All posts by Mario Moretto

Mario Moretto

About Mario Moretto

Mario Moretto has been a Maine journalist, in print and online publications, since 2009. He joined the Bangor Daily News in 2012, first as a general assignment reporter in his native Hancock County and, now, in the State House. Mario left the BDN in 2015.

Congressman brings legal weed tips from the other Portland

Good morning from Portland, where a leading pro-legalization congressman is meeting with lawmakers and the public to preach the gospel of regulated, taxed and legal weed.  U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, has represented the other Portland in Congress for nearly two decades. In Washington, he’s proposed or supported not only legalization, but changes to federal drug laws, […]

Arcade bar owner, MECA student join Portland mayoral race

As the deadline for ballot qualification nears, three more residents have taken out nomination papers to join Portland’s mayoral contest, bringing the total number of contenders to eight. The latest crop of candidates includes Benjamin Culver, 33, co-owner of Arcadia National Bar, and Brendan Glass, a 21-year-old junior at Maine College of Art. Karl Nordli, a […]

LePage: I was ‘completely in the dark’ on budget despite staff involvement

Good morning from Augusta. In a radio interview this morning on WGAN, Gov. Paul LePage maintained that he was “completely in the dark” about negotiations between lawmakers and the governor’s staff, which ultimately resulted in the $6.7 billion budget deal that the Legislature approved over LePage’s veto in June.  LePage has railed against the negotiations, which […]