EAST MILLINOCKET, Maine — Exactly a week after he said that Great Northern Paper Co. LLC didn’t regard Roxanne Quimby’s proposed 70,000-acre national park a threat to his industry, Peter Hanson is no longer GNP’s president, company officials announced Tuesday.
Read the full story in the Bangor Daily News
AUGUSTA, Maine — Many Maine employers will see a slight increase in the taxes they pay to fund the state’s unemployment system come January. But even a small increase has employers upset, although not surprised…
[snip] The amount of the increase ranges from $2.40 per year per worker to $18 per worker for the year. Employers pay the tax on the first $12,000 in wages they pay for each worker. The unemployment system in Maine is entirely funded by employers…
Read full story on BangorDailyNews.com
Today, the House passed a provision that would allow heavier trucks on the Maine Interstate. Passage by the Senate, which is expected later today or tomorrow, will clear the bill for the President’s signature.
Congressman Michaud spoke in favor of the provision on the House floor. Click Here to watch Congressman Michaud’s remarks
The provision was included as part of a conference report on a measure that funds the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, as well as the space program. The bill also contains a Continuing Resolution, which will fund the government until December 16, 2011.
Congressman Mike Michaud’s top priority was making sure that a fix for Maine’s truck weight problem was contained in the bill, and he worked with Democratic and Republican leaders in the House to make sure that the provision survived. Senator Collins worked to ensure that the provision was included in the original Senate bill to provide funding for transportation programs. Additionally, Senator Snowe and Congresswoman Pingree have been strong supporters of making this change.
“Mainers already know the benefits of this commonsense provision,” said Michaud. “Letting heavier trucks use the Interstate reduces fuel consumption, cuts emissions, reduces travel times and reduces the competitive disadvantage between Maine and our neighbors. I would like to thank House leaders for supporting my efforts to ensure that this provision was included in the final bill.”
Michaud is continuing to push forward with a bill he authored that will give Maine and other states the authority to make these changes. Michaud’s bill, the Safe and Efficient Transportation Act, currently has 57 bipartisan cosponsors and has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID).
By Clarke Canfield, The Associated Press
PORTLAND — When Brian Souers’ trucks haul logs from northern Maine to mills in other parts of the state, they often drive through small towns on two-lane state highways, even when four-lane Interstate 95 is nearby…
Read Full Story on Portland Press Herald.com
Senator Collins convinces House-Senate negotiators to approve plan to allow heavier trucks to use Maine’s federal interstates for at least 20 years
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee, has successfully negotiated an agreement that would allow the heaviest trucks to travel on federal interstates in Maine for at least 20 years instead of forcing them off the highways and onto Maine’s secondary roads and downtown streets.
While the Senate originally approved Senator Collins’ provision to make this change permanent, the House never approved a similar provision. As a member of the committee charged with working out the differences between the two bills, Senator Collins successfully negotiated this 20-year compromise agreement. Final votes in the House and Senate are expected next week. The bill would then be sent to the President for his signature.
Senator Collins has led the effort to allow trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds to travel on Maine’s federal interstates –including I-95, 195, 295, and 395. Senator Collins has worked closely with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), also a member of the Transportation Subcommittee, and this agreement for Maine is paired with a similar change for Vermont.
“We faced significant opposition to our plan to permanently allow the heaviest trucks to drive on our federal interstates in Maine and Vermont,” said Senator Collins. “But moving these trucks from our downtown streets and onto the federal interstates where they belong has always been one of my top transportation priorities. The agreement that I negotiated to allow the heaviest trucks on the highway for at least the next 20 years is a major accomplishment that will help shippers, truckers, and Maine’s job creators. More important, it will improve safety for Mainers who live, work, and go to school along the secondary roads, and busy downtowns where these trucks are currently forced to travel.”
Senator Collins’ effort is supported by the Association of Police, the Maine State Police, the State Troopers Association, the Maine Department of Public Safety, the Chiefs of Police, the Maine Motor Transport Association, the Parent Teacher Association, and the Bangor School Department, who have all expressed the importance of safety in getting these heaviest trucks off our local roadways and onto the interstates where they belong.
Currently, the heaviest trucks in Maine are diverted onto secondary roadways that cut through our downtowns on narrow streets, creating a major safety concern. In most of the surrounding New England states and nearby Canadian provinces, the heaviest trucks are free to use the interstates, but not in Maine and Vermont. This puts Maine businesses at a distinct competitive disadvantage. Heavy trucks already operate on some 22,500 miles of non-interstate roads in Maine, in addition to the approximately 167 miles of the Maine Turnpike. But the nearly 260 miles of non-Turnpike interstates that are major economic corridors are off limits.
In 2009, a pilot project that Senator Collins wrote, was included in the 2010 Omnibus Appropriations bill. This one-year pilot project allowed trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds to travel on Maine’s federal interstates. According to the Maine Department of Transportation, during the one-year period covered by the pilot, the number of crashes involving trucks on Maine’s local roads was reduced by 72 compared to a five-year average.
