Steve Meyers Cartoons

08/29/2024

June 30, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

"Amish have steadily founded new communities in the state, growing from just three settlements in 2010, to 11 communities in 2023" - "The Amish in Maine: 2023 Guide (11 Communities)" by Erik Wesner, amishamerica.com, December 7, 2023

It appears that every few years some motor vehicle crashes into one of the Amish buggies. The Amish buggies have as much right to the road as any other driver but some impatient drivers cannot handle losing a few seconds of their precious time, so reckless deadly results ensue.

08/22/2024

June 23, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

UPDATE: "The attorney general’s office is putting nearly $2.5 million toward a resource center that will offer assistance to Maine counties, cities and towns as they decide how to spend opioid settlement funds, Attorney General Aaron Frey told The Maine Monitor in an exclusive interview.

In June, Frey’s office signed a contract with the University of Southern Maine’s Catherine Cutler Institute to support the development of a resource center dedicated to helping the state’s 39 counties, cities and towns — or “direct share subdivisions” — that are set to receive approximately $66 million in opioid settlement funds over 18 years.

The research and data generated by the center will be made available to the public in an effort to boost transparency and help communities make informed spending decisions. The contract is for five years.

The money the attorney general’s office is using to fund the center and the money going to the direct share subdivisions comes from settlements reached with nearly a dozen pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and retailers accused of “supercharging” the opioid epidemic.

Maine expects to receive about $230 million across 18 years, though that number may increase when several pending bankruptcy cases are finalized.

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy plan that would have added billions of dollars to the settlements nationwide, but would have given the Sackler family immunity from future litigation.

It will likely be years before a resolution is reached and states like Maine see any money from the OxyContin maker..." - The Maine Monitor, "State announces resource center to aid local opioid settlement spending" by Emily Bader, July 2. 2024

08/15/2024

June 16, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

It seemed a nice opportunity to slip in the Beatles' Yellow Submarine.

08/11/2024

08/08/2024

June 9, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

"A bill that requires Maine hospitals and other health care facilities to clearly inform patients that they charge facility fees automatically became law Thursday after Gov. Janet Mills declined to sign it or veto it.

Health care facilities must post signs in their buildings and on their websites that facility fees are being charged – though hospitals and other facilities do not have to disclose the specific amounts of the fees.

The law is a weakened version of the original legislation for L.D. 2271. Some provisions were taken out amid opposition from the medical industry that the bill would have negative financial impact on hospitals’ ability to cover their overhead. That includes a proposed full ban on the facility fees charged at health care facilities that are affiliated with a hospital but separate from the main campus.

Lawmakers also removed a provision that would have barred fees for telehealth patients who do not visit a health care facility." - Portland Press Herald, April 25, 2024, article by Kay Neufeld, "Bill on transparency about hospital facility fees takes effect without Gov. Mills’ signature"

08/01/2024

June 2, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

Kudos to Governor Mills for being more diplomatic than her predecessor Governor LePage when dealing with the press. The leak of the Maine Turnpike internal report caught her off guard and probably added more frustration to her job. The newspaper reporting about the abusive work environment was appropriate and important. Exposing problems and pointing out bu****it are arguably the most important functions of a free press.

07/25/2024

May 26, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

Very late in the legislative session Senate Democrats tried to force Governor Mills' hand by passing bills that had not been publicly vetted. She gave them the finger by vetoing the suckers. They were not pleased.

07/18/2024

May 19, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

07/11/2024

May 12, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

07/04/2024

May 5, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

06/27/2024

April 28, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

"Earlier this year, Maine lawmakers abruptly killed a bill that sought to protect gender-affirming care, and the professionals who provide it, from hostile out-of-state litigation.

The committee chairman would only say that the bill contained language that wasn’t needed, and the issue appeared to be dead.

About a month later, a bill with a vague title, “An Act Regarding Health Care in the State,” came up for a public hearing in a different committee. It had no text, only a nondescript summary: “This bill would enact provisions of law regarding health care in the state.”

It was seven days before the public hearing when people signed up to receive committee updates learned that the bill was a more expansive, 22-page version of the one rejected months before. The new version also included protections for abortion care and providers.

