Do you KNOW What Poison Ivy Looks Like?? Take the Bangor Daily News Quiz.

While you're out in the fields and garden, do you KNOW without a doubt which is poison ivy and which is not??
The Bangor Daily News has published a little pictorial to help you identify the vines that will give you an itchy rash if you come into contact with it.
Link to this "quiz" HERE............ http://bangordailynews.com/2015/06/01/quizzes/quiz-which-one-is-the-poison-ivy/

Representative Karen Gerrish Announces Next Step in Removing Concealed Weapon Permit Mandate

From the pages of our State Representative, Karen Gerrish....

 

 

 

Maine Senator Eric Brakey

 

Maine takes major step toward removing

concealed weapon permit mandate

From the pages of the Bangor Daily News

 

By Scott Thistle, Sun Journal

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Posted June 01, 2015, at 5:28 p.m.

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine House of Representatives on Monday voted 83-62 to approve a bill lifting the state’s permit requirement for carrying a concealed handgun.
The vote Monday is the culmination of a decades-long effort by gun-right advocates to remove restrictions on lawful gun owners and follows a 21-14 vote in the state Senate last week that also removed the permit requirement.
It is expected the bill, LD 652, sponsored by Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, will be signed into law by Gov. Paul LePage, making the state the sixth without any permit requirements for carrying a hidden firearm.
LePage has long said he supports the right of Maine citizens to possess firearms as the state’s Constitution, even more explicitly than the U.S. Constitution, protects gun ownership rights, stating, “Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms and this right shall never be questioned.”
Supporters of the bill said the measure doesn’t change who can legally own and carry a weapon but simply legalizes carrying concealed weapons.
Current state law allows handguns to be carried openly, in a holster where they are visible, but not hidden beneath clothing or in a purse. There also are several areas — including the Legislature, public schools and courtrooms — where only law enforcement officers are allowed to legally carry firearms.
Those prohibited by state and federal law from possessing a firearm would still be prohibited under the change, supporters of the bill said.
“A currently prohibited person is still a prohibited person,” said Rep. Karen Gerrish, R-Lebanon, speaking in favor of the bill. “LD 652 does not change who may legally possess a firearm. Criminals will not be allowed to carry under this law; mentally ill individuals will not be allowed to carry under this law; none of the federally prohibited people, domestic violence and drug felons, will be able to carry under this law. This law only affects law-abiding citizens.”
Gerrish said those who would carry a gun illegally are not going to apply for a concealed weapons permit anyway.
“As we all know, criminals do not care about rules of law,” she said. “They are not going through any background checks, taking gun safety classes or going through any permitting process. Bad people will always do bad things. The permit system does not stop criminals from carrying guns.”
The bill’s opponents said they believed it would lead to a more dangerous and deadly Maine, one of the safest states in the country. Some who have been screened by state or local police and denied permits for a variety of reasons would now be able to pack heat, they said.
“I believe this bill will lead to the greater availability of concealed weapons in the hands of people who have no business owning guns at all,” said Rep. Janice Cooper, D-Yarmouth.
Cooper said hundreds of people who have been previously denied a concealed handgun permit would now be able to legally carry a hidden firearm.
The Maine State Police testified in support of the change, noting the state’s current permitting system was ineffective and that most of those who applied for the permits were granted them.
Maj. Christopher Grotton of the Maine State Police said that in the past four years, the agency has issued more than 36,000 concealed handgun permits and has denied only 251 applicants.
Lawmakers in the House did amend the bill, making it clear that individuals carrying a concealed handgun must be at least 21 years old and that those who carry must inform law enforcement they have a gun when stopped or questioned by police.
Those changes to the bill will be considered by the Senate in the days ahead.
The bill still allows a person to apply for a concealed weapons permit under state law, which in some cases allows an individual to also carry concealed weapons in states that have permitting laws and reciprocity with Maine on the topic.
Top Democrats expressed their disappointment after the vote.
“Maine’s existing gun laws work. Mainers have a long, rich tradition of responsible gun ownership while also having the lowest crime rate in the United States,” said House Speaker Mark Eves, D-North Berwick. “The repeal of these sensible laws is very troubling.”
Rep. Lori Fowle, D-Vassalboro, House chairwoman of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, opposed the bill.
“I’m deeply disappointed that we were not able to defeat this bill,” Fowle said. “I firmly believe that the permit process improves public safety in a reasonable manner. I am thankful that we passed the amendments that address the concerns law enforcement raised.”
The House vote Monday is a major victory for Brakey, a Libertarian-leaning Republican, who is serving his first term in the Senate.
He has long argued putting on a jacket that covers a handgun — that otherwise would be legal to have — shouldn’t be an act that makes a person a criminal.
“It’s great that we have finally gotten to a place where people understand the importance of this protection and are comfortable enough to let our Maine citizens exercise the same freedoms that the state of Vermont allows their citizens to exercise,” Brakey said after the House vote.

