AUGUSTA

Governor focuses on energy in his weekly radio address

Gov. Paul LePage noted in his address Saturday that gas prices during the past week reached $5 per gallon in Washington, D.C., and $4 in many parts of Maine.

“Chaos in the Middle East, the value of the U.S. dollar, and price speculation has steadily led to higher oil prices,” LePage said in his text. “Unfortunately, Maine is dependent on a world oil market to supply transportation fuel and heating oils. In the short term conservation will help minimize costs, but it is only a small portion of the solution.”

LePage said he urges President Obama to look for immediate alternatives, including oil and gas exploration and production in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, portions of the Rocky Mountains, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Atlantic and Pacific. LePage said he’s also directed Ken Fletcher, director of Maine’s Office of Energy Independence, to find opportunities to lower the cost of energy to Maine consumers.

In the Democratic response, Rep. Emily Cain of Orono focused on the wider legislative agendas the administration and her minority caucus are advancing in the 2011 session.

Cain, the Democrats’ House leader, countered LePage’s claims that her party has refused to come forth with alternatives to his proposals.

“Since the start of the legislative session, Democrats on every policy committee have provided strong proposals to counter the extreme agenda of the governor and Republicans in the Legislature,” Cain said.

AUGUSTA

New bill on cellphone safety will be taken up this week

A year after Maine lawmakers rejected a bill requiring warnings about mobile phone use, a legislative committee will hold a hearing on a new version of a cellphone safety bill.

Rep. Andrea Boland’s bill would require warnings on cell phones, and notices posted by cellphone retailers telling users of potential health hazards and how to use cellphones more safely. Retailers would not have to pay for the warnings.

Boland wants to warn people to avoid long-term use, especially by children, and to avoid cellphones’ contact with the head and proximity to reproductive organs. Pregnant woman also would be warned to avoid using cellphones.

The Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology will hold a hearing on Boland’s bill Wednesday.

AUGUSTA

Timber harvest nears record on public reserved lands

Maine’s Department of Conservation reported a near-record timber harvest of 70,600 cords on public reserved lands during the past winter season.

The harvest exceeded that of recent years and is valued at about $2.2 million. The department’s Tom Morrison says the funds support maintenance, operations and public access on the state lands.

AUGUSTA

Unicameral legislature bill advances to House, Senate

A bill to make Maine’s legislature a unicameral body is ready for debate by the House and Senate.

The bill won an 8-5 vote of support by the State and Local Government Committee, and its next stop will be the House of Representatives. Even if it wins the needed two-thirds supermajority to pass, the proposed constitutional amendment would have to be authorized by voters.