16 states back Alabama’s challenge to Census privacy tool
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Sixteen states are backing Alabama’s challenge to a new method the Census Bureau is using in an effort to protect the privacy of people who participated in the head count. A judge on Monday allowed the 16 states to file briefs in a support of a lawsuit brought by Alabama last month. Alabama’s lawsuit seeks to stop the Census Bureau from using the statistical method known as “differential privacy” in the numbers that will be used for redrawing congressional and legislative seats later this year. The states are Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
Maine tells health care providers to pause J&J vaccine
OXFORD, Maine (AP) — Maine officials have told health care providers to pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine following guidance from federal officials. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited six reports of a rare but dangerous type of a blood clot in recipients of the vaccine, but none of those have been reported in Maine. The director of the Maine Center for Disease Control says the measure is being taken “out of an abundance of caution.” Also, St. Joseph’s College in Standish is giving students $50 tickets if they violate its mask-wearing requirement.
Law enforcement wants to keep intelligence unit
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine law enforcement leaders are pushing back against a proposal to eliminate a unit created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to collect, analyze and share intelligence between the state and federal government. The Maine Information and Analysis Center came under fire last summer when the ACLU of Maine accused it of gathering and storing intelligence on gun buyers, power line protesters and employees of a camp for Israeli and Arab teens. Rep. Charlotte Warren wants to eliminate the center and return more than $1 million to the general fund. Michael Sauschuck, Maine’s public safety commissioner, told a legislative committee on Monday that the public would be less safe without the center.
USM cutting ties with Chinese government-funded program
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The University of Southern Maine is closing a program that gets funding from the Chinese government and provides Mandarin Chinese language classes and other cultural programs. USM spokesperson Marc Glass said the university remains committed to programs that provide global perspectives but he said the institute reached too few students. The announcement came against a backdrop of increased scrutiny after the Trump administration encouraged colleges last fall to rethink their ties to the Confucius Institute. Some other colleges already cut ties with the program.