The 3.0% rate for March is driven by gains in construction, trade, transportation, utilities, education and health care.
Noel K. Gallagher
Noel Gallagher covers K-12 and higher education issues statewide. Her stories are a mix of breaking news and trend stories. In recent years, they’ve ranged from why college costs so much, the launch of the state’s first charter schools, how a school welcomed a transgender student and why Maine schools have a hard time finding teachers. She’s enough of a news nerd to enjoy sitting through legislative education committee meetings and hours-long school board meetings so you don’t have to.
The Maine Press Association has honored Noel’s work, but she says she writes for the readers, in the firm belief that an informed citizenry is key to a healthy democracy.
Noel is a California native who has worked at wire services, online websites and newspapers across the country. She was in Washington D.C. during the early Clinton years, covering AIDS activism in 1990s San Francisco, documenting the business of wine in Sonoma County and riding out the boom and bust cycle of the early Internet era in early 2000s Silicon Valley. She arrived in Maine at the beginning of the recession and wrote quite a bit about the downturn here.
In her free time, Noel writes the occasional cookbook review, spends an inordinate amount of time at the Portland Public Library and hangs out with her three fabulous kids and wonderful husband. She is not a former member of the band Oasis.
Posted inCookbook Reviews, Food
‘Smith and Daughters: A Cookbook’ comes from Australia with a great backstory
One of the chefs isn’t vegan, but the food is, and the fare includes Spanish-influenced favorites.
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Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Charter supporters urge Maine legislators to drop ‘10 schools in 10 years’ limit
Waiting lists show the demand for more is there, they say, but critics oppose expansion until the results of the education ‘experiment’ are reviewed.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Wearing defiance – but not on her sleeves – Portland 6th-grader protests dress code as sexist
The King Middle School student joins a national pushback on classroom clothing restrictions, getting reprimanded before the principal agrees to a policy review.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Portland school board passes $105 million budget with 7-2 vote
Board members regret having to postpone plans for new programs, and eliminate others.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Maine foundation giving $4.8 million to boost rural school success
Community organizations will partner with 8 local schools across the state.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Last year’s report card just now arriving for Maine school districts
The detailed results of standardized tests for grades 3-8 that debuted last year are only just now coming in – as schools are beginning to administer them again.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics, Schools and Education
Maine bill says home economics classes should be mandatory
Despite a strong argument for teaching life skills, a House bill’s passage remains unlikely.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics, Schools and Education
Legislative panel endorses watered-down school start-time bill
The measure recommends, but does not require, Maine school districts to enact later start times for high school students.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Schools and Education
Portland school board airs pared-down budget
The $104.8 million package, which was trimmed twice, comes with a 2.5 percent tax increase, the rate requested by the City Council’s finance committee.