Blog - Local / Community News Items and Commentary

On Thursday evening, June 10, the Maine House of Representatives took up LD 553, An Act to End Employment at Will, for initial debate. After a spirited 45-minute discussion, the House overwhelmingly rejected the proposal (99-35).  The rebuke of the majority report was significant for the amount of bi-partisan support it received.  To see how your local legislators voted, you can find the Roll Call here.

Mid Coast–Parkview Health Celebrates Nurses Week and Hospital Week

BRUNSWICK, ME — Each year, Nurses Week (May 6 – 12) and Hospital Week (May 9 – 15) are opportunities to highlight hospitals, health systems, and health care workers and the innovative ways they are supporting the needs of their community members. Attention can be focused on the diverse ways America's 3.8 million registered nurses work to save lives and to improve the health of millions of individuals.

This year, Mid Coast–Parkview Health recognizes more than 600 staff nurses for their unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality patient care, and the entire 2,000 person staff for their contributions to the community.

Mid Coast Hospital COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic to Offer Walk-In Appointments

BRUNSWICK, ME–Mid Coast Hospital’s COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic, located at Brunswick Landing, 220 Neptune Drive in Brunswick, will offer walk-in vaccine appointments beginning April 30. Open to all Maine residents 16 and over, the Mid Coast Hospital Vaccination Clinic administers the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. Walk-in vaccination is available Monday through Saturday between 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Vaccine availability is based on vaccine supply.

American Rescue Plan Tax Credits Available to Small Employers to Provide Paid Leave to Employees Receiving COVID-19 Vaccines

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced today further details of tax credits available under the American Rescue Plan to help small businesses, including providing paid leave for employees receiving COVID-19 vaccinations.

Eligible employers, such as businesses and tax-exempt organizations with fewer than 500 employees and certain governmental employers, can receive a tax credit for providing paid time off for each employee receiving the vaccine and for any time needed to recover from the vaccine. For example, if an eligible employer offers employees a paid day off in order to get vaccinated, the employer can receive a tax credit equal to the wages paid to employees for that day (up to certain limits).

This has been a very unique year and because of that we want to honor it with a very unique awards reception on May 13; but L-I-T-E-R-A-L-L-Y we cannot do it without you, and here’s why.

We want to honor those individuals, organizations, businesses and colleagues that helped you get through the only pandemic most of  us has ever experienced, but to do so we need to hear your stories so we can share them.

Each of us could take five minutes and think of probably a dozen individuals that helped you personally since the pandemic began in February/March 2020. 

Who is your Covid Hero?  
   

SMMC is Hiring for a Chamber Coordinator for 20 Hours Per Week, to Start

The Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber (SMMC) is looking to add an energetic, enthusiastic and
organized staff member to our team to help our business owners and their employees thrive in the Brunswick, Bath, Topsham, Harpswell region.  

The ideal candidate will be a problem solver who can adapt to working on multiple projects each week.  There is a tremendous opportunity for the right candidate to help shape how this growing organization will evolve, and they will be a key part in creating the best practices to make this organization continue its upward
trajectory.  

In short, we are looking for a builder.  Someone who can help us realize our goals, and who can help create new ones through their vision and creativity.  

Harpswell Coastal Academy Preserves Voices of the Pandemic

HCA: A School for Social Change, Entrepreneurship and the Environment

Brunswick, Maine — As Maine strives to plug the brain drain and entice graduates to remain in the Pine State, Harpswell Coastal Academy (HCA) has been anchoring students to their community since its founding. A year-long humanities class that launched in 2014 has been dedicated to that mission with an oral history project that captures the extraordinary stories of “ordinary” locals. 

This year’s theme, “Voices of the Pandemic,” builds on an ethnographic tradition that has spanned conservation advocates to seaweed harvesters. During 2020–21, students tackled how the Covid-19 crisis has impacted the livelihoods and well-being of locals, including a teacher, commercial fisherman, general store owner, and a nurse. Learning how people have weathered the pandemic—by changing course and aiding others in crisis—fits HCA’s curriculum of entrepreneurism and social change. 

From a Maine State Chamber E-mail Alert on March 12, 2021

Supplemental Budget Bill Finally Passes House and Senate with Full Conformity on PPP Loans, Study on FDII

Vote secures $100 million for 28,000 businesses across state

Late Thursday night, the Supplemental Budget bill was finally passed, and is now on Governor Mills’ desk.

In votes of 139-1 in the Maine House of Representatives, and by unanimous vote in the Maine State Senate, lawmakers agreed to full conformity at $100 million on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans taken as a result of the pandemic by tens of thousands of Maine businesses from around the state.  On behalf of the Chamber’s members, we would like to thank the Administration, Democrats, and Republicans for their bipartisan work to secure this outcome.

Passage of the supplemental budget bill on an emergency basis is extremely important to the 28,000 businesses across the state that have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic

Noted Skater Jud Heald Brings It to the Skatepark at MYC 

Skater to Visit Bath for New Build March 2-5 

ALSO: Arts Programs Kicks Into Gear: Gardening, Video Editing, Music-Making 

Midcoast Youth Center and Springer’s Jewelers Presents

 “A Love Song Scramble” Fundraiser

Springer’s Generously Supports Our Midcoast Youth

BATH—Midcoast Youth Center is excited to announce a contest and fundraiser sure to brighten these winter days.

Springer’s Jewelers in Bath is making a very generous donation — a “Hearts of Fire” necklace valued at $2500 — as the prize. Participants making a $25 donation to Midcoast Youth Center are automatically entered to win this beautiful piece of jewelry. Each registrant then receives a link to unscramble the titles of 25 well-known love songs. Fans of word games — unite!