Patrick Whittle, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - Vanessa Shields-Haas, a nurse practitioner, walks from the lobby toward the examination rooms at the Maine Family Planning healthcare facility, July 15, 2025, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Maine clinics denied Medicaid funds during lawsuit after Trump cuts to abortion providers

August 25, 2025

A judge has denied a request from a network of Maine clinics to force the federal government to restore Medicaid funding. Monday’s ruling came as the clinics are opposing efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to prevent federal funds from reaching abortion providers. Trump’s policy and tax bill blocked Medicaid money from going to Planned Parenthood. It also prevented funding from reaching Maine Family Planning. Planned Parenthood is the country’s largest abortion provider, while Maine Family Planning is a much smaller organization. Maine Family Planning clinics provide family planning and primary care to about 8,000 people in one of New England’s poorest and most rural states. Planned Parenthood is also challenging the funding cut.

Great white sharks are going north. Here’s what the numbers say

August 24, 2025

New data shows that great white sharks are spending more time in the chilly waters off New England and Atlantic Canada. That means boaters, beachgoers and fishermen who spend time in the northern waters are learning to live with the sharks made famous 50 years ago by the movie Jaws. Sightings of the apex predators are up in places like Maine, where they were once very rarely spotted. Scientists link the white shark sightings to increased availability of the seals the sharks feast on, and say beachgoers are generally very safe from shark bites.

FILE - In this undated photo provided by Old Orchard Beach Police Department, Officer Jon Luke Evans receives his police badge. (Old Orchard Beach Police Department via AP, File)

Maine police officer arrested by ICE agrees to voluntarily leave the country

August 18, 2025

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says a Maine police officer arrested by immigration authorities has agreed to voluntarily leave the country. ICE arrested Old Orchard Beach Police Department reserve Officer Jon Luke Evans, of Jamaica, on July 25, as part of the agency’s nationwide effort to step up enforcement. Officials with the town and police department have said federal authorities previously told them Evans was legally authorized to work in the U.S. An ICE representative reached by telephone told The Associated Press on Monday that a judge has granted voluntary departure for Evans.

Maine clinics hope to get blocked Medicaid funds restored as they sue Trump administration over cuts

August 13, 2025

A network of clinics that provides health care in Maine is expected to ask a judge to restore its Medicaid funding while it fights a Trump administration effort to keep federal money from going to abortion providers. President Donald Trump’s big tax bill blocked Medicaid money from flowing to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. The same parameters also stopped funding from reaching Maine Family Planning, a much smaller provider that provides care in one of the poorest and most rural states in the Northeast. Maine Family Planning filed a federal lawsuit last month seeking to restore reimbursements.

Great white shark is seen near popular beaches in Maine, sparking a warning from police

August 12, 2025

Reports of a large great white shark near popular beaches in Maine have prompted a warning to beachgoers. The marine resource officer in Scarborough, south of Portland, received a report of a 10- to 12-foot shark on Monday. The shark was seen near Crescent Beach State Park, Higgins Beach, and Pine Point Beach. Commercial clam fisherman David Lancaster captured drone footage of the shark. He described the sight as “magnificent.” Scarborough police said they were sharing the footage Tuesday for public awareness. White sharks are not commonly seen off Maine, but sightings have increased in recent years. Fatal shark bites are exceedingly rare.

The State House is seen in Augusta, Maine on June 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Maine can’t enforce foreign election interference law that appeals court calls unconstitutional

August 11, 2025

Maine can’t enforce a voter-approved foreign election interference law that a federal appeals court says likely violates the Constitution by limiting political donations. Voters in the state overwhelmingly approved a referendum that bans foreign governments and companies with 5% or more foreign government ownership from donating to state referendum races. The law has been on hold pending federal lawsuits from utilities companies and media organizations that raise constitutional challenges about it. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston says it affirms a lower-court ruling that the law likely violates the First Amendment.

Community Service Officers from the Old Orchard Beach Police Dept. patrol on bicycles, Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Maine police chief says officer arrested by ICE is missed by colleagues and was eligible to work

July 30, 2025

Officials in a Maine town where immigration authorities arrested a police officer say the officer was a trusted member of the force who is missed by his colleagues. Old Orchard Beach officials are also expressing frustration with lack of information about the case from the federal government. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Old Orchard Beach Police Department reserve officer Jon Luke Evans, of Jamaica, on July 25. Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Elise Chard said Wednesday that Evans was federally approved to work in the country in May, and that the town and police department haven’t received any information about Evans’ case and his current whereabouts.

