PORTLAND

Today’s inaugural may skip poetry, but this event won’t

Maine poets and those who love poetry will gather at Longfellow Square in Portland at noon today to read their favorite poetry.

The event, organized by Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, is in response to the lack of poetry planned for the inauguration of Gov.-elect Paul LePage, also set for today.

“This is a celebration, not a protest,” alliance director Josh Bodwell wrote in an e-mail. “We’ll be holding this event at one of the most obvious places in Maine to celebrate poetry: in front of the statue of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.”

Participants are encouraged to bring and read their favorite poems.

Some of the most respected poetry journals in the country are based in Maine, and the state’s literary community includes dozens of nationally known poets, Bodwell said. Maine has also been home to some of the world’s most popular poets, including Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edwin Arlington Robinson and Louise Bogan. Millay and Robinson won Pulitzer prizes in poetry, and Bogan was the U.S. poet laureate in 1945.

BAR HARBOR

Jackson Lab drops request for center permit in Florida

Maine-based Jackson Laboratory has withdrawn its application for a permit to build a research center in Florida’s Collier County.

But Charles E. Hewett, chief operating officer, said Tuesday that Jackson Lab remains enthusiastic about the Florida project, and plans to work with newly elected Florida Gov. Rick Scott to move it forward.

The lab gave no reason for withdrawing the application.

The Jackson Laboratory specializes in mouse genetics, and had announced plans for a 145,000-square-foot center where scientists would apply genetic research toward human health problems.

The Florida Legislature last year authorized $50 million for the project, and Jackson Lab hoped to secure up to $200 million from the state and county. On Monday, Jackson Lab withdrew its application with Enterprise Florida for funding through the state’s Innovation Incentive Fund program.

OXFORD

Nateva music festival plans new dates, more campsites

The Nateva Music & Camping Festival will return this summer.

But instead of July 4th weekend, this year’s festival will be Aug. 5-7 at the Oxford Fairgrounds in Oxford. The lineup will be announced later, said Frank Chandler, festival founder.

Nateva is offering early-bird tickets to the festival for $157, plus fees. They can be purchased online at www.natevafestival.com.

This year’s festival will also include more on-site camping than last year, and Chandler has lowered ticket prices for those who buy early. Last year, early-bird tickets cost $179.

“The Oxford Fairgrounds has everything Nateva requires, and now with thousands of additional camping sites added, we can consolidate more of our festival community to one location,” Chandler said in a press release. “Also, we listened to what our community had to say about Nateva and we are making this year’s experience less expensive, which we hope everyone will appreciate.”

AUGUSTA

Panel recommends exchange for buying health insurance

A legislative study panel is recommending that a Maine-based exchange be set up to help small businesses and individuals find more affordable health insurance.

The committee of Democratic and Republican lawmakers released a report Monday calling for an online insurance exchange.

Exchanges are insurance marketplaces for individuals and smaller businesses designed to promote competition and drive down costs.

The new federal health care law calls for the states to establish their own exchanges. Residents of states that don’t will be able to participate in a federal exchange by 2014.

Maine’s Committee on Health Care Reform made its recommendation as Maine considers whether to join other states in challenging the federal health care law. Maine Attorney General-elect Bill Schneider has expressed reservations about the law.

 

Man sentenced to two years for shooting his girlfriend

A Gardiner man will serve two years in prison for shooting his girlfriend in the abdomen last September in the apartment the couple shared.

Kenneth L. Sirmans, 40, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Kennebec County Superior Court to a charge of aggravated assault for the Sept. 3, 2010, shooting of Alison T. Wainwright, now 41.

Justice Robert Murray sentenced Sirmans to 10 years in prison, with all but two years suspended, and three years of probation.

The sentence was recommended by both the prosecutor and the defense attorney.

Wainwright spent a week or more in the hospital, but has recovered, said Scott Gurney, Sirman’s attorney.

Assistant District Attorney James Mitchell Jr. said the pair had been drinking before the shooting, and that Sirmans told police he only meant to scare Wainwright when the revolver went off accidentally. Sirmans called 911 after the shooting.

Gurney said Sirman had a significant substance abuse problem.

The conditions of probation ban Sirmans from use and possession of alcohol, illegal drugs, firearms and dangerous weapons.

ANNAPOLIS, Md.

Barbara Mikulski to surpass Sen. Smith’s longevity mark

Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski will become the longest-serving woman in the history of the U.S. Senate today.

She takes over the record from Maine Republican Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, who represented Maine for 24 years, serving until 1973. Smith was the first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate, and the first woman from Maine to serve in either.

Mikulski notes that the Senate now has 17 female members, the total number that had served before she was first elected in 1987.

FREEPORT

Magazine contest offers dream wedding as prize

A Maine magazine is kicking off a contest in which the winner gets a dream wedding valued at more than $100,000.

Real Maine Weddings magazine announced the details of the nationwide contest Tuesday at the Harraseeket Inn, where the winning couple will have their wedding reception.

The magazine says couples can enter the giveaway by submitting a video to the magazine’s website saying why they deserve a free dream wedding. Online voters will select three finalists, and a panel of judges will choose the winner in April.

The prize includes the reception, a wedding dress, tuxedos, rings and even the honeymoon.

MACHIAS

Defendants in Nader lawsuit awarded $1 in court ruling

Two defendants targeted by Ralph Nader’s lawsuit accusing Democrats of conspiring to keep him off the Maine ballot have been awarded $1.

The Ballot Project and Toby Moffett filed a motion for attorney fees after the case was tossed in mid-November. Justice Kevin Cuddy’s decision was posted Dec. 29 in Washington County Superior Court.

In his 2009 complaint, Nader said Democratic leaders used illegal and malicious tactics to try to keep him off the 2004 presidential ballot in Maine and more than a dozen other states. Nader appeared on the ballots in 34 states in the election won by Republican George W. Bush.

Nader plans to appeal to Maine’s Supreme Court.