News Briefs

Many Legislative requests before the Legislature

The 122nd Legislature has convened and over 2,100 Legislative Requests (LR) have been lodged with the Office of Legislative Information. These requests will be drafted, sent to the Legislator who sponsored it, and signed off after scrutiny. After that, the LR will be sent up and given a Legislative Document number. It will then be a Legislative Document (LD), commonly known as a Bill. The full text and the summary of the Bill will then be available.

The Bills are sorted out to each of the committees that handle its subject matter and hearings will be conducted as to the merits of the bill. At that time Committee will receive public input. Sponsoring Legislators can take input on the bills at any time.

The LR can change drastically from now to debate on the floor toward the end of the session.

Last week, The Monument printed a list of the LRs our local legislators submitted and asked several to comment on them. Rep. Bryant's answer came after deadline and is printed this week. The Monument asked Rep. Mark Bryant to explain the thinking behind LR 1943, "An Act to Require Funeral Establishments to Council Next of Kin on Embalming."

Rep. Bryant: "I submitted LR 1943, An Act to Require Funeral Establishments to Council Next of Kin on Embalming, at a constituent's request. When death occurs, loved ones have a lot of decisions to make all at once. To embalm or not is a major question that needs to be made timely. This person had a family member pass away who wasn't embalmed. Because the body wasn't embalmed it couldn't be viewed by family members and loved ones. This was a major loss of the closure process for many people involved.

This bill is a request to require Funeral Establishments to council next of kin to the effects of not having a body embalmed in a timely manner and the option of embalming altogether."

Transportation Department looking at possible impacts of legislation that would adjust time zones

The Portland Department of Transportation is looking at the potential impacts of two pieces of proposed State legislation that would change the time zone the State uses. One piece of legislation would put the State in the Atlantic Time Zone and the other would exclude the State from Daylight Savings Time.

While time zone changes are common in the air transportation system, passengers using rail and bus transportation connecting south would have to adjust clocks frequently. The advanced hour, if the State uses Atlantic Time, would have passengers leaving later locally to enter the system south of Maine. Passengers and carriers would arrive later locally. If the State excludes itself from Daylight Savings Time, morning travel would have to occur an hour earlier to connect with systems south of Maine during the summer. Passengers would arrive earlier locally.

Time zones were first put into place in the 1800's through national legislation pushed by the railroads in an effort to standardize railroad schedules.

Nominate an outstanding young volunteer for The 2005 TEENS WHO CARE Awards

Nominations are being accepted now for the annual Teens Who Care Awards, a celebration of outstanding teen volunteers in our community.
Here is a brief bio of each of the six 2004 Teens Who Care:
Kyle Dixon is actively involved in the South Portland DARE program, and he is an assistant track coach at the middle school level.

Savannah Gilman is an activist in the cause of ending domestic violence.
Caitlin Jones is President of Ellsworth High School Key Club, and she mentors children at her local elementary school.

Beth McFarland is a longtime volunteer through Youthlinks in Rockland; she works with children, the elderly, and on environmental issues.

Amber Mooney has helped two blind adults to continue living independently by reading their mail to them and helping them with billpaying.

Moxi Palmer is an inspiring fundraiser for various charities; she also volunteers with children.

Teens may be nominated by any adult member of the community (other than the nominee's parent or legal guardian). The deadline for nomination is February 18. Honorees will be selected at the end of February and notified by February 28. Awards are to be presented at a ceremony on Monday, April 11, at the Portland Museum of Art, hosted by NEWS CENTER's Lee Nelson and Sharon Rose.

Each of the six teens will be honored with a short documentary-style "profile" which will debut to the attendees that evening at the Museum, and will be televised later on WCSH 6 and WLBZ 2 in the Teens Who Care 2005 program on April 23, 7:30pm. In addition to television recognition, each winner will receive a $1000 scholarship from Nelnet SuperLoan, corporate sponsor of Teens Who Care. Finally, 30-second "salute" spots will air on WCSH 6 and WLBZ 2 throughout the months of May and June.

Teens Who Care is a program of WCSH 6 and WLBZ 2 and is unique in Maine. For additional information, visit our websites at WCSH6.com or WLBZ2.com, where there is more information and a printable nomination form on the "Community" page. Contact Community Relations at WCSH 6 or WLBZ 2 at 1-800-464-1213.