To this day, the bill details are not readily available online to the general public, although a more detailed explanation can be found buried in the 620 pieces of testimony submitted to the committee...
.. It was not an isolated case. Lawmakers are increasingly using placeholder bills with vague titles for significant pieces of legislation presented late in the process – a practice that reduces transparency and erodes trust in the government at a time when political rhetoric is becoming more heated and violent.

Some critics say lawmakers use the process to withhold information and blindside opponents, although concept drafts also can be used simply to allow time to draft complex legislation...
.. This year, lawmakers submitted about 250 concept bills, often with little information other than a bill title. That’s a more than 25% increase over the nearly 200 placeholders in the previous legislature and a fourfold increase over the roughly 60 concept bills submitted 20 years ago." - Portland Press Herald, March 17, 2024, "Maine Legislature’s use of vague ‘concept bills’ has risen dramatically" by Randy Billings

06/20/2024

April 21, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

"Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross on Thursday sanctioned two Republican lawmakers who suggested that last year's mass shooting in Lewiston was God's punishment for Democrats expanding abortion access.

In a letter to state Reps. Mike Lemelin, R-Chelsea, and Shelly Rudnicki, R-Fairfield, the speaker said that neither legislator will be allowed to speak or vote until they issue a formal apology to their constituents and victims and survivors of the worst mass shooting in state history.

Talbot Ross told Lemelin that his remarks "were extremely offensive and intentionally harmful to the victims and the families of the Lewiston tragedy, the House of Representatives and the people of Maine."

She went on to say that both lawmakers were in violation of a House rule governing decorum for members.

Later on Thursday the House voted to censure both lawmakers, a rare act in the Maine Legislature that is recorded in the body's historical record.

The censure vote was unanimous and both lawmakers were called to the well of the House to hear Talbot Ross' rebuke of their conduct.

Rudnicki and Lemelin then returned to their seats and apologized for their comments.

Lemelin's remarks came during debate over a bill that would shield abortion and transgender care providers. He had already drawn objections for suggesting that the bill was evil and influenced by the devil. But later in the debate he went further by suggesting that God had beset the Lewiston gunman on innocent people as they played pool, co****le and bowled on Oct. 25. He said the shootings that killed 18 people and wounded 13 others were divine punishment for Democrats expanding abortion access last year.

"Keep in mind that law came into effect on Oct. 25," Lemelin said. "God heard you and the horrible events of Oct. 25 happened."

Lemelin also suggested that the severe storms that have ravaged the state over the past several months were acts of divine vengeance.

Rudnicki later defended Lemelin by telling her House colleagues she agreed with everything he said.

Multiple lawmakers from both sides of the aisle condemned the comments, which were featured prominently on social media.

The bill that prompted Lemelin's remarks, LD 227, seeks to shield health care professionals who provide abortions or gender-affirming care to patients who travel to Maine from states where such care is restricted or illegal. Supporters say the measure is necessary because attorneys general in more restrictive states have threatened to investigate cases where individuals traveled to more lenient states to receive abortions or transgender care.

But opponents warned that it could violate parental rights and point out that Maine sheriffs and chiefs of police opposed the bill out of concerns that it could impede their work with agencies in other states.

The Democratic-controlled House and Senate have both given preliminary approval to the bill. It faces additional procedural votes in both chambers." - Maine Public Radio, April 11, 2024, 'Lawmakers sanctioned for saying Lewiston shooting was divine punishment for abortion expansions' by Steve Mistler

UPDATE: The bill passed in the legislature (mostly along party-line votes. Maine Senate voted 21-13 and the House voted 76-67.) Governor Mills signed it into law on April 22, 2024.

06/13/2024

April 14, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

06/06/2024

April 7, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram.

It appears many of the Maine Republican representatives need to look up the word 'interim.' When the INTERIM report came out, they immediately claimed that it proved no gun reforms were needed. "The Independent Commission to Investigate the Facts of the Tragedy in Lewiston is charged with determining the facts around the October 25 shootings, from the months preceding the tragedy through the police response to it."

