Steve Meyers Cartoons

06/26/2025

April 27, 2025, Maine Sunday Telegram

06/19/2025

April 20, 2025, Maine Sunday Telegram

"Maine’s medical cannabis providers have once again fought off a controversial requirement to start testing their products — at least for now.

A legislative committee killed one bill and carried over another that would have instituted testing and tracking requirements that industry members have said for years would put them out of business or force price increases.

While Maine’s recreational cannabis market requires testing for contaminants and potency and includes potency limits, the medical market requires neither. Maine is the only state that doesn’t mandate medical cannabis to be tested.

LD 104, proposed by the state’s Office of Cannabis Policy and sponsored by Rep. Marc Malon, D-Biddeford, would have required seed-to-sale plant tracking and standardized chemical, mold and heavy metal testing between recreational and medical cannabis. LD 1847, sponsored by Rep. Anne Graham, D-North Yarmouth, sought to do the same while also adding potency caps on edibles. The latter will be taken up again next year." - June 11, 2025, Portland Press Herald, "Maine won’t require medical cannabis to be tested for contaminants — this year" reported by Hannah LaClaire

06/12/2025

April 13, 2025, Maine Sunday Telegram

06/05/2025

April 6, 2025, Maine Sunday Telegram.

05/29/2025

March 30, 2025, Maine Sunday Telegram

On February 21, 2025, an altercation between President Trump and Governor Mills occurred at a governor's conference in the White House. Mills was ambushed by Trump during his speech. He called her out and demanded Maine disregard state law about transgender athletes. The governor said, "see you in court." On March 22 the orange-faced bumbling strongman demanded a “full-throated apology” for questioning his presidential authority and his commitment to protecting women and girls.

In some seriously bizarro logic, some Maine Trump supporters were angry at her so-called disrespect for our nation's 47th president. A petition was started by Melissa Moulton. In the petition, Moulton wrote that many residents are “deeply dissatisfied with the policies introduced by our governor” and called for “change and improvement” in the state. The recall gathered nearly 30,000 signatures.

Here's the funny part: Maine's constitution does not have an amendment to allow citizens to recall a governor. Ya'd think they would've researched that bit before going through all their effort.

The only process available to remove Governor Mills is the impeachment process. That would require the state House and Senate to participate. The House of Representatives initiates the impeachment process by voting on articles of impeachment, which are essentially formal charges, then it moves over to the Senate where two-thirds of its members have to vote for impeachment. The state House of Representatives has 151 members. There are 76 Democrats, 73 Republicans, one Independent and one unenrolled. There are 35 Maine state senators, currently 20 Democrats and 15 Republicans. In other words, there's a better chance of it raining M&Ms than Governor Mills being impeached.

That's been the procedure here in Maine since we became a state in 1820. Nineteen states allow citizens to recall a governor.

05/28/2025

Monique: "What would Ginger (our new dog) have to do for us to return her?"
Me: "Oh, I don't know. Shoot someone?"
🐶

05/28/2025

05/26/2025

Solar panel door-to-door salesmen are giving Jehovah's Witnesses a real run for their money in my Annoyance Department.
☀️😡✝️

05/22/2025

March 23, 2025, Maine Sunday Telegram

"State lawmakers are considering a bill that supporters say would make it easier for Mainers with low credit scores to take out small loans: the law would give financial technology companies more leeway to partner with out-of-state banks and thus get around the state’s rate caps.

Opponents say the measure would undo protections against predatory lenders and leave consumers on the hook for much higher payments.

Maine has a 30 percent cap on interest rates for small-dollar loans up to $2,000, which has been in effect since 1997. The bill would allow financial technology or “fintech” companies to get around this cap, making it more attractive to offer small loans in the state while allowing the potential costs for borrowers to balloon.

The legislation, L.D. 314, would allow fintech companies, which would normally be subject to Maine’s rate caps, to partner with out-of-state banks in what multiple people called a “rent-a-bank scheme.” Out-of-state banks are able to lend to Mainers while subject to regulations in their own states — some of which have much higher interest rate caps or don’t have them at all.

In 2021, state lawmakers passed legislation to close this loophole: The measure established that the party with the major economic interest in the loan, such as a financial technology company, is the true lender and therefore is subject to Maine law. Opponents say L.D. 314 would undo those protections.

Attorney General Aaron Frey submitted testimony against L.D. 314, saying it would repeal a rule that is “a crucial tool that protects Maine’s consumers from predatory, out-of-state, unregulated lenders.”

Because of the way it’s written, the measure would also exempt nearly all traditional lending institutions, including banks and credit unions, from the interest rate caps, he added.

“This is the third attempt since 2021 by the fintech industry to repeal this important consumer protection,” Frey said in his testimony. “The Legislature rejected each of the previous attempts, and I urge it to do so again now.”

Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio, a Democrat from Sanford who sponsored L.D. 314, said in her testimony that the 2021 measure greatly constricted the availability of small-dollar loans to Mainers with subprime credit scores. As a result, Mainers who need emergency access to credit have few safe options left, she said." - The Maine Monitor, "A new bill could make it easier for Mainers to get small loans. It would also allow lenders to charge more." by Rose Lundy, February 23, 2025

05/18/2025

It's that time of year where my wife and Mom are shopping for flowers at Broadway Gardens while husbands are standing or sitting around the area like life-sized lawn ornaments.
🌻😴🌸

05/16/2025

While registering our new dog at town hall, this morning, I think I caused the clerk to have a WTF moment when she said, "That'll be $6." and I deadpanned, "Can I pay that in installments?"
😬🐶

05/15/2025

March 16, 2025, Maine Sunday Telegram

"Maine has at least 11 so-called crisis pregnancy centers, facilities that offer prenatal services with the goal of deterring people from having abortions...
.. These anti-abortion centers are not regulated the same as health clinics. Many are not licensed or staffed by medical professionals but offer free services like pregnancy tests or ultrasounds. And because they are not medical facilities, these centers are not bound by HIPAA to protect patient confidentiality.

During a recent summit hosted by the Maine Public Health Association, abortion-rights activists warned public health leaders that these centers circulated misinformation about “abortion pill reversals” that aren’t supported by any studies...
.. There are an estimated 2,500 of these anti-abortion centers nationally, compared to about 765 abortion clinics, according to The Guttmacher Institute, a leading research and policy organization focused on reproductive health.

Maine is among a handful of states that has fewer of these facilities than abortion clinics, according to reporting from The Independent." - The Maine Monitor, January 16, 2025, " Concerns raised about Maine’s ‘crisis pregnancy centers’" by Rose Lundy

Deception is part of the business model. Here in Maine they use innocuous business names such as Open Arms Pregnancy Center, Hope House, Resolve Life Center, Care Net Center of Mid-Coast Maine, First Step Pregnancy Resources Center, and Pregnancy Care Center of Aroostook.