Dental coverage to expand to more than 200K Maine residents
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A state that has among the fewest dentists in the Northeast will soon expand dental care access. Maine has about 55 dentists per 100,000 residents, which is below the national average of about 61 and well below New England states such as Massachusetts and Connecticut. State officials said Wednesday more than 200,000 Maine residents will start getting access to dental care coverage on Friday. That’s the day dental care will become available to Maine residents who use MaineCare insurance. Officials say MaineCare will cover preventative, restorative and diagnostic care.
Pro-Palestine mapping website raises alarm in Jewish groups
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts’ Jewish community is on edge after the launch this month of a mysterious website listing the names and addresses of many Jewish and other institutions. It also makes calls to “dismantle” and disrupt them. The Anti-Defamation League held an online forum Wednesday to talk about why the pro-Palestine Mapping Project is harmful. U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins was among the featured speakers. Members of Congress from across the country have also urged federal law enforcement officials to investigate and shut down the website. Messages sent to an email address on the site have gone unanswered.
High court rejects COVID-19 shot mandate case from New York
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has declined to take up a case involving a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for health care workers in New York that doesn’t offer an exemption for religious reasons. The court’s action follows a decision in December in which the justices declined an emergency request to halt the requirement. At the time, doctors, nurses and other medical workers who said they were being forced to choose between their jobs and religious beliefs. Three conservative justices — Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — dissented earlier and did so again Thursday. New York is one of three states, along with Maine and Rhode Island, that don’t accommodate health care workers who object to the vaccine on religious grounds.
Former candidate facing child porn charge sells Maine home
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A former Maine gubernatorial candidate charged with possession of child pornography has sold his townhouse in Portland. Eliot Cutler was arrested on March 25, two days after police searched the home in Portland and his primary residence in Brooklin, Maine. A deed signed June 16 by Eliot and Melanie Cutler conveyed ownership of the Portland home to a couple from Texas. The Bangor Daily News first reported the transaction. It reported the townhouse sold for $1.8 million.