists just a few miles away.

At its center, a wood-burning stove anchors the open-concept floor plan, while a sunken living room creates an inviting gathering space beneath timber ceilings.

Directly above the sunken living room is the loft-style primary bedroom, which is accessed via a wooden ladder and features a large circular skylight, perfectly positioned for stargazing from bed.

The primary bedroom space also has multiple windows that open up to the lush surroundings and help to fill it with a blissful breeze, while built-in dressers and closets provide ample storage.

A second, smaller bedroom with an adorable reading nook is tucked just off the kitchen.

The open-plan kitchen takes up a large section of the rounded walls and comes complete with a sizable countertop for food preparation, plenty of built-in storage, and a small dining table situated under another skylight.

Another area perched above the sunken living room has been transformed into an office, while the area next to the wood-burning stove is currently being used as an additional seating area.

The idyllic nature retreat extends outdoors, where a brook meanders through the property and natural landscaping reinforces the feeling of being tucked away in a private woodland escape.

“The acreage offers distinct spaces to explore and utilize. A short, scenic walk down a wooded path leads directly to Otter Brook running through the backyard woods,” the listing crows.

A freestanding outbuilding provides additional flexibility as an artist’s studio or home office, making the property especially appealing to creatives seeking an inspired place to work.

While it is currently being used as a residence, the listing notes that the property is rich with potential—whether a buyer is seeking out a “private homestead” or a lucrative rental, highlighting its convenient proximity to nearby Peterborough.

“With its eclectic design and distinct features, this property is an ideal setup for a standout short-term rental destination or a private homestead-all just minutes from downtown Peterborough,” the description notes. “Peterborough is known for its quaint down town full of shops and restaurants and for its arts and music events.”

And it seems the allure of the property was too hard to resist for one eager buyer—with the listing now showing that the home is already “pending” sale, meaning that an offer has been accepted, although the deal has not yet closed.

For the buyer looking for a weekend getaway, an artist’s retreat, or a full-time residence with unmistakable charm, the home’s rare combination of affordability and privacy makes it easy to see why it was scooped up almost as soon as it hit the market.

Larissa Runkle is a seasoned real estate writer, lifestyle journalist, and marketing strategist with over a decade of experience and 2,000+ published articles. Her work covering housing, personal finance, and lifestyle has appeared in major publications like Bankrate, MarketWatch, Yahoo Finance, and New York Post. In 2023, she launched a boutique copywriting studio to partner with land developers and top brokerages, creating strategic content that builds lasting brand authority. When she isn’t writing, Larissa enjoys the outdoors from her home in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, where she lives with her husband, son, and German shepherd, Yoko.