UPDATE: "Democratic Gov. Janet Mills on Friday signed into law a suite of gun safety legislation approved by lawmakers after the deadliest mass shooting in state history, expanding background checks for private sales of weapons, bolstering the state’s “yellow flag” law, criminalizing the transfer of guns to prohibited people and expanding mental health crisis care.

The governor told lawmakers during her State of the State address that doing nothing was not an option after an Army reservist with an assault rifle killed 18 people and injured 13 others in Lewiston on Oct. 25.

The bills drew opposition from Republicans who accused Democrats, who control both legislative chambers, of using the tragedy to advance proposals, some of which had been previously defeated. Mills said Friday the proposals would improve public safety while respecting the state’s long traditions of gun ownership and outdoor heritage.

The new law signed by the governor doesn’t require universal background checks but it does require background checks for people who advertise a gun for sale on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace or elsewhere. Sales would be required to be checked against the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, as is required for commercial sales at federally licensed firearm dealers, the governor’s office said.

The legislation includes changes to the state’s yellow flag law that allows police to assess an individual, take the person into protective custody for a mental health evaluation and hold a hearing before a judge to remove guns from someone in a psychiatric crisis.

The new law allows police to go directly to a judge for a warrant, streamlining the process. It eliminates a hurdle when a deputy was stymied by the Lewiston gunman’s refusal to answer the door for a required face-to-face meeting that’s necessary under current law. Law enforcement members have said in testimony about the shootings that the state’s existing yellow flag law was cumbersome and hard to apply..." - April 26, 2024, Associated Press, "Maine governor signs off on new gun laws, mental health supports in wake of Lewiston shootings" by David Sharp and Patrick Whittle

05/31/2024

One way to liven up news reports about court trials is have all the courtroom sketch artists be sarcastic cartoonists.
🤡

05/29/2024

March 31, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram. This was the first color editorial cartoon produced by me that was published in the newspaper.

05/23/2024

March 24, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram. The original was published in black-and-white.

"Members of Congress and other political leaders often establish nonconnected committees, generally known as “leadership PACs,” to support candidates for various federal and nonfederal offices. A leadership PAC is defined as a political committee that is directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained or controlled by a candidate or an individual holding federal office, but is not an authorized committee of the candidate or officeholder and is not affiliated with an authorized committee of a candidate or officeholder. Leadership PACs do not include political party committees" (Federal Election Commission at fec.gov)

In the 2010 Supreme Court case, "... Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Court reaffirmed that giving and spending money in connection with elections constitute protected “speech” under the First Amendment and thus that any restrictions on these activities can only survive if they are narrowly tailored to serving a compelling governmental interest." - University of Virginia School of Law, excerpt from Deborah Hellman's article (2012) "Politics and Terrorism: What Happens When Money Is Speech?"

It was a 5-4 Supreme Court decision. Since then the Court has become even more conservative. Today, the vote would likely be 6-3.

Leadership PACs are tools of power. The more money you contribute, the more influence you have. It is an unavoidable aspect of politics. One of my issues with the dynamic is when politicians pretend that they give equal attention to all constituents and the amount of money donated does not impact their decisions. That's some serious horse s**t coming out of a politician's mouth.

05/16/2024

March 17, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram. The original was published in black-and-white.

"A bill to ban paramilitary training camps in Maine has now passed both chambers of the Legislature.

The measure was inspired by reports last year that a prominent neo-Nazi was building a training camp for his followers in the rural Penobscot County town of Springfield. While the person at the center of controversy has since reportedly sold the land, several lawmakers introduced bills aiming to give police and prosecutors more tools to prevent similar militia training camps from opening in Maine.

The Maine Senate voted 20-14 on Tuesday to give final approval to a bill, LD 2130, to make it illegal to instruct another person in fi****ms or explosives if the intent is to cause "civil disorder." The bill had passed the House last week by a single vote.

Democratic Sen. Joe Baldacci of Bangor said during a floor speech on Tuesday that private militias are already prohibited in Maine but that the law needed to be updated.

"So I think this bill is about us saying we are going to draw the line. We are not going to allow people to flout the law and intimidate others," Baldacci said.

Opponents raised concerns that the bill could infringe on free speech as well as peaceful gatherings of people whose views may be out-of-step with popular beliefs or government officials.