Governor LePage & Logging Contractors Discuss Prosperous Future for Loggers
New Gloucester – The Board of Directors of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine met with Governor LePage today to discuss concerns they have about the future of Maine’s logging industry. PLC is a trade organization of loggers serving loggers. “Our Board was excited to meet with Governor LePage today (Tuesday, November 8th) in Augusta to talk about our concerns”, stated, Tom Cushman, the group’s President.
“This was a great opportunity for these business owners to reach out to Governor LePage, and provide him with a background of the logging business and the challenges and changes we have seen over past two decades. We highlighted our serious concern for the future of our logging contractor’s business viability and the negative impact their exiting the business would have on the entire forest products industry here in Maine. We want to make certain our industry is vibrant for future generations of loggers and we are convinced this is what the Governor wants too,” explained Beardsley, PLC’s Executive Director.
“We are grateful that the Governor agreed to meet with us, this is the first Governor to consent to meet with our Board, it was an honor”, remarked Brian Souers, PLC’s 2nd Vice President. Souers continued, “We discussed the ‘bonded labor issue’ and the factors contributing to overall capacity issues from the logger’s perspective. Healthy logging contractors will add capacity in terms of employees and equipment, if their logging operations are profitable and the potential financial rewards outweigh the potential financial risks. We discussed the challenges logging contractors face, possible solutions, and how the administration can help.”
“Governor LePage made it clear that Maine needs to create more jobs and better jobs. Logging contractors provide well paying jobs with benefits. We met with the Governor, as private enterprises, to discuss ways the state can be more responsive to loggers as business owners, to allow loggers to prosper and serve as a catalyst for job creation in Maine” said Bob Linkletter, PLC’s 1st Vice President.
PLC was created in 1995 by a group of Maine Loggers to provide loggers a voice in a rapidly changing industry. We continue this effort today, representing loggers that harvest 75% of the actively harvested land in Maine. From the outset, PLC has focused on advocacy, safety, quality operations and business innovation. Our Members realize that harvesting is more than just cutting trees. They are highly skilled, business professionals and are an integral part of Maine’s economic engine. Our Members are dedicated to maintaining a safe work environment, a healthy forest and industry, as well as being efficient and profitable. Always have been, always will be. PLC of Maine is standing strong for loggers, yesterday, today and tomorrow. For more information visit our website www.maineloggers.com or call our office 207-688-8195.
The University of Maine’s Forest Bioproducts Research Institute is building a $1.5 million plant to manufacture a cellulose material that could someday replace synthetic plastics.
The pilot-scale plant, which is being funded by a grant from the U.S. Forest Service, will be the only one of its kind in the nation, providing cellulose nanofibrils to researchers worldwide exploring its the uses, according to a press release.
Read full article on MaineBiz.biz
Acadia Announces Professional Logging Contractors of Maine Dividend Valuations* for 2009 and 2010 Plan YearsAs of September 30, 2011:
2009 Plan Year – Second of Two Adjustments
Based on the group loss ratio of 33%, Acadia has determined that the second half of the 2009 dividend to be paid this year is $548,740. The dividend pool will be distributed to members with qualifying loss ratios. This final adjustment brings the total dividend for 2009 to $1,194,071.
2010 Plan Year – First of Two Adjustments
The first half of the 2010 Plan Year dividend has been calculated, based on a Loss Ratio of 41% and equals $333,443, which will be paid to qualifying members now. The second half the 2010 Plan Year will be calculated on September 30th, 2012.
Between these two dividend adjustments, the total dividend earned this period by PLC members with qualifying loss ratios is $882,183.
Acadia thanks you for your business and continued support of the PLC Safety Group. The program’s strong performance to date shows the positive impact we can have on our end customers. We hope this news reinforces the value of the safety group and helps you develop new business opportunities. Please contact Kimberly Farquhar at Acadia Insurance Company with questions.
* Dividends are based upon experience, are subject to Board approval and the terms and conditions of the Program, and are not guaranteed. The amount of dividends paid in the past are not indicative of what may be payable in the future.
By Nick Sambides Jr., BDN Staff
EAST MILLINOCKET, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage heralded the revival of the Main Street paper mill on Monday as its owners announced plans to hire another 220 workers when they start to make torrefied wood, a coal substitute, there and at the Millinocket mill as early as 2013.
Standing among huge rolls of finished newsprint destined for a Connecticut newspaper, LePage complimented Cate Street Capital of Portsmouth, N.H., for creating the new Great Northern Paper Co. as company officials discussed their ambitious plans to produce 500,000 tons of torrefied wood between the East Millinocket and Millinocket paper mill sites annually.
Source: Bangor Daily News
By Jonathan Riskind jriskind@mainetoday.com
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
WASHINGTON – The Senate is on the verge of passing legislation that would allow trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds to exit Maine’s side roads and use all Maine interstate highways.
The truck weight measure has been long sought by the Maine congressional delegation, state officials and many local residents worried about big rigs rumbling through intersections, past homes and schools.
Currently, trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds can use only the Maine Turnpike.
Read full story on PortlandPressHerald.com
