Down East Notes

Working Maine - Four years ago today, hundreds of Mainers, including artists, rallied at the Maine Department of Labor headquarters in Augusta to protest Gov. LePage's order removing the Maine Labor Mural. He hid it in a locked closet for 22 months before public outrage led him to return it to public display. Gov. LePage marked this week's anniversary of the protest by sending one of his appointees to testify, on behalf of the Maine DOL, against legislation raising Maine's paltry-low minimum wage.


More than 9,000 Maine residents have been removed from the state's food stamp program since Republican Gov. Paul LePage's administration began enforcing work and volunteer requirements late last year, officials said.