The 25,000 carts will be distributed over most of the month and are intended to cut down litter, a problem with the open-top blue bins.
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, News
Strimling, city manager to meet weekly in effort to resolve differences
The first meeting of Portland’s feuding leaders is expected Aug. 14, and at City Manager Jon Jennings’ request, will include the deputy city manager.
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Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Councilors to Mayor Strimling: ‘You need to get it together’
Portland councilors’ effort to ease tension between the mayor and City Manager Jon Jennings makes little progress, and Jennings says he’ll resign if he has to give the mayor free access to city staffers.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Portland council rezones farmland to make way for 95 homes
The developer plans to build on a former 45-acre farm while preserving 25 acres of open space for public use.
Posted inLocal & State, News
More tensions surface between Portland mayor, councilors
Council members say Ethan Strimling’s request for a housing policy referral was made for political, rather than practical, purposes.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Wharf Street’s days as bar scene epicenter may be numbered
As the cobblestone former back alley continues to evolve, upscale bars and restaurants are replacing nightclubs and taverns.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Campaign fundraising well underway for Portland City Council races
The PAC supporting the bond to renovate four elementary schools gets off to a slow fundraising start.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Portland mayor wants to require more affordable housing
Mayor Ethan Strimling’s proposal would double the required number of units affordable to middle-income earners in some new developments and lower the prices on those units.
Posted inLocal & State, News
City staff favors mix of housing, work spaces on Portland’s former public works land
A City Council committee will discuss the recommended proposals for Bayside and gather public views at a hearing Wednesday.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Portland landlord agrees to sell troubled East Bayside building
City officials also agree to revisit the disorderly houses ordinance to give tenants more say.