The bill now goes to Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, a former prosecutor and attorney general. Mills has yet to weigh in on the issue. But the state's current attorney general, Aaron Frey, testified in support of the bill during a committee hearing on the bill in January.

"L.D. 2130, which is very similar to a Vermont law passed last year, would provide us with the tools we need to address a rise in private military activity," Frey said. "By prohibiting paramilitary training, the bill strikes a careful balance between allowing legitimate First Amendment-protected activity (such as peaceful assembly) while prohibiting unprotected conduct that is a precursor to violence."" - April 10, 2024, Maine Public Radio, "Bill to ban paramilitary training camps in Maine passes Legislature" by Kevin Miller

Governor Mills signed the bill into law on April 19, 2024.

05/15/2024

I'm old enough that I've seen and heard remakes of remakes of remakes.
👴

05/09/2024

March 10, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram. The original was published in black-and-white.

In mid-February, Caribou High School in Aroostook County planned to use fingerprinting to track student attendance. They would have been the first school in Maine to implement the procedure. The Maine Chapter of the Maine ACLU criticized the Aroostook County school district's decision and said using biometrics to track students raised serious privacy concerns.

The s**t hit the fan. The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine submitted a Maine Freedom of Access Act, requesting the school district hand over all records of communications with identiMetrics, a Pennsylvania company, and the district’s privacy policies. Caribou School administrators also received considerable blowback from the public.

"IdentiMetrics marketed the software as a faster and more accurate way of keeping attendance and other student data. Students place a finger on a small biometrics scanner, after which identification information is created for each student."

In less than a week, Caribou School administrators scrapped the idea of using the new tracking system.

05/02/2024

March 3, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram. The original was published in black-and-white.

Expansion plans of highway systems are always more difficult when construction will occur in heavily populated areas compared to less inhabited ones. My family lived in southern Gorham for thirty years and watched as traffic increased over that time in the most problematic area the state is trying to address. There have been two highway options bandied about for as long back as I can remember. Traffic is really a major s**t show in that area and getting worse every year. Pushback towards the plan as it comes closer to implementation was as certain as the sun rising in the east.

An illuminating and engrossing read that covers the topic of highway expansions is Robert Caro's 1974 tome 'The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York.'

04/25/2024

February 25, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram. The original was published in black-and-white.

04/18/2024

February 18, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram. The original was published in black-and-white.

04/11/2024

February 11, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram. The original was published in black-and-white.

04/05/2024

February 4, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram. The original was published in black-and-white.

UPDATE: April 18, 2024

"A new state law requires property owners to disclose the flood risk of their homes or businesses to potential buyers.

Judy East, Bureau Director of Resource Information and Land Use Planning for the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, said the new law passed this month expands the definition of flood risk.

"There's two requirements for disclosure in the bill. One is if they are included in the special hazard area as mapped by FEMA. The other is if there has been a flooding event on their property, and the reason for that is that now, more than ever before, there is flooding occurring outside of those special flood hazard areas," East said.

She said the burden is on the property owner to disclose if they are in a FEMA special hazard area and if they have experienced flooding from a natural event like a storm surge while they have owned the property.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency only considers historical events in its mapping and is releasing new digital maps for York and Cumberland Counties this summer and updating its flood management ordinances for municipalities. The digital maps will be much more accurate than prior paper versions, East said.

"It's buildings along the coastline that will see properties being added to the flood zone, and properties inland that will be coming out of the flood zone, as the flood hazard areas are being mapped to the new two foot contours," she said.

The new law goes into effect this summer. Maine joins 35 other states who have similar laws.

The Maine Floodplain Management Program will offer training to realtors after July 1 to ensure they know what's required by the new law.

If you're a property owner, realtor or municipality with questions about the new law and FEMA mapping, contact Maine Floodplain Management Program.

The best online map to use to check your property's flood risk is the FEMA map.

Note the new digital maps aren't available until this summer. Any FEMA map dated prior to 2002 may not be accurate." - Carol Bousquet for Maine Public Radio

03/28/2024

January 28, 2024, Maine Sunday Telegram. The original was published in black-and-white.