Maine: John Martin

AUGUSTA, Maine — The state would withhold subsidy payments to dairy farmers for one month later this year under a proposal aimed at helping close a budget gap in a program that provides a safety net to milk producers.

The prices paid for raw milk have collapsed in recent months, meaning many dairy farmers are operating significantly in the red. Normally, a state-run dairy price stabilization fund would help close that gap until prices paid to producers rebounded.

But faced with having to trim an additional $2.7 million from the stabilization program’s budget, a legislative committee is recommending skipping the subsidy payment for milk produced this May.

AUGUSTA, Maine — Bottlers would be audited for their compliance with Maine’s bottle deposit law over the last 15 years under legislation sponsored by Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake.

It’s a measure he said would return millions of dollars owed taxpayers.

“There is millions in unclaimed deposits that should go back to the citizens of Maine,” he said in an interview. “The issue is basically the amount of money people are paying for deposits that are staying with distributors.”

Maine’s bottle deposit law requires consumers to pay a deposit on all beverage containers except dairy products and unprocessed cider. Consumers can turn in those used containers and get their deposit back.

FORT KENT, Maine — Some homeowners with single-flue chimneys looking to upgrade oil-fired furnaces could get help from a bill now under consideration in legislative committee.

LD53, “An Act to Permit the Use of a Common Flue for Oil and Solid Burning Equipment,” if eventually passed into law, would relax a rule that now prohibits using a single-flue chimney to operate both an oil burner and wood stove.

“I received a call from a constituent who said he couldn’t replace his old furnace without adding another flue to his chimney,” Rep. John Martin, D-Eagle Lake, the bill’s sponsor, said. “He said it was because of insurance reasons.

[img_assist|nid=2974|title=A Frary Home Companion|desc=John Frary's campaign literature.|link=none|align=left|width=400|height=515]PALMYRA -- It had been a quiet week in Palmyra, a small town on the edge of Newport. The leaves were starting to change, just as they were throughout Maine, turning the landscape from green to gold.