Rep. Matt Moonen faces Republican challenger Thomas Loring.
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.
Two compete for House District 39 seat left vacant by Diane Russell
Republican Peter Doyle faces Democrat Mike Sylvester.
University trustees support ambitious Maine graduate center
Plans call for creating the new graduate center for business, law and public policy at an as-yet unidentified site in Portland.
Are your school’s employees qualified? The state doesn’t know
A Telegram investigation following a recent criminal case reveals how inadequate Maine’s system is in ensuring that teachers are properly certified or that mandatory background checks have been done.
Some Maine schools with polling stations opt to close on Election Day
Long lines of voters, parking problems and safety are among school officials’ chief concerns.
UMaine System posts first look at plan for $150 million graduate center
Trustees are asked to sign off on $15 million in first-stage funding to get it off the ground.
Alternative school drops bid to be new charter school
Wayfinder says it will stay focused on its work with pregnant teens and high school dropouts.
Two Maine charter schools get strong support for renewal
A state commission must decide whether to renew the charters of two schools that have been open for five years, the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences and the Cornville Regional Charter School.
Two-term Portland School Board member facing challenger
Incumbent Laurie Davis and her opponent Bill Linnell both have experience working with older and alternative learners.
State fire officials investigating fatal Boothbay blaze
A posting on a fundraising site for one injured victim, whose son was one of the two men killed, says she is in intensive care with third-degree burns.