Dr. Puthiery Va, currently leading public health for the Navajo Nation in Arizona, will take over as Maine’s top public health official on Aug. 28.
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.
Posted inLocal & State, Politics
Flavored tobacco ban gets tabled, faces uncertain prospects
The bill passed the Senate but failed to get a vote in the House, so advocates are regrouping for next year.
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Posted inLocal & State, News
New law will put more dollars into pockets of older, low-income Mainers
About 19,000 Maine residents over 65, many of them low-income women living alone, will be made eligible for the program under the new law.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Visitors get a taste of history at the last Shaker village on Maine Open Farm Day
Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village was one of more than 100 farms that participated in the annual event.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Mills administration to distribute test strips to fight latest overdose threat
A sedative named xylazine is being combined with fentanyl, and the combination is driving up the number of fatal overdoses in Maine and the United States.
Posted inLocal & State
As smoke shrouds Maine skies, scientist foresees more on the horizon
‘What we are seeing are climate change impacts in the here and now,’ says Gail Carlson, a Colby College professor.
Posted inLocal & State
Canadian wildfire smoke likely to arrive in Maine on Tuesday
The air will be considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ in many areas of Maine, including Cumberland and York counties.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Maine hospital operator settles contract dispute with Anthem
Covenant Health, which operates hospitals in Lewiston and Bangor, signs a 2-year deal with the insurance company, preserving in-network care for patients.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Promising research at UMaine may help curtail browntail moths
Scientists are studying how to disrupt the moth’s mating patterns by using a synthetically made product to confuse male moths and drastically reduce their ability to reproduce.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, Politics
Families, business owners weigh implications of paid family leave, now likely to become Maine law
Patty Kidder said her family went bankrupt in the 1990s, and that it wouldn’t have happened if they had had access to paid leave. Other Mainers have different reactions.