Around 3:50 on the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct 12, a state-owned silver GMC Sierra pickup pulled into the parking lot at the Colby College rugby field. A man in a blue windbreaker got out of the truck, took a cardboard box of equipment from the cab and headed down to the field, where members ofMore

AUGUSTA — The head of the state agency responsible for the safety of about 100 potentially hazardous dams admitted to a legislative committee Monday that the dams are not being inspected when the law says they should be. But he also said he was confident in the assurance he got from the chief dam inspectorMore

AUGUSTA — The controversy over a $3 million energy grant that went to a politically-connected group may lead to a new law to subject state and federal grants to a competitive process. On Tuesday, the legislature’s government oversight committee voted unanimously to begin the process of writing legislation that would make it hard to awardMore

AUGUSTA, Maine — No one in state government — all the way up to the governor — denies the state is failing to regularly inspect Maine’s potentially hazardous dams. Most, though, don’t expect to do much about it, even though state law requires regular inspections. Some say there’s no risk in the current situation. OthersMore

Maine is not living up to the state law that requires regular inspections of the nearly 100 dams in the state classified as hazardous for their potential to take lives or sweep away buildings, roads and bridges. The state has 93 such dams from Limestone to Sanford. Of those, the state classifies 24 as “highMore

AUGUSTA — A state audit has found that the agency in charge of all of the state’s energy programs gave a $3 million grant to a startup non-profit that was incapable of taking on the responsibility of the contract. And while the audit found no misuse of funds, it concluded that Efficiency Maine Trust shouldMore

AUGUSTA — Lawmakers Wednesday strongly condemned the potentially illegal leak of parts of a confidential state investigation of a now-defunct energy group, the Maine Green Energy Alliance, and its state sponsor, the Efficiency Maine Trust. They also said the leak was designed to cast both organizations in the best light possible before the formal releaseMore

Editor’s note: This is the first in an occasional series examining promises made by Paul LePage when he campaigned for governor in 2010. When he was running for governor, Paul LePage recognized the crisis that could be caused by the $4.3 billion the state owed for the pensions for teachers and state employees. But heMore

Editor’s note: This is part 6 of an occasional series on the effects of the state’s pension costs. The series began last July.   The year is 2020, just nine years from now, and the state is facing one of its worst budget crisis in years. A new governor and legislature are grappling with theMore

From last Wednesday night to 2 AM Friday, it was nothing but return on investments, discount rates, defined benefits and unfunded actuarial liabilities. It was everything you ever wanted to know about public pensions — and then some. I spent those days as a fellow at the Society of American Business Editors and Writers conferenceMore