 

Interesting Article on Monsanto vs. Oakhurst Dairy, published in the Bangor Daily News

Published in the Bangor Daily News, Thursday April 30, 2015

Oakhurst, Monsanto gird for federal court battle

By SHARON KILEY MACK, BDN Staff        

BANGOR – A trio of Monsanto representatives was in Bangor Thursday morning lobbying on behalf of the chemical giant’s federal lawsuit to force Oakhurst Dairy to change its milk jug labels, a federal court case that will come to trial in January.
The landmark lawsuit centers on whether – as new and controversial ingredients enter the food supply – a producer has the right to make truthful statements about what a product does not contain, right along with what it does contain.
Oakhurst’s label tells the truth. But Monsanto contends that, although truthful, the label is misleading and prompts consumer skepticism that undermines the company’s lucrative markets.
Monsanto sued Oakhurst on July 3, claiming that a label on Oakhurst milk jugs that states “Our Farmers’ Pledge: No Artificial Growth Hormones” is hurting the multinational chemical company’s relationship with dairy farmers and misleads consumers into thinking that there is something wrong with milk produced with artificial hormones.
Monsanto is the only producer of Posilac, or recombinant bovine growth hormone, a drug injected into milk cows every two weeks to boost production. About one-third of the United States’ 9 million dairy cows are given the hormone.
Dr. Jennifer Garrett of Monsanto said Thursday that “healthy, comfortable cows are those producing more milk. Posilac helps cows make about 1 gallon more a day. It is a very natural process.”
Opponents, however, have concerns that the artificial hormones are harmful to cows, that they make cows produce milk that is chemically and nutritionally different from natural milk, and that they could induce higher rates of cancer in humans. Based on these concerns, Canada and the European Union have banned the hormone. The United States, Mexico and Brazil are the only countries where it is permitted.
Stanley Bennett II, president of Oakhurst, on Thursday reasserted his stand against changing the label. “We don’t feel we have any obligation, nor will we be required or bullied into somehow qualifying our standards,” he said.
“Our customers have told us in no uncertain terms that they don’t want artificial growth hormones in their milk. Our label is an accurate and honest attempt to communicate to consumers what we are trying to do. It is our obligation to our customers.”
This is the third such suit filed by Monsanto against dairy processors regarding labeling issues. The two other suits, one in Texas and the other in Chicago, were settled out of court.
Although the details of those settlements are confidential, Brian Robert Lowrey, director of industry affairs for Monsanto, said that both dairies changed their labels after the settlement.
Many opponents of artificial growth hormones have labeled the Oakhurst lawsuit a “David versus Goliath” battle (Monsanto had $4 billion in sales last year, compared to Oakhurst’s $85 million), one in which Monsanto hopes to obtain a victory that would provide a precedent to fight similar labels across the country.
Not so, the Monsanto representatives maintained. “When Oakhurst began expanding their market into the Boston area, and only after a great deal of consideration, we felt we had to take action,” said Janice M. Armstrong, Monsanto’s director of public affairs.
Several other milk producers in New England – including Hood and Garelik – have similar labels but are not being sued. When asked if those companies also would be sued, Armstrong said she could not predict future litigation.
Since the suit was filed, Bennett said, his company has been inundated with letters, e-mails and other gestures of support, and has had an increase in sales. Ralph Nader, the Green Party candidate for president in the last election, contacted Oakhurst in August to offer free legal help through his foundation, which supports freedom of speech.

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