ICE says detained Maine police officer overstayed visa. The chief says he cleared a federal check

July 29, 2025

The chief of police in a resort town in Maine has called for an investigation into the arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of one of its officers. The chief says the officer was federally approved to work in the country in May. ICE on Friday arrested Old Orchard Beach Police Department reserve officer Jon Luke Evans, of Jamaica. The agency says Evans was illegally present in the U.S. and unlawfully attempted to purchase a firearm. ICE says Evans legally entered the U.S. in September 2023 and violated the terms of his admission by overstaying his visa. Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Elise Chard says federal officials authorized Evans to work.

Crawford Pond is seen Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Union, Maine. Police are investigating the murder of a woman last seen paddleboarding on the pond. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Prosecutors seek to try 17-year-old as an adult in Maine paddleboarder’s death

July 21, 2025

Prosecutors in Maine say they will seek to try a 17-year-old charged with murder in the death of a paddleboarder as an adult. The body of 48-year-old Sunshine “Sunny” Stewart of St. George was found this month on Crawford Pond in Union. Stewart went missing while paddleboarding before her killing, and her death sent shockwaves through the local community. Police charged Deven Young, of Frankfort, Maine, with murder in the death of Stewart last week. The Office of the Maine Attorney General said Monday it will attempt to try Young as an adult.

17-year-old charged with murder in paddleboarder’s killing at a pond in rural Maine

July 18, 2025

Authorities in Maine have charged a 17-year-old with murder in the death of a paddleboarder on a rural pond. Sunshine Stewart was found dead this month on Crawford Pond in Union, a popular summer spot. A medical examiner determined the 48-year-old died from strangulation and blunt force trauma. Police arrested the teen on Wednesday in Union. The state attorney general’s office announced the charge on Friday. Court documents identify the teen as Deven Young of Frankfort, Maine. The investigation remains active, with police seeking witnesses who saw Stewart paddleboarding on July 2. Friends remember Stewart as independent and adventurous.

Police arrest teen in connection with a paddleboarder’s killing in a pond in rural Maine

July 17, 2025

Police in Maine say they have arrested a 17-year-old state resident in connection with the killing of a paddleboarder who went missing on a rural pond. The body of 48-year-old Sunshine Stewart, of Tenants Harbor, was found earlier this month on Crawford Pond in Union, about 80 miles north of Portland. Maine State Police say a teenager was taken into custody without incident in Union on Wednesday night. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in August determined Stewart’s cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma.

FILE - State Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, speaks with a colleague, Feb. 14, 2023, at the State House in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Maine and a GOP lawmaker who ID’d a transgender athlete online agree lawsuit is now moot

July 7, 2025

Attorneys for the state of Maine and a conservative lawmaker who identified a transgender student athlete online are in agreement that the lawmaker’s lawsuit over her loss of voting rights is now moot. Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby identified the athlete in a viral social media post that brought attention to the issue of transgender teens participating in sports. Maine’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives censured Libby for violating the House code of ethics and blocked her from speaking and voting on the floor. Libby sued, and the Supreme Court ruled in May that the Maine legislature must count her votes. Lawmakers voted in June to halt the restrictions. Libby says Monday she won’t contest the state’s argument the lawsuit is moot.

The Rev. James Talbot is shown in Suffolk Superior Court Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2005, in Boston. (Matt Stone/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool)

Convicted former Catholic priest exposed by Spotlight investigation dies at 87

May 30, 2025

James Talbot, a former Catholic priest convicted of sexually assaulting boys in Maine and Massachusetts after he was exposed by The Boston Globe, has died. He was 87. Talbot appeared on a list provided by the religious order of northeastern Jesuits who faced credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. Jesuits USA East confirmed on Friday that Talbot died on Feb. 28 at a hospice center in St. Louis. Talbot was one of the subjects of an investigation into priest sex abuse by The Globe’s Spotlight team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003. The reporting was later adapted into the movie “Spotlight.”

Patrick Whittle.