Area dog rescuer reacts to Buxton plea deal
Editor explains our April Fools Day tradition
Maine’s Liquor Laws examined by local study
See the story on page 3
See Curtis Robinson’s column on page 5
See the story on page 6
FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2011
VOL. 3 NO. 42
PORTLAND, ME
PORTLAND’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
699-5801
FREE
LePage offers ‘edited’ labor mural Compromise may not appease critics BY ART B. GONZO THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
Maine Gov. Paul LePage, apparently backing off his hard-line approach to a controversial decision to remove a labor department mural, is preparing what aides are calling a “slightly edited” version of the 11-panel, 36-foot-long artwork. The governor’s order to remove the original mural has prompted cries of censorship and made the state a bit of a nationwide laughingstock on late-night television. In the edited version, fans of the original will recognize much of artist Judy Taylor’s original vision. However, some of the facial features have been updated to reflect the new reality in Augusta, with the likeness of the Beloved Leader gracing many of the formerly historical figures. The governor’s aides said that including an updated facial edit brings “fair and balanced revisionist context” to moments like the 1937 shoe mill strike in LewistonAuburn and portraits of Rosie the Riveter at Bath Iron Works. They also noted that they were only commenting because they realized the Daily Sun’s April Fools edition was “making it all up.” The Beloved Leader is representative of the economic times, they argued. “People need to remember that without the employer oppression common in that era, nobody would never have gotten the chance to make history in the first place,” said one aide, who asked not to be identified by name out of sheer embarrassment. Taylor, the Tremont artist who won a $60,000 federal grant to create the art see MURAL page 10
Medical pot pact opens Jamaican market Critics wonder if trade deal is half-baked; governor defends policy BY BUD HUMBOLDT THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
Speaking during what has become a working vacation in Jamaica, Maine Gov. Paul LePage today announced his first major international trade deal, promising the new arrangement with the island nation of Jamaica will “... improve the life and economic outlook of all Mainers.” Under the deal, the Maine Trade-Off Department said in a press release, “Maine’s medical marijuana patients, along with those people just lying to get legal pot, can access the hemp from Jamaica tax-free while, in turn, Maine bakers
will be able to access the Jamaican market via twice-daily cargo flights.” “You want to talk ‘tea party?’” said a LePage spokesperson. “This treaty will show you a ‘tea’ party.” Informed by reporters that states cannot enact treaties with foreign governments and that nobody had referred to marijuana as “tea” since Jack Kerouac died in 1969, the spokesman said the press could kiss his chronic. But Maine’s left-leaning, nearly socialist, dogooder, naval-gazing “buy local” activists were see PACT page 10
Gov. Paul LePage’s aides said that including an updated facial edit to a Labor Department mural brings “fair and balanced revisionist context” to the images. (Photos by John T. Kidders)
Proposed MaineCare rollback to ‘whatever you can find at Marden’s’ BY CHIP N. STAIN THE PORTLAND DAILY SUN
In a speech before the Amalgamated Clam Diggers Union Chapter 114 yesterday in Kennebunk, Gov. Paul LePage announced plans to improve the state’s MaineCare program as
Augusta’s Republican leadership seeks to balance Maine’s budget. Operating as the state’s Medicaid program for low-income and disabled residents, MaineCare has skirted see ROLLBACK page 9