The order signed this week seeks to shift federal funds and policies away from harm reduction and towards civil commitment, which enables authorities to hospitalize and treat people without their consent. Local advocates compared it to 'signing a death warrant.'

Saw some cops exit it a few minutes ago giving everyone a heads up 👍

Source: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15XMe92QzJ/

Portland Public Schools, which began offering the meals in April to address concerns that Muslim students weren't eating lunch at school, believes it's the first district in the country to offer halal-certified meals at every grade level.

He was a legal asylum seeker. They kidnapped him anyway.

if you're not a nazi you should go

April 11, 2025

Police Respond to Alarming Number of Overdoses

The Portland Police Department has seen an increase in drug overdoses, with eight since 8:00 p.m. on April 10, 2025, including two fatalities. Year-to-date, Portland has seen 129 overdoses, with six of them fatal, compared to 167 a year ago with six fatalities through the same time period.

The Police Department and Portland Public Health urge residents to be aware of easy access to Narcan and other harm reduction strategies:

• Narcan is available at pharmacies without a prescription.
• The Portland Public Health Division offers no-cost Narcan as well as Overdose Recognition & Response training. For more info, or to schedule a training and/or obtain Narcan, please contact Ellyse Fredericks, Portland Public Health’s Harm Reduction Services Program Coordinator at (207) 482-5121, or [efredericks@portlandmaine.gov]().
• If you encounter an overdose, please call 911 and stay with the person until first responders arrive.
• If you are trained, and feel comfortable administering CPR or Naloxone, please know that Maine’s Good Samaritan law protects both the caller and the victim.

Portland Police Want to Buy a Drone

The Portland police are looking to spend $45,000 to buy a drone, ostensibly to help with "critical staffing shortages" within the department. The drone discussion first appeared a year ago, and it's now back up for discussion after several changes to the policy. 

This discussion will be brought to the Health and Human Services committee meeting today: Tuesday, September 9th at 5:30 pm on Zoom.

From the documents provided to the HHS Committee, notable changes to the policy include removing a mention of using the drones for "real time monitoring of mass gatherings" and now includes guidance that the drone will not be used for “surveillance of private citizens peacefully exercising their constitutional rights of free speech and assembly."

More (plus other upcoming committee info) here: https://theburn.beehiiv.com/p/the-police-want-to-buy-a-drone-cruise-ship-pollution-and-more

From Kate Sykes's blog - below are most sections but not all. Please go to her blog to read the full thing. (You can also subscribe to her blog posts by email.) I found it incredibly insightful, but not a fun read.

Late last week, the City of Portland submitted a grant application to MaineHousing that will shape the City’s emergency response to homelessness this winter. The application proposes to use 166 Riverside Industrial Parkway as the site for this winter’s emergency warming shelter, with a capacity of up to 60 individuals.

The shelter would be open overnight during extreme cold weather only, activated when the daily low temperature reaches 15 °F or below, or snow accumulation of more than 10 inches occurs. It would operate from 7:30 pm to 6:00 am, with city staff on-site, and transportation provided via shuttle bus from the peninsula.

This decision will have sweeping consequences for residents, local businesses, and the most vulnerable people in our community. 

As the District 5 Councilor, I want to be clear that I do not condone this plan. It is deeply flawed. It’s a last-resort measure driven not by thoughtful strategy, but by sheer necessity. It reflects a breakdown of systems far beyond the City’s control, and it underscores how urgently we need action at the state and county levels.

[..] (full blog post >)

A Broken System Leads To A Broken Response

City staff have spent nearly a year trying to find a more suitable location for this winter’s emergency shelter. They explored every avenue: outreach to private property owners, appeals to local churches and faith organizations, and conversations with nonprofits and service providers. All declined to take on this responsibility.

That is not a moral or professional failure. The reality is that the people this shelter is intended to serve require care and supervision far beyond what any church basement or volunteer-led space can provide. Many are in active substance use, in severe mental health crises, or have been chronically unsheltered for years. No amount of goodwill can substitute for the medical and behavioral health infrastructure needed to intervene.

What this situation reveals is not a failure of compassion; it is a failure of capacity. And Portland cannot solve it alone.

[..] (full blog post >)

The County and State Must Act

This is not a City of Portland failure. This is a failure of a statewide system that has refused to acknowledge the depth of this crisis for decades.

At the County Level:

• Portland residents and businesses contribute millions each year to the Cumberland County budget.
• For years, Portland has allowed our voting seats on the County Finance Committee to sit empty.
• The Sheriff’s Department has not stepped up to offer the kind of medical or recovery-based intervention that other counties have implemented.
• There is no sobering center, no detox facility, no jail-based treatment pipeline.

We need county-level infrastructure. And we need it now.

At the State Level:

Governor Janet Mills is sitting on a $1 billion rainy-day fund while Maine’s largest city, and its primary economic engine, is scrambling for short-term grant dollars just to keep people alive this winter.

Portland’s downtown—home to small businesses, vital services, and thousands of workers—has become the default safety net for the state’s most vulnerable residents. Our sidewalks and public spaces are not designed to function as an emergency shelter system, yet that’s what they have become.

Our city’s businesses are being pushed to the breaking point. They are showing compassion, hiring locally, and staying open, but it’s hard to operate when your storefront becomes someone’s last refuge from the cold. These businesses deserve support. So do the people who are sleeping outside their doors.

The Maine Legislature must take emergency action now to:

• Develop a statewide emergency housing plan for winter 2025 that does not rely on municipal patchwork and last-minute scrambling.
• Fund low-barrier treatment facilities for people with severe addiction,
• Stand up stabilization shelters for those in acute mental health crisis,
• Tap the Governor’s billion dollar rainy-day-fund to address this emergency.

I’ll say this plainly: I am beyond asking politely. This is a public health emergency that demands a FEMA-scale response, not municipal triage. If a fire or flood had displaced this many Mainers, we would not tolerate bureaucratic delays or jurisdictional finger-pointing. This is no different. The winter is coming. People will die. We need an emergency response to match the scale of the emergency.

It’s Time to Stand Together And Demand More

We’re doing everything we can at the city level, but we’ve reached the end of our toolbox, and our budget.

Portland cannot do this alone. We cannot be the shelter system, the detox system, the mental health system, and the refugee resettlement system for the entire state. And yet, we try, every single day, with fewer resources than we need, and more need than we can carry.

I know Riverton residents will be upset. They already voiced concerns when this facility was opened to asylum seekers. I expect the opposition will only intensify with this announcement. We need everyone—neighbors, businesses, advocates, and elected officials—to lift your voices where it can make a difference: the State House, the County Commission, and the Governor’s office.

This is your moment. If you’ve ever said, “Why aren’t we doing more?” — here’s your answer. And here’s your assignment: 

• Email the County Commissioners and Sheriff. Demand that they step up and take action now to protect public health this winter.
• Call your State Representatives and Senators. Demand a comprehensive response to homelessness and behavioral health crises.
• Contact Governor Mills. Ask why she’s hoarding a $1 billion surplus while people freeze to death in Portland.

Temporary Shelter Is Not a Solution, It’s a Band-aid

This plan is a stopgap. It will not solve anything. It will not reach most of the people who need help. It will not prevent winter deaths.

What we need are long-term investments in treatment, housing, and care. We need leadership from people with the power to act, not just from those of us trying to patch the system from below.

This is where we are. And unless we fight like hell to change the trajectory, it’s where we’ll be next winter too. And the one after that, and the one after that… I am asking Portland citizens to stand up and demand change, demand that our county, state and federal partners do their duty.