In less than 2 weeks, 5,000 people have applied for rent relief under the new statewide program aimed at keeping people housed during the pandemic.
Randy Billings
Staff Writer
Randy Billings is a government watchdog and political reporter who has been the State House bureau chief since 2021. He was named the Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2020. He joined the Press Herald in 2012 as the Portland City Hall reporter, where his beat touched on a wide range of topics, including municipal government, immigration, homelessness, housing and social services. Prior to that, he worked at various weeklies as well as business and arts publications. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine, Orono. He lives in North Yarmouth with his wife and two children and enjoys the outdoors and playing his upright bass.
Posted inLocal & State
State rents 115 hotel rooms to create social distancing for homeless Mainers
Hotel rooms in Portland and Bangor are reserved for people awaiting test results or recovering from COVID-19, while rooms in Knox County are used to create physical distance.
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Posted inLocal & State
Some taxpayers get shut out of stimulus, prompting challenge to federal law
Anyone who doesn’t have a Social Security number or is married to someone who doesn’t is ineligible to receive payments. That includes many immigrants who have tax ID numbers.
Posted inBusiness
Pandemic has Mainers buying more liquor, but there’s no trickle-down effect for brewers
While liquor sales have spiked since the coronavirus hit Maine, craft breweries, which rely heavily on taproom sales, are struggling.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Family of deceased resident of Belfast nursing home raises alarm over patient care
Nursing homes across the state are closed to visitors during the pandemic, worrying families who need to advocate for loved ones.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Confusion arises over Maine CDC’s testing protocols for group homes
The agency said it tests everyone in such facilities once 3 people test positive for COVID-19, but it waited days before sending test kits to one home in Portland.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Belfast long-term care facility with COVID-19 outbreak has a history of health violations
The Commons at Tall Pines, where 23 people have tested positive, did not substantially meet program requirements in 2018 or 2019.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Crowding at Portland shelter still a concern despite new space at USM gym
City officials say not enough homeless people have been moved into the new shelter in the University of Southern Maine’s Sullivan gymnasium.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State
Gyms are closed, but some members are still paying
Some fitness centers are letting members freeze memberships while they’re closed, but others are asking members to continue their monthly fees.
Posted inLocal & State
As trolls hijack remote meetings, officials rethink public access
Stay-at-home orders have prompted Maine municipalities to move their meetings online. But intruders are ‘Zoom-bombing’ the video forums with lewd images and comments.