Dawn Stiles has to face the governor she helped to transition in 2010 on a key policy issue: welfare.
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
Fire safety task force in Portland considers array of changes
Among them are a database of building inspection records and a more effective system of responding to complaints.
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Posted inLocal & State, News
DHHS goes silent after city disputes General Assistance audit
Eight months later, Portland still hasn’t heard whether some of the program practices it had used for decades are now improper.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Portland City Hall corrects general assistance estimates
Officials say they mistakenly overstated the number of asylum seekers or people holding visas who are receiving the benefits.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Scaled-down ‘midtown’ project in Portland faces new questions
City planners want time to review building materials, drainage and more, but the delay could jeopardize a project in the works for five years.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Portland considers ‘workforce housing’ project in Bayside
The homes on land now occupied by the public works department would be sold for below-market prices so many working families could afford them.
Posted inLocal & State, News
More asylum seekers getting financial help in Portland
More undocumented immigrants have received general assistance from the city since July 1 than in the entire previous year.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Neighbors stuck with disturbing reminder after tragic Portland blaze
The charred apartment building where a fire killed six, deemed safe and tied up in legal action, is likely to remain standing for many months.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Maine’s aid-to-immigrants dispute will stay in state court
A federal judge has rejected a request by the LePage administration to move the lawsuit to federal court.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Badly burned victim of Portland fire remained conscious for four days before he died, court filing says
Steven Summers of Rockland, a Navy veteran with a wife and two young children, was engulfed in flames when he jumped from the second story of the burning apartment house.