Joe Lawlor

Staff Writer

Joe Lawlor writes about health and human services for the Press Herald. A 24-year newspaper veteran, Lawlor has worked in Ohio, Michigan and Virginia before relocating to Maine in 2013 to join the Press Herald. He is still considered “from away” but since then, he has learned what a “dooryard” is, eaten “whoopie pies” drank Moxie and boiled some “lobstahs.” The stories he enjoys most are when he learns something and meeting inspiring people. He lives in South Portland - aka “SoPo” - with his wife, Melanie, and two school-age children.

Latest

Published
June 13, 2016

Maine schools’ rate of protection against measles improving

The Maine CDC releases school-by-school vaccination data after a Freedom of Access request by the Portland Press Herald.
Published
June 6, 2016

Price of opioid overdose antidote soars as Maine epidemic rages

The generic equivalent of Narcan – naloxone – has risen in cost up to 17-fold over the past two years.
Published
June 3, 2016

Leaf cover appears to help deer ticks survive winter, Maine researchers report

But data from a two-year study of tick mortality have yet to show how vulnerable they are to sudden drops in temperature.
Published
June 1, 2016

Maine scientist seeks keys to how sea urchins avoid aging process

James Coffman of the MDI Biological Laboratory is surprised to learn that the cells of even a short-lived species don’t degrade over time, an ability that would benefit humans.
Published
May 31, 2016

Sexually transmitted disease cases spike in Maine

The rising chlamydia and gonorrhea numbers mirror a national trend, and public health experts say the reasons could include a lingering resistance to condom use and less fear of having unprotected sex.
Published
May 29, 2016

Prominent Portland attorney Peter DeTroy dies at 68

He was ‘one of the top five lawyers in the state,’ says former Maine Gov. John Baldacci.
Published
May 29, 2016

Portland groups pull together to offer opioid addicts a way out

A collaborative effort by Mercy Hospital, the city of Portland and several nonprofits hopes to increase the number of detoxification beds and develop new housing for people in recovery from opioid addiction.
Published
May 28, 2016

After 45 years, Maine veteran gets Bronze Star

Dennis Andrews of Boothbay Center frequently volunteered for missions in Vietnam, but his decoration never made it home in 1971.
Published
May 27, 2016

Experts: Maine portion of Appalachian Trail dangerous, remote and heavily wooded

Hikers say it’s important to take precautions against getting lost while going off the trail.
Published
May 24, 2016

Sen. Angus King proposes fee on prescription opioids to fund treatment programs

Maine’s independent senator is co-sponsoring a bill that would pay for programs to fight the opioid epidemic by adding a 1-cent fee on each milligram of active opioid ingredients in prescription painkillers.