Scott Thistle – Page 80 – The Portland Press Herald

Staff Writer

Scott Thistle is the State House reporter for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He has covered politics and government in Maine since 2006. Prior to that he served as the State House reporter for the Duluth News Tribune in Duluth, Minnesota. A Maine native, Thistle has worked in journalism since 1990, when he got his start at a weekly newspaper in rural Oxford County, Maine. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and an active volunteer with the National Ski Patrol. He resides with his wife, Amy and his two sons Finn and Kai, in Auburn, Maine. @thisdog

Local & State, News

Why a life-saving drug still isn’t at hand: Bureaucracy

by Scott Thistle January 14, 2018January 15, 2018

Twice Maine lawmakers have OK’d the purchase of Narcan, a heroin overdose antidote, without a prescription, but Gov. Paul LePage and the state’s pharmacy regulators won’t publish the rules that sanction its sale.

Local & State, News, Politics

LePage tells lawmakers he will oppose borrowing aimed at helping biomass industry

by Scott Thistle January 10, 2018January 11, 2018

Drawing on his experience in the forest products industry, Maine’s governor says the bills are not a wise use of money.

Local & State, News, Politics

Candidates for governor disagree with LePage’s delay of rules to expand access to overdose antidote

by Scott Thistle January 10, 2018February 20, 2018

Three Republicans and two Democrats who hope to succeed him say they wouldn’t stall guidelines for over-the-counter sales of lifesaving naloxone amid an opioid crisis with a rising death toll.

Business, Local & State, News, Politics

Maine lawmakers continue debate over Pine Tree Development Zones

by Scott Thistle January 8, 2018January 8, 2018

The tax-break program for businesses is set to end this year, but a pending bill would extend it to 2023, despite a legislative report raising concerns about a lack of accountability.

Local & State, News, Politics

Longtime LePage chief of staff departs for federal job in Washington

by Staff Report January 8, 2018January 8, 2018

John McGough, who has taken a position with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has been with LePage since he ran for governor in 2010.

Local & State, News, Politics

Former Portland mayor Michael Brennan files to run for Legislature

by Scott Thistle January 8, 2018January 8, 2018

A veteran of both the state House and Senate, he has registered as a candidate in House District 36.

Local & State, News, Politics

After demise of Trump’s voter fraud panel, Gov. LePage renews call for Maine voter ID laws

by Scott Thistle January 5, 2018January 6, 2018

In his weekly radio address, LePage calls for strong polling place identification, singling out college students, whom he says “should meet the residency requirements.”