NEWS & UPDATES
Portland City Council To Address Panhandling
PORTLAND (WGME) — Portland city councilors voted Tuesday night to move forward a proposed ban on panhandling in city medians. The City Council voted down a similar ban last fall. Since then, there have been a rising number of complaints over panhandling across the city. Officials believe this causes an unsafe situation for pedestrians and
A free lunch?
Lunch is in when school is out. Thanks to a cooperative effort between the Preble Street Maine Hunger Initiative, the Liberty Family Foundation (LFF) and the MSAD 15 Food Service Department, kids in Gray and New Gloucester have access to free lunch for the summer. Beginning on June 24, and continuing through August 16, every
Eat, so the truly hungry can too
John Woods believes this year’s Taste of the Nation dinner will be the best ever. Of course, as the state chair of the event, he says that every year. But it’s for good reason, and it’s usually true. "We have to be better every year because this issue is not going away," Woods said. The
Panhandling solutions imperfect
I gave a panhandler a buck Tuesday morning. I’m not sure why — I readily admit I ignore Portland’s ever-growing legion of median-strip dwellers far more often than I lower the driver’s window and pass them a few coins or a dollar bill. But it was raining hard and I figured if this hapless soul
Summer meals program highlights growing need in the Oxford Hills
OXFORD HILLS – Groups concerned with the high rate of childhood hunger in the area are establishing at least three summer meal programs at central locations across Oxford Hills. The sites are aimed at alleviating the strain on the area’s most food-insecure families, especially during the summer when lunch and breakfast provided to students at
Portland experiences explosion of panhandling
PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) – It is one of the most talked about issues in Portland right now. The explosion of panhandling across the city. Tomorrow a city council committee will take up a proposal that will address the issue, at least in part. It would keep people off median strips dividing city streets. Other
How you can help end hunger in Maine
A long line of people wrapping around the building, mostly men and women but some children too, hugging the wall, waiting to get in. Waiting for a place at the table. No, this line is not the line winding every night around the Preble Street Soup Kitchen. Though this line is about hunger, it is
Democrats move forward with Medicaid expansion bill
AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Democrats are moving forward with their plan to link expansion of Medicaid to payment of the state’s $484 million hospital debt. In a party-line vote, the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee voted 7-5 to approve the bill Thursday. Both parties held news conferences Thursday on the issue. Democrats say it’s
Panhandling in Portland is a symptom; poverty, the problem
No aspect of urban poverty strikes the same emotional nerve as panhandling. Record numbers of homeless people crowding into shelters doesn’t do it. People lining up outside soup kitchens doesn’t do it. Reports of children showing up for school without having enough of the right food they need to be ready to learn just get
Our View: With hunger growing, not time to cut SNAP
Too many Americans don’t have enough to eat, but the big debate in Washington seems to be how much to cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Senate and House committees have passed their own versions of a new farm bill. The Senate would cut SNAP (which used to be known as food stamps) by $4
Homelessness up 8 percent in Maine
PORTLAND, Maine -A survey of Maine’s homeless population counted nearly 1,200 people who didn’t have a place to live one night in January. Volunteers canvassed the state counting the number of people living in shelters, cars and even tents. The Maine State Housing Authority’s annual Point in Time survey found that the number of homeless
Hunger crisis calls for immediate attention
Food is a basic need. Without it, we can’t survive. Maine is in the midst of a food crisis that is so widespread and complex we can’t always see it. But it is there, and it is profound. First, the good news: We are not starving. Poverty in Maine does not look like Third World
